Reports are that Nikon is moving their mysterious BIG! announcement from October 22nd to November 20th:

Nikon’s expected MX press event delayed until November Just one day after an announcement of a planned press launch of what many expected to be Nikon’s new MX format comes news that the event has been postponed…. the event is now on for November 20th, though no location has been announced and may point to a location change.

The rumored MX format from Nikon that is likely to be unveiled at the event is believed to either be larger than the company’s existing full-frame FX format or simply upgrade the existing D3 and D3x DSLRs to a sensor with 25 megapixels. Nikon has not informed the press about the reason for the delay.

There’s also been some speculation that Nikon may simply be announcing a printer… also a rumor that it’ll simply be some amateurs.

We’re seeing a lot of nonsense rumors around the D3x and various other potentialy Nikon DSLR’s like the D1000 and D800. I’m skipping most of them because they’re completely implausible- but since this one is so specific, I’m going to pass it along:

“Nikon USA’s PR Dept. [said] D3X is coming…slated for December at the moment. Full Frame, Crop features…24.4 megapixels 9 fps and a host of other features. The price? $6499.99 USD (U.S. Dollars) Its supposed to look identical to the D3, and use many of the same D3 addon’s…but have more megapixels, better noise-reduction software and faster high-speed for sports. …”

That all sounds essentially plausible- I doubt the high ISO performance can be far better than the D2x/s, but I’m sure it can be better, I can’t see it matching the D3’s performance though.

I also very much doubt the 9 frames per second (fps) claim. I really think that’s pointless- I still have yet to use that mode on my D3, but ok, someone will.

I got a report that BH Photo Video (the only place you should be buying online me on this one), has bought D4 adwords from Google. I’m also seeing other companies buying ads using “D4″ as the keyword.

I’m going to assume that this really doesn’t mean much- it’s pretty well assured that we will end up with a D4, but when?

I’ve been sent a screen-shot and will put it up when I have time.

Interestingly, a D4 ad on google costs ~$.14, which is surprisingly high, if you ask me.

There’s some question about the “uncrop-factor” (I’m coining the term) on the rumored Nikon medium-format “MX” sensor.

In the comments, Martin points out:

The “crop factor” is wrong. It was roughly 0.5 for my old Bronica GS-1 6×7 medium format camera. The crop factor for a 48mm square chip would be 35 divided by 48, so 0.73.

The comment that MX users would complain about the crop factor… well the reason for DX users complaining was mainly that the two systems were otherwise identical, i.e. both “35mm” SLR systems and used the same lenses, and thus bore direct comparison.

This system would be a completely new format, more along the lines of a MF-lite, like 6×4.5, but square, with all-new lenses made specifically for that format. If no one complained about 6×4.5 or 6×6 cameras in this respect before, why would they now?

I’ll trust his math and basically agree with him- presuming any of the specs are correct (and who knows?)- you’re not going to get cropped on any previous lens you can attach to this camera- your DX and FX lenses will cover just as much sensor as they ever did- it’s just that your sensor is larger than your lens will cover.

It’s like putting an DX lens on your full-frame body- if you only ever have used a DX lens, you don’t know you’re missing anything.

Then when you want to use the full capabilities of the sensor, buy some (very pricey, I’m sure) lenses.

Maybe I’ll finally not have to sell the house to get my beloved square medium-format into the digital age!

A little birdie passes along this really curious and especially informative rumor about Nikon having plans for what sounds like that old “modular” camera, but it also is a medium-format chip!

Dear Matt

FYI:
On speaking with Nikon [in country unnamed], this came to light with various questions – they already had development plans for a new Nikon digital rangefinder with approx 48mmx48mm size sensor inside it, tentatively called the “MX” format, the camera is not to dissimilar to the older film Mamiya 6 camera philosophy.

The new camera will be backward compatible with DX and FX lenses (via mount adaptor), therefore the lens factor (based on using a FX lens) will be worked out like this:

DX = 1.5x (Half frame)
FX = 1.0x (Full frame)
MX = 0.5x

Custom format choice:
When shooting in FX mode with this camera, you will be able to “rotate” the sensor crop from landscape to portrait rather than turn the camera as well as be able to shoot the full square resolution this camera provides. options for 5:4 etc will also be available.

Viewfinder/Live View:
For more critical cropping (like for still-life and macro work) you will be able to use the live view function for exact framing rather than the rangefinder component.

Sensor:
about 48 megapixels, similar to the Nikon D3 design.

Lenses:
New range of lenses required for the full MX format, zoom option available covering different ranges on different formats, lenses relatively compact for format size.

Summary
A relatively compact traditional “medium format-esque” camera in a new camera line that will be aimed at studio, portrait, landscape and wedding photographers needs, with a more affordable price point than present larger format digital backs. This will allow the continuation of the D line as the sports and news photographers choice, expanding on the D3 with an upgrade to a 24mp sensor (hopefully available for the D3 body!) and future plans for 60 frame rate video recording modes in future models.

Please keep my name, email and location anonymous.

Wow- I really hope this birdie’s right, I’ve love to see something like this- I’ve been missing using my Hasselblad and its square format, which I loved. Can you image the images you’d get from a medium-format sized sensor using pixels the size of the D3. Now add in pixel-binning and you could see ISO’s in the stratosphere!

(via Engadget) An Asian (chinese?) forum purports to show a leaked ad of the upcoming Sony Alpha full-frame 24.6 megapixel slr body (link goes to a larger version of the image):

The red specs at the bottom of the ad say:

• 24.6 megapixel
• Full-frame
• 100% viewfinder coverage
• 3″ hi-res LCD
• 9 point AF – cross sensors
• 5 frames per second
• Body-integrated image stabilization

Wow! Sony delivers! I’m really wondering wtf Minolta was doing- is Sony throwing immense amounts of money at their camera division or was Minolta dragging their heels?

It’s hard to tell if this is good news or bad for Nikon. If Nikon doesn’t have the D3x ready to go, then Sony steals their thunder. If the “D3x” doesn’t have either higher MP or at least a good reason for not being higher (like great ISO and dynamic range), then Sony will have caught Nikon flat-footed, which I doubt since they appear to be working relatively closely together.

So I’m guessing that this really means that the “D3x” will be out after the Alpha 900 and it’ll be higer than 24.6mp, maybe in the 30 MP area?

So we still don’t have a D3x, we don’t have a D900 (if that’s coming any time soon), and we don’t have the 28m, 50mm, and 85mm primes we’re hoping for, no 70-200mm nano-coated VR2, no f/4 lenses (though I can do without them). But we’ve got some upcoming shows.

So let’s take a look at when we can expect to see new offerings ordered by date:

IFA 2008: August 27 through Sept 03, Berlin, Germany.

The D3 as announced for this event last year (Jeez, has it been that long?) This is supposed to be the largest consumer electronics show around.

But there’s zero buzz right now, and since we just got the D90 announced, I don’t think we’ll see anything new.

Photokina 2008: Sept 23 through Sept 28, Cologne Germany.

All the rumors are saying this is the show where we can expect something new. People are saying new AF-S primes but I’m losing hope. Its placement on the calendar means that it’d be well-placed for the Christmas season, but Pros don’t tend to buy high-end gear for their loved ones. I would be surprised if we don’t see some new, uninspired Coolpix’s though.

WPPI 2009:Feb 12 through Feb 19, Las Vegas, Nevada.

This is where Nikon is a sponsor and something “BIG” is supposed to happen according to an ad in Rangefinder Magazine. I’m doubting any significant announcement, but who knows?Maybe BIG means the D3x, but isn’t a show for wedding shooters a strange place to announce a high-res version of the D3?

PMA 2009: March 1 though March 4, Las Vegas, Nevada.

If Nikon has anything huge to annouce, I’d put my money on this show merely due to its place on the calendar- it’s far enough away from the other announcements its made. I’m guessing Nikon will be relatively quiet for a few months, then pull out a D3x or something else interesting to get them back in peoples’ minds.

But one can never predict our favorite hermit-company.

NeutralDay has some D90 pictures supposedly take from Target’s site. They go on to quote the specs that we’ve all seen before, but the body looks like it’s the same basic shot we’ve seen plus a head-on view and some rotated views.

We’re starting to see more and more reports of new Nikon AF-S (AFS) primes coming, maybe August 27th. Trying to predict dates that Nikon will do anything is starting to be a fool’s game though, so I wouldn’t place any money on it.

Here’s an example:

It is unsubstantiated, but in conversations at fred miranda from apparently two separate sources, there are reports of a listing of a new nikkor 50 f1.4 AFS

Glad I waited two weeks before buying the AFD, but if it materializes, and the rumoured price is right (650 euros, 1300 australian $) seems like the replacement won’t be competing on price!

Maybe it will have a better build, AFS, more aperture blades etc.

Yikes! I hope that price is off, but if that’s the actual price (~$1200+) I think we can expect it to be a hell of a lens!

Can I get the same thing about 28mm and 35mm?

Also- can you imagine what you could do with f/1.4 with VR2 at 3200iso?

My buddy PMG points me to the Photography Bay which reports that Thom writes:

August 18–Nikon’s next scheduled press conference is August 27th. I’ve already noted that the D90 and 18-105mm lens will be introduced shortly, so I think it likely that those two items are on the schedule for that meeting…

…It now appears that my 2008 pro body predictions were backwards. I predicted the D3x would appear and that the D700 would be pushed to a 2009 ship. I’m now thinking that I must have misunderstood my original source and got the products reversed. Even if a high resolution body is announced soon, I don’t see any of the indications I look for showing that it is ready to ship.

So a decent SLR body and an ok consumer-grade lens, nothing to get too excited about really. And he’s indicating that the predictions bandied about by many including the concept of 4 new bodies was just nuts, as I expected.

D3x next year- I’m betting. New lenses at Photokina- and I’m starting to doubt decent AF-S primes, but I’m still hoping I’m wrong- I’ve been hoping for their announcement for more than  a year now though.

Nikon Rumors appears to have a shot of a Nikon D90’s LCD in video mode.

Also- PGM points out that Amazon and BHPhotoVideo are now buying google Adwords for D90.

Photography Bay has a shot of a posssible Nikon D90. It looks good to me, but I’ve been fooled before- there are some really good PP guys out there.

They’re also reporting the following specs:

* 14 bit A/D conversion (compared to 12 bit currently);
* live view;
* the EXPEED image processor;
* self-cleaning sensor;
* 3? LCD (up from 2.5?) with higher resolution; and/or
* 5 fps (up from 3);

The Following Are Guesses:

Notice that it doesn’t mention movies- but looking at the picture, it’s got a microphone grill over the D90 logo. There’s no reason at all to put the mic grill in the front if it’s for recording memos with a shot like on the Dx series, so I’m guessing it’s to record sound with movies (duh).

We’re also seeing a Manual / AF switch on the body, why? Because it’ll be able to use the screw-drive lenses like the 50mm f/1.x and 85mm f/1.x and older lenses– you don’t need that switch on the AFS lenses!

Interestingly, this might also mean that we will NOT be seeing 50mm and 80mm AFS Nano primes – but that’s a toss-up.

There also appears to be a GPS plug-in port, rather than integrated, which continues to be baffling given that the P&S cameras have GPS built-in now.

I continue to think it’s amusing that people are reporting that cameras have the eXpeed chipset in them.

Engadget reports that the Nikon D90 is now in their stock system too- at $1299.99. So apparently, the sellers know what’s happening but, as usual, Nikon won’t bother telling anyone for a while.

That price, btw, is WITH the kit 18-105mm lens, same as with Circuit City as reported yesterday.

But- the last time I went to Best Buy and asked them to pull up something on their inventory system, I was told, “We might have that…” then after determining that they didn’t, and they didn’t know when they would have it, I was told that I could order it- which is pretty crappy. So I don’t trust their inventory system, but this at least appears to confirm the Circuit City system.

The UPC Database also seems to confirm the UPC that’s shown in the picture.

Wake me when the D3x or something like a digital rangefinder finally shows up.

David Busch of Nikon Digital Field Guide fame (? I’ve never heard of him- I use the Magic Lantern series when necessary) has some commentary and conjecture on the upcoming (? Nothing but rumors so far) D90:

12 megapixel resolution.  To be honest, the D80 had great image quality with its 10 MP sensor, and you probably shouldn’t expect a huge difference with the 12 MP Nikon D90. …

Video recording.  I’ll be interested in evaluating the video clips produced by this camera.  …

PS compatibility.  With GPS features built into point-and-shoot cameras and cell phones, many dSLR owners will come to expect at least the ability to connect a GPS location tagger to their cameras.  If you go this route, you’ll never wonder where you shot your vacation pictures again….

He also has some conjecture on the Nikon D3x, but honestly, if you read this site, there’s probably nothing public that you don’t already know about all of this.

Seems to be way more solid than it had been, so I’m guessing we’ll hear an announcement soon enough.

In any case, that Nikon site that reports any rumor it can find appears to have a scoop submitted by a guy who works at Circuit City.

I’m starting to see more and more reports of the Nikon D90 and thanks to everyone to pointed this one out (Can anyone translate it?):

Nikola writes:

See the link below (this is official Slovenian Sigma dealer and also DSLRs dealer) and you can find a D90 marked as NEW, listed in the price list.

There is no price yet, but it is written that we can expect it this fall.

easyRobin says that you can get 8fps on your D700 if you don’t use the battery grip with a simple, easy procedure:

If you want the higher than standard FPS without the vertical grip, do the following:

First, make the following custom setting adjustments:

e5: Flash only
e6: Flash only
f4: Button press – Bracketing burst
f4: Button + dials – Bracketing mode

Set exposure manually. Activate bracketing with the Fn + Command dial and set 9F (9 frames). Set your shooting mode to single-shot (S). Do not use flash. Then hold the Fn button and when you are ready to shoot, press the shutter release and continue holding the Fn button. The camera will fire up to 9 frames at 8 fps.

To continue shooting after 9 frames, you will need to let up on the shutter release and depress it again. If you fire fewer than 9 shots, you will only be able to shoot the remaining exposures in your 9-frame burst if you continue shooting again, without letting up on the shutter release again.

Since you have set auto bracketing to apply only to flash, your non-flash bracketing burst is fired at your manually set exposure — it is not bracketed.

Have fun, it really works!

Can anyone confirm this?

Mason at Adorama is making some predictions for Photokina 2008. None of them are interesting except:

8. At least two digital rangefinders will be introduced. I’m putting my money on Nikon and Olympus to unveil interchangeable-lens rangefinder cameras based around DSLR sensors. Olympus has already laid the technical groundwork with its announcement of the Micro Four Thirds system, which allows for smaller camera bodies and no room for optical mirror prisms. While the obvious direction is EVFs (see item #3, above), they could drop a bombshell and create a digital rangefinder and a few fixed-focal-length, manual-focus lenses for a lot less than the $5K Leica M8. What do I base my Nikon prediction on? Nothing…I just like to dream.

“Nothing“?! Why must he play with our heart like this? I’m guessing we either won’t see a rangefinder or similar camera or we won’t see it for a long time. I see more P&S cameras like the rumored P6000 to take on the Canon Gx series (like the G9)- My G3 is a gem of a P&S.

A poster on dpReview says:

…[sensor got dirty and] I had Nikon Service in Missassauga Canada clean it and the fee was substantial!

When I picked the body up from service, I was told that a more robust shutter is available and that while I’m still under warranty I should have the work completed. I was told that there isn’t anything wrong with my shutter, but that a “stronger spring assembly is available” which was not installed on my D3 because it is probably an earlier unit.

I’m really hoping that this is spurious. I won’t hit a high number of shots any time soon (too much work, I’m afraid), and don’t care to pay for a new shutter in a few years that could have been replaced now.

Since Nikon is always unnecessarily tight-lipped, we’ll never know which range of serial numbers could be affected- IF this is true.

Thom writes, Engadget et al report:

…Curiously, at a casual glance the only thing that most people will notice different from a D80 is the presence of a much bigger color LCD on the back…

So what is a D90? Well, a 12mp, ~4.5 fps DSLR, basically. On paper those seem like modest boosts from the D80. In practice, they are a distinct notch forward in performance. The big news, however, is that Live View now has a twist that other DSLRs can’t currently claim: it can record video (thus the microphone grill).

We also get a new lens for kitting with the D90: the 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR. Modest in size (67mm filter size), … Essentially, this is a 28-150mm equivalent. Not truly superzoom, but a good compromise between size and reach. This new lens also plugs the VR hole Nikon had in the DX lens lineup (essentially no VR in the kit lenses if you wanted more than 55 but less than 200 at the long end).

To my knowledge, Nikon hasn’t scheduled a press conference for product introduction yet…

Movie mode! So- I suppose they’re dispensing with the physical shutter when used in that mode. I wonder how good the image quality of the video will be- if it was good (I doubt it, but maybe), then maybe there will also be a single-shot totally silent mode…