Ken Makes it Up: Nikon MX Forecast

Oh good grief- devoid of any serious information, Ken speculates on the Nikon MX medium-format camera system. I’m going to report it because his pointless speculation is now almost funny:

Nikon may have done what we all want, which is use a real 54 x54mm square sensor with a resolution of 6,380 x 6,380 pixels.

This is fantastic; it’s the same size as a mounted 2-1/4″ transparency.

I would sure love my square medium-format back- I miss shooting that way with my hassie. But let’s get real- maybe some day we’ll see something like this, but I think it would surprise everyone.

[11/28 Nikon Pro D3x shots and info]

There are shots (likely real) of the new D3x along with a wad of info in this post.

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[11/27 Price Update]

From a reputable Nikon list:

A friend of mine was in a Kansas City Camera store last week and was told approximately $7500.00.
[/Update]

Ok- we know that “Something BIG” has been announced.

Speculation ranges from a new printer (unlikely, I think) to the medium-format high MP body (the rumored “mx-format”), to a D3x.

I’m guessing it’s the D3x- a new higher MP, decent ISO performance (but not matching the D3) pro dslr body.

Prices are unknown though I’ve just seen 7000euro mentioned. 7kEU in USD is way too high- for that, I could get a digital Mamiya. So let’s presume that it’ll be rouhgly 7k US, which is much more likely, but $6499 sounds better to me.

An interesting note on the price is that if 7kEU is actually the price, and the USD price is a direct translation of about $8750, then that price seems high enough to cover the initial year of likely losses for a new larger chip format like the MX! To make that a little clearer, if Nikon DOES make an MX body, the chip is likely to be extremely expensive since the rejection rates on large chips is high. Typically, the rejection rate goes down over time, so the first year may be a loss, but after that, the process improves and the per-unit cost of the chips go down because there are fewer and fewer rejects. But, I’m dismissing this- I’ll bet $10 on the D3x at 24mp.

We’ve also heard potential: in-body VR (possible… Sony’s been doing it lately and we’ve got it on other Nikon bodies), built-in wifi, weaker anti-alias filter (possible- moving this into software would likely be easy), higher bits per pixel giving us 16bit images (I doubt it), video (not for 24mp, I don’t think), mirrorless body using an electric (EVIL) viewfinder (completely unpossible in a pro body), tweaked AF or more AF points (not going to happen…), higher FPS (not a chance), which items am I missing? Let me know.

I’m intending to keep track as we get closer and closer, if I’ve missing something, please mail me (link at right).

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.

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!