Where is Nikon heading?

[Ilkka Nissilä]

Cancelling the DL line is probably a wise decision in the longer run.

Still, since the prototypes were used by Drew Gurian for the advertising campaign, the results looked very nice to my eye, and I had thought of buying the DL24-85 model. There have been no new models in Nikon 1 series in a while. I wonder if that line is sacked as well. Nikon is saying the J5 is selling well in some markets but how long will it be before that sensor is offered in a camera with a reasonable user interface and EVF option?

If Nikon has decided to focus its development resources on  DSLRs and a future FX mirrorless then perhaps this is a good thing, to consolidate the product line and focus on more high end offerings. However, I don't think the idea of a CX compact camera is a bad one. To me it is a great pity that this product line was discontinued without giving it a chance in the market.

[simato73]

Still, since the prototypes were used by Drew Gurian for the advertising campaign, the results looked very nice to my eye, and I had thought of buying the DL24-85 model. There have been no new models in Nikon 1 series in a while. I wonder if that line is sacked as well. Nikon is saying the J5 is selling well in some markets but how long will it be before that sensor is offered in a camera with a reasonable user interface and EVF option?

If Nikon has decided to focus its development resources on  DSLRs and a future FX mirrorless then perhaps this is a good thing, to consolidate the product line and focus on more high end offerings. However, I don't think the idea of a CX compact camera is a bad one. To me it is a great pity that this product line was discontinued without giving it a chance in the market.

To me Nikon 1 is a dead duck - always has been.
Pity for the DL, but as Bjorn said, "Oh well. Money can be spent in other manners, no doubt."
I would have seriously considered the 18-50 too.
What I don't understand is why Nikon keeps making compacts at all.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Now, that is easy. AS R & D costs have exploded in the last decade, something has to pay the expenses and the compacts have been the literal milk cow providing the income to drive product development. Not any more, apparently.

R & D might be 30-40% of the overall costs for a new product. Nikon reps I spoke to in conjunction with the D3 launch in Japan in 2007 hinted at around 25-30% already then. Only product line that should be lower is the endless 'evolution' of DX entry models, either camera or 18-xx lenses. They probably are designed by robots ordered to prune the feature set one by one. Remove two, add one just to give impression of coming up with something 'new'.

Sometimes, for the low-volume products such as esoteric long lenses, one might wonder whether these ever will be profitable on their own. Probably not.

[bjornthun]

Nikon's sale of compacts is almost exactly halved from fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2017, see this from Nikon, http://nikon.com/about/ir/ir_library/result/pdf/2017/17_3qf_d_e.pdf. They go from 6.23 million to 3.15 million units in the DSC compact segment. The fall in the compact market is really brutal, and the other manufacturers must be hard hit as well.

This is sad, since it looked like the DLs would be very nice compacts. I would have liked the DL 18-50.

iPhone and Huawei seems to have nice cameras....

[Ilkka Nissilä]

I would imagine people waiting for the DL cameras to come to the market must have accounted for at least some part of the reduced compact camera sales experienced in 2016. If there is a high profile launch, people get excited and then disappointed when it is not followed up with product availability.

Nikon also made a DX compact camera (Coolpix A) which had nice image quality but it was discontinued. I guess it could not be moved at a price which was profitable for Nikon. I didn't buy it because the AF was slow. I gather the DL cameras, like Nikon 1, would not have suffered from this particular problem.

I have an iPhone 6 which has a nice camera to begin with but a slight knock lead to loss of focusing ability in the camera and thus the camera became useless. Fixing it consisted of replacing the phone in its entirety. Very expensive. These cameras integrated into thin smartphones have gotten a lot better than they used to be, and they are good for e.g. quickly copying notes and sending them by e-mail, but I wouldn't use them for photography as an artistic pursuit myself. The focal length is fixed for one thing and while the image quality is good for some purposes the user interface, time response and image quality in print isn't that great. Ruggedness is extremely poor in my experience.

Nikon seems to be failing to implement a practical and easy to use wireless transfer of images to mobile devices; they get a lot of criticism for their mobile apps and especially Snapbridge. This could seriously affect their image and camera sales as other manufacturers seem to be doing this part better. In desktop applications, the loss of Capture NX2 and its half-hearted (or quarter-hearted?) replacement (NX-D) have been disheartening. Lack of efficient, reliable, live view AF in DSLRs is one area where Nikon is seriously lagging and as live view AF is the heart of a successful mirrorless product, it has greater implications on Nikon's perceived ability to lead technology development than its practical significance in DSLRs is. Nikon should invest in

• software development and take testing seriously
• make a proper wifi implementation in all cameras
• implement AF similar to Canon's dual pixel AF in live view and video
• make at least some cameras with competitive video dynamic range
• make better manual focusing especially in their less expensive lenses
• launch a successor to the D810
• launch a DX or FX compact camera with fast AF
• if they can do the AF bit above, launch a DX or FX mirrorless ILC system
• facilitate reading of full EXIF data with all the camera specific functions in third party software including Adobe

But above all they should test their products, including software, extensively, before launching it on the market.

For me Nikon DSLR products work very well. Mainly I am disappointed with their software, lack of fluid wireless connectivity, poor manual focusing in some of their AF lenses, and lack of reasonably fast live view AF. For my applications the image quality Nikon DSLRs is excellent and the usability for most applications is very good.

[John Koerner]

Cancelling the DL line is probably a wise decision in the longer run. However also a pity as I had set my eyesight on the DL 18-50. Oh well. Money can be spent in other manners, no doubt.

I had actually pre-ordered the DL-18-50, and waited patiently for 4 months, before finally asking for my money back.

I, too, would have loved this camera ... however, as I had already ranted a few pages ago, I think this is ultimately a wise decision on Nikon's part.

There is simply no escaping the fact that, in the days of high-quality cell phone cameras, point-and-shoot (and other low-end cameras) are dying and will soon me dead. Just as digital photography essentially killed film photography, so too will modern cell phone photography kill "low end" cameras and lenses. Cell phones are simply more convenient, and as discussed you can immediately share online (Facebook, etc.), which you can't do with a low-end camera (even a "premium" P&S).

The ONLY cameras and lenses that will survive are going to be the highly-specialized models that can do things no cell phone will ever be able to do (extreme macro, extreme sports and wildlife dexterity, etc.). High-end optics and camera systems will become increasingly valuable and costly ... while "average" quality cameras and optics are, literally, becoming a dime-a-dozen ... and will get less-and-less expensive.

[Akira]

According to Nikkei newspaper (something like the Japanese Wall Street Journal) reported that Nikon tured out to see more voluntary retirements than the company had expected.  There could be significant loss of the R&D section as well.

I would fear that the cancellation of DL might lead to the discontinuation of Nikon 1 series which I still consider a potent format for the still/movie hybrid camera.

[Ilkka Nissilä]

The cell phone camera has many limitations. Long focus and shutter lag. Image quality can be ok if only viewed on other mobile devices; not good in print. No wide angle, no long lenses, no optical zoom (in the models that are popular, the lens has to be ultra thin). Fragile optics; a slight knock can throw off the focusing system and misalign the elements. Very expensive to repair (repair = replacement of the entire phone). Very limited exposure controls available if any. Any dedicated that solves some of those weaknesses is and will continue to be valuable. People might not get it, though.

[Frank Fremerey]

I like Nikon's high line and enthusiast line offerings. I they can make a profit from things like D3 D500 D600 and all the 1.4 and 1.8 glass I own and continue to buy I am more than happy to help them.

I hope Akira's timely translation does not mean the rats leave the struggeling ship...

[MILLIREHM]

Well if Nikon stops the coolpix p3xx series or P510 without replacement and the DL series is not entering the market then one should not wonder whether there are losses beyond those having decreasing market as origin:
I wanted to buy a good coolpix as a present, ended witha   Canon Powershot  finally.

Wonder whether we will see a medium format Nikon - probably not because they are lacking the capacity to develop and sales losses does not make that situation better

[Frank Fremerey]

No MF Nikon. No experience in the field. Good LF glass long ago. No cameras. No chance.

The best FX system in the market already costs a lot of money to keep.

[stenrasmussen]

The masses (read: ex-coolpixers) who provided Nikon with a substantial profit have simply kept up with technology and demand devices which are merging photography with the internet. Wifi and a SIM card are absolute requirements. PERIOD. Nikon MUST adjust and deliver. PERIOD. And these features must work at the push of ONE button. PERIOD.
Crank out 2 mirrorless (one normal and one "deluxe) models with zoom optics. The announced DL line had sensible zoom ranges.

Then follow up with 2-3 state of the art DSLRs AND mirroless models.
Go simple, and please stop all half decent solutions.

[Ilkka Nissilä]

I don't think most people would want to pay for additional SIM cards to give their cameras direct access to mobile broadband network. If they're going to send large files through it the operators will want real money for it. I think the wifi to cell phone approach is easier, and less expensive for the users and for the camera manufacturers as well. If the connectivity to phone is well implemented, it should be sufficient. Problem is that Nikon wants to charge a lot for their best wifi.

[bjornthun]

I don't think most people would want to pay for additional SIM cards to give their cameras direct access to mobile broadband network. If they're going to send large files through it the operators will want real money for it. I think the wifi to cell phone approach is easier, and less expensive for the users and for the camera manufacturers as well. If the connectivity to phone is well implemented, it should be sufficient. Problem is that Nikon wants to charge a lot for their best wifi.

I think they will. This is a feature already in use by broadcasting companies to send live video for news broadcasts. NRK, the Norwegian counterpart of YLE in Finland has used it for several years. Even multiple SIMs in one unit. This should be a pro feature in cameras like D4/D5. Now the iPhone crowd (includes me ) can post pictures to the internet way ahead of professional press photographers.

WiFi is too limited.

[MFloyd]

A SIM card slot was on my wish list for the upcoming D5. 4G and the future 5G networks are capable of handing large files at close to no cost.