Nikon D6 is coming?

[atpaula]

Nikon releases its updated flagship model each 2 years, usually.
Now there is more than 3 years since the D5 appeared.
Why is that? Is there going to exist a D6?
Why Nikon started the mirrorless lineup with the Z6 and not with a Z1?
And about the new lenses 14-30mm and Noct? Maybe on summer, not spring.

[Ilkka Nissilä]

Nikon seem to have skipped the minor update (a D5s). The major models in that series (D3/D4/D5/...) are launched at four-year intervals roughly aligned with the Summer Olympics.

The 14-30 is said to be shipping.

The Z6 and Z7 seem to be positioned in the enthusiast body group, roughly comparable to D6xx and D7xx. I would imagine that's where the numbers come from. There will be lower end models (with smaller Z numbers) and higher end models (with larger Z numbers).

[Akira]

The 14-30 has already been shipped, but the initial lot seems to be sold out.

[Hugh_3170]

So in good time for 2020? 

Nikon seem to have skipped the minor update (a D5s). The major models in that series (D3/D4/D5/...) are launched at four-year intervals roughly aligned with the Summer Olympics.

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[richardHaw]

still happy with the F6 

the D6 should come out before the end of this year

[Ilkka Nissilä]

So in good time for 2020? 

Yes, I would expect a D6 to be announced this year (or at least development announced) and released at latest late winter or early spring 2020.

[chambeshi]

There is a parallel thread on FM speculating (which is intriguing) about recent NR rumours. Namely, that the D6 might have IBIS, and a delay with optimizing the buffer. IBIS on a DSLR must still contend with mirror-slap. This leads to the possibility  of a hybrid OVF-EVF, or rather an OVF in which EVF can be seen. Perhaps analogous to Lv. The D850 already set the trend
The rumour about the buffer could mean a higher resolution sensor, thus challenging the buffer.  Nikon appear to have capped the D500 buffer at 200frames to avoid damage if the camera has an AD unheard in a bag (ie like a notorious runaway Accidental Discharge on a  beltfed machinegun). This suggests the buffer with XQD writespeeds are not constrained by a stream of 20mp images (at least at 10fps). Not sure about the limits to the buffer D5, though, at its 14fps but it can get to 200
Anyway, whatever the form of D6 we see by Tokyo 2020, prices of used D4's and D4s's will drop  Also the D5 

[chambeshi]

As per Nikon's tactics, the D6 will be priced up in the stratosphere, but we can expect its features will trickle down into new DSLRs and also MILCs

https://nikonrumors.com/2019/07/03/another-set-of-rumored-nikon-d6-specifications.aspx/#ixzz5y4xLU8fN

Potential announcement in early 2020
Prototypes already in testing
Adding sensor stabilization delayed the D6 announcement
The D6 will definitely not be a "hybrid" camera, but rather a DSLR with some mirrorless features (better video, IBIS for example)
Dual CFExpress memory card slots
.76-78x 100% viewfinder
New Expeed dual processors
Better/improved AF than the current D5
Built-in Wi-Fi
3.2 million dot touch screen, with full touch capabilities
Excellent/improved silent shooting modes

Latest rumour says Nikon will announce their D6 next week - 4 September
https://nikonrumors.com/2019/08/30/nikon-d6-to-be-announced-on-september-4th.aspx/

[atpaula]

I'm so happy with my Z6 that I believe I'll never buy a DSLR again. Even the D6 that was supposed to be released a while ago. But I should never say never.
Anyway, I'm a Nikon user for more than 40 years and don't like to see how it is more and more behind Canon, and even Sony.
Canon announced the development of two lenses in February and I read somewhere that they can be ordered already.
Nikon announced the new Noct one year ago! No signs of it. Ok, they promised it for 2019 and it will be on schedule until Dec 31th.
The PF lenses are not available anywhere.
What happens when customers don't find a product? They tend to look somewhere or something else.
 I do not own Nikon company shares. Just a unhappy user with this situation.

[Netr]

Formal announcement due next week.
https://nikonrumors.com/2019/08/30/nikon-d6-to-be-announced-on-september-4th.aspx/#more-137757

[Akira]

Formal announcement due next week.
https://nikonrumors.com/2019/08/30/nikon-d6-to-be-announced-on-september-4th.aspx/#more-137757

I've always been skeptical about the IBIS in a DSLR.  With the IBIS on, you are not guaranteed that the sensor is always centered when you release the shutter.  In addition, there is no way to know how much the sensor is shifted, so long as you are looking into the optical viewfinder.

[MILLIREHM]

It is good that D6 will be announced (as D5s was skipped), will take time anyway until it is available  it will be 2020 so the regular interval - good that there is some continuiety left.
I am waiting for it to replace my D4S and hope it is a significant improvement over the D5 especially in AF and speed and I hope there wont be flaws. Would not need IBIS and Akira gave me additional sceptical thought. Hope that it does not make issues at least when turned off.

BTW: Currently there is no Z-line camera that can do what the D5 or D500 can achieve in terms of AF-Speed and they are not competitive with the Sony A9, Hopefully a future Z9 will be. Z-line Cameras feel unbalanced combined with "big glass" Superteles btw.

[MILLIREHM]

I'm a Nikon user for more than 40 years and don't like to see how it is more and more behind Canon, and even Sony.
Canon announced the development of two lenses in February and I read somewhere that they can be ordered already.
Nikon announced the new Noct one year ago! No signs of it. Ok, they promised it for 2019 and it will be on schedule until Dec 31th.
The PF lenses are not available anywhere.
What happens when customers don't find a product? They tend to look somewhere or something else.
 I do not own Nikon company shares. Just a unhappy user with this situation.

I second that. And Nikon has made a lot of mistakes and appears to be in a seriously risky position now. Just to add a few points:
The DL-Series flop, No Cooplix P3xx available any more,The Sony RX100 took this field (yes this compact market is shrinking but Nikon lost more)
The Nikon 1 Series had more potential- they failed
The D850, great camera, but not available in numbers until it was somewhat cannibalized (pricewise) by the Z7
Now the Z-Series is far off from being established, there is no lightweight compact lenses on the roadmap so far, there is no native macro/closeup capability  foreseeable (same as it was with the Nikon 1) exacerbated by the fact that the Nikon F System is suffering there as well (no stellar macro lens, very good 60mm, ambiguous 105mm, 200mm still the screwdriver version, 70-180 listed out since years - no replacement)

Good news: D6 will come
Not so good: Latest rumors say that  3 or even 5 SLR lines will be skipped (including the D500) also including those DX models that were important for the mass market and providing compact lightweight combos, they might be gone before the gap is filled.

[fish_shooter]

If a lot of the advancements in the D6 require live view then either the OVF should be a hybrid and offer LV through it or there should be an accessory EVF. Such an accessory could likely be made from the same components used in the excellent Z EVFs. The main question is where/how to attach it to the D6, the flash shoe or something else (recall the flash shoes that fit over the rewind crank, e.g., F2 (may still have one of these). It would be way cool if it could tilt when mounted.

[Ilkka Nissilä]

I've always been skeptical about the IBIS in a DSLR.  With the IBIS on, you are not guaranteed that the sensor is always centered when you release the shutter.  In addition, there is no way to know how much the sensor is shifted, so long as you are looking into the optical viewfinder.

That's true but the movement range is really small; I'm unconvinced that one can really compose with that kind of precision based on the optical viewfinder, anyway. Much of the time I refine the framing in post-processing, rather than work really hard to try to align everything perfectly in areas close to the edges of the frame when things are happening and miss more essential parts such as composition, subject expression, emotion etc.

Personally I don't need this feature but I will use it when the situation benefits from it, if made available. I believe this has been one of the most popular innovations of the recent decade among many users. One can always turn the in-camera VR off.