biglouis
Well-known member
I never say never but so far I have not seen anything in the recently announced Nikon mirrorless camera system which would entice me away from m43rds.
In fact, and I know I'll be shot down in flames for this - I think Nikon have entirely missed the point of mirrorless systems.
To my mind there are two reasons to go mirrorless, (a) reduce weight and size, i.e. m43rds, (b) to leapfrog into larger 'medium format' sensors, e.g. Fujifilm (and sort-of Hasselblad).
In fact, the latter is what I would expect Panasonic and Olympus to do: forget FF and go for MF (especially with Panasonic's link to Leica).
But in any case apart from the fact that so far I see no promise of weight reduction (the lenses for the Nikon system will be relatively larger than m43rds just like Sony mirrorless) or a line up of lenses which would entice me, as a m4rds (and coincidentally, also a Fujifilm GFX) owner, away.
In fact, I reiterate, I really think Nikon has missed the point. The roadmap for their lenses show no long prime or telephoto for the wildlife/sports crowd anywhere. The whole beauty of the m43rds system to me is weight reduction and crop factor. For wildlife, now that the lineup includes the G9 (weather sealed) and the Lumix 200/2.8 (or the Oly 300/4 if that is your desire) the promise of m43rds is of age.
Maybe there is something I am missing and suddenly I will get a light bulb moment? In fact, as an old Nikon shooter I was hoping I'd be wooed away by Nikon. I'd happily use a 300/4 PF for wildlife (plus TCs) and I've always wanted to justify owning the awesome Nikkor 200 macro. I still could with a D500 but I just cannot conceive of not using an EVF for my photography. The analogue viewfinder is a dead technology, imho.
Ah, but you say, what about the FE adaptor, so you can mount all that lovely Nikon glass on these new cameras? Well, I say - adapters are fine but am I really going to rely on using adapted lenses as my primary source of wildlife photography? I think not. In any case the 9fps continuous shooting speed is pedestrian comapred to the top of the line m43rds cameras - and again, I cannot understand this kind of limitation - other than Nikon having made the mistake of falling for the marketing trick of monster pixels which automatically limits continuous shooting speed.
OK, well clearly the Nikon is not for me. But I have to ask - who is it for? Professionals? Street photographers? What kind of enthusiasts?
The fact that it cannot be the basis of the wildlife/sports/action system is very puzzling indeed. Did the Nikon engineers not take a peek at Olympus and Panasonic, or were they so arrogant as to think that as the dominant professional camera systems manufacturer (an increasingly tenuous position, imho) that they knew better?
I often eat my words. As and when I tire of the Fujifilm system perhaps I will want to move into the comparatively lightweight world of Nikon or Canon (in the future) mirrorless. But I also produced a lot of published work with my m43rds cameras (primarily my GX8, as it happens) and my best lens was an Olympus 7-14/2.8 (which I reluctantly sold in order to afford the Fujinon 23mm for my GFX). My heart may love Nikon and Fujinon but my head will continue to say - how much better - if any, are these systems over m43rds?
Tony and Chelsea Northrup have a video claiming conventional DSLRs are going to die out. Well, they may right but they also think Panasonic and especially Olympus are going to feel the pinch of Nikon (and soon Canon) mirrorless. I think they are wrong. Consumers are rational. Some will be die hard Nikon users but as soon as they consider going Nikon mirrorless they are going to look at the alternatives and the value proposition based on features of Panasonic and Olympus are I believe hard to beat.
It will be interesting to fast forward 2-3 years. Three years ago I never expected Sony to end up being the dominant camera systems manufacturer in the world. But I recall 3 years ago people had also written off Panasonic and Olympus. In fact, it seems to me that it is Nikon and Canon who are going to struggle in the future and not any of the other three manufacturers.
Just my two cents and of course highly opinionated.
LouisB
In fact, and I know I'll be shot down in flames for this - I think Nikon have entirely missed the point of mirrorless systems.
To my mind there are two reasons to go mirrorless, (a) reduce weight and size, i.e. m43rds, (b) to leapfrog into larger 'medium format' sensors, e.g. Fujifilm (and sort-of Hasselblad).
In fact, the latter is what I would expect Panasonic and Olympus to do: forget FF and go for MF (especially with Panasonic's link to Leica).
But in any case apart from the fact that so far I see no promise of weight reduction (the lenses for the Nikon system will be relatively larger than m43rds just like Sony mirrorless) or a line up of lenses which would entice me, as a m4rds (and coincidentally, also a Fujifilm GFX) owner, away.
In fact, I reiterate, I really think Nikon has missed the point. The roadmap for their lenses show no long prime or telephoto for the wildlife/sports crowd anywhere. The whole beauty of the m43rds system to me is weight reduction and crop factor. For wildlife, now that the lineup includes the G9 (weather sealed) and the Lumix 200/2.8 (or the Oly 300/4 if that is your desire) the promise of m43rds is of age.
Maybe there is something I am missing and suddenly I will get a light bulb moment? In fact, as an old Nikon shooter I was hoping I'd be wooed away by Nikon. I'd happily use a 300/4 PF for wildlife (plus TCs) and I've always wanted to justify owning the awesome Nikkor 200 macro. I still could with a D500 but I just cannot conceive of not using an EVF for my photography. The analogue viewfinder is a dead technology, imho.
Ah, but you say, what about the FE adaptor, so you can mount all that lovely Nikon glass on these new cameras? Well, I say - adapters are fine but am I really going to rely on using adapted lenses as my primary source of wildlife photography? I think not. In any case the 9fps continuous shooting speed is pedestrian comapred to the top of the line m43rds cameras - and again, I cannot understand this kind of limitation - other than Nikon having made the mistake of falling for the marketing trick of monster pixels which automatically limits continuous shooting speed.
OK, well clearly the Nikon is not for me. But I have to ask - who is it for? Professionals? Street photographers? What kind of enthusiasts?
The fact that it cannot be the basis of the wildlife/sports/action system is very puzzling indeed. Did the Nikon engineers not take a peek at Olympus and Panasonic, or were they so arrogant as to think that as the dominant professional camera systems manufacturer (an increasingly tenuous position, imho) that they knew better?
I often eat my words. As and when I tire of the Fujifilm system perhaps I will want to move into the comparatively lightweight world of Nikon or Canon (in the future) mirrorless. But I also produced a lot of published work with my m43rds cameras (primarily my GX8, as it happens) and my best lens was an Olympus 7-14/2.8 (which I reluctantly sold in order to afford the Fujinon 23mm for my GFX). My heart may love Nikon and Fujinon but my head will continue to say - how much better - if any, are these systems over m43rds?
Tony and Chelsea Northrup have a video claiming conventional DSLRs are going to die out. Well, they may right but they also think Panasonic and especially Olympus are going to feel the pinch of Nikon (and soon Canon) mirrorless. I think they are wrong. Consumers are rational. Some will be die hard Nikon users but as soon as they consider going Nikon mirrorless they are going to look at the alternatives and the value proposition based on features of Panasonic and Olympus are I believe hard to beat.
It will be interesting to fast forward 2-3 years. Three years ago I never expected Sony to end up being the dominant camera systems manufacturer in the world. But I recall 3 years ago people had also written off Panasonic and Olympus. In fact, it seems to me that it is Nikon and Canon who are going to struggle in the future and not any of the other three manufacturers.
Just my two cents and of course highly opinionated.
LouisB