It's been so long since I've posted anything here that I had to look at my older posts to remember my naming system. But, there have been a few announcements made by Nikon in the past month or so that have gotten me excited to take the time to sit down and blog, a bit.
First of all, Nikon announced the D610. I found this somewhat surprising, considering it's only been a year and a few weeks since Nikon announced the D600. It isn't uncommon for entry level cameras such as the Nikon D3X00s and D5X00s to be replaced every year, but for a full-frame camera to be replaced so quickly, even though it is Nikon's entry-level full-frame camera, is a little strange. Even Nikon's top of the line cropped-sensor body, the D7000, was out for around two and a half years before it's replacement was announced in February of 2013.
As far as I know, there haven't been a whole lot of changes made to the D610 compared to the D600. That is except for the D610 being able to shoot at six frames per second instead of five and a half; something that will definitely be noticeable... From what I've heard, the biggest reason Nikon released the D610 was because of the problem people were having with oil spots being on the sensor of their D600s due to the shutter. Apparently, Nikon has fixed this in the D610.
Here is a link to Nikon's D610: http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/dslr/d610/
The second announcement that I was initially excited about, was Nikon's announcement of the 58mm 1.4G. But then I saw the price. $1,700. Of course, this lens has Nikon's Nano-Crystal coating, as well as a gold ring around the lens and a maximum aperture of f/1.4, indicating it is a professional grade lens. The reason I was excited for this lens, is because I currently shoot with a cropped sensor body. meaning the focal length of my lenses are all multiplied by 1.5. This crop factor means that this new 58mm would be the equivalent field of view of 87mm, which is only 2mm longer than what is considered the perfect focal length for portraits.
But after thinking, I realized that I'm most likely going to purchase a full-frame camera within a year or so anyway, which would mean I would have the weird focal length of 58mm. It's not really that big of a deal, but I don't know how many 58mm lenses I've seen. For whatever reason, I'd rather just have a lens with a focal length that ends in a "0" or "5." Someone out there understands what I'm saying, I hope. I just feel like 58mm isn't all that common of a focal length. Considering I'll be upgrading to a full-frame body soon, it would make more sense for me to just wait and get an 85mm 1.4G. I would have to buy an 85mm anyway, because that focal length would be missing from my bag after going full-frame.
Here is a link to Nikon's 58mm 1.4G: http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/singlefocal/normal/af-s_nikkor58mmf_14g/
The third announcement, the one I'm most excited about, I don't even know what it is, exactly. Over the past couple of days, Nikon has released a series of videos titled "Nikon-Pure Photography." The first couple of videos, almost none of the camera is shown, except for quick glimpses that last for only a few seconds, at most. By the fourth video, a little more of the camera is revealed, and we're told at the end that the announcement will come on November 5th.
I don't think I can wait that long. I'm not even sure what this is, but I know I need it. I've heard, basically, two different rumors/speculations. The first speculation, which I hope isn't the case, is Nikon is going the Leica route, and this new camera will be outrageously expensive, and won't be in my price range for a long, long time. I'm talking about the decision between this camera and a car.
The second rumor/speculation I've seen, is that this is going to be a very, very simple camera. By simple I mean omitting unnecessary things such as a flash, an LCD screen, and limiting things such as the controls and shutter speed; all things I could quickly come to terms with. I've also heard this camera could be potentially full-frame. If it is full-frame, and reasonably priced, Nikon can count on me buying one ASAP.
One thing that is pretty certain is this new camera will be "retro" looking, which is pretty popular these days. As long as the camera has a manual mode, view-finder, and a full-frame sensor, I'll be set...
Here are links to Nikon's "Nikon-Pure Photography" videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxjTnDxnb7s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6C9gbxBFPU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBzjFkMpWQw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHUQeZP3g88
