Nikon DSLR gossip

I'm not a great follower of digital gossip - but what are the latest rumours about replacement top line Nikon DSLRs?

I am not at a point where I want to trade to Canon. But during 2005 I would like to upgrade my D100 into a higher spec Nikon - e.g. D2X or an alternative F mount body.

What rumours are out there?

8)

Based on my extensive reading and cross referencing of various online rumour sites, I can say that the D2X will be

Full Frame/1.3 FOV/1.5 FOV

CCD/CMOS/LBCAST sensor, possibly 2 x D2H sensors side by side

A hybrid film/digital, or not

The imaging chip will be user upgradable/upgradable by Nikon/gold encrusted platinum with ruby microlenses.

will use the CAM2000 AF module, or not

$7000/$4500/$3000

Essentially the same body style as the D2H (except if it is the F6 digital/film hybrid...)

Available:

At the olympics

September

October

Spring

2006

That about sums it up

BTW: those who claim to actually know, claim that there are some D2X prototypes disquised as D2H's in the hands of a select group of heavily NDA-restricted pro photographers, and that they will be used at the Olympics.

I have seen a comment that, if the D2X is going to be "debuted" at the Olympics, Nikon will need to get press kits out to the various camera magazines in the next week or so to allow coverage in the "Olympic" issues of the magazines.

I still think Photokina is the best bet...

Here's what Thom Hogan said:

The D2x is late and basically only differs in a sensor from an existing body (AFAIK). The FM3D is one of those one-off designs and I suspect pretty minimalist and likely to be a special edition, limited time product. The D50 has been worked on for some time now (alongside the D70), and the D90 is essentially a D100 replacement so very well may be engineered on that body. Of these, three bodies may use the same sensor (at least two do) as existing bodies, which means that the support electronics is also well known and off-the-shelf. From solely an engineering standpoint, I don't see anything that would hold Nikon from being able to announce four bodies over six months.

 

It's the production side that's more interesting (both for Nikon and Canon, who are fighting for every scrap of DSLR manufacturing capacity they can build at the moment). What I CAN'T see Nikon managing is to ship enough of these cameras in a timely fashion (assuming that they're desirable cameras, obviously). The FM3D will likely sell out it's entire production life the minute it's announced. The D2x will steal D2h manufacturing, and that wasn't enough manufacturing for the early D2h demand, so if the D2x is anything close to what we want, orders will be backed up there. The D100 was produced in the same plant that is now virtually consumed by D70 production, so I don't see where the D50 and D90 production come from. Well, okay, I do: it comes from expanding the plant willy-nilly and having the same set of QA issues that the D70 had when it was introduced. But even then, if I've heard the specs and price point of the low-end camera correctly, I still don't think Nikon has enough manufacturing ability.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp...message=9438799

So we're looking for D50, D90, D2x, and FM3D. Thom usually does a patend and trademark search for the new designations, so Nikon has probably already registered those names.

Cheers

James