DSLR is Done
I still have my trusty Nikon D850, though I have not shot it for ~2 years now. I’d call it the best DLSR ever made. And it is still a very fine camera with images in the same ballpark as mirrorless, even better in some ways since it is free of horizontal striping problems from PDAF focusing pixels. But I do very much prefer an EVF to a loupe on the rear LCD.
Thanks to reader Tait S for passing along this link.
Nikon to stop making SLR cameras and focus on mirrorless models
2022-07-12
TOKYO -- Japanese camera maker Nikon will withdraw from the single-lens reflex camera business and shift toward digital offerings amid intensifying competition from smartphone cameras, Nikkei has learned.
Nikon's SLR cameras have been widely used by professional photographers for more than 60 years and have come to be seen as synonymous with the Japanese company.
It now plans to focus resources on mirrorless cameras, which have become mainstream products on the back of more advanced digital technologies.
Nikon's cameras have been losing out to smartphones, which increasingly feature powerful cameras. Nikon aims to beat them by offering products with more unique features.
Since June 2020, when Nikon launched its flagship D6 SLR, no new SLR models have been released. The company has already stopped development of compact digital cameras.
From now on, Nikon intends to focus on digital mirrorless cameras, but production and distribution of existing SLR models will continue.
...
Rival Canon also plans to follow Nikon and stop producing SLRs within a few years.
DIGLLOYD: the article contradicts itself: “stop making” and “production and distribution of existing SLR models will continue”. Fake headline for clicks with story details that contradict the headline. Zero sources cited, just “Nikkei has learned”, which isn’t even as good as that fake-news fallback: “anonymous sources”. That’s how nearly all our news is fabricated these days.
Still, it’s surely on the right track, given market conditions: it seems that Nikon is stopping R&D on DSLRs, but will keep making and selling them until it is no longer a defensible business proposition. But isn’t that already obvious?
UPDATE: Nikon has apparently repudiated this report. Looks like my fake news take was spot-on. Which is not to say it is untrue—it might be; it’s that Nikon has not formally announced such a move. This is a great example of how numerous sites replicate fabricated claims from one source, and pretty soon it is all over the internet and everyone believes it. This is how “journalism” operates today, to a large extent.
Nikon: Statement Regarding Today's Media Article
There was a media article regarding Nikon's withdrawal of SLR development. This media article is only speculation and Nikon has made no announcement in this regards. Nikon is continuing the production, sales and service of digital SLR. Nikon appreciate your continuous support.
DIGLLOYD: as I read it, this is confirmation that the article is accurate, since it evades the question entirely, saying only that an announcement has not been made. The response in no way repudiates the claims.
