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New F6 is out

dirk

dirk

DPRF-Founder
Administrator
Wow, what a surprise...

Nikon is announcing a new analogue body for professionals, the F6!!!

Price will be around 1990 Euro.

http://nikonimaging.com/global/news/2004/0916_02.htm

Great step forward! I love my Fuji Velvia and Provia and still enjoy analogue photography so much!
 
I find this great news. Over the last 2 years the whole industry was only focussing on the digital market. No slowly they seem to realize that there is still a market for film/analogue cameras.

If you compare the price of an F6 with an equivalent body of an DSLR, it is really a bargain. You can shoot tons of slides till you spent the same amount of money for the price difference.

And it is still a pleasure to see really good slide-shows
happy.gif
 
It is around 2.300,00 US$ that`s a lot of money. Anyway an excelent camera. It´s time to save some money!!!. This is going to be the last F series camera!!
 
Dear all
I wonder if Nikon considers to develop a digital back for all top-end film cameras, just like the medium format, or upgrade the old version of SLRD. I can not imagine one could throw away the first version of D1 just because it has only 2 MB chip.
 
While it would be possible to retrofit vintage film cameras for a digital back, it would certainly raise the price way beyond what a dedicated digital SLR now costs. When these cameras were designed, digital was either yet to be thought of or in the case of the F5, about VGA resolution.

The bodies would have to be modified with the necessary digital electronics as well as means of communication between the camera body and the back. This could not be done on a production line, and would be manual hand-work by technicians. Very precise and breathakingly expensive.

Upgrading early dSLRs would certainly be a bit less expensive, but probably still more expensive than a current purpose designed dSLR. While it had a similar sized sensor, it was not necessarily the same as the current DX. If the connectors and contact points are different, it would mean having to remanufacture those parts of the camera. All the electronics would have to be swapped as well, and this may mean a total redesign of the current package to fit in the old body.

While the old embedded processor may be able to accept new firmware and thus accommodate the new sensor, it is nearly six year old technology. Assuming Moore's law is working at its lowest values, one could safely assume that the current cameras operate six to eight times as fast as the D1 and probably faster in fact. Upgrading from a 2.74MP camera to the 4MP of the D2H would offer little incentive to spend the huge amount of money it would take to do so. Few people now would be willing to put up with a 12MP camera writing at 2x or 4x speed to a card or dealing with a buffer the size of the D1 - if it would even accommodate a single 12MP frame.

Again, all this would have to be done by hand. So everything other than the mechanical systems would require replacing - the body and shutter are the cheap parts.

larry! http://www.larry-bolch.com/ ICQ 76620504
 
Thank Larry for the analysis, it sounds logically that both technical and commercial aspects diminish the idea of digital back.

regards
 
The F6 represents technology first seen in Nikon's latest digital cameras, such as the D2H. The fact that Nikon recognized it could build a better F camera with some shared technology from their digital research speaks volumes to their committment to both film & digital users.

Has anyone ever scanned Velvia or Reala? I think you would agree with me when I say the files produced by a good film scanner, and, the output to a good printer, are incredible. Smoother tones, highlight & shadow control, and complete manipulation of the original image. So,you are able to shoot with film and have the advantage of digital; best of both worlds in my humble opinion. Lets face it, digital technology obsoletes itself every 18 months. As good as the pro-level DSLR's are currently, where will their place be in your camera bag be in a year or two? I'm still shooting awesome images (many in B&W)with my F2 and 105/2.5 lens. Nikon should be commended for passing on the latest breakthrough's in technolgy. Personally, I want the best they can offer, and the F6 is exactly what I expected in the evolution of the F series. I have been holding out on going digital as I don't have the need or the time to "correct" images that a high-pixeled, expensive, on-it's-way-to-becomming-obsolete camera has to offer. Yes, I know there are advantages for the professional, especially if you're a PJ or sports photographer, but for the masses, I'm not so sure digital has developed to the point where I'm comfortable,yet. It would not surprise me to see yet another digital format introduced by a major manufacturer. And, I haven't even gone into the issue of long term (25+ yrs.)storage of digital files. I still have over 30 yr. old negatives which I have printed on a Fujifilm Frontier printer (@Wolf Camera) that will knock the socks off of any 6 MP image, at least that I've seen.
Not saying I won't consider digital in the future, just not right now. I feel as though digital caters to the professional and the extreme amatuers (point & shoot). I'm in the middle-very serious enthusiast (have made good money with my equip)who desires the very best image quality. For me, film is still the best option.
From a dedicated Nikon film user for over 30 yrs, "Thank You" Nikon for not holding back on your technological advances.
 
Hi Nick, It is comforting to know that someone else still shoots film and believes in its quality over digital. Having said that an additional digital toy like the D2X wont hurt!!
 
I agree that digital technology has not surpassed the film images as well. I am a pro shooter and use digital because it is convenient - I was recently told I was just plain wrong that film images offer a bit better quality than digital images. This was based on a "test" by none other than Cannon stating that from 100-400ISO they walk all over film images and give film images a run for the money on ISO over the 400 mark. The guy stated he has 20 expertises in the printing industry and based his opinion on an article put out from Cannon and their test results that were printed in image form in Popular Photography Magazine... Not sure if I missed something in the process but most magazines are printed in digital format and at best they were showing a digital rendering of the test results which IMO is worthless as the paper they used to print the information on! I took this one step further and did a test myself - I used a R8 Leica and Nikon D1X - Once the images were processed the results are as plain as the nose on your face. The technology is defiantly improving by leaps and bounds but from the test I did and reading other reputable people in the industry articles that had no bias - digital has not crossed that threshold at this point in time! IMHO! Keith
 
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