Nikon

Canon loses SLR share, as Nikon surges

When it comes to the strategically important and fast-growing market of SLR cameras, Canon remained No. 1 worldwide in 2007 but lost share to Nikon, new statistics show.

Canon sold 3.18 million single-lens reflex cameras in 2007 compared with Nikon's 2.98 million, according to a study released Tuesday by market researcher IDC. That represents a 42.7 percent and 40 percent share, respectively, of the 2007 SLR market. It's a much narrower margin for Canon than in 2006, when it had 46.7 percent of the market, compared with Nikon's 33 percent.

Nikon SLR shipments … Read more

Underexposed blog: Links of the day

Megapixel race inanity continues: Sony's 13.6-megapixel W300 - Sigh. Good thing it comes with adjustable nose reduction, because I bet noise is a problem. "Sony bumps up its point-and-shoot cameras to a new height of resolution with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300, the company's first 13.6-megapixel snapshot camera." Panasonic UK Offers 16GB Memory Card Free With L10 Purchase - Digital Camera Info - "Panasonic UK has announced customers purchasing its L10 DSLR through the end of April will receive a free 16GB SDHC memory card." Lens Test: Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF-S - PopPhotoFebruary 2008 … Read more

Underexposed blog: Links of the day

Olympus E-430 rumor: Photography Bay - "Rumors and photos of an alleged Olympus E-430 have surfaced on the web." If true, the wacky, swoopy design breaks new ground for an SLR. Nikon D300 firmware 1.02 fixes rare issue - Nikon says this addresses a problem that "in rare cases, caused vertical bands (lines) to appear in images captured at shutter speeds slower than 8 seconds." Corbis makes marketing push for its microstock site SnapVillage | about the image - Corbis says it will now start to "aggressively target customers, including introducing its first advertisements, launching … Read more

Nikon shows perspective-correction lens prototypes

LAS VEGAS--Nikon just introduced a 24mm "perspective correction" lens, but the camera maker also showed off two new prototypes of the same ilk.

As promised last week, Nikon showed off a new PC-E Nikkor 45mm f/2.8D ED at the Photo Marketing Association trade show here. Also under a glass booth was the PC-E Micro-Nikkor 85mm f/2.8D.

Note that the latter model lacks the "ED" suffix that indicates extra-low dispersion glass used to maximize sharpness and minimize chromatic aberration. Nikon last week employed the ED suffix in describing the lens, but there was … Read more

Nikon announces D60 pricing

Just on the heels of the camera's official announcement, Nikon has now announced official pricing for its new 10.2MP entry-level dSLR. The camera, which will be available in stores in February 2008, will cost about $750 for a kit that includes the camera body, as well as an 18-55mm lens with Nikon's Vibration Reduction optical image stabilization.

Nikon's original announcement of the D60 said that pricing would be available 30 days prior to the camera's availability. Since January has 31 days, and February has 29 days this year, thanks to the joy of the leap … Read more

Nikon D60 offers incremental upgrade

While we've seen some exciting announcements from Canon and Pentax in the last week, and from Sony at CES, Nikon's PMA SLR announcement amounts to an incremental upgrade from its entry-level D40 SLR. The new D60 includes a 10.2-megapixel CCD sensor, the company's new Expeed processor, sensitivity up to ISO 3,200 (Nikon calls it Hi), and a 2.5-inch LCD. Compared to Canon's Rebel XSi, this new Nikon comes in with fewer pixels (though still more than enough for most entry-level SLR users) and a smaller LCD. With its 3-frame-per-second burst mode, the D60 … Read more

New Nikon lenses include 24mm perspective correction model

To accompany the announcement of its new D60 SLR, Nikon has announced three new lenses: the PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED, the AF-S Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G ED, and the AF-S DX 16-85 f/3.5-5.6G VR. The most unusual of the three is the PC-E 24mm, which is a perspective correction lens-- a type of lens that Canon has dominated for a while now with three models, though Nikon already offers the PC Micro-Nikkor 85mm f/2.8D. Canon refers to this type of lens as tilt-shift, since it lets you adjust the angle of … Read more

Nikon adds VR in compact P60

Taking on the popular Canon A720 IS with its update to the P50, Nikon's Coolpix P60 includes some nontrivial enhancements, including optical image stabilization (Vibration Reduction, or VR), an electronic viewfinder (which is unusual in a non-megazoom), and an increase in the zoom range to 5x up from 3.5x.

However, the longer zoom reach comes at the expense of the wide angle: the P50 offered an f/2.8-5.6 28mm-102mm-equivalent range, in contrast to the P60's narrower (though a bit faster at the telephoto end) f/3.6-4.5 36mm-180mm-equivalent range.

Though it uses the same … Read more

Nikon's new budget-priced Coolpix camera

While it doesn't feature an ultracompact metal body like the new Coolpix S-series cameras, or the viewfinder and manual controls of the new Coolpix P60, Nikon's new budget-priced Coolpix L18 stands out as the most affordable of Nikon's new cameras.

The colorful, 8-megapixel L18 sports a large 3-inch LCD screen, a surprising feature in a sub-$150 camera. Besides the large screen, however, the L18 offers a standard and unremarkable feature set, including a 3x optical zoom, 32 MB of built-in memory, and a maximum sensitivity of ISO 1,600. It draws power from two AA batteries, … Read more