Nikon prepping new low-end SLR?

Nikon's lower-end SLR line is due for a revamp, and there are some signs that it could come soon in the form of a model featuring an articulated screen.

Photos of an SLR with a screen that pivots out and twists surfaced Sunday at the Something Awful forum and Monday at Engadget; the photos depict the production of a Nikon commercial in Eastern Europe, according to the forum posting from "indyjb" and Engadget.

Articulating screens are nothing new; some Olympus and Panasonic SLRs feature them, while some Sony models have a pivoting LCD that can be useful. But newer technology developments in the market make them more useful.

First, pivoting screens are helpful with live view, which lets people compose photos using the LCD rather than the viewfinder; live view makes it easier to take shots with the camera held high overhead or down near the ground, for example, where peering through the viewfinder is tough. More significantly, pivoting LCDs make video easier on SLRs. So far video is available only on two SLRs from Canon and on Nikon's mid-range D90.

The shots show what appears to be a lower-end SLR featuring Nikon's 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 VR kit lens.

When might this new product arrive? Perhaps at an April 14 Nikon press conference in Austria whose invitation Nikon Rumors published.

Update 11:52 a.m. PDT: First, Nikon declined to comment. Second, there's a possibility that Nikon's also relatively elderly D300 will be supplanted by the D400, Photography Bay points out.

(Via Cameratown.)

[john94857]

The two things I have been waiting on the new DSLRs are live view and an articulate LCD. This may very well make that happen. It would be awesome if this is indeed the case!

[Biggnaa20]

I agree.

I bought and love the Nikon D40, but even though I have increased creative control and the pictures look better, I find myself taking less shots than when I take my Canon S3 out. The articulated screen completely changes the picture taking experience for me. I find myself taking more candid shots, better frames shots of myself and shots that i would otherwise have to lay on the ground to take. I've looked at the Olympus cameras, but wasn't ready to drop the $1,500 (at the time).

If this is true, they have sold at least one. To me.

nb

[ewelch]

More important is when is Nikon going to give us a D800 with 24 megapixels? I have a Canon 5D Mark II at work (that supplements and surpasses our 1Ds Mark II) and a high-resolution sensor would give Nikon clear leadership in both high ISO and high resolution with a D3 and a D800 (or whatever it would be called.)

[bugbot42]

I was just about to get a new DSLR, either the Nikon D60 or Canon XSi (haven't decided which), but it makes more sense to simply wait another 8 days to see what Nikon pulls out of its sleeve.

[jjolsen]

Canon has already announced the replacement for the XSi, called the T1i. It has 15.1 MP and does 1080p video. It also has the new 'digic 4' processor. I just bought a XSi, I guess I was early.

[ScottJG24]

I would like to see Nikon come out with the latest D Series that is at least 15 MP. The D90, in which is an excellent camera, is only 12MP. Canon has their Rebel XSi & XTi that are OVER 12 MP (15MP approx).

[make_or_break]

12MP vs 15MP differences is superfluous given the state of technology today. The difference is negligible in real world, to-the-viewer terms. Your bottleneck is still going to be your output device, either printer or viewscreen. PERHAPS if you print out posters on a large format printer, or unless you have a really, REALLY uber graphics card(s) setup with an ultra-super-duper-hi-resolution monitor (still on the drawing board, I understand), no one's going to be able to see the difference.