Nikon cancels DL series of compacts

[Paulo Bizarro]

http://www.nikon.com/news/2017/0213_dl.htm

[BernardLanguillier]

Pretty pathetic...

Cheers,
Bernard

[E.J. Peiker]

The mismanagement of Nikon is becoming increasingly concerning!

[BrownBear]

I'm just happy they did it now, rather than release a problem model or cancelling quickly due to problems after a release.  Doesn't remove all the egg from their face, but it makes better business sense this way.  Ask Samsung!

[NancyP]

Too bad. I would have bought one.

[davidgp]

 Related:  Nikon: Notice of Recognition of Extraordinary Loss - http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=116383.0

http://dgpfotografia.com

[Paulo Bizarro]

Indeed it does not look good, when one considers the other news release about the "extraordinary loss".

Focusing in profit, that means producing the more expensive stuff in cameras and lenses, so the DL went out with the bath water. The thing is, I was thinking that that line of compacts could actually fare well, as they seemed to be different from the other "me too" serious compacts...

[alan_b]

Disappointing, the 18-50 would have been unique in the market and I was ready to buy one.  Bizarre also in the context of their release of the Key Mission series into an already crowded segment.  It would be interesting to hear the real story.

[hogloff]

It's not looking good. Their only strong line is the DSLRs and sales are dropping. I don't think the microscopes, binoculars and industrial stuff generates that much $$. They better start innovating if it's not too late.

They are in the restructuring phase which usually takes some time...then they need to start innovating, R&D etc...

Once you hit the big skid, it is very hard to turn around. Wondering if Sony might be looking at things very closely?

[razrblck]

I don't understand, digital compact cameras have been around a long time, how can such a big company have issues for a whole year? And why keep the KeyMission instead, that is one failed product if you ask me. I don't even think many people outside reviewers have it. The Nikon 1 seemed promising at some point, but it hasn't been touched since 2015 and seems now a dead platform.

The DL was the only cool thing they announced. Yes, the D5 and D500 are great cameras, but they were expected and are not really something new. The DL 18-50 would've been truly great and so many people were enthusiastic about it. But now Nikon, the same company that keeps reiterating on the D3000 and D5000 line without a real goal, says that there wasn't enough demand.

Is Nikon even taking feedback? As far as I know it's impossible to let them know what we think, there is a huge divide between shops and regional distributors, and even bigger one between distributors and Nikon top offices.

The company direction is set by people that have no idea what is going on out there, they don't even seem to realize how fast the market is changing. Fuji alone is doing a lot of damage, and Canon is now making sensors that are very close to Sony lineup!

What the hell is going on.

[shadowblade]

Sharks circling a wounded animal.

No doubt Sony, at least, and probably others, have their eye on Nikon's optics/lens divisions. Acquiring them would greatly strengthen Sony's weakest area.

Canon's certainly done a good job catching up sensor-wise. Until they release a 5Ds-type sensor with extended DR and good high-ISO capability, though, they're still behind - without it, they can't release an answer to the D810 or A7r2 and remain very much on the back foot among a significant segment of the high-end camera market. Wouldn't surprise me if that came this year or next.

[Dahlmann]

https://youtu.be/1uyJVCHDlzU
 
Tony Northrup's point of view

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[Paulo Bizarro]

Sharks circling a wounded animal.

No doubt Sony, at least, and probably others, have their eye on Nikon's optics/lens divisions. Acquiring them would greatly strengthen Sony's weakest area.

Weakest area? I don't agree. Sony have been putting out top quality lenses for their A7 series for some time now. They evidently profited early on from the Minolta know-how, and later from their association with Zeiss. Their ZA and GM lenses are certainly very good. One of their latest is an STF lens.

[shadowblade]

Weakest area? I don't agree. Sony have been putting out top quality lenses for their A7 series for some time now. They evidently profited early on from the Minolta know-how, and later from their association with Zeiss. Their ZA and GM lenses are certainly very good. One of their latest is an STF lens.

Weakest is a relative term. Compared to what they've done with sensors and other electronic components, and compared to what Canon has to offer, Sony's optics are decidedly weak and sparse. What they've done with the GM series is good, as are many of their other recent E-mount lenses, but there are still many holes in their lens lineup, and their lack of ability to keep up with demand production-wise is telling. The addition of Nikon's optics production capacity would help a lot, and most of Nikon's best lens designs could also be easily adapted to suit the E-mount (keep the optical components, but change the mechanical and electronic components to suit a mirrorless rather than an SLR design).

[davidgp]

Weakest is a relative term. Compared to what they've done with sensors and other electronic components, and compared to what Canon has to offer, Sony's optics are decidedly weak and sparse. What they've done with the GM series is good, as are many of their other recent E-mount lenses, but there are still many holes in their lens lineup, and their lack of ability to keep up with demand production-wise is telling. The addition of Nikon's optics production capacity would help a lot, and most of Nikon's best lens designs could also be easily adapted to suit the E-mount (keep the optical components, but change the mechanical and electronic components to suit a mirrorless rather than an SLR design).

Maybe the manufacturing plants and expertise will be beneficial for Sony... but I see it more like headache about what to do with the systems... Sony will have three systems: A, E/FE, and F... keeping the three will not make sense... probably A will be the one to left behind since it has lower amount of users... not a popular move...

Anyway... let's see how things evolve... I think Nikon has the ability to get out of this... but time will tell




http://dgpfotografia.com

[shadowblade]

Maybe the manufacturing plants and expertise will be beneficial for Sony... but I see it more like headache about what to do with the systems... Sony will have three systems: A, E/FE, and F... keeping the three will not make sense... probably A will be the one to left behind since it has lower amount of users... not a popular move...

Anyway... let's see how things evolve... I think Nikon has the ability to get out of this... but time will tell




http://dgpfotografia.com

Why would they need to keep the system? Turning an F-mount into an A-mount involves little more than moving a few pins and attaching a different base to the lens. Turning it into an E-mount lens optimised for mirrorless focusing requires a little more work to replace the mechanical parts and motors, but no change in the optical design. They could adopt the lenses without adopting the mount 

[BernardLanguillier]

Companies come and go, who cares? Even if they do go down (which Nikon is far from), their products keep being supported for years.

For now, as a photographer, I still feel that Nikon's cameras and lenses are the best there is for my needs. And that with their best camera 2.5 years old already. I don't care about the rest.

One thing is sure, I won't come to LL to check investment advice.

Anybody interested in an objective analysis may want to refer to this article: http://www.dslrbodies.com/newsviews/the-nikon-q3-financials.html

Cheers,
Bernard

[Martin Kristiansen]

I agree with Bernard on this one. The Investment advice from LL I mean. I seem to remember that consensus was pretty much achieved on LL a few years back that Adobe had made a huge blunder with their subscription model and that they would suffer for it. Turns out they are making buckets of money.

Nikon make great gear and I hope they sort this out. Be very sad to see this brand disappear.

[shadowblade]

I agree with Bernard on this one. The Investment advice from LL I mean. I seem to remember that consensus was pretty much achieved on LL a few years back that Adobe had made a huge blunder with their subscription model and that they would suffer for it. Turns out they are making buckets of money.

Nikon make great gear and I hope they sort this out. Be very sad to see this brand disappear.

Nikon just lost a billion dollars in market capitalisation as their share price plummeted.

[BernardLanguillier]

Nikon just lost a billion dollars in market capitalisation as their share price plummeted.

Probably because some investors read "extraordinary loss" and thought it meant a loss of extraordinary proportion...

Cheers,
Bernard