Nobody’s really surprised by the presence of the Nikon D700 since Nikon will announce its successor the Nikon D800 as soon as the beginning of next month (probably on February 7th).

On the contrary, if many people (like me) are waiting impatiently the successor to the Nikon D300s which started to look old; Despite its qualities, the competition progressed a lot in the last two years.

So, is this announcing the demise of the D300s and the presentation of a new Nikon D400 in February? At first, some thought it could be an error (!) but after more than 24 hours on site, the error seems to be here to stay. But we are clearly out of rumors about the Nikon D400.

So, can we try and build a summary of what is known and what the Nikon-lovers must know and understand if they are waiting for their next dream photo camera?

The first thing to notice is clearly the way Digital SLR photo cameras ran one after the other in the Nikon range of cameras. I dare say that I borrowed a camera Timeline built by Wikipedia (See below). This historical approach based on the record of launch dates allows to better perceive how Nikon usually operates:

• Entry-level photo cameras replaced at high frequency
• A much quieter Pro-level range

It is immediately clear that the pro photo cameras are about to be replaced with new models, if only because of the age of the current cameras:

• 3 years for the D3x
• Nearly two years for the D3s
• 3 years for the D700
• 2 years for the D300s

From this poiint, rumors are flaring up quite naturally (just look at how many wrong rumors we collected about the Nikon D400).

But the rhythm seems to speed up with the various announcements seen recently on Facebook, NikonRumors, PCHome (China), Tech.Hexun.com (China too), and a few others.

We long considered as certain that Summer 2011 would see the simultaneous launch of two pro cameras at Nikon, but the Japanese tsunami totally changed the landscape for a company whose main pro camera manufacturing plant was in Sendai (nearly exactly at the center of devastation in March). Nikon quickly reacted and decided to move its manufacturing resources to Malaysia. The latest news tell that machines are now humming with the people you relocated (with the help of special supporting bonuses) and the “Made in Malaysia” production is nearly here (with the same quality as in Japan).

On the other hand, it seems that it transformed the Marketing calendar that Nikon had built in January 2011. All the rumors were concentrating on a Summer with a Nikon D4 and a Nikon D400 (successors to the D3 and D300s). But in the recent weeks, everybody seems to be sharing an expectation of Nikon D4 and Nikon D800 (successors to the D3 and D700). I could not seriously confirm this change but it seems that it could have been dictated by the need to optimize resources leading to something like:

1. Two Full Frame cameras in September 2011 (according to NR, it could even be August)
2. A D400 in January 2012

the only problem of this scenario: The Nikon D800 is supposed to use the Sony digital sensor being readied to power the Sony A99 which should not appear before the end of 2011 (or even the first quarter of 2012).

So, it is still possible that the rumors heard here and there are going to be corrected by facts and that in September 2011 we’ll see a Nikon D4 (with a specific sensor designed exclusively by Nikon with a “pro” label) and a Nikon D400 (with an APS-C sensor shared with the Sony A77 -or slightly modified- and an “expert” label).

Nikon D400

• 24 MP APS-C CMOS sensor from Sony
• ISO 100-51,200 (ext. ISO 102,400)
• New AF
• Continuous shooting: 9 fps
• Full HD video
• In-camera GPS?
• Two SD cards

Nikon D800 or D700s

• 18 MP FF/FX CMOS sensor from Nikon
• ISO 100-102,400 (ext. ???)
• Same AF as D700 or D3
• Continuous shooting: 9 fps
• Full HD video
• CF + SD cards

Nikon D4

• 18 MP FF/FX CMOS sensor from Nikon
• ISO 100-102,400 (ext. ???)
• New AF?
• Continuous shooting: 10-15 fps
• Full HD video
• CF + SD cards

70-300mm VR Lens & 18-55mm Bundled with the D-5000 ($250 Instant Rebate)

18-200mm VR Bundled with the D-90 ($300 Instant Rebate)

24-70 f/2.8G ED mm & 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Bundled with D-300S or D-700 ($700 Instant Rebate)

This offer ends 11/20/2010: Hurry up!

And all the other rebates at B&H.

The Nikon D300s has just been made available that we already offer you the opportunity to see its interest by checking the original/full user manual.

Download the Nikon D300s user manual.

• D300s User manual in English (10.3 MB, PDF file)
• D300s User manual in Spanish (en Español, 11.0 MB, PDF file)
• D300s mode d’emploi en français

In English

En Français

Other languages

The Nikon D3000 is a new entry-level 10.2 Megapixel DX-Format DSLR, the Nikon D300s is a bit higher located, replacing the current D300, and bringing video to the enthusiast SLR photo camera.

Nikon D3000 feature set:

• 10.2 Megapixel DX-format (APS-C) sensor
• Ultrasonic dust reduction system on the sensor
• Sensitivity: 100-1600 ISO + Hi (ISO 3200 equivalent)
• Shutter speeds: 30s – 1/4000s (and B mode)
• Continuous shooting: 3 fps
• Auto focus: 11-point AF
• Metering: 420-pixel 3D Color Matrix Metering II
• Active D-Lighting Image enhancement, for good low light and high light rendition
• Nikon Guide mode: provides in-body user assistance
• In-camera image editing (Trim, D-Lighting, Color Balance, Filter Effects, Monochrome, Stop Motion, Color Balance, NEF (RAW) processing, Quick retouch, Small picture, Red-eye correction, Color Outline, Miniature Effect, Before and After)
• Viewfinder: 95% coverage, with 0.8x magnification (Eye-level pentamirror single-lens reflex)
• Built-in Flash: GN 12 (@ ISO 100)
• Flash sync speed: 1/200s
• 3.0″ LCD screen (230,000-dot VGA)
• Memory card slot: for SD/SDHC
• 485g

The Nikon D3000 is going to be the smallest DSLR made by Nikon. Small is beautiful, small is strong selling argument for entry-level.

See also the Nikon D3000 slideshow.

Nikon D300s feature set:

• 12.3 Megapixel DX-format (APS-C) sensor
• Ultrasonic dust reduction system on the sensor
• Sensitivity: 200-3200 ISO + Lo-1 (ISO 100 equivalent) + Hi-1 (ISO 6400 equivalent)
• Shutter speeds: 30s – 1/8000s (and B mode)
• Continuous shooting: 7 fps
• Movie modes: HD 1280 x 720/24 fps VGA 640 x 424/24 fps QVGA 320 x 216/24 fps (sound with built-in microphone & optional external stereo mini-pin jack (3.5mm diameter))
• Auto focus: 51-point AF (&5 cross-type zones)
• Metering: 1005-pixel 3D Color Matrix Metering II
• Active D-Lighting Image enhancement, for good low light and high light rendition
• In-camera image editing (Trim, D-Lighting, Color Balance, Image Overlay, Filter Effects, Monochrome, NEF (RAW) processing, Red-eye correction, Resize, Edit Movie)
• Viewfinder: 100% coverage, with 0.94x magnification
• LiveView, with specific modes for hand-held and tripod
• Built-in Flash
• Flash sync speed: 1/250s
• 3.0″ LCD screen (920,000-dot VGA)
• Memory card slot: for SD/SDHC and for Compact Flash I (no type II, no MicroDrive)
• HDMI output, USB Hi-speed
• 840g

You will notice the arrival of dual card memory slot capacity (SD + CF), but this comes with the loss of thick CompactFlash (type II) compatibility. You can now forget about MicroDrives (but they are quite old now).

Of course, nobody can miss the presence of HD video capture, with contrast detection AF. This has the potential to make this camera able to really do some video in a usable way even though this is still a promise to be confirmed by facts.

The photo is not very good, but the D300s mark is visible. Little more details on PinoyPhotography.

for me, what looks really interesting is that the picture quality allows to evaluate what this is in a pretty precise manner.

According to me, following my own pro experience in developing products for the largest public market, there are a few signs that will not lie: These images are authentic. On the opposite, it is quite possible that this is not a functional model. I would tend to believe that this is a finished mechanical model built to evaluate the assembly result of mechanical parts. Everybody can judge that the work is quite advanced even if the surface finish of the mold for injected plastic parts is still to be perfected (the surface appearance is not as homogeneous as you could wish on a finshed product even if the grain is nearly final and part-to-part adjustments are nearly perfect -see the flash cover).

Contrary to previous pictures which showed quick and dirty work on the mold of the frontal part (specifically, aroudn the holes for the audio microhpone jsut under the D300s marking), we are in the final stage. Unfortunately, it is impossible to ttell if these images have been shot recently or not. Supposedly, this happened only a few days ago (just before being leaked on the Internet), we can assume that Nikon only has a few weeks of work before getting a mechanical body fully ready for mass production. This would lead to an imminent launch, probably at the end of August to catch the attention of photographers just out of Summer vacations.

We will soon see a Nikon D300s.

Source: NR

August 4, 2009

• Nikon D3000
• Nikon D300s with Full-HD movie 24 fps, improved AF, self timer + mirror-up, cf + sd-slot
• AF-S DX 17-65/3.2-4 G VR with 72(!) mm filter

October 15, 2009:

• Nikon D700x with 24.5 MP, Full-HD movie 24 fps, improved AF and self timer + mirror-up
• AF-S Nikkor 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR (The FX-dream-walk-around-lens?)
• AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II (What everybody waited for! 82 mm filter, 1530 g)
• AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.4G
• AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G (No VR?)

Q1/2010:

• AF-S Nikkor 14-28mm f/3.5-4.5G ED
• AF-S Nikkor 120-450mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR II (Replacement for 80-400? 82 mm, 1480 g)

Q2/2010:

• Nikon D4 with 15.7 MP, improved 1 EV, Full HD-movie 30fps
• Nikon D400 with 13.8 MP, improved 1 EV, Full HD-movie 24fps

Q3/2010:

• AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4G VR (On the waiting list for many!)
• AF-S Nikkor 400mm f/5.6G VR (Have been missing a long time!)
• AF-S Nikkor 70-240mm f/3.5-4.5G VR (The missing medium size telezoom!)
• AF-S Nikkor 105mm f/2G DC (A small surprise. No VR?)
• AF-S Nikkor 24-85mm f/4G VR
• AF-S DX Nikkor 60-95mm f/2G VR (The DX dream-telezoom!)
• AF-S DX Nikkor 17-60mm f/2.8G VR (Replacing 17-55 with addition of VR)
• Nikon Coolpix P1DX with DX 12.3 MP stabilized sensor, 28-85/3.5-5.6 zoom (comparable to FX, actually 18-56), 2.9 inch 920k-display, movable upwards for macro.

Q4/2010:

• Nikon D4X with 30.2 MP with 1 EV improved sensitivity

So, is it for real? Is it a leak? Or is it merely a tediously built list of relatively good expectations/wishes? Hard to say. I would just remind you that this is clearly classified as a rumor.

As always, I recommend not to make your purchase decisions based upon rumors, but based upon the existing cameras and lenses. The best equipment is always the one you use (compared to the one you dream about). Your dream does not produce photos, but your camera will.

Thanks to Mash.

According to the original poster of this Nikon D300s-related information: “Got this video from a friend in France, he works for PR Agency. Could be real deal, could be big prank…”

Supposedly to describe seemingly independent techniques, the article used (this has been changed now) what appeared to be screen copies of the LCD back screen of the Nikon D300s which is still unannounced. Many people expect that under this name (or under the name of Nikon D400) this will be the first camera from Nikon to sport dual Flash cards slots (Compact Flash and SD/SDHC) as was expected from the Nikon D700 body which shows the possibility. It should be a nice replacement for the successful Nikon D300.

Notice the large display. It looks like a 16:9 wide LCD screen. It would be quite nice to ensure that the picture is well preserved while displaying histograms alongside.

Nikon D300s via Nikon Rumours.