One of the most controversial - and expensive - components in autonomous car development looks set to get a significant price cut, with Nikon announcing plans to begin mass-producing LIDAR sensors later this year. The deal will see camera company Nikon build low-cost Velodyne laser rangefinder systems, suitable for driverless vehicles, robotics, UAVs, and other projects.
They say that the best tool is the one that you have with you. In terms of photography, that might mean your smartphone’s camera. With mobile image sensors becoming more and more capable, some might even wonder if there’s a future for entry-level compact cameras at all. Unsurprisingly, camera maker Nikon says there is and its new COOLPIX A1000 and COOLPIX B600 compacts try to prove why.
Nikon is getting into the LIDAR business, with the camera and lens company teaming up with Velodyne on sensors and scanners for autonomous cars, robotics, drones, and more. The deal comes as Nikon invests $25m into Velodyne, though the cash is only part of the involvement the two companies will have moving forward.
Nikon unveiled its Z6 mirrorless camera back in August, and now it has finally announced an availability date: November 16. Once tomorrow rolls around, buyers in the US will be able to purchase Nikon's new full-frame mirrorless offering, giving them a pro-tier alternative to bulky DSLRs.
Some camera makers have more or less conceded defeat to smartphones, shifting their focus and products to professional DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. Others, however, are trying to get back at smartphones by taking advantage of one of the biggest trends in the mobile market: photography. Nikon is one of those and its D3500 is a clear example of that strategy. Dubbed as its lightest and friendliest DSLR, Nikon is positioning its new camera as something for those who want to take their photography to the next level with a quality that smartphones simply cannot match.
Nikon is late to the full-frame mirrorless camera game. Not as late as Canon, who has yet to unveil its new darling next month. That said, fans of the camera maker might forgive its tardiness after Nikon pulled no punches in promising photographers the best it could offer in this department. With two new Z cameras to cover both tiers of the market and a very compatible new mount system, the Nikon Z7 and Z6 could give even Sony reason to worry.
Nikon mirrorless camera details were revealed by the company for the first time this week. They've not quite told ALL the details just yet, but the first wave of the oncoming storm is officially here. Nikon revealed that they are, for real, developing a "next-generation full-frame (Nikon FX-format) mirrorless camera and NIKKOR lenses featuring a new mount." Because everyone wants and loves new mounts, right?
While the smartphone market is preoccupied with Samsung Unpacked and then IFA, the photography world is no less busy. There’s Photokina at the end of September but even before that, Nikon might have something big prepared soon. According to reports, the camera maker is finally embracing modern times with its first mirrorless full-frame camera. While that may still be a month away, some details are already keeping Nikon fans on the edge of their seats.
Smartphones may be nibbling away at camera makers’ bottom lines, but there are still a few things they can’t do. One of those is what photographers lovingly call “superzoom”. Only possible with a not so discreet lens, this remains one of the selling points of dedicated digital cameras. And when it comes to Superzoom, the new Nikon COOLPIX P1000 possibly takes the cake with is 125x optical zoom that will bring almost anything right up to your nose.
It's no secret that most people prefer using their smartphone's camera rather than a dedicated digital camera. That reality has put a big dent in the compact point-and-shoot camera market, so much so that many major camera companies have had to make big changes in the past few years to stay afloat. Nikon is no exception, as the company will soon shutter one of its factories in Asia. The reason, it seems, is increased competition with smartphones.
The testers over at DxOMark have been very busy lately, it would seem. Just yesterday, DxOMark awarded the Google Pixel 2 its highest rating ever for a smartphone camera, and today, the Nikon D850 sensor is setting a new record for DSLR cameras. With so many records changing hands, you have to believe this is a pretty exciting time for DxOMark.
While camera makers like Sony, Fujifilm, and Olympus have found varying levels of success with the mirrorless camera format, Nikon has been more conservative, limiting its offerings to devices that are closer to the point-and-shoot market. It looks like that's going to change soon, as Nikon has said that going forward, all of their mirrorless cameras will be full-frame.