Nikon's DSLR General Manager interviewed, pans DReb

[NickC]

Interesting short interview at gadget/camera newsblog Engadget with Nikon's General Manager of DSLR systems. Note the part where he disparages the Digital Rebel in favor of his D70. They also ask him straight out about Nikon's decision to encrypt white balance metadata in their RAW files, and he skirts the issue.

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000960042753

I also found the comments from readers were quite fun, and acted as an expectorant for the PR sludge that the Nikon guy heaps upon his company and down our throats.

[mbze430]

bunch of PR BS.

[FlyingPete]

Customer: "I'm looking for a Digital SLR"
Shop Guy: "You want a Nikon D70"
Customer: "What about the Canon 300D?"
Shop Guy: "You don't want that, it has a 1.6x focal length multiplier, the D70 has a 1.5x that is heaps better"
Customer: "Why?"
Shop Guy: "Because the 300D is made out of plastic"
Customer: "Huh? What is the D70 made out of?"
Shop Guy: "It has a better lens than the Canon"
Customer: "Can't I buy more lenses for the 300D?"
Shop Guy "There are far more lenses available fro the D70"

Sounds familar? Head a converataion simular to this once, no way was the customer going to be allowed to by a 300D! I wonder what sort of kick backs N*kon was giving the sales guys?

There seems to be a 'cheat sheet' of why to buy a D70 over a 300D, not sure if it has been updated for the 350D, most of the points are meaningless and misleading anyway, 1.5x being way better than 1.6x, and it is a cropping factor dam it! Yes the 300D is plastic, but what is the D70, oh plastic as well!

/Rant End.

[Jesper]

From the interview:
The D50 is similar to the D70 but has simplified the process of taking images even more so. There’s a child mode, because we recognize that a good number of users of this camera at this price point will be family users, people who want to capture everything from birthday parties to pictures of the kids playing soccer.Child mode ?!? :lol:

[FlyingPete]

From the interview:
The D50 is similar to the D70 but has simplified the process of taking images even more so. There’s a child mode, because we recognize that a good number of users of this camera at this price point will be family users, people who want to capture everything from birthday parties to pictures of the kids playing soccer.

And it needs it (the simplified mode that is, perhaps not the child mode :rolleyes: ), picked up a D70 a few weeks back, not very intuitive, or perhaps it is the Canon in me speaking!

I suppose it drives a bit like the Coolpix digicams. Well if there is a market, better exploit it. How long until Canon releases a lower entry level DSLR a EOS3000D perhaps?

[CyberDyneSystems]

"Nikon D70 is better than DRebel, RebelXT and 20D because it has a 1.5X multiplier which is heaps better than 1.6X"

"Nikon D2X is better than 1Ds Mk II because it has a 1.5X multiplier which is heaps better than Full Frame."


Yes,. it all makes perfect sense to me :lol:

[Longwatcher]

Okay this one is asking for it

idiot PR guy at Nikon wrote...
I daresay there are a lot of people who are used to buying home electronics and don’t necessarily recognize Nikon’s name. We want to change that and let people know we’ve been in the photographic business for almost 90 years. We’re not just trying something new here.
Shouldn't that be "We're just not trying..."

Also in fairness, I note he never mentions 20D (or 10D for that matter), just rebel; which is about the only Canon DSLR inferior to D70.

Sorry had to,
Darn glad this is a Canon forum, I would have to switch otherwise. Not that Canon doesn't have its problems, but at least when we get them to say something it is way more intelligent (at least to date)

[kawter2]

"Nikon D70 is better than DRebel, RebelXT and 20D because it has a 1.5X multiplier which is heaps better than 1.6X"

"Nikon D2X is better than 1Ds Mk II because it has a 1.5X multiplier which is heaps better than Full Frame."


Yes,. it all makes perfect sense to me :lol:


Yea i am amazed by Nikonians these days.. they are comparing with too much invested emotions!!! Honestly if my Canon was inferrior, I would admit it (but I am not a PR person)

[lostdoggy]

Strangely that the PR guy did just KISS Sony's A** for making their CCD for them. Yes they make great glass but tech cripple. They have it all outsourced.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Page seems to be down now ?

[Belmondo]

Page seems to be down now ?


If so, it's back up now.

What dribble. :mad:

They sure didn't want to talk about encryption, though, did they? :lol:

[Longwatcher]

Page seems to be down now ?

I say this jokingly,

That was probably Nikon's advisement on WB encryption arriving.
"take down this page or we will sue your ...."

I say this after noting that over the past few months I have noted a lot of negative Nikon reviews suddenly being removed from web sites, the bigger the faster they seem to disappear. Normally I don't believe in conspiracies, but I do note trends when I see them. Could just be coincidence though.

Seriously, we just overloaded their ability to handle the traffic. What; an actual interview with Nikon rep; and they responded to WB, we must see this...

I am as you have noticed kind of harsh on Noink right now, No reason other then they still don't get it and I am very worried Canon will get same stupid thought in their corporate brain structure. The images belong to ME when they hit the CF card, not Canon, Not Nikon, Not Kodak, Not Adobe; Me, Me, All mine. I shoot RAW because it gives ME more control over the images instead of the camera company.

Just me ranting for a second, sorry....

[PacAce]

Customer: "I'm looking for a Digital SLR"
Shop Guy: "You want a Nikon D70"
Customer: "What about the Canon 300D?"
Shop Guy: "You don't want that, it has a 1.6x focal length multiplier, the D70 has a 1.5x that is heaps better"
Customer: "Why?"
Shop Guy: "Because the 300D is made out of plastic"
Customer: "Huh? What is the D70 made out of?"
Shop Guy: "It has a better lens than the Canon"
Customer: "Can't I buy more lenses for the 300D?"
Shop Guy "There are far more lenses available fro the D70"

Sounds familar? Head a converataion simular to this once, no way was the customer going to be allowed to by a 300D! I wonder what sort of kick backs N*kon was giving the sales guys?

There seems to be a 'cheat sheet' of why to buy a D70 over a 300D, not sure if it has been updated for the 350D, most of the points are meaningless and misleading anyway, 1.5x being way better than 1.6x, and it is a cropping factor dam it! Yes the 300D is plastic, but what is the D70, oh plastic as well!

/Rant End.
I was in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada over the weekend and I overheard a similar conversion at a Black's Is Photography store in the St. Laurent Shopping Center. They had a D70 on sale for CDN $1399 and an XT for CDN $1199. The customer had a D70 in his hand for inspection and was asking about the XT sitting on the shelf. The sales lady who obviously didn't know what she was talking about said that the XT wasn't as good as the D70 because it had a cheap lens. When the customer asked about the 8 mp on the XT vs. the 6 mp(?) on the D70, she replied that the pixel count isn't all that important compared to the image quality you can get from the camera and the D70 puts out a heck of a lot better image than the XT does. It was all I could do the bite my tongue and keep my mouth shut while I was eaves-dropping in on their conversation. When I couldn't take it any more, I just left the store.

[Belmondo]

I was in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada over the weekend and I overheard a similar conversion at a Black's Is Photography store in the St. Laurent Shopping Center. They had a D70 on sale for CDN $1399 and an XT for CDN $1199. The customer had a D70 in his hand for inspection and was asking about the XT sitting on the shelf. The sales lady who obviously didn't know what she was talking about said that the XT wasn't as good as the D70 because it had a cheap lens. When the customer asked about the 8 mp on the XT vs. the 6 mp(?) on the D70, she replied that the pixel count isn't all that important compared to the image quality you can get from the camera and the D70 puts out a heck of a lot better image than the XT does. It was all I could do the bite my tongue and keep my mouth shut while I was eaves-dropping in on their conversation. When I couldn't take it any more, I just left the store.
I'm not as nice as you, Leo. If I hear a sales person feeding someone a line that is clearly an attempt to steer them into making a bad decision, I will say something. If it turns out that a Noink camera is a better choice, I can and will say so. Fortunately I haven't had to do that very often (if ever). :lol:

[Ballen Photo]

"Nikon D70 is better than DRebel, RebelXT and 20D because it has a 1.5X multiplier which is heaps better than 1.6X"

"Nikon D2X is better than 1Ds Mk II because it has a 1.5X multiplier which is heaps better than Full Frame."


Yes,. it all makes perfect sense to me :lol:
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
-Bruce

[PacAce]

I'm not as nice as you, Leo. If I hear a sales person feeding someone a line that is clearly an attempt to steer them into making a bad decision, I will say something. If it turns out that a Noink camera is a better choice, I can and will say so. Fortunately I haven't had to do that very often (if ever). :lol:
I was in a CompUSA store near Washington DC two years ago and I overheard this sales lady giving these two elderly couple the sales pitch for an off-brand LCD monitor (forgot the exact brand name). Clearly the elderly couple knew nothing about computers and monitors. They just wanted to get one for their grandchild, I think it was.

Anyway, when the elderly gentleman asked the sales lady which one she would recommend and why, she point to the 19" off-brand LCD monitor and said something along these lines, "I highly recommend this XYZ LCD monitor because it's not as expensive a Sony but it got the same quality build as the Sony models. As a matter of fact, the CRT that's used in this monitor is made by Sony and is the same Trinitorn unit used in the Sony LCD monitors." :shock:

Now, one thing I won't do is stand by while elderly people are being taken advantage of. So, I turned to the sales lady and asked her if she really knew what she was talking about. I politely pointed out the fact that an LCD monitor does not have CRT in them, let along a Trinitron CRT. Then I suggested that if she didn't really know much about LCD monitors, she should go get someone else a little more knowledgeable about them to help out those nice couple. The sales lady just gave me a blank look for a couple of seconds, then turned to the couple and continued her sales pitch. And the couple stood there and continued to listen to her without even asking her if what I was saying was true or not.

Needless to say, I felt like a fool standing there, with the sales lady and the couple I was trying to help totally ignoring me. I left the store disgusted more with the elderly couple than with the sales lady. At least the sales lady was doing her job. I didn't know what the couple's excuse was.

So now, if I see a personn listening to a sales person giving him or her a load of crap, I won't interject anymore. If I'm still there when the sales person leaves the customer to think it over, I will approach the customer, start up a conversation and then give him/her my 2 cents worth.

[CyberDyneSystems]

.. going a little OT

Here's a quote from another satisfied D70 user...

I tried getting some feedback in the Nikon Forum and here as well before I make the drastic leap. I have been using this D70 for the past year almost on a daily basis. I have read so many books, not only on the D70, but on digital photography as well. My frustration level has grown to the point that I am tempted to unload everything digital and go back to film. I purchased the D70 hoping to get a new breath of photographic inspiration, however, it has done the exact opposite. I am so dissapointed with Nikon and their grand publicity machine for creating all the hype behind the D70, leading consumers to believe that they created the perfect digital masterpiece. I have seen so many great pics taken with the 10D and also seen so many wedding and sports photographers switch to Canon because of the superior image quality. I know there must be something I can do to improve the quality of my D70 pics, but I refuse to accept that after having tried every possible combination of settings and expensive lenses that I don't have one high quality pic to show. Switching to Canon is my last resort, ....

[lostdoggy]

How about NIkon not suppling a full version to Convert their RAW file. How cheap?

[roanjohn]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

It's funny how the guy (interviewer) keeps pushing the encryption question!!!!


Grill Nikon.......GRILL!!!!

Ro1

[Jon]

. . . child mode, because we . . .

He didn't mention the biggest advantage the D50 has - as part of that mode they made it drool^h^h^h^h^hwaterproof!

[roanjohn]

............I heard from a VERY reliable Canon engineer that the next generation Rebel will have a "CAT" mode...............this is from a survey Canon did where most entry level customers buy a digital camera to take pictures of thier cats!!!

Take that Noink!!!!

Ro1

[Citizensmith]

............I heard from a VERY reliable Canon engineer that the next generation Rebel will have a "CAT" mode...............this is from a survey Canon did where most entry level customers buy a digital camera to take pictures of thier cats!!!

Take that Noink!!!!

Ro1

They've also been watching our forum. There will be a special portrait mode where everything is black and white except for the eyes which will be glaring color. That and Lens Works 4 will actually list the 50 1.8 as the nifty fifty.

[Ballen Photo]

They've also been watching our forum. There will be a special portrait mode where everything is black and white except for the eyes which will be glaring color. That and Lens Works 4 will actually list the 50 1.8 as the nifty fifty.
Hahahaha! You Guys are QUACKING me UP! :lol: ;)
-Bruce