Nikon 70-200 f4: one of the last advantages Canon had

It is very interesting to observe dynamics in the segment these days. I was tempted by D800 but was not convinced. I did not try D800, but I am very satisfied with 5dmkiii. I was always thinking that the advantage of canon is with lenses and pricing. Canon, for some reason decidd to charge premium for all new products and so Nikon is cheaper now. What about lenses? I always thought that 70-200 f4 is something that makes people stick to Canon (one of the reasons) and now that Nikon has it...along with D600...it is a very interesting situatuon

I am interested to see if their 5 stop VR is as good as promised, I remember Canon wanting to focus on better IS in their next generation of lenses (5-6 stops or so).

Canon still have a 400 5.6 and 300 f4 with IS.... and a whole host of f1.2 lenses that Nikon don't have.

and the mp-e65....nothing like it in the nikon line-up...

And the best TS lenses....and the best long primes....and the 100-400....

Thanks for comments - all fair. I am more talking a future trend, not just the current state.

I love what Nikon is doing these days. Excellent products at similar or lower prices (i.e. D800 vs 5D III, etc.). Hopefully Canon will eventually respond to their impressively aggressive competition and that's a big win for all photographers; Nikon and Canon shooters alike.

Nikon had gotten pretty lax and has been scrambling to catch up the past 5 or 6 years. Some of their new stuff is great and they are solidly back in the game now.... That's good. Canon needs the competition to keep them on their toes. I'm sure Canon will respond in kind, with new products of their own.

amfoto1 wrote in post #15163833
Nikon had gotten pretty lax and has been scrambling to catch up the past 5 or 6 years. Some of their new stuff is great and they are solidly back in the game now.... That's good. Canon needs the competition to keep them on their toes. I'm sure Canon will respond in kind, with new products of their own.

Word. Competition is great for the consumer.

What keeps me in Canon Camp is:

17 TSE L, 35L, 85L, 135L, 400L

What I envy on the other side is:

Dynamic range, 14-24

I used to envy their flashes as well but the new 600RT is pure awesomeness.

Agree with all the above comments. I was ready to move to Nikon with the D800, but with the uneven lens quality and their super high prices, and then the appallingly bad ergonomics of the body itself, I abandoned the thought and upgraded my 7d to 5d3. I don`t think Canon is focused so much on competing with Nikon; it seems like they`ve got some long term plans and are going their own way.

I don`t like the new pricing, of course, but remember the yen is up 20-25% on the dollar and much more than that on the euro...

Hopefully we`ll see the rumored highMP/highDR body next year, which will humble the D800... And likely the new Sony high-end full-frame will force Canon to up their game as well.

As others said : it`s the lenses that other makers can`t compete with (the 14-24 not withstanding)

dopaminer wrote in post #15178065
I don`t like the new pricing, of course, but remember the yen is up 20-25% on the dollar and much more than that on the euro...

Hopefully we`ll see the rumored highMP/highDR body next year, which will humble the D800... And likely the new Sony high-end full-frame will force Canon to up their game as well.

As others said : it`s the lenses that other makers can`t compete with (the 14-24 not withstanding)

I really do not care that much about the yen excuse. For me it only matters that I pay a lot more and yet is not an explanation. If t
toyota would do the same they would be out of the business. By the way, have. Ou seen Q3 reports? Sales are falling for Canon and I am happy, they might learn a thing or two.

light_pilgrim wrote in post #15178100
I really do not care that much about the yen excuse.

I'm not sure 'excuse' is an accurate description. But then, if the currencies of the target markets remain low compared to the currency of the manufacturing location then the camera makers should consider moving production to low cost countries.

The Japanese automakers all started moving their production to the target markets in the 1980's. This limits their exposure to currency fluctuations.

Consumer electronics are in a different boat, although most of them are manufactured in low cost countries. Exceptions being high end camera bodies and lenses.

What I have not seen is this Q3 information placed in context of the market. If they are losing sales and market share concurrently then it means they have issues in attracting customers. If they are losing sales but holding on the market share then it means the market itself is tanking.

One thing I have noticed is that people outside of an industry seldom have any idea what is going on. A major player in the business I am in has been making a huge technical decision mistake that has played out over five years. For most of that time, the media reported their statements as equally valid to their competition and the market analysts never understood the risk.

Now that company has had to reverse course on technology, beg for equipment from a competitor and slash the workforce. They are living on $500M loans and everyone is watching to see if they survive to next year.

Those of us inside the business saw it coming. Everyone else did not. I bet the same thing plays out in every business out there.

I'm not suggesting that any such thing is going on with Canon or Nikon. My anecdote is simply to illustrate how very little outsiders understand about most businesses. I mean, I watched the statements of the stock analysts on all this stuff, and for people who are paid to understand what is going on they sure didn't know anything.

I don't know about Nikon but it seems to me that Canon is concentrating more on video than perfecting a great 1.6x still camera. I love my 7D but, virtually NEVER use the video capability. I would rather have these bells and whistles...

1. Audio recording that can link to the image for taking notes in the field
2. Two memory card slots (my 1990's Olympus P&S had this capability)
3. ISO 50 or even ISO 25 so I would not need a ND filter so often
4. Five shot AEB burst mode to faclitate HDRI shooting
5. Capability to autofocus at f/8 to allow use of my great 400mm f/5.6L with a 1.4x TC while retaining autofocus

I would happily give up the video capability (which IMO is pretty marginal) for the above bells and whistles. I prefer using a video camera for my video work just as I prefer driving nails with a hammer rather than a wrench...

The above capabilities are not earth shaking and are available on other Canon cameras...

i wonder if they rushed to get this lens done after tokina announced they were doing a stabilized 70-200f4 that would be available in the Nikon mount...