Recently Nikon gave an interview to the Chinese site xitek (translation) – via mirrorlessrumors
There are few controversial statements, I would like to share here on FujiRumors, because some of their observations touch upon Fujifilm.
- Nikon talks about their future mirrorless cameras and they say it will be full frame, because “FF is the trend“
I’m not sure we can speak of a trend.
The worldwide by far largest camera manufacturer, Canon, has introduced 3 times as many APS-C cameras in the last 2 years than FF cameras. And their mirrorless system is also APS-C.
Sony is pushing its FF system, true, but they are still releasing APS-C bodies too, which, by the way, at the AmazonUS best seller ranking sell usually better than the A7 series. So to me that’s not really a trend to full frame.
- Nikon customer base is very broad, from novice to enthusiasts to prosumer to professional, that’s Nikon’s advantage
Sure, they have a large customer base, but this does not guarantee success. I mean, Nikon, do you remember what happened to Nokia?
I don’t think current Nikon shooters, who are right now considering to try a mirrorless system, will just sit and wait for the day that Nikon finally releases their full frame mirrorless. It’s the era of eBay… selling gear and switching systems has never been so easy.
In fact, in some countries (like USA and Germany) Sony has already surpassed Nikon in the full frame market (read here).
And despite their large customer base, Nikon had to completely drop the (already announced) DL line (read here). So the equation “large customer base = sure success” does not always work.
Moreover, Nikon had to cut 10% of its Japanese workforce (read here) and they reported “extraordinary losses [due to] sluggish and shrinking markets of digital cameras in the Imaging Products Business”.
On the other hand, Fujifilm’s imaging division is consistently making profits and growing.
- Olympus, Sony, and Fujifilm can only cover a small part of that [market]. So far there is no professional using their products – translated by Petapixel
So, Pros don’t use Fujifilm X series cameras or the Fujifilm GFX medium format system? No comment…
Conclusion
To me, Nikon makes the best DSLRs on the market. And I always hoped for Nikon to make a serious mirrorless camera as soon as possible, because competition is a good thing for customers. The more, the merrier. So I’m looking forward to their mirrorless camera and I am sure it will be awesome.
But some statements in this interviews are, in my opinion, wrong… and maybe even a tiny bit arrogant.
If I was Nikon, I’d make my step into mirrorless with a more humble spirit, taking competition seriously and learning from lessons in the past, where giants (like Nokia) quickly lost their customer base because they did not keep up fast enough with the changing market.
It’s good that Nikon is so confident about their products and their future, but they better don’t underestimate other companies, like Sony and Fujifilm.
