Memphis, US
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Don’t get me wrong, I think Nikon is the greatest camera company, but they sometimes have trouble listening to what photographers need or want. Well if I had Nikon’s ear this is the top 10 things I would like from them…
10. Expand on the “P” type line of lenses. For example P Reflexes 500 & 1000 to take advantage of modern metering. But most of all Nikon NEEDS a wide-angle tilt-shift lens, preferable 84º or wider.
9. Standardize the filter sizes in the lens line. 52, 62 & 77mm are all the sizes we need. Good filters are expensive!
This (problem?) caused me to but my first non-Nikon lens in my over 15 years of shooting Nikons. I bought the 24-85 AF-S when it came out, but after dealing with the 67-77 step–up ring for a month or two I sold it. So when I heard the 18-70 D70 “kit lens” had 67mm threads also, I’m embarrassed to say I bought the new Sigma 18-125 lens just because of the convenience of it’s 62mm threads (I also sold my 24-120 VR when my old 180 f2.8 died on me. Both having 72mm threads. But I did keep my 28 PC lens  . )
8. I love reflexes. There is just something cool about their size and the way they handle, but as I get older and my eyesight weakens I would stand in line all day for an AF mirror. Minolta has one, but given the f5.6 lower limit to Nikon ‘s AF technology I understand why they never came out with an AF 500 f8. But with the on-set of digital SLRs with their smaller DX sized sensors 500mm would be overkill. How about an AF Reflex DX 300 f5.6. It would be about the size of the AF 85 f1.8 D and weigh mere ounces, and every one would the cute little lens in their camera bags.
7. Introduce a small flash such as the SB-30 with iTTL & D-TTL compatibility. The Sb-800 and even the SB-600 are too powerful for extreme close-ups without limiting you to very small f-stop, but as a hot shoe flash it would be more versatile than a ring flash (day light fill, etc.).
6. Bring back or redesign the 70-180 micro. It was one heck of a lens!
5. Nikon, please give me a short TTL flash cord. Why pay a third party twice the price of the cord just to cut it? Better yet make the ends detachable that you can inter change the cords when different sizes are needed.
4. The N90s deserves a true replacement. There is, in my opinon, a huge gap in functionality & quality between the N80 & the F100. The N80s just isn’t up to the specs of the N90s. Its 1/125 flash sync is just to slow for most portrait films with fill outdoors, it can’t use infrared films, no multifunction back, no electronic cable release, etc. The F100 might lack a few features also, but pro cameras (F designation) have traditionally lacked the latest features in favor of robustness and dependability.
3. Nikon telephoto zoom line is short (no pun intended) a mid-aperture zoom. I do a lot of backpacking and there are a lot more things I would like to pack other than a 2 1/2 to 3 pound zoom. The 80-200 2.8s & 70-200 2.8 is just too cumbersome when traveling light. The 70-300 (for which I have owned three) is just too slow. In fact, it provides the dimmest viewfinder image of any lens I’ve ever owned including some slower lenses.
So I have had to build a small collection of the getting rare AF 70-210 f4s discontinued back in 88’ or 89’ just so I can be assured to have one down the road. Technically it is a dinosaur, but what choice do I have until Nikon gives us an AF or AF-S 70-210 or 80-200 f4. Canon has one.
2. Nikon desperately needs to update one of its greatest accessories, the PN-11 extension tube, so it passes the lens data on to the camera body enabling the use of modern metering. If Tamron can do it so can Nikon.
1. I’m primary an outdoor / scenic photographer, and like many others my most used lens for 35mm photography the last 10 years or so has been the 24mm f2.8 with its 84º coverage. This coverage is important to outdoor photographers because 84º is the approximate field of view human vision (with both eyes). The lack of a lens with this coverage kept me from exploring digital for a long time.
Today the only 84º option Nikon currently offers for is the 12-24 f4DX. While the 12-24 is a great lens it is slow at f4, it is really expensive, it is heavy, and the 84º coverage falls inconveniently in the middle of the zoom range.
What I would LOVE is a 16mm f2 or 2.8 DX prime lens that takes 62mm filters. However the industry has chosen to equate all lenses in 35mm terms instead of the more logical angle of coverage. As a result I’m afraid that the marketing folks at Nikon are scared of the 16mm, because it is closely associated with fish-eyes in 35mm. If I just couldn’t get the 16mm prime then I would settle for a zoom that STARTS at 16mm like both Canon & Pentax offer. How about releasing an AF-S DX 16-48 f2.8 with 77mm filters? That I could live with.
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Silver
