=========================================================== THE NIKONIAN www.nikonians.com Regular Newsletter http://www.nikonians.com #2 31-MAY-2000 =========================================================== In this issue: 1. Editors Note 2. The 2000 Nikonians Photo Contest 3. Don't forget your member profile 4. Uploading images to my members gallery 5. The new Nikkor AF 14mm/2.8D 6. The Nikon F80 (N80) 7. Nikon and lens delivery problems 8. The Nikkor 80-400 VR 9. What's the price for a new AF 20mm/2.8D? 1. Editors Note =========================================================== Thanks for your interest in our non-profit community for Nikon users. We have been in the Beta Phase throughout the month of May, where over 25 Beta Users have helped out, making it the true community Nikon users need. All these members are listed on a separate page in the community. See: http://www.nikonians.com/html/about/beta_users.html Additionally, over 180 users have registered this month alone and the community have had over 180,000 hits. This shows the sincere interest that exists on the Net to have a place for Nikon users. Nikonians is now officially online. We have received a lot of positive comments and critics on the community - several of the ideas have already been implemented, whereas other contributions are still in the works. This is a dynamic process and the community will be updated at a fast pace. On top of this, we are tying-in with the best resources on the Net to be able to provide our users with an increasing amount of quality information. More on this will be included in the next newsletter. The community will continously improve and we are happy to see so many users making our vision come true: A friendly place where Nikon users exchange ideas and hints, have their photographs on display, provide useful articles and participate in the monthly contests. Once again, we sincerely thank you for your interest. Bo Stahlbrandt (bo@nikonians.com) / Germany Jose Ramon Palacios (jrp@nikonians.com) / Mexico 31-May-2000 2. The 2000 Nikonians Photo Contest =========================================================== The contest for the month of June is now open for all registered members. The winner will be elected by the members through a voting system. Once a year, the Nikonians Masters Society, composed of outstanding professional and distinguished amateur photographers around the world will select among the monthly winners the winner of the Nikonians Annual Photo Contest. The winner of this contest will receive various Nikon and Nikon related equipment exceeding a value of 10,000 US Dollars. For more information on the contest, please see: http://www.nikonians.com/html/contests 3. Don't forget your member profile =========================================================== If you're a registerd user, you can update your user profile to include some info on the gear you have so that other members can see it as well. It's easy, just login, go to the "Discussions" and click the "User" icon in the lobby (it's on the top of the page). 4. Uploading images to my members gallery =========================================================== Currently, members cannot upload images to the members gallery directly - this will likely change in the near future. You have to send the images to info@nikonians.com. The following procedure should be followed: 1. Send up to 9 JPEG images. 2. Include the following information for each picture: a) Title of picture b) Camera c) Lens d) Apperture - if available e) Shutter speed - if available f) Film g) Date h) Location i) Additional info - if available Images shall be digital images in a JPEG format, not larger than 800 x 600 pixels and smaller than 70KByte in size. Nikonians may digitally manipulate the images in terms of size, however, no alteration will be made as to their brilliance, contrast, gamma, hue and sharpness as received. We create thumbnails of received images. Typically, your images will be available to the community within max 5 days. The images will be located in the section "Nikonians - Our Member Galleries" in your own subdirectory named after you. 5. The new Nikkor AF 14mm/2.8D =========================================================== This lens targets the D1 user. It's (of course) an extreme wide angle, with some 21.7mm on the D1 using the focal length multiplier of the D1. It will probably have a street price of some 1,800 USD and according to rumours and will likely be available this summer (July?) This is then not an AFS, but likely a nice one for sure. At this focal length, AFS would be pretty useless anyway. You may view additional data on this lens here: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0005/00052401nikkor14mm.asp 6. The Nikon F80 (N80) =========================================================== Both Ritz Camera (http://www.ritzcamera.com) and Camera World (http://www.cameraworld.com) had a limited number of F80's (N80's) in stock and some Nikonians were happy to get a body there. It now seems like they're out of stock on this item. In Germany, the stores are still empty and in France the situation is no better. In Japan, you can get it, but at a price well exceeding the street price in the US (over 650 USD). First user responses on the F80 say that they do like it, even if it's a "bit plastic". Some users have reported problems with the camera, esp. the electronics seems to cause some havoc. There's a lively discussion going on regarding the F80 at: http://www.nikonians.com/dcforum/DCForumID5/1.html 7. Nikon and lens delivery problems =========================================================== Looks like several stores are running low on consumer Nikkors. It's still not clear if this is an artificial drain or if Nikon is really having supply problems. Even common, great lenses such as the 85mm/1.8 seems to become hard-to-get items. If you have had any problems getting your Nikkor lately, check out http://www.nikonians.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=list&forum=DCForumID6 8. The Nikkor 80-400 VR =========================================================== Is Nikon playing the MS game here? Early announcement and then no delivery seems to be the rule regarding this lens. So far, no one in the community seems to have been able to get a chance to buy this item. 9. What's the price for a new AF 20mm/2.8D? =========================================================== The price for the fabolous AF 20mm/2.8D seems to vary a lot depending on where you get it. We have had prices ranging from 380 to 800 USD plus for this item! http://www.nikonians.com/dcforum/DCForumID6/1.html =========================================================== If you have any questions regarding this newsletter, please send an email to editorial@nikonians.com You receive THE NIKONIAN because you have requested it. We hope you find it useful, however, if you'd like your name to be removed from the newsletter, you can simply do so at any time from the main page at our community: http://www.nikonians.com