I'm just curious as to what other people seem to think of Nikon as a company .. ie. the implied level of care for what the customer wants/needs, or their levels of service, product placement ... etc.
Reason for the thread title, is due to a curiosity for CaptureNX2, which Nikon apparently no longer support, nor update now that they have a full release version of CaptureNX-D.
This isn't a place to discuss whether the software is good or bad for your application, there will never be agreement on this as we all want different things in software.
But this is more about how people, or more specifically ... us dedicated Nikon centric types, view the company's recent performances.
I personally have no problem with the products Nikon have on offer at the moment.
It does seem a bit strange that they haven't replaced the D300s with an equivalent model yet(after 6 years with the same camera!)
But of their other products, I don't seem to have the same level of anxiety that all other Nikon owners seem to feel.(that comment is heavily tongue in cheek too tho).
It seems everywhere you look on the internet, on topics of Nikon related chat, 'everyone' seem to have this opinion that Nikon are not producing the products that everyone wants(or needs).
There is way too much chatter on many other fora that Nikon are falling behind all other manufacturers due to their lack of a proper mirrorless camera, or the lack of a D700 replacement and or whatever.
My personal take on this is that it's a load of garbage .. and I think Nikon are at least clever enough to know when to release the right camera type at the right moment .. for them! .. ie. not for us.
Most of the comments of this type will be from disgruntled (former?) owners that probably don't really know what they want anyhow .. or just want something different, no matter what is currently on offer.
I'm yet to read any posts that reflect this attitude on AP tho .. this is really only on other fora that I generally browse through on occasion.
My main beef with Nikon is centred mainly around their software strategy.
They gave us(Nikon software devotees) something to play with and like for it's simplicity, then took it away, without any subsequent management system.
ie. no simple and easy manner to access the files, we'd already created, into the future. Converting them to a non raw format is not a solution, it's more of a problem than anything else.
And with no direct revelation on what their overall vision for the future of their software will be, we're left in the lurch(based on the current interoperability of Nikon's software).
What got me to start this thread tho is another curiosity on Nikon's current software management, or plan, or strategy.. etc.
They said with the release of CNX-D, that once it goes into release status, CaptureNX2 will no longer be supported.
That's fair enough, and hopefully they will replace it with a proper version of CNX-D one day into the future.
What's surprising, amazing, and curious .... deceptive even!! .. is that they still have it for sale on their website.
There is no mention that it's no longer going to be supported, or updated, and as yet have posted any relevant info pointing to this fact on the CaptureNX2 micro site, nor any longer on the CNX-D site.
(it only said so on the CNX-D beta site).
To my mind this is actually deceptive, in that they are willingly selling a product that is already in a 'discontinued' status.
What of their support level for CNX2? ... what if I buy a copy now, and in a few days have issues with it on my newly built PC? What if there's a bug they can only fix with an update(which they've already said they won't do)?
What if I bought a D810 and want to open my raw files with CNX2, thinking that it's a Nikon, through Nikon software .. etc. I'd be mightily pissed off, if I were a total newbie to Nikon .. not having been explained to me that their current flagship software is in a theoretically discontinued status.
I can understand that it could take a little while to update the website pages and systems and whatnot. It's now getting close to a full month tho .. so really no excuses here.
In terms of management, it is looking like Nikon is totally lost. It's been far too long now for any excuses of bad managers that have been severely punished(D800/D600 fiascos) and that new management are at the helm but that the flow on effects need some time to take effect.
The camera line seems ok to me, if Nikon seem to think that this is what customers are buying .. then all well and good.
I'm not a firm believer in Thom's take on Nikon's woes(ie that they need a lot more small compact Dx primes to come good! )
I like Thom, and many times he seems to make sense with what he writes(especially on the topic of smarter cameras ... programmable/connectable/more usable/etc), but I don't think Nikon's primary target is the high end enthusiast amateur.
You would expect that the largest market would be the lower end, very consumer oriented crowd(you know the 18-xxx type lens owners). Any guesses as to why they keep on iterating new versions of 18-xxx kit type lenses!
Sorry Thom, but small Dx only primes (I think) will be more of a limitation/handicap on resources than the panacea for any woes Nikon may be going through.
Nup! more small lightweight primes for Fx is probably a better long term strategy for Nikon to look into.
135 format digital cameras have come down in price to sane levels(thanks in no part to Sony! ), and for proper cameras to compete against the onslaught of the phonecam they need real advantages.
Word has it on Nikonrumors that Nikon have a new Fx camera in the pipeline for this September(Photokina).
You'd think that coming from Nikonrumors it would be more of a certainty to be real .. Nikon's current fixation for Fx cameras make this doubly so too.
On a personal level, I don't care for it either way. In fact as it currently stands, I'm not particularly interested in any new cameras(yet) although I'd love the electronic first curtain of the D810 in some situations .. not enough tho to warrant the update from a D800E.
My main concern is software. Until more is known about where CNX-D is going(to begin with) or they work with other software vendors to allow cooperation with CaptureNX2 edited images .. what I'm doing now is my future plan.
Tried various software again .. LR5 .. yuk! .. C1Pro .. more yuk!
16bit D800 TIFF files for long term storage ... daftness on a monumental scale!
Anyhow, curious as to what other people think of Nikon's current direction(s) too.
Good? bad? ugly? .. don't care?