Interview (in French) with Nikon R&D Director

[Franglais]

The Director of Nikon R&D gave an interview to a French web site last week. It's here:

http://www.focus-numerique.com/news_id-1725.html

Of course it's all in French. Some of the highlights:

- The sensor used in the D3, D3s and D700 is a Nikon design made by someone other than Sony
- The D3000 and D5000 use Sony sensors (same as in the Sony Alpha) but Nikon wants to use their own sensors as soon as cost allows because Nikon's designs are better
- The D300 is based on a Sony sensor but Nikon has modified it quite a lot
- The Canon 7D is a nice camera. If the clients really want extra definition (18Mpix rather than 12Mpix) then Nikon will follow but there are other factors like sensitivity and dynamic range to take into account before increasing the number of pixels.
- The successor of the D90 will still have an internal autofocus motor because the clients want to use older AF lenses
- The SWM autofocus system (AF-S) works well but it's expensive and big. The system used in the Panasonic G system is cheaper and lighter

Afterthought: I like the interview because Mr Goto talks just the way we do about cameras - except that he knows more about it than we do

[Singletracklovr]

Thanks for translating the highlights.

[Franglais]

He actually said a whole lot more interesting stuff. I shall probably come out with it in the coming weeks as though it was my own idea.. For instance:

"I don't think that Nikon will come out with a medium format camera because the volumes are too small"
"If Nikon did come out with a 4/3 camera - which is unlikely - then they would introduce a new lens mount to take advantage of the new format but I'm sure they would keep on with the F mount"
"I think that all new Nikons will have video"
"Current compacts are quite a long way behind DSLR's in terms of image quality. If Sigma and Leica can produce a compact with a bigger sensor I don't see why Nikon shouldn't do the same"
"The Panasonic G series has done very well in Japan but generally the quality of electronic viewfinders is rather poor. I don't think that Nikon would produce something similar till they could get a good quality viewfinder"