New Nikons: D60, Coolpixes, 16-85 VR DX, 60/2.8 Micro AF-S, 24/3.5 PC

[deckcadet]

Well, just a quick pop in to say that Nikon has announced a bunch of new products today:

Nikon D60 DSLR- looks to be a D40x replacement, bundled with the 18-55 VR, 10.2mp, sensor cleaning

A whole load of coolpix point and shoots

Nikon AF-S 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G ED DX VR

Nikon AF-S 60mm f/2.8G ED IF N Micro- new macro lens to replace the old 60/2.8D, with ED glass, AF-S, Nano crystal coat, internal focusing, and two aspherical elements.

Nikon PC-E 24mm f/3.5D ED N- a new Perspective Control nikkor with CPU, and the first of a new PC-E series of lenses with electronic diaphragm control available (on the D3 and D300, older cameras use the conventional preset aperture method). ED glass, nano crystal coat, and Tilt and Shift.

Nikon has also announced the development of two further PC-E lenses, the 45mm f/2.8D ED PC-E and an update to the existing 85mm PC micro, the PC-E Micro 85mm f/2.8D ED.

[Frog]

Quote: Nikon PC-E 24mm f/3.5D ED N- a new Perspective Control nikkor with CPU, and the first of a new PC-E series of lenses with electronic diaphragm control available (on the D3 and D300, older cameras use the conventional preset aperture method). ED glass, nano crystal coat, and Tilt and Shift.

Could you explain what that means to an old guy?

Does the D60 have a focus motor so more lenses will be usable?

[deckcadet]

The D60 continues on without a focusing motor. More and more 3rd party lenses are getting them now, though, and Nikon is clearly working on updating the whole line (except the PC lenses, which never have AF on any brand) to AF-S. In fact, other than a viewfinder sensor that detects when your eye comes up to the eyepiece, a different mode dial, and new name badge, the body is the same.

Another helpful link: Nikon Imaging's D60 Quick Tour

When the digitutor is released I will update the sticky.

Frog:
PC lenses, which stands for Perspective Control, allow for control of perspective distortion (like what you get when you shoot a wide angle shot of a building looking up from directly beneath it) and control of your focus plane, which gives you greater control of depth of field. Some PC lenses only provide shift (nikon's old manual 28/3.5 PC and 35/2.8 PC) for perspective distortion control.

The Nikon 85mm f/2.8D PC Micro nikkor, the current model, offers tilt and shift with a metering CPU with D-chip for flash and metering distance information. It is manual focus and has a mechanically controlled preset aperture- you set the aperture on the lens, focus, tilt, and shift, then you push a plunger to stop the lens down then take the photo.

The new 24/3.5D PC-E ED N features a few new technologies:

1) Nano Crystal Coating-
First on a PC lens. Previously featured on the 300mm and 400mm f/2.8 VR, 500mm and 600mm f/4 VR, 105mm VR Micro, and the 14-24mm and 24-70mm f/2.8 AFS, this coating is designed to significantly reduce or eliminate flare and ghosting when shooting into strong light sources. I can tell you from extensive experience with 3 of the Nano crystal lenses that it works wonders.

2) ED glass-
No PC nikkor has, to my knowledge, used ED glass before, and early reports show that this has had a very nice benefit from this in terms of chromatic aberrations.

3) Aspherical elements and 9-bladed rounded diaphragm-
The 24/3.5 PC-E has 3 aspherical lens elements to correct for aberrations. Very smart of them. The 9 bladed rounded aperture will help (but not guarantee or solely cause) better bokeh.

4) PC-E-
In addition to perspective controls, the lens features a nifty new twist. While the traditional plunger-type stop down method is available, the D3 and D300 allow the use of the electromagnetically controlled diaphragm with stop down signaled by the camera itself. This is big- Nikon has up to this point built every lens to either stop down by plunger/aperture ring or by mechanical lever actuation, as is the case for the vast majority of their lenses. Canon has implemented electronically controlled diaphragms for years, as part of their EF mount design. That Nikon has built this into their new high end cameras and now into lenses where mechanical aperture control would be unfeasible or inconvenient is pretty astounding.

Edit: forgot one!

5) Close focusing-
They also decided to throw in very close focusing, down to 0.21m/0.7 feet, with a reproduction ratio of 1:2.7- much better than their previous wide PC, the 28/3.5 PC.
The Canon 24/3.5L TS-E, its direct competitor, focuses down to about 1 foot, however its reproduction ratio is a somewhat more pedestrian approx. 1:7.

[Photo-John]

Working on posting Nikon's 2008 PMA Press Releases right now. There's a bunch of them!

[Frog]

Thankyou!, Harrison! I can almost understand most of that and now know what to look for to find out more.

[USATorque55]

There's a child mode... come on...



I think we can safely judge who this camera is marketed to.

[AgingEyes]

There's a child mode... come on...



I think we can safely judge who this camera is marketed to.

Does it come in pink?

[jorgemonkey]

Does it come in pink?

More importantly, does it comes with kids who will be perfect models every time?

[deckcadet]

hehehe

Child mode has been around since the D50. I hate digital vari-programs, but then again not everybody is able to understand a DSLR inside and out...

[MJS]

I have not had the chance to teach Geek to all who wish to speak Grasshopper.

[deckcadet]

Yes....
*cue darth vader voice*
"when I left you I was but a learner...now I am the Master!"