In my spare time (;~) I ponder things. Here are some of the things I've been pondering lately:
- When will any Nikon camera get 10-bit HEIF support? (Canon, Fujifilm, and Sony are already there)
- When will any Nikon camera get pixel-shift? (Fujifilm, Olympus, Panasonic, and Sony are already there)
- Where's Nikon going with resolution? (currently stuck at 20, 24, 45mp for some time)
- When will we get competitive DX cameras above the Z50? (Canon and Fujifilm are already there)
- The current Z50 uses a micro-USB (2.0) connector. While it will end up grand-fathered under the new European regulations, it does bring up the question: when will we get USB-C on the Z50, or will we get a Z50 II?
- How many Nikon cameras will we get without mechanical shutters? When is the next one?
- When will we get some form of AF Assist on a Speedlight that can be used by the Z cameras?
- What happened to Speedlight availability? (SB-5000 mostly out of stock, no new Speedlights in years)
- Why does NX MobileAir still suck? (no filtered playback options, no raw, no hashtags, only FTP oriented, silly monthly tithe to have multiple folders and more storage on your own phone are just starter problems)
- How late will the 200-600mm and fast 85mm lenses actually be? (Nikon executives were quoted by multiple sources as saying before April 2022; seven additional months have elapsed with no end in sight)
- When will we see Arca-style plates on lens tripod feet? When will we see the detachable foot improved so that it doesn't detach unexpectedly?
You might notice that a number of these questions imply that Nikon is executing behind other competitors. Not really, as I can create a similar list for every brand. And I'm sure that Nikon would probably claim that the parts shortages and supplier issues are to blame. Still, we've yet to see Nikon be as fast or as nimble as they claimed they would be back in 2019 (before the pandemic started), let alone as fast or nimble as some of their competitors seem to be. This is a friction with potential customers that's clear, and causing angst.
My recommendation to Nikon is that appearing to slip behind competitors at some things means that you have to become more open about what you are doing and how you're addressing that. For instance, in response to #2 Nikon could simply say "Based upon customer requests, we intend to implement pixel shift in some future cameras." That does two things: (1) it says that Nikon has correctly heard a customer demand; and (2) it says that Nikon will do something about that. Most of us are willing to wait when we have clear knowledge that our wants/needs will be met in the (not-too-distant) future. However, some will leave when they feel disrespected as a customer due to repeated silence from the company. It's Relationships 101.
