21 replies to this topic

[Tom Kauffman]

http://www.diyphotog...ess-ecosyste...

 

Looks like Nikon may be moving towards the Apple and Adobe of proprietary model. If by doing this they limit the ability of users to use third party lenses etc. it will not create good will among current users. I hope this is not true! I have used Nikon since 1969 but have been forced due to lack of funds to get secondary lenses that at Nikon as much as I would have liked to. At least I still had the great Nikon camera body.

[alden]

This is very bad for Nikon to do.

It should help Canon sales immensely, however.

[nbanjogal]

Oh, no…really? Most of us are probably fine for now, but when it comes time for an upgrade? Might as well start over with Canon. Ugh.

 

I hope I don't end up wishing I had bought that Mark III.

 

I don't have any third-party lenses, but I definitely have plans to get some (Tamron 24-70 is high on my list!).

[Upham]

I would like to know why exactly Nikon changed their mount and auto-focus communications mechanism. Maybe they just improved it and Sigma did not keep up

[Tom Kauffman]

Hopefully it will all work out in a reasonable way for Nikon and for users alike. This seems to be a corporate way of doing business currently and unfortuanately will continue to spread. 

[Cliff Hairston]

It's one thing to change due to progress and redesign needs. It's a completely different kettle of fish to change to block. If old Nikon lenses work fine and third-party lenses don't, this sounds like the latter. Nikon should just release an SDK and let the third parties go at it and compete on superior quality. They are already selling the body to people who want it, why not freely let us choose the lenses we want. In some cases, that might not be a Nikon branded lens. 

[Tom Kauffman]

I agree whole heartedly! 

[lana3174]

this should be interesting 

[greenwing]

It's not the first time Sigma lenses have been less than fully-functional with a new Nikon DSLR. It happened with the D7000 and some Sigmas, so it's nothing new. It's difficult to know whether Nikon have made changes to the newer bodies to improve the way their own lenses work, or just to mess up the Sigmas. The bodies certainly remain within Nikon's internal specification, because all Nikkors still work with them.

 

I agree that it would be better if Nikon were to make the interface specification available to 3rd Party lens manufacturers (for a fee, obviously) but they don't do that, and there's no guarantee that Sigma would take them up on it if they did.

[Merco_61]

This is always a risk one takes with the reverse-engineered solutions in third-party lenses. it is definitely not a new thing either, back in the mists of ancient times Tokina had a couple of zooms that needed upgrading to work with the F100 and F5... Nikon have probably found a way to utilize the parameters output from the chip in a new way, and that part of the protocol was not detectable when Sigma reverse-engineered their chip.

[Tom Kauffman]

That sounds reasonable.

[Adam]

http://www.diyphotog...ess-ecosyste...

 

Looks like Nikon may be moving towards the Apple and Adobe of proprietary model. If by doing this they limit the ability of users to use third party lenses etc. it will not create good will among current users. I hope this is not true! I have used Nikon since 1969 but have been forced due to lack of funds to get secondary lenses that at Nikon as much as I would have liked to. At least I still had the great Nikon camera body.

Preventing third party lens support would be like shooting themselves in the foot.  I don't think that's the idea, but perhaps they're modernizing the mount going forward?

[Tom Kauffman]

Thanks Adam, I think you are likely right. Thanks 

[TBonz]

I agree with Adam.  Personally, I think it is probably something that has been built in for years, but Nikon is now using it in a different way or has just started taking advantage of that...I remember years ago a similar situation with a third party computer company that supported all the "currently used" settings of a major company...problem is, most of the settings were for future use and that company totally ignored the fact that they might be used...they said that IF a new setting got used, they would update at that time...it sounds quite a bit like that...

[K-9]

Sounds like someone at Nikon is not doing their homework and sniffing around forums like ours, to see just how many Nikon users really buy 3rd party lenses.

[Tony892]

I hope Adam's suggestion is correct above. From a personal point of view, the abilitiy to use a range of lenses is one of the benefits that kept me with Nikon.

[dubiousone]

I think it would be very short-sighted of Nikon to make changes that affect the user's ability to use third party lenses and for...what? So you HAVE to buy Nikon glass?

[Afterimage]

I think Upham has this one nailed... Nikon made some adjustments to the way the lenses communicate w/ the bodies and Sigma's reverse engineering was not compatible. Notice that the article only specifically mentions Sigma, not Tokina or Tamron?

 

I would like to know why exactly Nikon changed their mount and auto-focus communications mechanism. Maybe they just improved it and Sigma did not keep up

[robertprice]

Just when Nikon where making good progress into Canon's dominence

[Chasing Light in MD]

My Tamron lenses are not having any issues yet ....I hope.  Maybe Nikon is striking back at Sigma for the patent lawsuit they lost against them.