Is this the fabled Nikon MX Camera?

There has been some buzz over the past year on a supposed new format for Nikon Digital Cameras, going by the name of MX.

This would bring Nikon’s lineup of Digital SLR type cameras to DX (Crop Sensor) FX (Full-Frame) — and now MX.

Medium Format?

It’s still a bit of a mystery as to whether this will be a medium format system similar in specs to some of the high end medium format backs made by Phase 1, or a Micro 4/3 system similar to that of the newly announced Olympus EP-1.

A medium format system would be welcomed by studio professionals  and commercial photographers who’ve been loyal to the high end Nikon FX DSLR series but are needing even higher resolution files for advertising/print work.

Speculative information suggests that a Medium Format Nikon MX camera would be somewhere in the realm of 45-50 megapixels. It would use a new line of MX prime lenses — starting off with focal lengths of 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, and 110mm.

Or Micro 4/3?

While this would certainly be an amazing camera system that would attract  professionals and many advanced amateur photographers alike, the camera specs currently rumoured are quite far-fetched, listing the camera as having:

• 24.8mp full frame sensor
• 1080p video at 24fps, 30fps or 60fps
• 100% optical viewfinder
• Nikkor 10-70mm f/1.2 lens

Optical design and physics would simply not allow a lens of this focal length and aperture to be possible with current technology. So unless Nikon has invented some incredibly new technology that’s going to take the imaging world by storm, these rumoured lens specs are nothing more than wishful thinking.

A camera of this type — to cut down on size — would more than likely use a Micro 4/3 sized sensor (21.6mm diagonally, similar to Olympus’s EP-1).

Not known for running at the forefront of the megapixel race (as shown by the conservative number of megapixels on their D700 and D3 cameras), Nikon would more likely offer something in the range of 12-15 megapixels. This would enable production of a camera that is both compact and capable, due to the large sensor size, of producing exceptional results in both normal and low light situations.

The expectation is that a Nikon made Micro 4/3 MX camera would also be introduced with several new compact lenses for this format — most likely a short range zoom lens plus 2 or 3 prime lenses, say a 16/17mm, a 35mm, and a 50mm f/1.4 or f/2.8.

A 100% optical viewfinder would be unlikely. For such a camera, this would be difficult to produce. More likely would be an optional optical viewfinder that slots into the camera’s hot shoe. Another alternative is that used on Panasonic’s 4/3rd cameras — a sort of digital/optical hybrid viewfinder.

Which way will Nikon go?

This is anyone’s guess. Personally, I would love to see a Nikon Micro 4/3 MX camera.

There have been countless times when I’ve wished for a compact, yet ultra-high quality camera to take around with me — the tiny sensors on 99% of compact cameras just doesn’t cut it when you’re used to DSLR quality images.

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