Nikon Plans to Release a Flagship Mirrorless Camera Similar to the D5

Nikon Plans to Release a Flagship Mirrorless Camera Similar to the D5

The release of the Nikon Z6 and Z7 has seen a surge in interest for the brand riding in the wave of mirrorless hype Sony have started. Now, with the immediate success of the Z series, Nikon are going to create a flagship pro model.

The new Z series have been selling like hot cakes, but not without their fair share of criticisms. A number of outspoken professionals and prominent names in the industry have voiced their concerns over things like the single card slot, citing it will alienate the professional photographers and steer them away. Well, Nikon were either listening, or well prepared for that eventuality.

Speaking with Japanese website mynavi.jp, Nikon Imaging Business Development Department Director Hiroyuki Ikegami claims you can count on there being a pro model in the Z-line that is similar to the much coveted D5. Now, from what I can garner via Google translate and comments, this reveal was made in passing and not particularly significant to the interviewer. However, the news will be welcome to many photographers who are on the fence about the Z series.

Would a flagship mirrorless similar to the Nikon D5 pique your interest? What features would be essential for this camera to be a success?

Robert K Baggs's picture

Robert K Baggs is a professional portrait and commercial photographer, educator, and consultant from England. Robert has a First-Class degree in Philosophy and a Master's by Research. In 2015 Robert's work on plagiarism in photography was published as part of several universities' photography degree syllabuses.

Log in or register to post comments
95 Comments
Previous comments

True. The tools don't define the professional, the professional defines him/her self with how he/she chooses to use those tools.

I don't understand the fixation on "card failure." Sure, card failures can, do, and will happen. But it's wildly rare. The more important reason for redundancy is the all too common factor of human error that can result in the loss of thousands of images. That is something that's far more likely.

Back in the good 'ol days when we only had one roll of film in a camera and got by, if you lost or destroyed a roll of film you lost 36 captures. With today's cards, it could mean losing 2000 images. The difference AND concerns are astonishingly obvious for a company like Nikon to simply disregard.

I think it may be that photographers feel that human failure is a factor that they have some influence on. You can set up procedures that will minimize the risk of human failure, keep your cards stored in protecting hardcases, discard used cards when they reach a certain age as not to wear them out - all that.

I do all of the above, yet I had a card fail on me anyway - and there was absolutely nothing I could do except reach for the secondary card and download the files from there. Without that second card, I would have been toast.

Oh, and I completely agree on the 36 vs. 2000 images - it makes the claim that having one film was good enough in the good old days, so one card should be enough today, absolutely BS.

You do realize nikon does not market the D750 as a professional camera. It qualifies it as a Enthusiast DSLR.

True, but there is a TON of professionals that uses it anyway - and Nikon definitely know that.

The same goes for the D610 (which I use), but that model is somewhat more specific in regards to what type of pais work you can take on with it - action and sports would not be my first choices, but most corporate work (which is what I do) is perfectly fine.

Let me guess, a Sony A9-like?

"The new Z series have been selling like hot cakes"
... but, they're not even available for sale yet.

If only there were a way to order a camera before it was actually shipping...

Especially an immediately successful one!

We can pre-order a z7 right now.

Like the DL series?

...because it's a Canon. ;-)

Wouldn't buy it because it will probably cost 6 grand. And when did they ever deliver good eye af? Not sure they have the experience to implement it.

Features:
Same knobs and menues as my D850
LARGER - I do not own Hobbit hands and want something decent to grip on especially with telezooms
Lenses that are really PRO f1,4 or even 1,2 for primes f2,8 for zooms.
TWO card slots no matter what format.

The Z series are "Pro"sumer cams to boast for amateurs amongst their friends - my view.
Or for Pros with very special needs - but far away from being a PRO allrounder cam.

The prices are ridiculous for the value - with lens - where's the beef?
What can a photographer [no video] do with the Z that I could not with the D850?

I won't buy a camera that costs as much as my car...which this probably would given the direction that Nikon is going. I love Nikon, but they are pricing me right out of their market.

Agreed, but for the price I am getting at least four wheels on mine ;->> so it is OK for me.

lol...well that's good. I honestly think the price point of the Z6/Z7 is out of whack, they should have entered in below the comparable Sony offerings. A D5 level "Z" will not likely ever be in my wheelhouse...currently figuring out how to swing a D850 and the Z launch did nothing to change that.

How many "professionals", even the same ones that are slagging the Z jumped into a Sony a7, a7r, or waited until the a7ii and a7rii? They had one slot and and then Sony came out with their "pro" model, the a9...how many of these "pros" dropped what they had to get the a9 since they are "pro". To bad there were no "pros" in the film days since you could only shoot to one roll at a time. Who knew professional photography started in the early 2000's.

So much interweb professional wisdom these days, and so much of it is BS. If you like the specs get it, if you don't like it...well then don't get it, pretty simple.

I never understood that argument. Yes, in the film days, you didn't have a backup, but then, the standard evolved and was raised to the point that an in-camera backup is expected. It's no different than how things like medical care have evolved and raised their standards.

Also, in the film days if you botched or lost a roll of film it was 36 images. Today, if a card fails or is lost, it can be many hundreds of images. An extra slot is probably the most cost effective way to provide the most amount of loss mitigation there is. The cost to potential benefit is tiny.

It seems more likely that Nikon issued this release afterwards based on the backlash otherwise why didn't it get announced with the z6 and z7?

I still think Nikon is headed in the right direction with the platform, but they're still ironing out the price to feature list that their customers will tolerate.

I'm waiting to see what Canon does but I'm sure they've been watching.

if they dont release a version soon the A9 will take the position.

Do not worry! They will, but not before the release of the nikon z7s :)

So glad the Nikon Z6 comes with a single XQD slot and not two of those consumer SD slots. I don't need to be paying more for something I never use given I back up directing to a memory card device. Can't wait to get mine, go well with the rest of the cameras, and we'll see how it compares to my GH5S in video.

There is no Z "D5" coming soon. lol. You guys listen to too many rumours.

its what Nikon said themself last week

I'd suggest a slightly different scenario than most of the previous posters. I believe that (based on the price and features) at least the Z7 WAS intended to be a "Pro" camera. But keep in mind that Nikon quietly lent pre-production models out to various pros to get their feedback. I'm sure they heard about the card slots, and the eye focus tracking, etc, and rather loudly.

So I'd suggest that they knew before launch that they had a problem and would have to make some changes. Thus the future "Pro" version was born. Just my two cents worth!

No, a mirrorless D5 would not pique my interest. A mirrorless D850 would have piqued my interest. Nikon tried. Nikon failed. It's as simple as that.

Now the question is how long it takes them to get back to the drawing board and respond with "affordable" bodies that are suitable for professionals as well as enthusiasts because that's pretty much what the D850 represented. Unless you're shooting sports, shooting lots of low light stuff, or taking the camera into a war zone, I don't see why on earth anyone would pay for a D5 over the D850.

"Enthusiast camera", "professional camera", these are all just vague terms that get thrown around. The only thing that matters is what the camera offers at its price point. In this instance, with the Z7, Nikon failed to even beat out the D850 which was released a year ago despite the fact that the Z7 costs even more. What kind of nonsense is that? Regardless of whether a camera is aimed at enthusiasts or professionals, we've come to expect certain things from cameras at certain price points. Something like the dual card slot issue could have been waved away if these were $1000 cameras. They're not. They're $2000+ cameras that are being put into direct competition with products that offer better features. We're not just talking about the dual card slot thing either. Early reports indicate focusing issues, issues with battery life, a ridiculously small buffer, and a host of other hindrances that should not exist for cameras at this price.

Sure, I won't argue that the Nikons have better ergonomics and weather sealing, but what the hell are they going to do if Sony decides to start producing cameras that immediately take that advantage away? It's not rocket science to change the physical form factor of a camera. The difficult stuff is the technology inside of the camera and it's pretty clear from every preview that Nikon is lagging behind here and the fact that they couldn't even successfully play to their own strength of knowing how to be a camera manufacturer that caters to professional needs by incorporating an itty bitty little SD slot next to that XQD slot shows how twisted their mindset is at the moment.

I was really looking forward to what Nikon would come up with, but frankly speaking, these cameras are an insult to everyone who has patiently been waiting on Nikon and trusting them to understand what working photographer want and need. They are also an insult to all of the enthusiasts that will be required to buy these absurdly priced and specced cameras in order bankroll the R&D for the cameras that should have been released in the first place. Yes, Sony had a lot of the same growing pains, but they get a pass because they were paving the way. Nikon had the luxury of seeing every single screw up Sony made, seeing how people reacted to all of them, and despite this information, they decided to just make the same mistakes. Does Nikon truly believe that their F-Mount lens system is so strong that people will flock in droves to overpay for an underperforming camera?

Yes, they've released some great new (expensive) lenses lately, but the current "G" lens line-up is desperately in need of a refresh with lenses that are over a decade old. While I'm sure that there are at least a few people who simply believe that Nikon lenses are the best out there, the vast majority of people who haven't jumped ship to mirrorless despite wanting to have refrained because they don't want to take the hit from trading in the lenses and cameras that they've already invested in. Releasing a body that will likely be priced over $6000 (as would be the case for a mirrorless D5) isn't the answer for these people...

Nikon needs to get their heads out of their asses and release options that are priced and specced to compete in the market.

Oh, and the Leica argument is stupid. Leica literally still sells film cameras that are priced at nearly $5000 and sells f/2 lenses that cost well over $1000 and get away with it. Nikon could never pull that off even if they wanted to simply because they don't have the reputation and mystique to sell ridiculously overpriced stuff like that. It's not a practical comparison by any means. Nikon is a brand for consumers, enthusiasts, and working professionals. Leica is a brand for people who have a lot of money.

^^^ This.

Since almost no one is answering your question:
4k60 internal, 4k120 external,
ProRes RAW over HDMI, SDI or TB3,
8k time lapse auto movie,
better AF,
Eye Focus,
Dual CF Fast slots or a few GB of internal memory,
~$5,000 price,
14 fps,
real, working, fast, easy, built-in WiFi,
flip screen, not just tilt,
TB3 video out, power in

It's like people forget Nikon is a multi-million international conglomerate with huge marketing teams who have been analyzing the market for years before coming out with a new product. If they did not provide a dual slot, it is either because :

a. Their market analysis tells them it is not as needed as Internet forums seem to believe it is
b. It is technologically redundant given the quality of the XQD cards
c. It was not possible for them to provide it from a technical stand point

I think c) is really unlikely and that it is indeed a mix of a) and b). I think only traditional wedding photographers would care so much about a dual card slot and that they should actually look into the XQD reliance levels before making a judgement.

The Nikon line up has always been rather confusing for people, with the low-resolution DX line being considered "pro" and the DXXX line being considered enthusiast. It seems clear that a 48MPX sensor camera is not targeted towards wedding/portrait photographers and that they will come out with a higher FPS/lower resolution mirrorless camera (like the A9 from Sony) in a few months.

I think it was actually probably C) but with the caveat that it was impossible without expanding the size of the body. I'd be willing to bet they had a meeting with high ups that was something like: "We simply don't have space for a second card, we have to make a choice, either slightly expand the body size or drop the second card slot" and the high ups decided that making the body bigger wasn't worth adding a second slot in based on their feelings on the reliability of XQD.

That was the excuse Nikon Canada gave me with the D7500, they didn't have the space in the aim to improve other components and keep the body a familiar size. That wasn't even an XQD but a single SD.
If the XQD cards weren't 3x as much cost it may not be so bad, but they are ridiculously expensive.

They will come down in price as they become more mainstream, just as SD did. At the end of the day, though 3x more money for a far more reliable medium is certainly worth it in my opinion.

I'm sure they will...lol, but give me two of them in each body. ;)

Success is being defined by preorder sales. Using preorder trends as metrics they can easily forecast a successful release. (or not)

If it's $5K and heavier than a D850, then I don't care, as a wedding photographer.

To be fair, most pros don't actually need dual card slots that desperately. When I do any other type of professional work other than weddings, from commercial product photography to architecture and landscape photography, I'm happy to use a single card slot, or shoot tethered straight to a computer...

Wedding photography is one of the few situations in which a shooter would rather have two $2-3K cameras that have dual card slots, than a single $5K camera. And it's gotta have great AF, and great battery life, for those long days and dark reception venues.

OK, I'm done beating this dead horse. I wish I could retire from weddings tomorrow, and just be happy shooting landscapes with a Z7, and timelapse / nightscapes with a Z6, ...but alas.

So glad I opted for the D850 before this came out. The lack of buttons on the back is a huge let down. Cramming most of the functions on the LCD reminds me (and looks like) my D5500 which I'm not a fan of. As it stands I have no desire for buy either one of these cameras. Nothing wow'ed me, all they seem to me are grown up versions of the Nikon 1 J5 with a ridiculous price.
I think the biggest issue I see is Price vs Features vs Performance.... the math simply doesn't add up.

Frankly, I hope Canon does another Big Bang and fully commits to mirrorless across the board, with the next new model of each camera being mirrorless. It won't be nearly as painful as the last Canon Big Bang (from the FD mount to the EF mount), because at least they can provide a tight mount adapter this time. Or, for that matter, the replacement models don't even have to be more compact--they can use the space for some other feature.

The question is will they fix the one card slot and no controls on the grip fiasco?

First step will always be as it is, a first step. I reckon Nikon will have a decent mirrorless system that makes up for all the errors made with the first generation of mirrorless bodies.

Sony never got it right from the get-go, did they?

Canon, on the other hand will have to do something special with their mirrorless system... Hopefully a case of fashionably late to the party?