Re: The Nikon D3 makes everyone's life better, even mine!!!

In article <f9q5t35juqddjfrufq4hhcipls05e4p7ko@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
 Tony Polson <docnews2011@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

> TH O <tho@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> 
> >And best of all, Nikon has introduced planned obsolescence into its 
> >line. We used to be able to use manual focus lenses on all cameras but 
> >now you need an $1800 camera or better (D300) since Nikon has removed 
> >metering and aperture coupling ability from lower end bodies. Which 
> >means that now the customers are more likely to buy new lenses. With
the 
> >D40/D40x/D60, half of the autofocus lenses won't AF on the bodies, so
it 
> >further limits the available used lenses, makes many AF lenses
obsolete, 
> >and leads customers towards new lenses.
> 
> 
> Nikon has been doing this for years.  I was very disappointed indeed
> when the Nikon N80/F80 did not offer metering with AIS lenses.  Within
> a short time, the only Nikon SLR body options for a photographer
> expecting to meter with AIS lenses started with the F100, at a price
> not unadjacent to the equivalent value of today's $1800.

As far as I can see there is no justification for dropping this backward 
capability except to increase Nikon's sales. Is there really any 
manufacturing cost for allowing a D80 to meter through AIS lenses that 
were stopped down? How much would adding the features for AIS lens 
coupling cost to the D80? $3? $5?
 
> So this is nothing new.  What Nikon did was to improve their lenses
> incrementally.  First AI, then AIS, then AF (in two attempts), then
> AF-D, then AI-P, then AF-S, and now VR.  Somewhere in there was AF-P
> also.  So Nikon offered some backward compatibility, but not the sort
> of near-total compatibility that the Canon EF mount has offered.

My point is that many of these changes created unwarranted 
incompatibilities which Nikon has op****tunistically used to make bodies 
and lens obsolete. Today, my concern is that they are consciously 
creating incompatibilities so they can increase lens and body sales. 

> However, let us not forget that Canon abandoned its loyal FL and FD
> customer base (and largely alienated it) with the introduction of the
> EF mount.  At least Nikon has avoided that, going for step by step
> changes that keep most Nikon users on board rather than Canon's one
> step change that turned off a whole community of loyal fans.

Canon certainly abandoned their users with the change. That was what 
brought me to Nikon.