Link to YouTube

Here you can see the video recording feature in operation. And a lot of the other fancy features too (fish eye effect!)

Note: Video recording is not only a feature for the stratospherically-priced Canon EOS 5D Mk II.

The first presentations and reviews are coming up now everywhere on the Internet (except in France where Nikon appears to have embargoed the news after an isolated incidents in this country):

• Nikon product page (USA)
• Nikon press release (USA)
• DPreview hands-on review/preview
• Ken Rockwell presentation (with comments on the movie mode)
• Hands-on preview from Nikon D40/D40x/D60 Photog by Simon Joinson
• Richard Kilpatrick
• Photography Blog
• PopPhoto
• ThinkCamera

And an advanced presentation video:

$999 should be quite a nice price for a completely new camera with 12.3-megapixel image (4.5fps bursts) and even a 24fps HD-Movie 1280×720 mode. Standard zoom lens offered in kit will be AF-S DX Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR. You can see it below with this lens and… a GPS unit (compatible with nearly all existing Nikon SLR cameras: D3, D300, D700, D2X, D2Hs, D2Xs and D200).

As I was expected, this announcement is not followed by one for the Nikon D3x. Just the entry-level Nikon D90.

This new photo camera was “seen” (more or less) on the Target.com web site where a single page is describing it as:

• Nikon D90 12.3MP Digital SLR w/ 18-105mm

No photo, no detailed technical features, but the title confirms the size of the sensor and the zoom that will be offered in the standard lens kit.

Official announcement forecasted for August 27th, 2008.

• 12 megapixels with vibration-cleaning of the sensor (rather normal)
• 4.5 frames/s (quite good for an entry-level SLR, no?)
• LiveView vidéo capture (this is really the big surprise; First, I hesitated but it seems technically  sound and repeated a lot)
• HDMI connection (Sony did it first and it’s good on this market)
• GPS connection (we are going to be able to easily geo-tag our photos, but I have no clue how and with which external GPS receiver – a GPS smartphone?)
• The standard lens kit will be based upon the 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR zoom (equivalent to 28-150mm in 35mm/FF)

Of course, such features should be confirmed by Nikon, but nothing can be epxected from them until the upcoming official launch (everybody is expecting it either at the September Photokina or just before it – in a few weeks only).

Last but not least, there is a surprisingly good macro shot of the Nikon D90 camera which is currently floating around the web. I admit it feels real.

Essentially, Thom is saying “3 new SLR cameras before the end of 2008“. And, this would mean that all the probable/expected cameras are coming to fruition in the coming months:

• Nikon D800/D900: A big image version of the Nikon D700 (based upon the Sony 24MP Full Frame sensor).
• Nikon D3x or Nikon D4: the high-end replacement for the Nikon D3 (but the name seems not to be confirmed at all, right now).
• Nikon D90: The camera aimed at the low end of the SLR market. Since Nikon is still resisting to the Canon lower-end (the Canon EOS 1000D is still a little expensive compared to the Nikon D60).

We already knew that it would be named Nikon D90 which is not surprising. But little details are pouring on us about this camera supposed to aim the entry-level customers coming from the bridge cameras and disappointed by the limitations of this type of cheap photo cameras.

If you want a summary, the most notable features should be:

• 12.2 MP sensor (APS-C size)
• sensor cleaning by shaking
• continuous shoot at 4 frames/s
• ISO 100-1600 (ext. 3200ISO)
• LiveView feature on an orientable 3″ LCD screen of 230,000 pixels
• the same viewfinder as on the Nikon D80
• no AF motor in the body (it seems to be now reserved to the Nikon cameras of middle/high range and many entry-level lenses are doing without)
• photo retouching right in the body
• basic light metering 420 pixel matrix)
• price tag a little high: $1300 with the new 18-105mm VR.

But the big surprise could come from the arrival of in-body image stabilisation (rather than in-lens). It would be a major strategy switch at Nikon (probably to optimize lens costs).  If it would lead to a split of lens ranges between an APS-C/DX range stabilized on the body and an FF/FX range stabilized form the lens itself, we would see the creation of two photo lines separated between amateurs and enthusiasts/pros. When we remember that these two customer categories behave quite differently, it has a clear logic; But it would limit the possibility of seeing customers migrate upward.

It seems that most of the original information comes from Thom Hogan’s web site and is fed by countless comments on web forums. However, we saw recently Chasseur d’Image supporting this rumour within its own Nikon D700 rants.

The most common set of characteristics and features seems to be:

• 12 MP sensor in APS-C size (x1.5 crop factor)
• 14-bit A/D conversion and image management
• dust-cleaning sensor
• 3″ LCD with LiveView
• 5 fps shutter bursts

But it looks a lot like a mere marketing evaluation of what Nikon needs to put in its SLR camera range to fight on the current market and to make it fully able to cover all kinds of photo customers. Everybody seems to expect this to be the feature list of a $1300 camera to reach under the current D300 (or the upcoming D700).

Will this be part of an launch event that Nikon seems readying for the very first days of July (maybe 1st of July)?