If Nikon wanted an UW advantage why not a new Nikonos?

It was the greatest UW camera that has been made. Rarely leaked, had lenses suited to the environment and produced excellent photo's in it's day.

I still have an old 3 under the bed and still have a soft spot for the engineering that went into them.

If Olympus is bringing back the OM1 (OM5) why not a Nikonos?

I miss my Nik V

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If you are getting all sentimental about the Nikonos-V I have one listed on Ebay. Item #280843426558 Check it out it is in great shape and has a bunch of accessories including Nikonos Strobe.

Ardy:

It was the greatest UW camera that has been made. Rarely leaked, had lenses suited to the environment and produced excellent photo's in it's day.

I still have an old 3 under the bed and still have a soft spot for the engineering that went into them.

If Olympus is bringing back the OM1 (OM5) why not a Nikonos?

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Wow I'm totally the opposite, I don't miss the guess'omatic focusing, the metal framer for the macro, the 36 exposure waiting for a few days (weeks) for the Kodachrome to come back, the temperamental advance lever design, etc, etc.

Now, if they can give me instant reviewing of my work, 200+ images, through the lens viewing, interchangeable lens that goes from fisheye to radical macro, that can shoot both video and still and has good ergonomics then I would buy it right now and then and... but wait a second here, hold on, I actually did, its called a DSLR in a housing.

When Nikon and Canon came out with auto focus SLR, the were building the coffin for the Nikonos, when the Digital SLR got introduced they where nailing lid on, it would make no sense for Nikon to get a dedicated underwater specific camera system such as a Digital RS nowadays, too much of R&D for the return on their money, they would rather sell off-the-shelf DSLR to users who put them in housing later on, no liabillity, no shortlived digital camera body being left behind because technology made a leap ahead. and then the compact revolution came in, and that cremated the Nikonos concept before bulldozing it under its proverbial 6Ft under.

Don't get me wrong, I still have a couple of V's and the whole I, II, III and even this despiteful excuse of a camera, the yuckinos IV, and I am very fond of the time I spent with them and still use images done with them, but I don't miss 8 track cassette, rotary dial phones or VHS either.

Viz'art:

Wow I'm totally the opposite, I don't miss the guess'omatic focusing, the metal framer for the macro, the 36 exposure waiting for a few days (weeks) for the Kodachrome to come back, the temperamental advance lever design, etc, etc.

Now, if they can give me instant reviewing of my work, 200+ images, through the lens viewing, interchangeable lens that goes from fisheye to radical macro, that can shoot both video and still and has good ergonomics then I would buy it right now and then and... but wait a second here, hold on, I actually did, its called a DSLR in a housing.

When Nikon and Canon came out with auto focus SLR, the were building the coffin for the Nikonos, when the Digital SLR got introduced they where nailing lid on, it would make no sense for Nikon to get a dedicated underwater specific camera system such as a Digital RS nowadays, too much of R&D for the return on their money, they would rather sell off-the-shelf DSLR to users who put them in housing later on, no liabillity, no shortlived digital camera body being left behind because technology made a leap ahead. and then the compact revolution came in, and that cremated the Nikonos concept before bulldozing it under its proverbial 6Ft under.

Don't get me wrong, I still have a couple of V's and the whole I, II, III and even this despiteful excuse of a camera, the yuckinos IV, and I am very fond of the time I spent with them and still use images done with them, but I don't miss 8 track cassette, rotary dial phones or VHS either.

Click to expand...

I don't think the OP was asking for a return to rangefinder that shoots film. He wants an ultimate made for underwater camera that doesn't have to be stuffed in a giant housing where buttons/displays are not as visible, where you had to look thru the tiny viewfinder of the SLR, and where you always had to worry about leaks. A new Nikonos would of course be digital, smart white balance, and be able to move between macro and super super wide angle, shoot video and stills at the same time (with strobe frame deletion on video), and be able to communicate with its strobes on a wide variety of functions like lens zoom, shooting type, etc, just like land camera's smart TTL features.

Lwang, Even if this was the case, a Digital dedicated underwater camera with what you suggest would be a seriously expensive venture for any camera company. About leaks, on a Nikonos type camera, even a minor slow leak would be fatal to the camera and for the record, anything that has interchangeable lenses or port is a likely candidate for leak if not maintained properly, in a housed camera system, minor leak can sometime be caught on time with the help of a moisture alarm, in a dedicated camera with all the circuit and electronic crammed into an obligatory tight space, well its toast for the camera (as former Nikonos RS users can attest).

One factor also is the obsolescence of technology, a camera manufacturer can ill afford to commit substantial R&D into a project whose technology will be old stuff in a year or two, which will reach a small percentage of the photographic community, and whose users are unlikely to be attracted to a camera whose technology is surpassed by regular off the shelf entry level DSLR.

The Nikonos RS is the closest attempt to ever try and compete or take over the housed camera system, it failed miserably in its mission, not because it was a bad camera in itself, but the price of a system was through the roof for something only used occasionally by most of us, the beast was an anvil underwater (no air space) to the point where a the phrase “having RS elbow pain” was coined, and whenever a flood occurred, the whole system was more than likely fried, with a housed system, you still have a good quality top side system to use the rest of the year, a housing is much lighter underwater typically than the average RS type system (with equal lens type being used) and if you flood catastrophically, it sucks the same, but you only replace the camera and lens and life goes on.

One final factor is that such a camera system, should it ever exist one day, would create a parallel system, so for traveling purpose you would end up with a top side system and a underwater system, plus a lot of us will only feel comfortable if we have a backup system for those off the beaten path trips, so backing up camera for a housed system is a lot more economical than getting two Digital RS type of camera would be, not to mention weight a typical Digital RS body design would be in the 5 pounds neighbourhood (same as many entry DSLR housing).

Maybe the answer is the newer NEX type of cameras from Sony, the housings are small, the lens choice is ever expending, it has optical fiber simplicity, large LCD, Video…

Having shot the RS since it came out until the first of last year, for over 2000 dives:

The cost was less than an F3/F4, housing, ports, and lenses.
The guts could be replaced after a flood. I only had one catastrophic flood, and that was near the end, and I had second body and 50mm lens, so I didn't bother to fix it.
I could get two complete systems with strobes in my carry-on bag.

What has replaced the Nik V is point and shoots in plastic housings. And because of the instant feedback, the folks using them are getting much better pictures than in the film days.


Chuck

They don't have to go to the interchangeable lens route, but could instead do the bayonet mount wet lens. The wet lens would be attached to the lens instead of a housing, allowing for equidistant from then lens to nodal point no matter what focal length it is set to.

Even if they did interchangeable lens, the light box could be waterproofed. There is nothing there except the image sensor in a rangefinder system. It would be more harder to make the lens waterproof.

There is no need to make it in 35mm format, so it could be smaller, and it certainly will be smaller than a housed DSLR.

Guys the way I see it camera's are getting more water tight every year. You can buy a compact to take down to 10m why not to 40? or 50?

I don't envision a lens changeable system but a lens that goes from 1:1 macro (even 2 with a threaded front for lens attachments) to say 14-200mm and with good video, would be very attractive to a bunch of divers and useable above water in poor weather or surf.

Nikon may still have this expertise in the company but got so burnt by the RS that there is most probably a plaque in the CEO's office that says NEVER INVEST IN A DEDICATED UW CAMERA AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!.

Housings are a pain in the arsonist. They are a compromise between the camera and you, they are heavy (if you want a good one), They are of no use apart from diving so they sit around in a cupboard until dive time (which is further and further apart for me), One little forgetful moment and the dreaded leak falls on you like a hammer blow.

We must say NO! to this madness, we want a camera that is for divers and others who want a rugged camera - climbers, surfers, hikers, etc in fact we want a camera for active people who expose themselves to the elements!
- Note: If you plan to do this, only do it in the company of consenting adults.

I too wish I could buy a camera dedicated to subsurface use. I would hope it would require a whole new set of glass so I could double up my lenses. I hope it is about the same size as my existing DSLR so I could carry another case if I wished to take any top side shots. Most importantly, to function smoothly at depth and bring to the game all the benefits of a modern DSLR (Large LCD, dual card readers, good sensor and mirror action) I would hope it would be painfully expensive.