There's only one thing I can say to this.  DAMNIT!  UNFUCK YOURSELVES SO I DON'T HAVE TO SWITCH TO CANON OR SONY!  FUCK!

The DL is dead.  Nikon says it is a mix of profitability concerns and market slowdown.

 They lost ~240 million on their write off of the semiconductor lithography division.  My guess it was way more severely damaged than they wanted to say after the earthquake and flooding.  Almost a $466 million loss this fiscal year.  They are officially restructuring the company.  Voluntary early retirement through the company.

That said, a report of extraordinary loss was expected and isn't an 'oh shit' thing.  Having to write off an entire unit like that is a massive hit, but insurance only covers so much.

NASDAQ report:

• Nikon Corp. reported a net loss to owners of the parent of 831 million yen or 2.10 yen per share for the nine months ended December 31, 2016 compared to profit of 18.71 billion yen or 47.08 yen per share, previous year.
• In accordance with the restructuring announced on November 8, 2016, the Group recorded extraordinary loss of 29.79 billion yen, mainly incurred from inventory write-downs/write-off in Semiconductor Lithography Business, as restructuring expenses for the nine months ended December 31, 2016.
• Nine-month operating income increased by 67.1% year on year to 42.18 billion yen, and ordinary income increased by 42.5% year on year to 44.79 billion yen.
• Nine-month net sales were 565.89 billion yen compared to 616.50 billion yen, a year ago.

Notice of Recognition of Extraordinary Loss
Revised Financial Forecast
Results of Solicitation for Voluntary Retirement

Well, crap. I was going to add a prime lens to my load out, but if they go under... there goes any support and my camera is just a dinosaur that refuses to acknowledge its own extinction.

I think you are placing WAY too much importance on the DL line of cameras.

They aren't going under anytime soon.  Just was a bigger hit than expected because of the damage.


The DL getting killed sucks.  My main emphasis was the semiconductor unit that made lots of their parts getting wrecked.  That's a huge hit, but survivable.  

I own some cameras and lenses, but no Nikon stock so I'm not worried.  If they shut their doors I would continue on until necessary to switch. NBD

Same here. 

Still hope they sort out their finances and continues on.  They make some pretty good stuff, and I prefer Nikon to Canon or anybody else for camera stuff.

Well, I'm too heavily invested in Nikon to switch.  That, and Canon has their bodies set up weird.

I would love a DF...


Still have a FE,FA, F100 and a D200..

Always wanted a F3HP

Sony and Fuji are handing them their ass in the mirrorless market.

Recently sold my D810 for a Fuji XT-2 and glass.

The Fuji lenses are all metal and are sharper than most all of the Nikon and Canon glass I have used.

While I love their DSLR's, Nikon's P&S cameras in general are unimpressive, IMO. I say this as a disappointed owner of a P7800.

This. I cycle through P&S cameras frequently - the sports lines (waterproof & shockproof) - for purposes of pools, boats, jetski's, skiing, and other fun. I have had one Nikon, and a couple Olympus. I prefer the Olympus.

I have also not really bought into the DL / mini size cameras yet. When I need something small, I generally want "pants pocket" small. When I can carry a camera, I tend to carry a LOT of camera. I haven't really understood that market segment...

-shooter

Canon master race

I'm with you on this one.     When I want something small, I carry a Sony RX100 II, so it will fit in my pocket.   Ok, it won't fit in blue jean pocket, but I can carry it when I'm wearing khaki's, slacks, or even shorts.   If I'm going to carry a camera body and a bunch of lenses, then I'll just carry a bag with my DSLR(s), and all the other crap that goes with it.

So I was thinking about the wording of some parts of their press releases, and it hooks up to a couple rumors I've heard in the industry.  If I'm right, we might actually see some really cool stuff from Nikon at the show next month and for their 100th Anniversary.  Considering they want to restructure to be more profitable, I am thinking they are going to get rather aggressive on trying to blow competition out of the water on camera specs and performance.  That aligns with the backlit ~46mp Sony sensor in the D820, and similar upgrades coming to other lines.

So this could be a very good thing IF they play their cards right.  Canon has the bigger market share, but Nikon (spec wise and opinion) has the better cameras.  Just have to prove it.

One thing I hope they do is stop cheaping out on viewfinders.  The company that used to have beautifully useable high-eyepoint OVFs moved to miserable eyepoints in the recent years.  The eyepoint makes a significant difference to some users.

As a user who just switched from a D90 to a D500, I can tell you the difference between the lines is staggering too. The D500 viewfinder is leaps and bounds better...

-shooter

I never touch my dSLR gear anymore after picking up a Sony a6000.  That's a bit different than the DLs which, I believe are all fixed lenses, but the Sony and Fuji mirrorless cameras are basically tiny dSLRs (without mirrors) in features and quality.  They easily rival the crop-sensor dSLRs in a smaller, lighter package.

But it's really a matter of choice and preference.  My photos are mostly if not all landscape, street, and things where I'm carrying a camera all day long while also doing other things, and carrying my Canon with a big L lens on it is just a PITA.  I've carried my Canon gear all over the world, and honestly, the weight difference alone made the a6000 worth it.  

Many professional photographers I know have either added in a small mirrorless to their kit, or gone all mirrorless because of the benefits of size and weight while still having reasonable image quality.

That said, though, I wouldn't buy one that had a fixed lens, in that, I too would just get a pocket PoS, but for bodies with removable lenses, I'd pick up the Sony over the Canon any time.  In fact, I'm seriously considering selling off all my Canon kit to cover the cost of an A7r II full frame.

Had an FE, sold it.  Bought a F3HP in 1988 that my son has currently.  Great machine, but film is so much harder than digital.  I am lazy.

On the other hand of things, I know 6-7 pro photographers that went mirrorless and going back to DSLR.  Three of them went to the A7RII within a week of it coming out, and swapped back inside 6 months.  The tech just isn't ready for prime time yet.  Their biggest complaints were the EVF as a whole, incredibly crappy battery life, crappy weather sealing (Sony doesn't even rate it as splash proof) and issues with the AF, especially in the cold up here.

Mind you, the battery life, weather sealing, and AF, are big issues up here.  Somewhere warmer or a less volatile environment that doesn't have weather changing every 20 minutes would be better for it.

That said, I am personally very impressed with the Olympus OMD-EM1 MKII.  Still low battery life compared to a DSLR, but the AF works great in the cold and it is weather sealed.  At some point, I might pick one up as a travel camera so I'm not hauling my D7200 around.  There are some seriously neat things you can do with different programs on it as well.  Downside is I'd pretty much be spending enough to get a full frame to get one of these.  So it's a solid 'eh.'

We did sell 4-5:1 of the OMD series for every Sony A7 though.  Olympus usually has some amazing deals going on.  We had a free battery grip, bag, etc and 40% lens (basically cost) rebate going when they first came out.

What exactly is a DL?

I have a D300 which I love, just wish I had waited for the D300s.
and some basic glass. cant afford to buy shit now, any decent lens is over $1500. its asinine

Their DL was their version of the Sony RX100 point and shoots.  Basically a premium level P&S with a lot of neat features for the price.  

And check KEH and B&H for some great lens deals.  Same goes for the deal threads that I post up.  I'll occasionally come across something that is a screaming deal.  I'm broke as fuck, but have still managed to assemble a decent kit.