I'm reading from multiple sources Nikon is losing its ass on the financial front. Cancelled product line(s) seems to be a huge culprit for this coupled with slow sales. I also just read they're laying off a shitload of production employees. Sucks to be let go anytime but this time of the year it's even worse, IMO.

I have a shitload of Nikon items & love them all, so this sort of news surprises me a good bit.

The GOOD news is they're coming out with two new DSLR body models & are continuing their DSLR line.

Are cell phone cameras to be a large part of the blame here?

Cell phone cameras killed off point & shoots. It remains to be seen if mirrorless will kill off DSLRs, but Nikon has been slow on the mirrorless front which isn't helping them any.

Nikon killed off all their  rifle scopes - a decision which still makes me sad; the quality was excellent.

I bought two of the FX1000 FFP scopes from EuroOptic and I really like them. Glass and mechanics are great.

Nikon has been on the back foot for the last several years. The big earthquakes straight up destroyed an entire division of the company and all of its resources, which in turn snowballed into cancelled products like the DL line that were dependent on said division for production.

I’ll admit I’m slightly worried about Nikon as a whole. That said, Japan itself will not allow Nikon to go under as their considered a ‘heritage or historical’ company. If push comes to shove in 5-10 years, they’ll get picked up by JIP or similar.

Personally I’m hoping they pull off something incredible, but the market for photo gear is through the floor right now. Hell, I’m barely avoiding selling my camera gear to keep my truck running since 2020 killed the job market.

Yep, I own multiple Nikon scopes & just love the brand. Spotting scopes, range finder, binos, all are Nikon.

I'm guessing they're going to have to shrink in order to get their house in order, especially with the current economy & drop in camera/lens purchasing.

Nikon management is the problem with Nikon.

They are living in the past. They think that they can have "pro" versions of their cameras, selling at hyper inflated prices, "prosumer" versions of the same which are basically the same thing with crippling restrictions added, for somewhat expensive prices.

They don't understand software. Particularly things like apps. There is absolutely no reason why you should not be able to simply tether a camera to Windows/Mac (or even a cell phone) and control the camera settings/exposure and download the images in full resolution. Instead they have convoluted apps that are hard to use, don't work half the time and are such a pain that most people just give up.

If they took their top of the range DSLR, knocked a zero off the price, forgot the crippled versions and just sold that, they would make more profit and own the market.

Nikon's problem is Nikon has never innovated as quick as the others. *chirps in the ohhhh but the glass crowd*

Canon's problem is they ride their innovations too long and let the others catch up.

Just like digital killed off the film, cell phone cameras have killed off point and shoot digital cameras and consumer/prosumer video cameras.  

Mirrorless cameras will eventually eat into DLSRs to the point that the only DLSRs left will be professional level cameras for people who make a living with them.  Video will be the same and driven my television and movies.

Nobody is going to carry around a $199.00 point and shoot to $6000.00 DLSR when the iPhone 12 max w/with photo and video editing software on board can upload amazing photos and videos on to social media AND MAKE A CALL at the same time.  Action cameras consume the rest of the market.  Add in drone based cameras and the consumer market has everything it needs for 2/3rd less than a top of the line Nikon or Canon DLSR.

I have seen the photos from the 3-lens/camera Iphone 12s, they are really really amazing when within its design limitations, especially in high contrast situations. Amongst my friends I am  the only one that carries around a separate compact P&S Sony RX100-7. Most of my friends have high-end Iphones.

IMHO, personally I think my DX-format DSLR and mirrorless will outperform the Iphones by a small margin, especially in long-range photography. This is based on my friend's Iphone photos, I personally don't have a high-end Iphone10 and above.

BUT it is better to have camera with you, than to have one in a drawer at home. And your phone will always be with you when your DSLR is at home.

They outperform them by a decent margin with the right person behind the them.  The issue is caring them around with all the lens and a flash.  They will take a better photo, but the average person doesn't know how to frame a photo or how to set the aperture or fStop to get a desired result.  Then you add in how to correctly use a flash....lol.  

Photography and video has become the social media proof of an event.  Photography and video are a person's ability to promote themselves to the masses for instant attention or share a moment instantaneously with friends and family.  These are things that smart phones excel at.  Add in that they are 'almost' as good and the trade offs for 'as good' don't add up to the benefits of having it with you and instant uploads.  Also you have in device editing that again is 'almost as good'.

Add to this that they are with you all the time and you have the greatest tool to record history every invented.  How that history will be interpreted is another opinion.

Nikon and Canon (Sony and Fuji and Olympus and so on) photography divisions will eventually become very high end and only service professionals or prosumers with the money to play at that level.  

There will also be a 'retro' hipster group that wants to use 35mm type looking cameras (mirrorless), but that will be a tiny market.

GOPRO (action cams), smart phones and drones will cover the rest of us for our daily photo whoring needs.

The vast majority of photo and video taken are 'happy snappy' output for social media.

If telephoto is your thing (and it is for me) then phone cameras are useless.  They're great for snapshots and pretty good for say, up to 80mm equivalent, but longer than that and they just suck.  There's no way that CAN'T suck, with  focal lengths of what, 4mm?  And digital zoom just leads to loss of resolution.

Agree with poster above. Poor management and decisions by them.  Failure to innovate and keep pace with changing market.

Personally, because of the D600 fiasco and Nikon telling us all to pound sand at the time I will never own another Nikon.  It sucked selling my lenses/flashes and switching to Canon at that time, I know I was not alone.

I have a scope and two binoculars that are Nikon.
Good stuff.

Agreed.
Digital zoom is just cropping in camera. No improvement on Photoshop even.
Cannot even come close to my 200 mm L prime lens.

From Iphone 12pro https://kenrockwell.com/tech/00-new-today.htm


FredMan: True to that. I shoot photos of the marching band field shows from the announcer's booth at my local high school, and I use the Tamron 18-400(35mm equiv 27-600mm) on my Nikon DX D500 & D7500  regularly, even though the photos are a bit soft at 400mm, but stil a decent image. I also shoot stills of the stage/theater plays, and the extra reach of the 400mm comes in handy because you don't want to come too to the kids and interfere with their performance.

There is no way you could get a decent photo from an Iphone 12.