Nikon would stop the development of SLRs (but continues to produce them)

The end of Nikon SLRs?

Are we witnessing a mini-earthquake in the world of photography? According to information from the Japanese site Nikkei, Nikon has decided to stop taking an interest in SLR cameras and lenses. The Japanese brand has decided to devote itself entirely to the hybrid market.

A half-word denial from Nikon

In the wake of the Nikkei article, Nikon issued a somewhat obscure statement: without clearly indicating whether or not it is ceasing development of the F-mount, the company says that it will continue to produce and sell it anyway. reflexes. Contacted by DigitalNikon France confirms that the production of optics and SLR cameras is maintained, but remains mysterious about the cessation of development.

A development paused for more than two years

Nikon France nevertheless reminds us that the latest SLR is the Nikon D6 monobloc, launched in the summer of 2020, and that nothing has come out of the laboratories since, acting de facto if not a definitive halt, at least a (very) prolonged break in development.

If this announcement were confirmed, it would in any case be logical given the market share now occupied by hybrids. Nikon, with its Z mount and products like the Z9 or the Z6 II, has shown that it is quite capable of competing with Sony, which took the turn of the hybrid a few years before it.

Sony and Canon had shown the way

The other manufacturers have also turned the page on SLRs for some time now. In May 2021, we informed you that Sony was no longer marketing SLRs, while the CEO of Canon had himself announced at the beginning of 2022 that his firm was going to stop designing high-end SLRs (without however excluding pursue the development of entry-level SLRs).

F-mount: 1959 – 2022

Such an approach would go in the direction of history, even if one could not help but feel a pinch in the heart, so much Nikon and its F mount bring us back to the 50s, to the beginning of the era of SLRs . No offense to the nostalgic, we will have to get used to the idea that a page is turning.