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If you ask camera lovers what they’d want the most from Nikon, it’s pretty universally accepted that they want a Nikon SP digital of some sort. It’s something that Nikon has never done — a rangefinder-style camera body that gives us pretty much everything we want and need. Ideally, it would have weather resistance, IBIS (or not), and lots of megapixels because it would be a photography-first style of camera. Most importantly, it wouldn’t feel like the stepchild that was ignored the way that the Nikon ZF C felt when it was released.
Recently, Nikon Rumors posted mockups of a digital SP — and the commentors met it very well. Some complained that they’d want IBIS, lots of megapixels, fast autofocus, etc. And others complained that this isn’t possible.
So here’s my question for you: why not? Why is it not possible for Nikon to make a high end rangefinder-style camera with all the bells and whistles in it?
People would buy it. It’s been proven by the LUMIX S9, the GFX 100RF, the Leica Q3, etc. If you spoke to a Nikon spokeperson about this, they’d probably state something about those being such small fish. But the truth is that the small fish are biting into Nikon’s sales.
Now, let me add onto that.
Does Nikon, a billion-dollar company, like money? Can you convince me that they wouldn’t make money selling a camera like this? Let’s be honest, they’d take the Nikon Z7 II and turn it into something that I’d like to call the Nikon ZP. Then they’d give it the Nikon Z8’s processor and autofocus. The Z8 came out in 2023, so it’s been a while now. The Nikon Z7 II has IBIS and yet it isn’t overly large. Nikon wouldn’t need to make the camera super small either as it needs to be comfortable.
This begs the question then: why wouldn’t they make this camera?
The reason why I think that Nikon won’t make the Nikon ZP is because they’re still very much a company that doesn’t want to try new things and that is often just trying to play catch up with the rest of the industry instead. Where they’re the clear leaders is with performance in low light — that means both autofocus and with high ISO output.
If they made the Nikon ZP, they’d do a low risk option and make it an APS-C camera. Then photographers would complain that they’d want a full-frame variant. It would be another two years before a full-frame option comes. And by that time, fewer folks would buy it unless it came with a lot of cool color variants.
Make no mistake, I bought the Nikon ZF about a year after the release, and I love that camera. I even made friends of mine buy it.
Nikon, I know you read this site. If you make the Nikon SP into a digital Z mount camera, don’t hold back. There are way too many good cameras on the market that someone can buy instead.
