Interview with Nikon Executives: “They Believe They Can Achieve No.1 in Full Frame Mirrorless Market”

dpreview has just posted the interview with Nikon executives at Photokina 2018 in September. They talked about Nikon’s first full frame mirrorless cameras Nikon Z6 and Nikon Z7, and D850, and end of Nikon 1 system. Nikon excutives believe that Nikon Z mount mirrorless system can achieve the number one position in the world’s full frame mirrorless camera market.

Below are highlights of the interview:

When we think about usability of the autofocus systems, we’ve tried to maintain the same level of operability between the D850 and the Z7. Our priority is to make sure that our [Z7] customers feel that they have the same level of functionality and usability [as they do with the D850].

Firmware upgrading a camera isn’t easy. Also, as functionality evolves, software becomes even more complicated to design and update. However, the environment is changing rapidly, and due to the accelerated evolution of the functions, maybe we have to accelerate our response. We will make sure that we develop and upgrade [our cameras’] functionalities in order to satisfy our customers’ needs.

Our goal is to become number one in the full-frame market for both mirrorless and DSLRs.

We will make every effort to hit the target of being number one as soon as possible. We believe that we can achieve the number one position maybe quite soon. A lot of manufacturers have launched full-frame mirrorless cameras, but sales of our Z6 and Z7 are really robust, which gives us confidence.

Since DSLR and mirrorless have their own benefits and merits, they can co-exist.

We are not thinking about other formats yet (DX formate mirrorless cameras). But we’re monitoring market trends, and we’re not ruling anything out [in future].

Our benchmark for the Z7 was the D850. We wanted the Z7 to be at least on the same level as the D850.

We want to be recognized as a company that provides tools for video professionals.

The F system and the 1 system represent the basic foundation of everything that we do, but with the Z system the goal was to go beyond.

While we are focusing on mid-to-high end models, entry-level users who have never used an interchangeable lens camera are very important to Nikon. Both entry-level and professional users are equally important to us, and we aim to expand the Z mount system lineup to appeal to a wide audience.

We intend to continue with the development of optical stabilization. If there is a benefit of the functionality, we will continue to employ [optical V.R.] as an option. For telephoto lenses, optical stabilization is very beneficial. When it comes to wide-angle zooms, in some cases it is also beneficial.

At least another 60 years! I was about to say 100. Hopefully it will last indefinitely – that’s why it’s so important for us to look into the future, and why such a high volume of data communication [in the Z mount standard] is so important.