Photo news: Nikon's moon camera reissued and OM-Festival

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Driven by social media – Example: Fuji's X100 – Some cameras have taken strange paths in recent years: first a "naja product", later a hype item for which more than the new price is being asked. In addition to the classy-looking compacts with a retro look and modern technology, this also affects a device that discerning photographers often turn up their noses at: the Nikon P1000 with a 1/2.3-inch sensor and fixed lens with a focal length equivalent to 24-3000 millimetres.

It's easy to come up with the old term "soup zoom", but our test of the predecessor P950 shows that the combination of fixed lens and software does produce quite decent photos. And when in doubt, a slightly blurred image of the ibex on the opposite mountain in the Alps is better than no image of the rare animal at all. And the camera can also take macros from a distance of 1 meter and a few other things.

Nikon P1100 almost at the old price

However, the P1000 is over seven years old, has hardly been offered new since 2024 and has its own scene program for photos of the moon – without AI fakes as with some smartphones – a very special feature. And so there are quite a few requests for the so-called "moon camera" on private sales portals. It is sold for around 1000 euros. In 2020, it was available for less than 700 euros when new, with an RRP of 1099 euros when it was launched in 2018. If you had known back then, you could have photographed with the P1000 for five years and then sold it for a good profit.

The fact that Nikon no longer produced it for so long is probably due to the lack of a USB-C port for charging, which is now mandatory in the EU. However, the Japanese apparently realized quite late that the Monster Bridge is quite popular, otherwise the successor P1100 with USB-C would not have been released just now. At a fair price: Nikon is asking 1199 euros, which will probably annoy some people who recently bought a P1000 as a speculative object.

The price is crucial because Nikon has hardly incorporated any innovations apart from USB-C. WLAN with WPA3 and Bluetooth version 5.1 could be present simply because chips with older standards are no longer available. At least there is a new mode for fireworks, the sensor with an effective 16 megapixels is probably the same as in the P1000. And judging by the P1100's specifications, the OLED viewfinder and display also appear to be unchanged. The same applies to video, with a maximum of 4K at 30 fps or Full HD at 60 fps.

A kilo of professional optics with 35mm for Nikon Z

Nikon has taken a completely different approach, as they say in Bavaria, with its new professional lens. Anyone who has ever really pushed a full-frame lens with f/1.2 to its limits, in the studio for portraits or in the dim light of an evening event for available-light tasks, knows where the appeal lies. But if you also need a focal length of 35 millimetres, for example because space is at a premium, it becomes really heavy and expensive. Or, to put it almost exactly: three euros per gram of lens are required.

Nikon is asking 3249 euros for its Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.2 S and it weighs 1060 grams. Many f/2.8 zooms are lighter today. But Nikon's S series is all about super good, super beautiful and super expensive. In short: it's made for ambitious artists and professionals. They can also dig deep into their pockets for the filters with a diameter of 82 millimetres, but are probably used to the fact that a fixed focal length can also protrude 15 centimetres from the body. Bokeh, the beams around bright light sources and the autofocus are at a top level according to initial test shots. Incidentally, Nikon uses two stepper motors to move so much glass quickly. And you rarely find three adjustment rings on a fixed focal length lens. In short: a real S-Class, at the price of a good mid-range camera and lens. The bell lens should be on sale in February.

New MFT camera and long zoom from OM System

Of course, the photo market can always be a little smaller and cheaper – and not at all boring. This week, both the OM-3 and the 100-400mm zoom from OM System were released, both of which we have already been able to test briefly. The MFT camera proves to be above all a compact, high-performance companion for street photography. Its retro look is not an end in itself, because unlike cameras for 35mm film, its body is extremely thin.

And the lens is great for nature photos, and even at 800 millimetres – but then still sharp at f/6.3 –. 1500 euros seems quite reasonable, but 2000 euros RRP for the camera seems a bit excessive. We are still talking about Micro-Four-Thirds sensors, which have become much better than a few years ago, but have disadvantages, especially in terms of noise behavior. All in all, however, it is a small festival that OM Systems, the former Olympus, have started for the MFT class.

Where the Alphas are made

Our recommendation for a long read at the weekend takes a look behind the scenes of the development of new cameras. Right at the Alpha headquarters of Sony itself. Our colleague Ben Schwan visited it and, in the interests of photographers, complained about featureitis and sometimes very late updates. But he also learned that the love of photography itself is still in the engineers who develop the image capturers. This is by no means a matter of course for industrial products, which is what cameras are.

(nie)