Why did Nikon double down on FX when the trend is toward smaller cameras and lenses?

There is nothing new here. This has always been the case. We have all sorts of film formats designed for smaller "vacation friendly" snapshots. The 126 format was at one time much more popular than the SLR for the vacation crowd. Then the world flirted with the 110 format camera - quite small. Then along came the crowd of fixed lens, fixed focus 135 format cameras using a fixed focus 35 mm lens. Those were quite popular for vacation. Mixed in there was the fore runner of the "mirrorless" camera, the 135 format range finder. Nikon made one. Of course Leica has been around for a long time. There were several others on the market.

In reality Buffy the Soccer Mom very seldom used an SLR in the film days. Why would that change? Today I think you will find the 135 format SLR cameras are selling better than they have ever sold in the past. They are not the only option - which is good. But until the EVF technology has come a lot farther, it will be very difficult to replace.

There is nothing new about this argument. When 135 format film came out, it replace a lot of the 120 film cameras. People were lamenting that the 120 film format would disappear completely taken over by 35mm. Of course we know that didn't happen simply because the larger format of the 120 format image (4.5x6, 6x6, 6x7 and 6x9) provide more image quality. The 120 film is still with us today.

The DSLR will be around for a long time.

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Truman
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