There is a lot of talk about Nikon's poorly considered decision to
let NPS members move to the front of the line in obtaining a D3. It
is stated that they need the camera to make a living.
I have stated this before, NPS members do not move to the front of the line. A dealers allocation is based on their previous sales not NPS purchases. Also even NPS members have a waiting list and it is just like any dealer, the first in line get a better shot than late comers. There will be 1000's of you who get cameras before NPS members. A Nikon member can not walk into a dealer and buy a camera in front of you. This is a myth. Nikon pros have to order through Nikon corporate (yea I am sure that is speedy
) and approved then their camera is shipped to the dealer separately from their regular allocation. Repeating a myth does not make it true and yet this "front of the line" nonsense keeps getting repeated by people who have no clue to distributions channels work.
I don't think anyone has said pros need a D3 to make a living but Nikon is focusing on providing the market of pros who make a living using with more of their products. No one NEEDS a D3 to make a living but we all want to provide the best product we can those who are paying for the product. Don't you ?
I don't care what business you are in 99% of the time your best customers get the majority of your attention. If you can get a major customer to standardize on your product would you jump through hoops to make that happen ? Nikon's marketing attempts to gain more market share in the pro market is a business decision and I don't understand why so many people are whining about it.
The D3 excels in sports and action photography where high ISO and a
high frame rate are essential. As can be seen at any sporting event,
nearly all of the cameras have white lenses. Pros who need these
capabilities to make a living have already gone to Canon, and I don't
think they would have to buy a D3 to survive.
Oh really. So there are no pro Nikon shooters... hmmm I guess someone should tell the Vincent Versace and the Joe McNally's of the world making living with Nikon gear this.
As Thom Hogan noted in
a recent post on his web site, it is likely that the D3 and the 1D
MIII will prove to be roughly equivalent. I do not think that many
sports shooters will abandon their investment in Canon lenses in
order to switch to a roughly equivalent camera for they will have to
buy another set of very expensive large aperture telephoto lenses.
Let me see if I understand this logic... all of the Nikon shooters who abandoned their investment in Nikon and went to Canon 4 years ago are not ever willing to do that again ? Even if Nikon's roadmap has a D3x 24mp body, new primes and zooms that rival Canon primes. No who would do such a thing.
Oh yea they invested in a 1DMIII that doesn't focus but what the heck.
I am not privy to Nikons sales strategy but I have heard of Canon going after specific photographers by offering them free or reduced product but I am guess Nikon would never ever consider this to win back the business.
For studio photography, the advantages of the D3 over the D2x are
minimal. If high resolution is required, the pros would have already
gone over to the Canon 1Ds series or medium format.
Who makes up this stuff ? So every commercial photographer and every wedding photographer all use Canon ? Also it might come as a surprise but megapixels is not the only criteria for buying a camera. You have been listening to too much marketing hype.
In view the above, I think it is rather questionable that the pros
won't be able to survive without getting a D3.
Bill with all due respect I don't know where you get your information but your assumptions are so far out of left field they are humorous. If I understand what you are saying it would be this...
1. All the pros use Canon and Nikon should not bother
2. Nikon should not attempt to satisfy those who use their products on a daily basis to make a living.
3. And no one needs a D3 because the 1DMIII is just a good.
Like it or not Nikon has made a decision to go after the professional market and the D3 is just the tip of the iceberg. The NPS reps are being told to aggressively go after the Gannetts, AP's and others who's images are sent around the world on a daily basis. Nikon wants this business back and I am sure if it means some people will have to wait to get a D3 for their kids soccer game my guess is they can live with that decision.
Have you ever considered that Nikon might have a pretty good idea of who has spent $5000 on a D2x and therefore who will be an early adopter of the D3 ? Have you ever considered that once the initial purchases of hobbyist for the D3 that the biggest market for the D3 and D3x will be working pros ? When the D3x comes out at $8000 how many non-pros will whine because this is being offered to working pros first ?
Here are the facts... almost every company has multiple channels of distribution and sales. There is always some channel conflict between sales of these products. But the fact of the matter is the pro-sales reps for Nikon make a living selling to pros and the retail reps make a living selling to Ritz. Nikon has made some decision on how many products will go into each channel regardless of the decision someone is not going to be happy. If you were them would you want a guy who shoots on weekends or USA Today or some other large company ?
Lee
