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Nikonos-V Discontinued

Nikon has announced the discontinuation of production of the Nikonos V camera body and the future possible discontinuation of accessories and lenses. No replacement is currently being offered or proposed for underwater cameras. For details, see the press release from Nikon:

http://www.nikon-image.com/eng/news_release/2001/nikonos-v.htm

The Nikonos V is considered by most to be the premier and most rugged underwater camera made. It is well made, heavy duty, easily repairable, and relatively easy to maintain. It is a non-SLR view camera, but is still the preferred camera of most professional underwater photographers. It lacked features of a housed SLR system, but is compact and lightweight. Nikon did release a very expensive Nikonos RS underwater SLR a few years ago, but it failed in the market do to the expense, weight, and cost to repair. The Nikonos V will be missed greatly by the professional and amateur underwater photographers. Nikon indicates that no replacement is currently being offered.

Alternatives to the Nikonos will be housed SLR and digital cameras, Sea & Sea cameras, and several middle and lower end cameras including Reefmaster, Eqoque and several others.

With no real equal currently on the market, several possibilities may come about. I predict that the professionals and enthusiasts will buy up some of the current stock making new bodies hard to find. The prices on used bodies have been very stable and a good investment in the past and will likely stabilize and maybe even rise. Hopefully, Nikon will change it's mind and release a Nikonos 6, but that currently looks doubtful. It is a niche market, but with the leader calling it quits, maybe one of the other premier camera makers will introduce a product to market (Olympus, Minolta, are you listening?). Sea & Sea could also step into the number one spot and introduce a metal body model and take over the market, or purchase the rights from Nikon to continue the Nikonos as a non Nikon product. Then again, maybe HP or Sony will take the market by storm with an amphibious digital model with full strobe connections.

I for one will miss the Nikonos V and will definitely be keeping my two Nikonos V bodies, in anticipation of an equal or better product to come.

Purchase a Nikonos V (while they last)

Mark Beatty