Nikon has to postpone D6 because of Corona virus

[justaCanonuser]

I just read in the German news magazine "Spiegel" that Nikon has to postpone the D6 market introduction because of the Corona virus. They have trouble with their supply chain but they'l strive to release it right before Olympic Games (too important for Nikon, of course). Interesting to see if and how Canon will be affected by this crisis, in particular the introduction of the R5.

Nikon verschiebt Kamerapremiere wegen Coronavirus

Die neue D6 wollte Nikon eigentlich schon im März vorstellen, nun aber soll es Mai oder später werden. Wegen des Coronavirus fehlen dem Hersteller Bauteile für die Profikamera.

www.spiegel.de

(for translation I highly recommend DeepL)

 

[Maximilian]

Thanks for sharing!

I suppose we'll see something similar from Canon and other brands as well.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Nikon has relied heavily on China for manufacturing of components. Canon announced a few years ago that they were bringing back manufacturing to Japan for the high end models, and developing alternate sources for parts made outside of Japan. This was a response to the earthquake.

I wonder if it was ever done, and if so, what delays might be involved if they needed to double the output of a alternate source. In any event, I'd expect a smaller hit to Canon than to Nikon because of this. However, it may just buy a little time before parts only available from China can be acquired. We all know that LP-E6 battery paks are assembled in China, for example. They are a high volume item. Can Canon really get enough from another source?

They are still available at the big online stores.

 

[koenkooi]

[..] However, it may just buy a little time before parts only available from China can be acquired. We all know that LP-E6 battery paks are assembled in China, for example. They are a high volume item. Can Canon really get enough from another source?
[..]

The situation for the base materials is the same, raw lithium and 'rare earth' materials are pretty much China-only nowadays. Shut down central Africa for things like cobalt and wait for component costs to sky rocket.

 

[sanj]

Japan has the virus too. And yes it depends on China. Expect delays! I canceled my 1d3 pre-order.

 

[justaCanonuser]

Nikon has relied heavily on China for manufacturing of components. Canon announced a few years ago that they were bringing back manufacturing to Japan for the high end models, and developing alternate sources for parts made outside of Japan. This was a response to the earthquake.

Nikon has definitely shifted more production out of Japan. My wife's prosumer Nikon D500 is made in Thailand, my 7D2 in Japan. I think there is a solid reason for Nikon's quality issues. We had so many repairs and trouble with our extended Nikon gear compared with our Canon gear, this can't be only bad luck with the particular Nikon cameras and lenses we bought.

 

[justaCanonuser]

Japan has the virus too. And yes it depends on China. Expect delays! I canceled my 1d3 pre-order.

Did you cancel because of delays?

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Nikon has definitely shifted more production out of Japan. My wife's prosumer Nikon D500 is made in Thailand, my 7D2 in Japan. I think there is a solid reason for Nikon's quality issues. We had so many repairs and trouble with our extended Nikon gear compared with our Canon gear, this can't be only bad luck with the particular Nikon cameras and lenses we bought.

Its not so much where the final assembly is done as it is where the components are produced. Even a single component can stop production if it can't be sourced elsewhere.

Nikon indeed has pulled back, but I expect that a lot of the small bits and pieces still come from China. I hope they get the pipeline open again. I'd think that Sony has the most "pull" at getting electronic components yet they are also having issues.

 

[justaCanonuser]

Its not so much where the final assembly is done as it is where the components are produced. Even a single component can stop production if it can't be sourced elsewhere.

Precision and quality in the final assembly is extremely important, I just remember Nikon's trouble with D800 sensors that weren't well adjusted. Some years ago, Roger Cicala from lens rentals guessed in a blog that Canon's production has reached a new level of precision, because Canon's lenses tested didn't show any badly decentered copies anymore. When they e.g. reviewed Nikon's then new 300mm f/4 diffraction lens they had to rung three copies or so though their optical tests until they got a well-centered copy. Plus, my wife bought a Sigma 500mm f/4.5 for her Nikon gear some years ago, because a rare review of 300, 400, and 500mm primes in a German photozine revealed that most Nikon lenses suffered from decentered lenses, again.

I think that Nikon follows a policy of financial cuts since many years that aren't good for quality, at least below the level of their D(X) series. In fact, in former times Canon cameras were cheaper than Nikon's, now it has partially reversed. Sad, I loved Nikon's quality in the old analogue times...