The Nikon mirrorless camera is pretty ugly judging by new leaked photos
Aug 6, 2018
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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Ok, so, we should be judging cameras on how they see the world, not how they appear to the world, but this new Nikon mirrorless camera looks pretty ugly from looking at these leaked photos. I’ll reserve final judgement until I actually get one in my hands and see how it handles, but so far it’s kinda funny looking.
Perhaps, though, this is exactly what mirrorless needs. Many users complain about Sony and other small mirrorless bodies not feeling as comfortable as their DSLRs did. That they’re too small if you have anything but the smallest of hands. So, handling wise, it might actually work very well.
Now that we’re seeing it in a bit more light, you can see some of the Nikon DSLR design influence, especially with that big grip. That lens mount is absolutely huge, too – which could be very useful for adapting lenses from other systems to the new Nikon mirrorless format.
I haven’t really had all that much interest in Nikon mirrorless. Despite the fact I’ve been shooting Nikon for 20 years, they always seem to fall just shy of the mark lately – or they’re so far from the mark that they don’t even know where the mark is. So, I just assumed they’d screw this up, too.
But having seen a bit more of the camera now, even if it ultimately sucks, I’m curious to take one of these out for a spin now once they hit the streets.
We’re still 17 days away from an official announcement, so we’ll have to wait and see how it looks in the official photos.
[via Nikon Rumors]
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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52 responses to “The Nikon mirrorless camera is pretty ugly judging by new leaked photos”
Much of the camera body is hidden from view. To me, it is more important to have my current slr/dslr lenses fit & function on the new mirrorless bodies. If they don’t, the mirrorless is a failure right out of the gate.
I agree with Norman here in large part. Anytime you introduce anything between the main optics and body, there is going to be some sort of anomaly or some kind. Given that insane performance on those Sony body units with their AF.. This has got to be a stellar piece if kit right out of the box. It will be another flash in the pan like the Df release.
They can’t afford one firmware / hardware communication / AF issue of any kind here.
Nikon already stated that their mirrorless will have a completely different mount. An adapter will be available to attach legacy lenses, but only some will be supported. Most likely AF-S and newer .
It’s a Sony with a bigger grip.
In other words, it’s perfect?
And with a plethora of more lens options to choose from, and it’s made by a real camera/imaging company.
How so? Sony can AF Sony E and A mount, Canon EF mount, Contax G mount, and any lens with a flange distance equal to or greater than Leica M. Including any manual focus lens.
Nikon? Well, they can AF lenses for the native mount, and a handful of F mount lenses…
So was the gfx. Didn’t reduce its success though…
Its success is because of its bargain basement price .
Wow, what a such well documented assumption, that couple of pixeled close-ups where you can barely see the brand and one quarter of the whole body is more than enough to make such claim; bravo, good journalism????????
Get a life
Ugly? I want to use it, not stare it :D
Relax, people.
Not sure how it’s “ugly” honestly. Looks like any other camera at this point .
Thanks for the DIY tip ???
It looks like it’s modeled after older cameras to me. But the reality is that we don’t even know if this is an actual production model.
‘Pretty ugly’ – what a controversial language.
Is that all it takes to be controversial these days? Certainly explains things…
Do you want a beautyful camera or beautyful pictures?
That’s a false dichotomy.
how though? its just a tool. if you want to collect pretty camera’s get a gold Leica.
That’s another false dichotomy and a straw man on top.
A false dilemma because this is not an either/or decision. And a straw man because having an opinion about the looks of a camera does not imply that you “want to collect pretty cameras”.
Cars are also tools, but very few people are completely indifferent to their appearance. Apparently, the aesthetics of a tool are often conducive to the pleasure of using it.
Have you ever heard about a carpenter who cares for the look of his hammer?
The author sounds a bit resistant to change. I love my Sony’s, even with my XL sized hands.
WOW, if thats missing the mark when Nikon just did the best DSLR ever in the D850
Their CX lineup missed the target, not just the mark, completely. Nikon might be fine with DSLRs (70ish years of experience), but mirrorless is a completely different story.
If they chose function over form that would be fine with me.
For the price, my Sony A6000 is wonderful. Yes, it’s small.
And that smallness vanishes when you throw a lens on it, not crazy about cameras with cramped controls.
The body and grip are smaller but the controls and EVF are standard. I can see large hands not liking the grip. I don’t have big hands. It’s great for me but I’m sure, not everyone. I like the finished product.
Have you seen Sony’s APS-C lenses? Doesn’t sound like it…
Would a Rollei TLR form factor have been better looking?
How dare they!
Not ugly at all, but this is troll headline. And the model is the Chinese actress from the martial arts show “Hot Girl”.
It’s a camera not a fashion accessory!
Doesn’t matter ugly, pink or whatever….
These is a stupid article. If you don’t have anything good to post, please just don’t post anything. Better to say nothing then say something dumb.
I enjoyed this article in the same way I enjoy a rebel flag shirt: thanks for the short and sweet heads up, now I know to avoid you entirely.
I want a tool that feels great in the hand, what exactly is ugly about it, this sounds like another click bait article.
we took the bait just to come to the comments and crap all over the writer.
A camera is a tool nothing more, performance and built quality is all that matters, pretty sure clients don’t say ” images were breathtaking but wouldn’t use him again, I mean did you see that fugly camera.”
A camera is a tool nothing more, performance and built quality is all that matters, pretty sure clients don’t say ” images were breathtaking but wouldn’t use him again, I mean did you see that fugly camera.”
This unknown author of this hit piece is a idiot with his rant claiming it’s ugly. That’s your opinion and carries it no weight. Wow, a photographer from Scotland who shoots animals indoors. Well ok then..
Ugly is subjective. If people were buying beauty queen cameras they’d all be on Fuji X system instead of goofy looking Sony A7 series with disproportionately large lenses, gawd awful orange menus, and Mickey Mouse Play Memories app.
Note that the A7 series is FF, while Fuji X is APS-C. So yeah, disproportionately large lenses are coming to Nikon mirrorless, too.
And what’s wrong with orange? Hopefully Nikon won’t stick the terrible Coolpix menus in that their last failed mirrorless line was burdened with…
Yep, I think we’re making the same point. What’s wrong with orange is what’s wrong with whatever post author finds ugly about Nikon mirrorless from leaked photos. I.e., he personally doesn’t like it so now he’s going to write a pointless clickbait post declaring that the new Nikon mirrorless is pretty ugly. I don’t like the orange Sony menus so — by the same logic — they’re ugly too.
As for the proportions, will need to wait and see, but if the Nikon mirrorless is in-fact larger then it will be a less disproportionately sized system because optics primarily dictate lens sizes (everything else being equal — A/F, stabilization, etc.). That’s why big glass looks so funny (and balances so poorly) on an A7 series body — people want their 85mm 1.4s and Sony has no control over the laws of physics.
If for no other reason, the Nikon mirrorless body will need to be larger to accommodate the larger mount — which will bring with it ability host faster glass. E.g., 50 f/0.95 for people who love their bokeh. Hopefully the new lens line-up will deliver image circle that covers MF as well — the new mount will certainly support it.
As for Fuji, yes, it’s crop, but it’s also a very well balanced system for people who care about such things. Rather than try to build a FF system around a crop sensor mount (like A7 w/ it’s E-mount), Fuji made the right call and introduced GFX system w/ larger sensor format and new G mount. I’m not at all a Fuji fanboy btw — just calling it as I see it.
Wow. The author of this article is really superficial for making an article using subjective words like ugly. Thumbs down for credibility.
you’re pretty ugly judging by the new leaked photos of you as well.
its a Nikon, not a leica. you buy it to beat the hell out of it and get great images.
I think it looks pretty cool
Ugly? It looks like any other black camera. Thanks for the click bait.
I never enter my cameras into beauty contests. What matters to me is functionality and quality of the shots. The design aesthetic is meaningless. As far as ugly, from what I see it’s about the size of a d70? or so, and has either a removable viewfinder or an oddly mounted one. Regardless, will it work? If so, then I will want one.
thanks for info.