Since the initial and somewhat vague “development announcement” in September, Nikon has remained pretty tight-lipped about the impending Nikon D6. They haven’t even said when they’re announcing it, yet, although all indicators pointed towards a date in early 2020, following on from the January 6th announcement dates in 2012 and 2016 for the D4 and D5 respectively. But it seems the announcement may come in a tad later, according to a report on Nikon Rumors. They say they’ve been hearing February 12th, 2020 as a potential announcement date more than once, although it could be for an internal presentation rather than a public announcement. But they do have an updated list of rumoured specs, too.
Despite the September announcement, the specs have largely remained a secret. But the updated list from NR suggests some rather nice features.
Built-in sensor stabilization (IBIS) – An improved version from the Nikon Z systemMore features and customization options for various aspects of the camera and settingsMobile applications will see improvements but they will likely launch after the camera releaseThe D6 will definitely not be a “hybrid” camera, but a DSLR with some mirrorless features24 MP sensor4K 60 videoImproved dynamic rangeImproved/better AF system but probably with the same number of AF pointsAdvanced video features with raw recordingLonger manual exposure times: 1/8000 – 120 seconds (up from 30 seconds)Dual CFexpress memory card slots.76-78x 100% viewfinderNew dual Expeed processorsBuilt-in WiFi3.2m-dot touchscreen LCDImproved silent shooting modes
As for the “some mirrorless features”, NR lists “better video, IBIS, silent shooting” as examples. But none of those features are really unique to mirrorless. Video has been getting better with every generation of DSLR anyway and would’ve continued to get better without mirrorless ever having existed. IBIS, too, has been in some DSLRs for a while now. Silent shooting… Ok, maybe I’ll give ’em that one. I would suspect that the raw video recording is likely to be external rather than internal, to a device like the Ninja V. That’s what Nikon has been promising for the Z6 and Z7 for almost a year, so perhaps by the time the D6 is announced, their mirrorless cameras will finally be able to do it, too. Maybe they’ll be able to read CFexpress cards by then, too. The only thing holding CFexpress card manufacturers back is the wait for firmware updates to add compatibility. The Canon 1DX Mark III is also expected to be announced at some time in February, too. That will give photographers a few months to get the bodies in their hand and get used to them before the Tokyo 2020 Olympics start in July. [via Nikon Rumors]
