Nikon executive Keiji Oishi confirms a new mirrorless flagship camera

DP Review just published an interview with Keiji Oishi, the Department Manager of Nikon's Imaging Business Unit of the UX Planning Department. In the interview Oishi revealed that Nikon is planning to release a new flagship mirrorless camera that will be available within 2021.

This is exciting news for every Nikon shooter out there. While I am not in the market for such a camera, I'm very interested to see what they are able to deliver, and how perhaps that camera will be better than the competition.

Here are some excerpts from the interview that I want to highlight.

Regarding the new flagship mirrorless camera

A flagship Nikon Z-series mirrorless camera can be expected within the year, and is being developed with the goal of surpassing the D6. It will respond to the advanced needs of professionals. The upcoming model will debut a newly developed high-resolution stacked CMOS sensor. While this camera will be a major technological leap for still photographers of a wide variety of genres, our engineers are considering powerful video features such as 8K that respond to the needs of all kinds of content creators and professionals.

Regarding a FTZ adapter for old D Lenses

To be completely honest, this is not our highest priority. In order to provide such support, we would need to design an FTZ with a built-in motor, which, for the sole purpose of AF-D compatibility, would require a considerable increase in the size and mass of the adapter. We are devoting our development resources on expanding the Z mount system and maximizing its benefits. This is not to say that system compatibility is not important – of course, I know that there is demand from the market, but I hope you can appreciate our reasoning.

Regarding future lens updates

Now that the F2.8 trinity is complete, our next mission is to release lenses that are essential to a camera system, such as micro and telephoto lenses. Additionally, we recognize that there is customer demand for smaller and more affordable lenses, which is a need we also aim to address. We have shared the roadmap, and the consumer response has been positive to the focal lengths and types of lenses coming soon, including compact prime lenses, as well as micro and telephoto lenses. Also, the roadmap is constantly being updated and revised to adapt to the voices of our users.

Regarding what's next for Nikon

Within the year, we plan on releasing a professional camera model that brings together our latest groundbreaking technologies. Further, our NIKKOR Z lens lineup is scheduled to expand to approximately thirty lenses. The Z-mount system is becoming stronger, and better able to meet varied user needs. Additionally, we are continuing to plan lenses and systems that will be unique to the Z mount system.

There's much more in the interview that I have not quoted here, so please go there and read it yourself. It's a very interesting insight into Nikon's current state of mind. Clearly they had a lot of negative press lately and wanted to come out with something to counter, to move the conversation towards something positive. That's why they announced the development of the next flagship as well as emphasized the current record sales of the latest Z cameras and lenses. 

DP Review also posted a new video commenting on the interview: