Nikon Rejects the Claim That It Is No Longer Producing F-Mount Products
Yesterday, a rumor broke that claimed Nikon had ceased producing F-mount products. However, in a statement to PetaPixel, Nikon rejects this claim.
In a story that has since spread rapidly, Nikon Rumors yesterday claimed that a source confirmed to it that Nikon had stopped actively producing F-mount products. Those products may still be available to purchase but the rumor site claimed they were no longer being actively manufactured.
Nikon, in no uncertain terms, rejects this rumor.
“We cannot comment on rumors written on external websites. Nikon is continuing the production, sales and service of F-mount products,” the company tells PetaPixel.
While it is possible that Nikon simply doesn’t want to say that it will soon be discontinuing a whole line of products — certainly possible and not unexpected for any camera company — there is significant evidence that supports Nikon’s public statement, if its words alone were not enough to satisfy the skeptical.
Nikon Japan still lists four DSLRs as available in the country: the D6, D850, D780, and D7500. Nikon USA takes it a step further and lists 13 DSLRs as active, although some are admittedly out of stock.
Moving on to lenses, while Nikon has listed multiple very old DSLR lenses as discontinued (the company actually has a whole web page dedicated to discontinued lenses), it maintains a healthy list of lenses that are still available. So too does Nikon USA.
The basis of the claim states that Nikon won’t list anything as officially discontinued so long as there is stock available and then, and only then, will products be added to the “old product” or discontinued list. Of course, inventory can persist for some time after a product is no longer manufactured, too, although Nikon is adamant that it is still manufacturing F-mount products. Since rumors don’t require confirmed sources, there will be many that remain skeptical that Nikon is continuing to support F-mount.
It is important to remember, however, that Nikon wholesale leaving DSLR support abruptly like this would be out of character for the company. For starters, Nikon still sells a lot of DSLRs and F-mount lenses. And while mirrorless is clearly the future and Nikon will at some point discontinue F-mount, it typically takes its time setting its older products out to pasture.
For example, photographers could still buy a brand-new F6 SLR in 2019 — 15 years after it debuted and 20 years after Nikon launched the D1 DSLR. The F6 was only finally discontinued a year later.
Whatever the case, Nikon DSLR shooters should not be worried: support isn’t going anywhere.
Image credits: Nikon
