Last Updated on 12/16/2014 by Chris Gampat
Camera manufacturers in general believe that mirrorless is the future, and from a patent the Nikon Rumors found the venerable DSLR company thinks so too!. Nikon filed a patent in Japan for a kit zoom lens with full frame coverage. The only company to have done this so far is Sony–because they’re the only ones with a full frame mirrorless solution.
The lens is a 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 VR offering that is similar to many of their other full frame kit zooms and some of them that were available during the film days. It would make sense for the lens to be around the same size as Sony’s current closest offering.
Nikon has slowly changed over the years with the biggest variation being the Nikon Df. That camera went along with industry trends leaning more towards more retro inspired design choices. Canon has yet to step into that arena.
If Nikon were to indeed produce a full frame mirrorless camera of some sort, they would be in one of the most advantageous positions of any camera company due to the long line of DSLR lenses that they have that can be adapted. Additionally, Nikon made rangefinders many moons ago. Additionally, many traditional Nikon users have never felt that the 1 series of cameras were for them due to the really small sensor. But the cameras caught on with enthusiasts.
For Nikon to really have success in this market segment, a Nikon Full Frame Mirrorless Camera like this would need to come within the next two years–and considering how new the patent is it’s possible that by the next Photokina (2016) we may see the company start to move closer into that trend.