Why did Nikon discontinue the 900S?

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After days of online research, I finally decided to purchase the Nikon 900s..the lens resolution, competitive price and compact size were primary reasons. Until larger chips are introduced, even so called pro cameras don't add much to image quality. My opinion..a large video camera lens coupled to a 1/2 inch CCD (ie Sony DSC D700) is just extra weight and bulk..great for impressing your friends, but of little value with 1/2 inch CCD's. After checking with more than a dozen vendors, several told me that Nikon has discontinued the 900S, no one has them in stock (as of Jan.25). Incredible when you look at the user reports on this camera. Only one explanation seems plausible to me, perhaps Nikon is nearly ready to introduce the successor to the 900s..could it be a 2 megapixel with lots of buffer for faster cycle times? We can only hope.

-- Brad Vineyard (bpv1@fbnet.net), January 25, 1999

Answers

I was in your exact same position. I researched and researched and came up with the same conclusion, only to discover they had discontinued it. I haven't found out WHY yet, but I did find out that there is a large trade show happening the beginning of February in Las Vegas for camera dealers. Evidently if there IS going to be a successor to this camera, it will be introduced here. I purchased an HP Coolpix 900 - this camera has the same guts as the 900s, only a smaller MB card and no external port flash. I LOVE IT! The place I purchased it had the 900s - Best Stop Digital - try: http://www.beststopdigital.com Good luck! -Jody

-- Jody Kind (kind@telisphere.com), January 27, 1999.

At the Digital Camera Resource site (from Other Resources) there was mention of a new Nikon, Steve's digicams also had news in this I think.

-- JM (me@nospam.com), January 28, 1999.

Lots of talk about the new Nikon, but our lips have to remain sealed for the time being. :-( Nikon themselves have publicly intimated that they'll have something for people to see at the PMA show. Stay tuned to this site for the latest, as soon as we can tell it!

The speculation is that Nikon was planning all along to segue into a new model, but demand for the 900s far exceeded their expectations (and plans) over the holidays, leading them to run out prematurely. Rumors are that they're ramping production quickly on their new model though, meaning it hopefully won't be too long

-- Dave Etchells (detchells@imaging-resource.com), February 01, 1999.


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