D300 and D700 discontinued in Japan

desantnik

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From Thom Hogan (www.bythom.com):

Jan 25 (news)--New regulations in Japan, along with the end of life cycle itself, have prompted Nikon to stop selling the D300s and D700 there, and these models have been moved to the Discontinued camera list on the Nikon Japan sites.

Given next week's big camera trade show in Japan, don't be surprised if new models get announced. Nikon isn't likely to leave a huge gap between the D7000 and D4 open for very long.
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Suspect thats to do with the new battery capacity regulations in Japan...
 
mrgas said:
what are these regs ?
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Good question, I've been searching for that.... probably its ""Electrical Appliance and Material Safety Law", November 2011 revision.

Can't find the text yet though...
 
It means that the d400/d800 are going to be expensive upgrades for many, as they won't use the EL3E, EL4A or EL9A batteries (not that the EL9A would have been an option anyway).

D300/700 (MB-D10), D200 and D80 grips have been discontinued as a result of the change too.

EL3E and EL4A batteries will be available in japan 'for the time being' though, as will the D3x and D3s
 
mrgas said:
what are these regs ?
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They're not *directly* capacity related, it's related to the physical structure of the battery and guaranteeing that it won't catch fire as many laptop Li-ion batteries have. Obviously if they are to replace a battery size for size, adding extra physical protection to avoid fire risks is going to reduce capacity* though.

That's why the fairly low capacity EL9A (1080mAh) is banned whereas the EL18 (2000mAh) for the D4 is 'ok'.

I can't find the regs themselves (in english) only vague suggestions of what is entailed, though.

Edit:

* Assuming the same chemical formulation.
 
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I don't think buying a set of batteries or even a new battery grip will be a problem.... the new bodies are likely to be 1600-2500 quid! I know it all adds up, but really, thats the last of the financial problems IMHO!

Now, the resulting battery life decrease (a la D4) might be more of a problem...
 
desantnik said:
I don't think buying a set of batteries or even a new battery grip will be a problem.... the new bodies are likely to be 1600-2500 quid! I know it all adds up, but really, thats the last of the financial problems IMHO!

Now, the resulting battery life decrease (a la D4) might be more of a problem...
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Granted you'd be buying a new grip anyway, but figuring you carry 6 EL4 around to give you plenty of battery coverage, that's nearly £400 extra by Nikon's prices, whereas your EL3Es were still good going d200->d300. Perhaps much more, given the prices on the EL18 (£120 per battery)

There's also less likely to be 3rd party coverage at release with a new battery design.
 
I didn't think the D200 variant of the EL3's worked in the D300/D700/D3? Something about the onboard smart electronics?

Certainly 3rd party batteries will be a few months in coming, but come they will
 
Surprised this thread hasn't eluded more comment really...
 
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