Here we are getting ready to enter yet another holiday season. As expected, Nikon has stopped developing new DSLRs and F-mount lenses, but that doesn’t mean that they have stopped selling them. If you haven’t been following along, here’s what’s currently available.
Cameras
- D7500 (DX) — US$700 body only, US$1000 with 18-140mm lens
- D780 (FX) — US$1550 body only, US$2050 with 24-120mm lens
- D850 (FX) — US$2000 body only
- D6 (FX) — US$6500 body only
In addition, places such as B&H still sell gray market new:
- D500 (DX) — US$1900 with 16-80mm lens
- D750 (FX) — US$1700 body only
I believe the only three bodies still manufactured (in low quantity and small batches) are D7500, D780, and D850. The others are selling from stock at the moment.
Lenses
The lens situation is a bit more fluid, as there is existing dealer stock that masks what Nikon can actually resupply. That’s true even at NikonUSA. What that means is that just because something is listed as “in stock” that doesn’t mean that when that supply sells out it will be restocked. As far as I can tell, mass manufacturing has ceased on all F-mount lenses. I don’t believe there is a dedicated production line for any of them any more, though because of the way lenses are made, that doesn’t mean that Nikon couldn’t have a small area where additional lenses could be hand-produced in small quantities (the current situation with the DSLR bodies). However, I haven’t been able to get any confirmation that such as facility still exists.
NikonUSA lists 50 F-mount lenses still available (actually 48, since two are teleconverters). However, as you go through that list, you’ll find that quite a few of them are listed as “backordered” or “out of stock.” And this is from the horse’s mouth. I asked what the difference meant, but didn’t get a clear answer.
A search of NikonUSA—warning, this data is only true at the moment of the search, things can change as items sell—shows that 11 F-mount lenses show as back-ordered at NikonUSA, while 26 show as out of stock. So what’s available today is really 13 lenses. Moreover, my AI was able to poke into NikonUSA’s inventory (!), and reports that there were only 146 total F-mount lens units found. Of those, about a third were 50mm f/1.8G units, while the other two lenses with a lot of stock were the 50mm f/1.4G and the 60mm f/2.8D Micro-NIKKOR. Hope you like “normal” focal lengths ;~).
Things seemed better at B&H, with 31 F-mount NIKKORs showing in stock (that aren’t gray market). 9 of those, though, showed “no in-store display”, meaning that they’re in a warehouse only.
Update: I asked two dealers about their F-mount stock. Both said the same thing: Nikon bought it back from them last year, meaning they have nothing on their shelves today. If you needed an F-mount lens from your local dealer, they might be able to get it for you if NikonUSA still has stock of it. But as noted above, a lot of lenses aren’t in stock even at NikonUSA’s online store, so you might be out of luck. This brings up a point: if there’s a lens you still want and it’s in stock somewhere, you might want to pick it up now, while it’s still available.
Bottom Line
The situation today in the US isn’t a lot different than it has been for quite some time now. A handful of bodies are still available (fortunately, all good ones), and the lens situation has eroded to the point where you might have to call around to different dealers to find one that has particular lenses in stock.
This means that the used market may the only place you can find some F-mount lenses at the moment. But that also means you have to be aware of the seven-year rule: NikonUSA is not obligated to keep spare parts or repair products once seven years have passed since manufacturing ceased. While there a few places that will attempt repairs on older devices, but there’s always a risk now of older DSLR products being unrepairable due to a critical part not being available.