DSLRBodies

Items that byThom site visitors have been requesting that Nikon make.

This list used to be on the front page of my site, but it also was just a list. I've now broken it out into an expanded list with explanations.

This list is by no means all-inclusive. It's my interpretation of the greatest demand for Nikon products that have a reasonable expectation of being made. The dates in parentheses following an item indicate when an item was first placed on the list (month/year).

1. 14-24mm f/2.8 redesign (8/16). The E updates for the 24-70mm and 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses have prompted people to ask for an update of the wide angle zoom in the "pro trio." The two things that are niggling at the Nikon crowd are that the bodies are going higher and higher in resolution, plus the current 14-24mm is a bit tough to dial in due to its field curvature. Clearly the 14-24mm was the least in need of updating, but the 45.4mp D850 is going to add to the chorus of folk wanting an update.
2.  17-35mm f/2.8 redesign (11/08). This entry on the list tells you that the list isn't Thom's desired products, but yours. I actually am perfectly happy with the modern wide angle zooms Nikon has produced. But many of you aren't. Primarily you're looking for something with filter rings that covers FX. The 16-35mm f/4G didn't satisfy this group for a couple of reasons: first, it's a stop slower than you wanted but almost as big. Second, it has a lot of linear distortion, which you also don't want. Again, I don't see the big deal. It's rare that I use filters on a wide angle lens. It's possible to find ways to do so if you really need to put a filter on the 14-24mm f/2.8G. And the linear distortion on the 16-35mm is easily correctable in software. So I don't see the need for this lens, but since so many of you do, I leave it on the wish list.
3. 400mm f/5.6E AF-S VR (5/08). Canon has a version of this lens for its wildlife enthusiasts. It's a shame that Nikon doesn't. With airlines getting more and more restrictive with weight, even pros want a smaller, lighter long telephoto option. The recent 80-400mm refresh takes some of the pressure off here, but we're still missing a long, slightly slow telephoto. Maybe with the 80-400mm having been redone this should be a 500mm f/5.6 AF-S VR. Either way, it's missing. The 200-500mm f/5.6 removed some of the demand for this lens, as did the 300mm f/4 with the TC-14E. Still, a solid 400mm f/5.6 would certainly attract a lot of attention and should be in Nikon's list.
4. Any DX Wide Angle Prime (8/00). I've gone back and made the wait for this lens longer than it was when I first listed it on my original site. Why? Because it's now clear that DX was here for the long haul. We needed a real wide angle DX prime from the start, and we need it even more today. The 14mm f/2.8 is what Nikon pointed to back when the D1 series was their main offering, but that's a big lens, doesn't accept filters, isn't all that great optically, and it's expensive so never really matched up to need. That need is a good basic wide angle lens. Nothing fancy. Doesn't have to be exotically wide (18mm is okay, 16mm is better). The funny thing is that Nikon has been producing DX bodies for 18 years and doesn't have a 16mm f/2.8 DX (a 24mm equivalent). Fujifilm, Samsung, Sony, and Olympus/Panasonic all have 24mm equivalents for their crop sensor bodies. They get it. Nikon has had their head so far stuck up something on this particular item for so long that maybe they are now blind. If I could put braille on the Web, I'd do so, just in case. This one isn't rocket science, but apparently no one at Nikon has noticed the empty space on the shelf.  WAY OVERDUE.
5. 35-135mm f/2.8E AF-S DX VR (6/08). This is a tricky one. I list it as 35-135mm because Nikon has a similar design in their stable. What's really needed is a fast normal to telephoto zoom for DX. Sigma made a 50-150mm f/2.8, Tokina made a 50-135mm f/2.8, and Sigma more recently made an excellent 50-100mm f/1.8. Nikon makes...well, they don't make anything that resembles a 70-200mm equivalent for DX. Yet, like the wide angle DX prime, it's been needed pretty much from the beginning. LONG OVERDUE. Side note: a 35-135mm f/2.8E FX VR would work, too. There are plenty of FX shooters who'd couple that with the 16-35mm f/4 to make a two-lens set for most of their work.
6. 200mm f/4E AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor (8/07). We've gotten updates to the 60mm and 105mm Micro-Nikkor. We've added a pair of 85mm Micro-Nikkors (DX and PC-E), plus a funky 40mm one. What we haven't gotten is the one lens that is most desired by serious outdoor close-up shooters. Focal length translates into working distance. When you don't have a lot indirect light or have skittish subjects, you need working distance. The 200mm would deliver that. 
7. Post AI-S extension tube (8/00). Another long-standing request. How hard is it to build a hollow tube that passes lens information on? Kenko's been doing it for years, but it would be nice to have even a single Nikon-produced version, with Nikon's attention to quality.