The Nikon Japan website recently classified the Nikon D6 as an “old product”, implying that its production has now been discontinued. Launched in spring 2020, this one-piece SLR was one of the last models still produced by the brand. A new page is being turned.
On Nikon’s Japanese store page, the Nikon D6 monoblock SLR, although still available for purchase, is accompanied by a “旧製品” for “former product”. At Nikon, this means that the camera is no longer in production.
Officially launched in February 2020, the Nikon D6 was to be the company’s ultimate sports SLR for the Tokyo Olympics in summer 2020. Its launch had been thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic, between multiple confinements and postponement of the Olympics to summer 2021.
For Nikon, the D6 represented both the pinnacle of body-integrated technologies – including eye tracking and recognition via the optical viewfinder – and the swan song of the SLR.
Indeed, the company, which had already taken the hybrid turn, was to present, less than 18 months later, the Nikon Z9, a one-piece hybrid that outclassed the D6 on all fronts. And at €1,300… cheaper!
Nevertheless, the SLR format still had its fans, but the Nikon D6 probably didn’t meet with the success we’d hoped for. Bringing few major evolutions compared to the beloved D5, and launched in the midst of a pandemic – when most sporting events were cancelled – it didn ‘t have an easy ride. Many professionals preferred to keep their D5, before going straight to hybrid with the Z9.
In France, it seems that the Nikon D6 is still available from various retailers, but there’s little doubt that these are the last stocks available.
The D6 will go down as the last SLR launched by Nikon, while Canon has also stopped production of its EOS-1D X Mark III monoblock. A few models, such as the D850, D780 and D7500, are still in the catalog, but for how much longer?
Soon, Pentax will probably be the last manufacturer of SLRs… almost 70 years after being the first brand to launch them. We’ve come full circle.
