When the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 Pandemia the World became a quiet place. Empty streets, empty shops, empty restaurants, empty schools and offices. There were some differences around the world but the general approach was to keep social distance, to avoid gatherings of people, and all non-essential businesses were practically closed. Including the photography business. And while everyone switched to “survival” mode, following news on the TV, storing toilet paper and hand sanitizer, the photography companies used the time to evaluate their businesses, create new strategies, and build new products. A calm before the storm.

Half of the year passed and now we see the calm is about to end… it’s time for a storm. Of course I’m speaking about the photography industry, not the pandemic, although I wish it would have ended by now.

We have some Canon models that are about to launch soon – Canon R5 and R6, we have the long awaited Sony A7SIII coming, and we have news from Nikon as well – the updated Z6s and Z7s. Some lower end bodies have been rumored to be released soon too. Plus, all manufacturers are preparing some “mouth watering” lenses for us, starting with the new Sony G Master 12-24mm f2.8, which was already announced a few days ago. I told you… the storm is coming.

Several times, in different article comments, I’ve written that Nikon needs new naming nomenclature for their DSLR cameras. The only line that still makes sense is the Pro line – now expanded with the new Nikon D6, but more about that later. At some point, about 10 years ago, it all started to look messy and out of logic. Yet, if you think about it, it started messy from the beginning.

From 1999 to 2007 we had D1 and D2 series as Professional models, then D100 and D200 as Advanced cameras, followed by D70 and D80 – Mid-range. D50 and D60 were forming the Upper-Entry wing, then D40 was the Entry level camera. Till that moment they all were APS-C cameras. Are you confused already… so do I. However, I think this all comes to an end as the DSLR line is slowly fading away and they won’t need any more letters and numbers to continue forward. Simply because they won’t… continue forward.

New firmware update v1.20 is available for Nikon D500. In this firmware update Nikon adds a new function to D500 DSLR – the ability to support directing Wi-Fi connections to devices running SnapBridge version 2.5.4 or later. This should make it easier to share photos while out on location.

Additionally, this firmware update brings a few fixes, including for an issue focusing at the edge of the frame in some instances, that the camera could stop responding during continuous high-speed shooting, and that the camera would sometimes not turn off after the power switch is set to “OFF.”