Which are the most popular Nikon Cameras? – 2012 to 2014

Following on from the “which lenses are most popular” post, this post is about which are the most popular Nikon cameras among FoCal users from May 2012 through to October 2014.

The Data

Since 2012, users of FoCal have had the opportunity to upload their results data back to our servers.  We’re really excited about being able to return this data back to our users in FoCal 2, but for now we wanted to present some of the information in interesting ways.

For the charts in this page, we’ve counted all the unique Nikon cameras for the calendar months from May 2012 to October 2014 then worked out the the proportion of each camera as a percentage.  We’ve also built a yearly view, presented in the pie charts at bottom of this page.  Each camera is only counted once in a month, so even if a camera was used for several tests it will only be counted once.

Without further ado, here’s the charts…

Cameras by Month

The percentage of cameras for each type is shown by the coloured bands, with the total of all the bands accounting for 100% of the cameras.  Unlike the previous post, we’ve managed to keep the camera colours the same across the charts!

2012

The huge blue band of the D800 clearly makes up a massive chunk of the Nikon cameras for the whole of 2012, and combined with the D800E (green band above) makes up more than 50% of the total Nikon cameras used by FoCal users over the second half of 2012.  Definitely a popular camera!

The D600 appears in September, and use of the D3/D3X/D3S cameras starts to tail off a little at the very end of the year as the D4 share grows.  (Note that the D4S and Df – although shown in the legend at the bottom of the chart, do not appear in the chart data for this year).

Reikan FoCal users - Nikon Camera Popularity - 2012
image-6052

2013

The D800/D800E band continues to dominate, but with the increase in camera models available from Nikon it seems the combination of the D600 and D7100 are taking a little weight from the D800/E combo towards the end of the year.

The D4 still appears to be generally the most popular professional body, but the game-changing D3S is holding on very well despite now being quite an old camera.

Reikan FoCal users - Nikon Camera Popularity - 2013
image-6053

2014

The introduction of the D4S seems to add to the professional body proportion (D3/D3X/D3S/D4/D4S) rather than replace any particular body, and in the last couple of months we see the first real decline in D800/D800E popularity with an astonishing gain in use of it’s replacement – the D810.

The Df gains some popularity but is still a niche camera compared to many others.

Reikan FoCal users - Nikon Camera Popularity - 2014
image-6054

2012 to 2014

(Note that the data for October is incomplete as we’re only half way through the month, so the points may change at the far right of this chart)

This chart shows the complete set of data from May 2012 to October 2014 so you get a 2 year view of the popularity of Nikon cameras.

Reikan FoCal users - Nikon Camera Popularity - 2012-2014
image-6055

Year View

The following pie charts show the percentage use of each camera throughout the complete year.  The data is the same as shown in the charts above, but gives a clear view of the camera popularity over the year.

2012

Reikan FoCal - Nikon Camera Use - 2012
image-6056

2013

Reikan FoCal - Nikon Camera Use - 2012
image-6057

2014

Reikan FoCal - Nikon Camera Use - 2012
image-6058

Caveat

It’s important to understand that this data is a view from FoCal users who choose to upload their data.  That’s going to be a specific and limited set of overall camera users, and it’s also only going to apply to cameras supported by FoCal.  Having said that, the data sets are quite large and should give a fairly representative view of the situation as a whole.

We do also “sanity check” the data to make sure we’re not including obviously erroneous data.

What’s next?

Next,  we’ll present some more specific comparisons of similar bodies/lenses to give a view of how the situation changes over time.

We hope you find this information useful.  Feel free to leave a comment and let us know any other views of the data you’d like to see.

6 comments on “Which are the most popular Nikon Cameras? – 2012 to 2014

  • The reason D800 is so ‘popular’ for FoCal users is because its an absolute mare to get fine tuned! I have 2 of them (an original issue and a 4 month old one). The old one needs constant meddling to keep in check and I am not convinced it is correct. The new body is ok but still requires considerable input in AF tune to get sensible results out using everything from a 16-35, 35 1.8 to a 70-200 2.8 and every pro lens in between. If I had my time again I would buy two D3S or even a pair of D700s. Neither of them requires the silliness that the D800 does! If you are reading and you have a good body and lens setup then congrats, you are the lucky one!

    Reply
    • Matt – I suggest you send it back to Nikon under warranty if you can, or even pay to have it Nikon serviced if you can’t. I had a D7000 with back-focus fault and you could not get it right. It was fine when it came back.

      As a result of using FoCal I have found a 50mm F1.8G that has to go back under warranty too as it focus shifts with aperture. My other lenses are reasonably consistent across apertures (not the same AFMA, but you can choose a value in the spread of both, tending to the wide aperture setting, which gives an acceptable value)

      Final point – I assume you are actually have focus issues with the D800, rather than FoCal consistency issues? I find FoCal rather finicky with light and a whole host of other things. I use it to find an AFMA, and then do photo checks to confirm I am happy with it – it’s not perfect IMO and there is nothing like seeing a rule scale have a balance of focus back and front to give you confidence it’s right in the middle of focus.

      I have to say I am overall disappointed that I’ve had three warranty issues from nine Nikon products, all related to focus.

      Reply
  • All the data really shows us is that people who choose the most expensive cameras are most likely to buy a product like FoCal. It’s interesting that it appears that nobody “below” a D7000 appears to use the product.

    Reply
    • Hi Phil. FoCal (currently) only supports cameras which offer AF Fine Tune or AF Microadjustment, so the “lowest” camera on the list is the D7000. Obviously, the data is not truly representative of the whole camera market, but it’s interesting to see the trending of cameras such as the D800/D810 and the consistency in which the pro level bodies (D3/D4 and EOS-1D cameras) stay popular compared to the tracking of new models with the lower end cameras.

      Reply
  • Hello
    I live in Romania and are interested in the acquisition this program, the PRO version.
    What is the procedure followed?
    Thank you

    Reply

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