Nikon fixes Coolpix P7700 exposure bug, extends support for mighty 800mm lens to more SLR bodies
posted Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 8:40 PM EST
Last month, Nikon shipped updated firmware for no less than eight digital SLRs, extending support for the impressive AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR lens that the company introduced last January. In the last few days, three more camera bodies -- the D700, D300, and D300s -- have been made compatible with that lens, while one of Nikon's compact Coolpix models has had an exposure bug squashed.
The Nikon D700 and D300 date back to 2008, while the D300s arrived on the market in 2009 -- not quite as long-in-the-tooth as the oldest of the cameras updated last month, but certainly close. Both the D700 and D300 are long-since discontinued, and although the D300s is still officially available, it's clearly nearing the end of its impressively-long life nearly four years after it first shipped. That Nikon is still ensuring combatibility of older bodies like these with new optics is impressive. Of course, you could argue that it was to Nikon's advantage to support its lenses as widely as possible, but frankly speaking, if you can afford a US$18,000 optic you can almost certainly afford a new body or three to accompany it.
And it's not just SLRs being updated, either. Just four weeks after its last level-up, the Nikon Coolpix P7700 just received another update. Again, this fixes a firmware bug in the previous release -- this time, it's related to incorrect ISO sensitivity being selected when the camera is set to Manual mode and the flash is enabled. The new firmware fixes the problem, and of course includes the fix made in the previous release, to boot.
All four updates are available for both Macintosh and Windows systems, and can be found on the support pages below. And if you want to see that lustworthy 800mm lens for yourself, click here to see an unboxing.