Fresh Nikon D6 rumors surface

Nikon D5
Nikon D5 (Image credit: Nikon)

Is Nikon about to confirm the development of a Nikon D6 DSLR? It's been rumoured for some time – and it seems the company may be set to make things official very soon.

Camera-leaking website Nokishita, which has proven itself to be fairly reliable in breaking news of upcoming products, claims on its Twitter account that Nikon will be confirming the model's development on September 4.

That leaves plenty of time to get the camera out onto the market ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games that begin in July.

Like its rival Canon, Nikon may now be focusing much of its attention on getting its new mirrorless system off the ground, but sports photographers with a collection of telephoto lenses are still likely to be better served by a model such as the D5 (pictured above) or a potential D6.

The D5 was introduced at the start of 2016, and has been adopted by many sports and press photographers since then. Announced alongside the D500, the pair were the first models to bring 4K video to the Nikon DSLR line, along with a 153-point AF system.

Nikon has released many DSLRs since then, such as the full-frame D850, APS-C-based D7500 and the most recent entry-level D3500, in addition to bringing out its Z system of mirrorless cameras and lenses.

Sensor-based image stabilization?

So what could a D6 model feature? Based on the specs of previous models at this level, we expect existing functionality to be upgraded rather than anything that really breaks from the pro DSLR template.

That means a newer sensor with a slightly higher resolution, together with more advanced autofocusing, a wider sensitivity range and faster burst shooting. It's also likely that the model would sport stronger 4K video specs than the D5.

Nikon Rumors had previously stated that a source had mentioned that the new model would be fitted with a 24MP sensor, together with 4K video to 60p and sensor-based image stabilization. The latter feature would be very welcome given its absence from previous Nikon DSLRs – and the fact that Nikon's full-frame mirrorless models now sport this gives such a rumor more credibility.