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so this is the big Nikon fall announcement? that's a major disappointment.

Dpreview added a supplemental piece about "why the smaller sensor"

http://dpreview.com/articles/9716229576/why-make-a-small-sensor-mirrorless-camera

If the idea is to avoid cannibalizing their own DSLR sales then Nikon, and even Canon, are stuck in a pretty bad lose-lose situation.

Sony is very aggressively pursuing this small camera market. The NEX-7 may not yet replace DSLRs but what happens in the next year when they release an NEX-8 that could compete directly with a D3, 5DMII, or even D3X?  So Nikon is going to avoid eating into their own sales and will instead let Sony eat their sales?

There are full frame mirrorless cameras out there (or perhaps only a couple)
The Leica M9 which is full frame (same size as the Canon 5D mark II) and the Leica X1 which has an APS-C sensor like the Canon 70D

I could understand this if the camera was more compact than those with larger sensors but it looks quite bulky.  Perhaps nice for those that can't live without the word "Nikon" on their cameras or people with a lot of Nikon lenses that don't mind the big magnification increase but I can't see a good reason for anyone else buying one.

I think Nikon and Canon will lose a lot of market share in the amateur and semi-pro sectors.  They need to make sure they hold on to the pros and the videographers.  I'm surprised they haven't come up with a decent alternative for the Panasonic, Olympus, Sony and Samsung EVIL cameras.  That looks like a monumental mistake to me.

Yea, that's the price of a small hatchback.

Tyler, Leica is in another league, so to speak. Sony has yet to reach Canon and Nikon levels.

The point isn't to upgrade. It's to move laterally. If the 24MP NEX-Whatever does everything you need at a fraction of the cost, isn't it "good enough"?  Good enough that it will make you leave your DSLR at home most of the time. I used to carry my 5DMII everywhere but only use it for studio stuff now that I have the GF1. Does it replace my 5DMII? Absolutely not. Is  the GF1 good enough for me to confidently leave my 5DMII at home? Absolutely.