As most of you regular readers know, I'm very hard on Nikon when they do the wrong thing. Today, I'm going to balance that with a different thought.
In less than one year, Nikon has completely replaced its entire DSLR manufacturing capacity while increasing DSLR production.
They hadn't planned to do that. They were forced to, first with the quake in Sendai, then with the floods in Thailand. Both plants have had a floor to ceiling redo. Both plants were closed without warning for at least a month. Both plants got new equipment, and not little things like screwdrivers and shelving, but big things like machines that make complex camera parts or do intricate alignments. It's an impressive accomplishment and should be heralded. How many multi-billion dollar companies do you know that lose their entire production capacity to disaster yet still manage to increase sales and operating profits in that year? Any? Bueller?
Yet, contemplate this: during that same year we've had a constant stream of whining from users: the D4 is late, where's the D700 replacement, where's the D400 replacement, how come there aren't any D5100's on my dealer's shelves, how come my D7000 needs a focus adjustment?
So let's get real for a moment. Nikon accomplished something downright amazing in the past eleven months. We shouldn't be criticizing them at the moment, we should be praising them. They made an incredible response to an overwhelming set of problems they weren't expecting. Their business contingency plans worked.
Now, six months down the road from now if you can't find the Nikon product you want on your dealer's shelves or if quality control slips noticeably, maybe then you can complain. But right now, anyone not 100% impressed by what Nikon accomplished should just stay quiet for awhile.