According to reports on PetaPixel, Nikon is experiencing production delays on some of its most recent products due to the wide spread coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The Company in February had apologized for the delay of the 70-200mm f/2.8 Z lens, and now is having to delay the recently released 120-300mm f/2.8E F-mount lens to “… determine the global impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak.”
The news of the delay was first brought to light by Nikon Rumors, who reported that Nikon’s 120-300mm f/2.8E F-mount lens had not started shipping on February 29th as previously expected. The original press release announcing the lens said that it would ship “in February,” but Amazon now lists the lens’ ship date as “March 31.”
Nikon Inc. responding to an inquiry by PetaPixel released the following statement:
“The U.S. availability for the AF-S NIKKOR 120-300mm f/2.8E FL ED SR VR will be announced at a later date as we determine the global impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak. We will communicate updates on timing as they become available”.
This is coming a couple weeks after CP+—one of the world’s largest photography trade shows—was forced to cancel this year’s expo. While not every company has come out and confirmed delays and/or factory closures, it is expected that similar delays to affect all new products announced over the past few months, regardless of brand.
