Macworld.com has published a story today in which a spokesman for Nikon Corp. in Japan confirms that a new Nikon digital SLR called the D50 will be released soon.

In another case of a company posting confidential information to the Internet in what it says was an error, Nikon uploaded the user manual for the D50 to one of its web sites, where it was quickly discovered. The company has confirmed that the manual was genuine and the camera is nearing release, but no exact shipping date or pricing is given.

As of this writing, a website called InfoDigitalCamera.com has posted on their server what appears to be a genuine PDF copy of the manual. The manual describes an entry-level  digital SLR. Note that since the site doesn't own the copyright to the manual they've posted, it's likely that it won't be on their server for long.

Nikon has not confirmed the existence of another new digital SLR called the D70s, but a PDF copy of a user manual for this camera is also apparently loose on the Internet. It, too, appears genuine. It was, for a time, available on a fan web site for the Asian pop singer Buachompoo Ford, but it has now been removed or the file has been renamed.

Revision History

March 31, 2005: The story has been updated to note the apparent removal of the D70s user manual from the Buachompoo Ford web site.