Nikon Japan confirms it's indefinitely suspending orders for its 180-400mm F4 super telephoto lens after today

Nikon Japan has published a public notice on its website that confirms orders for the company’s AF-S Nikkor 180–400mm F4R TC1.4 FL ED VR lens are being suspended indefinitely after today ‘due to production reasons.’

Historically, Nikon doesn’t comments on the discontinuation of specific cameras or lenses, but the past two months have seen various Nikon DSLR cameras and F-mount lenses removed from retailers’ websites, suggesting Nikon is shifting away from its DSLR products at an accelerating rate. The AF-S Nikkor 180–400mm F4R TC1.4 FL ED VR lens was first released back in January 2018 and has consistently retailed for around $12,000.

It’s unclear whether or not this suspension of orders is temporary or permanent. In fact, Nikon Japan itself seems undecided, going so far as to say it ‘will consider the delivery time and the resumption time of orders while observing the situation and will inform you again as soon as it is confirmed.’ Nikon Japan says it will ‘do [its] best’ to deliver orders already made.

Looking at Adorama, B&H and Wex, the 180–400mm F4R TC1.4 FL ED VR lens is backordered across the board with only Wex providing any kind of timeline for orders, saying ‘Delivery usually takes at least 4 weeks.’ However, at least until the end of today, you should still be able to place an order.

Public Notice (machine-translated using DeepL):

Apology and Notice Regarding Temporary Suspension of Orders for Certain Products

May 20, 2021 Product Information

Thank you very much for your continued support of Nikon products.

Due to production reasons, we have decided to temporarily suspend the acceptance of orders for some products from Friday, May 21, 2021, onward, as it will take some time before we can deliver the products to our customers.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to our customers.

We will continue to monitor the situation and will announce when we will resume accepting orders and when the delivery date is fixed. We will do our best to deliver the products as soon as possible, and we appreciate your understanding in this matter.

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