Z9 ship date

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Unfortunately, patience is not one of my strong suits LOL. I absolutely emphatically want Nikon to succeed and be on top again. I have pondered switching brands in the last few months and no matter what I don’t think it would be the right move to do so at least until we see how their future releases are going to pan out.
 
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lwan said:
Well honestly considering what Nikon did with the original Z6/7 bringing them almost on par with gen2, I assume they will issue great firmware updates for gen2 whenever they can/feel like it. My personal take on this is that they don't want to do it before the Z9 is in many hands so a too good Z7II doesn't steal the show/sales.
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I absolutely agree the Z62 and the Z72 I have are awesome cameras for 85 to 90% of what I do. I just wish they could improve the focus capabilities even somewhat especially for small erratic birds.
 
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On a sidenote, I was able to find the generation two adapter last night. I ordered it because I was never fond of the first generation with a tripod mount.
 
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Nimi said:
Agree. $100 isn't enough though, that's like option price.
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There can be two types of see. $ to hold your place inline (say $500) for established and possibly a cancellation fee ($10-25) for new customers who place orders everywhere hoping to find a unit quickly. The latter creates a problem for dealers, call many people only to find that they are not interested. Of course this is a double edge sworded - on one hand, dealers what to generate good will with potential new customers and on the other hand (as Harry Truman said, “Give me a one-handed Economist. All my economists say 'on hand...', then 'but on the other...”) they don't want to waste staff time .. I guess calling potential customers is the cost of doing business.
 
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sh1209 said:
Unfortunately, patience is not one of my strong suits LOL. I absolutely emphatically want Nikon to succeed and be on top again. I have pondered switching brands in the last few months and no matter what I don’t think it would be the right move to do so at least until we see how their future releases are going to pan out.
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I switched to Nikon in 2019 so fully understand the expense in switching and don’t want to do it again. Other brands are also having supply issues so while some things may be more readily available, everything you want most likely won’t be. If I were guessing, I’d say late January through February for the firmware update. I don’t know how it will keep up with erratic moving subjects, but a functioning tracking solution would be very welcomed.
 
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RichF said:
There can be two types of see. $ to hold your place inline (say $500) for established and possibly a cancellation fee ($10-25) for new customers who place orders everywhere hoping to find a unit quickly. The latter creates a problem for dealers, call many people only to find that they are not interested. Of course this is a double edge sworded - on one hand, dealers what to generate good will with potential new customers and on the other hand (as Harry Truman said, “Give me a one-handed Economist. All my economists say 'on hand...', then 'but on the other...”) they don't want to waste staff time .. I guess calling potential customers is the cost of doing business.
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The issue is different. Dealers buy those cameras. If legit pre-orders at dealers are 50%, they will be tying up significant working capital in bodies sitting in the back.
 
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RichF said:
There can be two types of see. $ to hold your place inline (say $500) for established and possibly a cancellation fee ($10-25) for new customers who place orders everywhere hoping to find a unit quickly. The latter creates a problem for dealers, call many people only to find that they are not interested. Of course this is a double edge sworded - on one hand, dealers what to generate good will with potential new customers and on the other hand (as Harry Truman said, “Give me a one-handed Economist. All my economists say 'on hand...', then 'but on the other...”) they don't want to waste staff time .. I guess calling potential customers is the cost of doing business.
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I was charged the full amount because I paid with PayPal thru B&H but didn’t know that before completing the order. If I had used a credit card that wouldn’t have been the case. Anyhow, I just left it as is.
 
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I have to agree with my wife when she tells me waiting for a new camera to be delivered is a first world problem. I think there’s been a ton of of good news out of Nikon recently, so I can‘t hammer them. We have the new lens announcements, my FTZ II was delivered this week, some have reported the 100-400 and 24-120 are shipping and dare I mention that Fro is out and about shooting with his Z9. The Z9 is coming. I also think ordering from multiple dealers is not a good practice.
 
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As we are only 2 weeks away from the end of the year, I understand that they cant be specific, and I'm fine with that. However, ordering with NPS on the morning of, my hope would be that if there is a problem by now they would have let us know, or NPS members know, of what to reasoanbly expect. So if it won't in fact be the end of this year, that by now we would have known - I hope its not a Charlie Brown and the football thing with the date getting here and getting moved back and back and back. Hopefully sometime next week I get a notice that it's on the way to the local shop. It would be nice to at least get a "don't worry they are coming" or "don't get your hopes up" note or something to that effect though.
 
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padrepaul said:
As we are only 2 weeks away from the end of the year, I understand that they cant be specific, and I'm fine with that. However, ordering with NPS on the morning of, my hope would be that if there is a problem by now they would have let us know, or NPS members know, of what to reasoanbly expect. So if it won't in fact be the end of this year, that by now we would have known - I hope its not a Charlie Brown and the football thing with the date getting here and getting moved back and back and back. Hopefully sometime next week I get a notice that it's on the way to the local shop. It would be nice to at least get a "don't worry they are coming" or "don't get your hopes up" note or something to that effect though.
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I agree wholeheartedly with what you’re saying and that’s the point I was trying to make. If it’s going to be delayed a undetermined amount of time then make it known.
 
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I suspect it does not matter if someone only wants one camera but preorders from 4 dealers. Nikon has a set amount available and each authorized dealer will have an allocated amount. A dealer might have ordered 10 cameras but has an allocation of say 5. They might have 30 preorders but if you didn't prepay for the camera they wouldn't count that as a confirmed demand.

Real world example: I bought on launch day from a local dealer the Sony 14GM, he had 4 available on launch day but had ordered 12. They knew they wouldn't get all 12 on launch. I walked in and paid for it the day before launch and he had them so let me take it home a day early.

Manufactures don't wait to see how many sell, they know how many they can build and lead times for product launch. They allocated to dealers based on volume and take orders from dealers months in advance. They wouldn't build a first batch to fill 100% of dealer orders. Each region around the world has an allocation. Nikon USA for example has X units coming in for launch, they allocate to their dealers and those dealers decide who gets a camera on launch. Nikon has said they give priority to NPS members over non members so you could get "bumped" by someone else.

As a National Sales Manager I can tell you allocation isn't simple. You aren't giving an equal amount to each dealer. There is likely dealer contracts in place and larger dealers like a B&H will get more units simply because they are a larger dealer who is a larger account for Nikon. Some stores could likely have incentive programs on product placement and if they are promoting Nikon they might likely get more cameras available than their competitor down the street who is pushing more Canon for example. As a manufacture it is important for us to get product in distribution channels that are moving units. I don't want to send 100 of an item to a dealer who promotes my competitor more if I have another distributor who promotes me and could move the 100 units this week while the other guy might take 3 weeks.

I can promise you who gets what is more political and complicated than you imagine it is. It is all about leverage and negotiating to get the placement on the shelf over the other brand. I live with it every single day! You want a better price? Sure put me in the better position, have your sales people suggest my product over my competitor, do work shops and other activities around my brand. The more my brand is represented in your store over my competitor the more allocation you will get. There is a reason some stores get 600MM lenses for example monthly while others might not get one in a year. It is all about moving units as fast as possible.

Long ramble but hope it is some inside baseball on how manufacturing and distribution works.
 
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I'm too lazy to read the full thread responses!

However, I agree generally with the op in the sense that give a date and hit it. Irrespective on how small that batch is, get some out there... and I think the key is, you don't have to say everyone will get theirs on that date, just they will start shipping from x date in batches. I actually don't think it's hardware related, I think the date is being pushed back for software tweaking right up to the last minute.

Another curiosity I have with you guys in the US, the multiple orders in multiple stores.... how many and to what extent do you give deposits? I seen the figure back in the thread of $100 but that seems mighty low for a commitment. Here in Oz at least from my store it was a 2k deposit to get you on the order list. so you have to be serious about it.
 
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sh1209 said:
I was charged the full amount because I paid with PayPal thru B&H but didn’t know that before completing the order. If I had used a credit card that wouldn’t have been the case. Anyhow, I just left it as is.
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wonder if the give you priority status when the item comes in?
 
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I do not have a Z9 on order but I am the worst at waiting on products! I have learned from my recent part time work in retail and having to handle some of the public relations for the company, supply schedules are a huge problem for suppliers and consumers. Items that for years we delivered thousands of each month, and guaranteed delivery in three days, we can no longer commit to any delivery schedule. We regularly have customers spending $5000 and up on items that want to know expected delivery date and we just can't win. If we are working on a projected 8 week delivery schedule, it could change to 12 or 16 weeks tomorrow for no apparent reason. If you are honest with customers and tell them it could be up to 6 months, they will push you to give a more exact delivery date just for planning purposes, and of course they promise they won't hold you too it, then they demand some form of compensation when the projected date passes. The reasons for delays is varied and often almost comical but there seems to be no easy or quick solution.

It is just part of my daily conversations at work trying to explain to customers why products are unavailable or why we can't deliver their purchases in a timely manner, yet I constantly check the status of products I want to purchase and make the calls or emails asking for an expected ship date.
 
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sh1209 said:
I agree wholeheartedly with what you’re saying and that’s the point I was trying to make. If it’s going to be delayed a undetermined amount of time then make it known.
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I certainly understand, and somewhat share a bit of your frustration, Steven. (Although my deposit is only $100 and is fully refundable.)

With all of the current production and shipping issues aside, I expect Nikon to be fully honest with me, not legally so. If they say they will have a 2021 product release, then have a legitimate release of the product in 2021; not just a small number of units in the hands of special customers, unless they amplify their statement so stating. In addition, don't let some of your biggest distributors (B&H, etc.) claim a certain release date that you can't support. While Nikon can't tell them that they can't advertise a Dec 15 availability, Nikon surely could say something publicly to dissuade those independent claims. And I won't believe that no one at Nikon knew about these dates being published by these distributors.

I'm at the point where my perception is that Nikon has been a bit misleading about the Z9 release. That they have been a bit long on advertising in some areas in order to keep a few people in the Nikon camp. Have they lied about the Z9 release? Absolutely not, since some have very publicly received their cameras! (Maybe another reason Jared Polin received his Z9 when he did? I mean, if he got his camera after so publicly downplaying Nikon earlier, my camera can't be far behind, can it?) However, I certainly feel, as you do, that Nikon could have done better on the issue of communicating about the Z9's release. While these are challenging times along many fronts, especially manufacturing and shipping, communication has never been easier.

I've usually been in the camp of consumers that never buys a product when it is first released, but the Z9 nudged me out of it. Maybe we'll all get what we wanted in the camera and in a timely manner, but I'm re-learning lessons I disregarded.
 
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Whiskeyman said:
I certainly understand, and somewhat share a bit of your frustration, Steven. (Although my deposit is only $100 and is fully refundable.)

With all of the current production and shipping issues aside, I expect Nikon to be fully honest with me, not legally so. If they say they will have a 2021 product release, then have a legitimate release of the product in 2021; not just a small number of units in the hands of special customers, unless they amplify their statement so stating. In addition, don't let some of your biggest distributors (B&H, etc.) claim a certain release date that you can't support. While Nikon can't tell them that they can't advertise a Dec 15 availability, Nikon surely could say something publicly to dissuade those independent claims. And I won't believe that no one at Nikon knew about these dates being published by these distributors.

I'm at the point where my perception is that Nikon has been a bit misleading about the Z9 release. That they have been a bit long on advertising in some areas in order to keep a few people in the Nikon camp. Have they lied about the Z9 release? Absolutely not, since some have very publicly received their cameras! (Maybe another reason Jared Polin received his Z9 when he did? I mean, if he got his camera after so publicly downplaying Nikon earlier, my camera can't be far behind, can it?) However, I certainly feel, as you do, that Nikon could have done better on the issue of communicating about the Z9's release. While these are challenging times along many fronts, especially manufacturing and shipping, communication has never been easier.

I've usually been in the camp of consumers that never buys a product when it is first released, but the Z9 nudged me out of it. Maybe we'll all get what we wanted in the camera and in a timely manner, but I'm re-learning lessons I disregarded.
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I love Nikon and am excited. It's just been impossible to get any information which is a bummer. For now I'm going with what I've heard on here, talking to someone whos talked to others and reading Fred Miranda and Nikon Rumors. Admittedly haven't been this excited for a camera in a long time. However it would be nice to just get a clue on what to expect like I said; get my hopes up or not. On my end if I'm not in the first shipment as NPS and ordering a half hour after I got my email from NPS, I'm not sure what more I could do and it would be a definite let down. Hopefully by this time next week we at least know where things stand on the early orders.
 
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sh1209 said:
I was charged the full amount because I paid with PayPal thru B&H but didn’t know that before completing the order. If I had used a credit card that wouldn’t have been the case. Anyhow, I just left it as is.
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That happened to me too. I immediately canceled the B/H order and ordered one from Adorama. At the time I didn't realize that it was because I used PayPal. I just thought it was B/H policy.

Anyone who is heavily invested in Nikon just has to learn how to interpret their marketing/advertising. It's simple. The technical information is accurate. The dates mean nothing. It'll be here when it's here :( And heaven forbid don't pay any attention to the blogosphere predictions.
 
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Whiskeyman said:
I certainly understand, and somewhat share a bit of your frustration, Steven. (Although my deposit is only $100 and is fully refundable.)

With all of the current production and shipping issues aside, I expect Nikon to be fully honest with me, not legally so. If they say they will have a 2021 product release, then have a legitimate release of the product in 2021; not just a small number of units in the hands of special customers, unless they amplify their statement so stating. In addition, don't let some of your biggest distributors (B&H, etc.) claim a certain release date that you can't support. While Nikon can't tell them that they can't advertise a Dec 15 availability, Nikon surely could say something publicly to dissuade those independent claims. And I won't believe that no one at Nikon knew about these dates being published by these distributors.

I'm at the point where my perception is that Nikon has been a bit misleading about the Z9 release. That they have been a bit long on advertising in some areas in order to keep a few people in the Nikon camp. Have they lied about the Z9 release? Absolutely not, since some have very publicly received their cameras! (Maybe another reason Jared Polin received his Z9 when he did? I mean, if he got his camera after so publicly downplaying Nikon earlier, my camera can't be far behind, can it?) However, I certainly feel, as you do, that Nikon could have done better on the issue of communicating about the Z9's release. While these are challenging times along many fronts, especially manufacturing and shipping, communication has never been easier.

I've usually been in the camp of consumers that never buys a product when it is first released, but the Z9 nudged me out of it. Maybe we'll all get what we wanted in the camera and in a timely manner, but I'm re-learning lessons I disregarded.
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Very well said!
 
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