Z9 ship date

[John Woodworth]

I wanted the new system, it was available so after a bit of thought I bought it, 5 months ago. Also fact is I am very happy with it...

Not exactly insane

Not at all insane.

Looking back a year, I could have made the same choice and bought into the Sony based system for similar cost to Nikon Z. The A1 hadn't quite come out so I missed the opportunity to choose by a month or so. I would have been buying an A7R3 and probably an S9. I bet on Nikon Z.

If I had delayed about a year, then I would be choosing between a new, so far ethereal, Z9 against an "aging" Sony A1, not really seeing what the superior features, if any, of the newcomer will be. (And also imagining that any shortfalls in the A1 would soon be covered by an even more advanced A1.MoreBetter as a follow-on afforded by the generous R&D budget of the Sony mother ship.)

Given Nikon's iffy business, weird public communications strategy, modest financial strength and mirage-like product lineup for Z's, not sure I'd make the same decision to go with Nikon.

 

[Ductape]

I have a few items in my basket currently on backorder. A small Kubota tractor, Starlink internet services, and a camera. The tractor and Starlink have been on order longer than the camera, but I bet I get the camera first.

 

[jbk2forum]

No one can deny your frustration. However, historic and current reality can only tell you that your 'concern' is misplaced. Pre-pandemic and pre chip factory disaster; new releases basically announced and ship within the period specified. Note 'period' and not date. And, if a pro body; NPS received it first and everyone else followed.
Contrary to your criticism of Nikon and their ability to manage their supply chain; they have actually taken into account everything you have complained about. They held their announcement and release date for the Z9 much longer than anyone had anticipated--once we knew it was out there. This was done deliberately--and cautiously. The chip shortage actually has no effect on their initial shipments as this was already in the bank. It will have an affect on fulfilling orders beyond Nikon's original estimates.
As some have said, it is possible that Nikon USA and Nikon 'other areas'; are trying to coordinate a simultaneous ship date-resulting in the change in the original ESTIMATED ship date. We've heard from others here about their supply chain woes. What about Canon? Didn't they just remove an anticipated body from their timeline? Sony...remove bodies completely? So, I empathize with your frustration, but not your criticism. On another note; why in the world would you pre-pay for something that any of us can pre-order, from authorized dealers, for basically nothing? What's the worst case? You don't receive your Z9 when you expect it; and continue to shoot with your current equipment that has served you well--I assume. One last thought....Jared Polin received his 'production' Z9 the other day. Odds are it is not the only unit that has shipped to the distribution network.
Looking forward to hearing about everyone's new Z9!

 

[sh1209]

No one can deny your frustration. However, historic and current reality can only tell you that your 'concern' is misplaced. Pre-pandemic and pre chip factory disaster; new releases basically announced and ship within the period specified. Note 'period' and not date. And, if a pro body; NPS received it first and everyone else followed.
Contrary to your criticism of Nikon and their ability to manage their supply chain; they have actually taken into account everything you have complained about. They held their announcement and release date for the Z9 much longer than anyone had anticipated--once we knew it was out there. This was done deliberately--and cautiously. The chip shortage actually has no effect on their initial shipments as this was already in the bank. It will have an affect on fulfilling orders beyond Nikon's original estimates.
As some have said, it is possible that Nikon USA and Nikon 'other areas'; are trying to coordinate a simultaneous ship date-resulting in the change in the original ESTIMATED ship date. We've heard from others here about their supply chain woes. What about Canon? Didn't they just remove an anticipated body from their timeline? Sony...remove bodies completely? So, I empathize with your frustration, but not your criticism. On another note; why in the world would you pre-pay for something that any of us can pre-order, from authorized dealers, for basically nothing? What's the worst case? You don't receive your Z9 when you expect it; and continue to shoot with your current equipment that has served you well--I assume. One last thought....Jared Polin received his 'production' Z9 the other day. Odds are it is not the only unit that has shipped to the distribution network.
Looking forward to hearing about everyone's new Z9!

First off, I didn’t mention their inability to manage a supply chain. You must be referring to one of the othe posters on this thread. What I have criticized and will continue to criticize is their lack of communication to loyal customers. I will also criticize them for having made no firmware improvements in the Z62 or Z72 which require no ships, chips or any other supplies. I am beyond loyal to Nikon and have been for the last 16 years as I stated earlier in the thread. Also, as I thoroughly explained earlier in the thread, the reason the item was paid for in full was because I paid with PayPal and didn’t realize until a week after. I surely wasn’t going to cancel the order and put myself back even further in line at that point. $5700 is not going to put me on the street, so I left things as is. You also refer to Canon and Sony which is something that was not at all brought up in my initial thread. I do however commend them if they don’t have availability to take the item out of circulation. At this point, I think I’ve made myself crystal clear on how loyal I am to Nikon and how much I want them to succeed. I will however standby my criticism of their lack of communication with customers. By all means, if you have received communication from them please forward it to me because I certainly haven’t.

 

[markymark]

I preordered the Z9 at two locations the day it was released. I realize by now we’ve been given 2-3 possible ship dates with nothing set in stone. For the life of me I don’t understand if Nikon has a stock of ready to go cameras, why don’t they give a date and stick to it. Perhaps the preorders exceeded their expectation and they’re trying to assemble more units. I called one of the places I preordered from yesterday and was told they don’t expect any will ship before 12/31. I called the other place earlier in the week and was told they really have no idea. No matter what the shipping circumstances or chip shortages, there is absolutely no reason not to give your customers a ship date. I am referring to Nikon, not the vendors. I am not a marketing expert but it shouldn’t be rocket science just to give a date of availability. I am not 100% sure I will even go through with the purchase at this point but the longer they string us alone is most likely going to create hesitancy in their customers. I have always been beyond loyal to Nikon because I’ve liked their products. This last year has really got me disgusted with them. From talking to these two vendors, I have no faith whatsoever these cameras will be available to anyone before the end of the year. Hopefully I’m wrong but time will tell.

The dealer I went to who is a very reputable dealer in London didn’t want a deposit when you ordered a Nikon Z9, they wanted the full amount up front which I thought was a bit off & would have thought a 50% deposit would have shown you were a serious buyer.

 

[sh1209]

The dealer I went to who is a very reputable dealer in London didn’t want a deposit when you ordered a Nikon Z9, they wanted the full amount up front which I thought was a bit off & would have thought a 50% deposit would have shown you were a serious buyer.

I have no problem paying in full and really see nothing wrong with it. One of the other places I pre-ordered required nothing down. Several other posters on here have said they have had to pay a few hundred dollars down. The way I feel is, if they don’t fulfill the order within a couple months I’ll simply cancel the order and get a refund.

 

[Darwin]

Ordered the z105mm months ago.....still nothing.

 

[markymark]

I wouldn’t have an issue paying for something in full if I was given a definitive delivery date which they weren’t able to do at the time of order.
For me £5299 is a lot of money to have tied up on something that you don’t have a clue when you’re getting.

But I do feel your pain.

 

[Bugman123]

I received my FTZ II two days ago. B&H says they now "expect" to get a shipment of Z9's on 12/24. Let's see if that happens.

 

[vandy]

Well for what it is worth, I ordered a new Toyota RAV 4 3 months ago and still no word on when I will get it. The only reason I settled on ordering a new one is because I did not want to pay more for a used one than for a new one, and that is what I was faced with. The way the world is right now nothing is certain, I also ordered a Z9 on the 1st day and don't expect to get it until possibly early next year. I am looking forward to trying it out as soon as it does finally make it here.

 

[sh1209]

Well for what it is worth, I ordered a new Toyota RAV 4 3 months ago and still no word on when I will get it. The only reason I settled on ordering a new one is because I did not want to pay more for a used one than for a new one, and that is what I was faced with. The way the world is right now nothing is certain, I also ordered a Z9 on the 1st day and don't expect to get it until possibly early next year. I am looking forward to trying it out as soon as it does finally make it here.

Hopefully they’ll start showing up soon. I still hope they’ll also release a firmware update soon for the gen 2 bodies as well. I’m curious to see what the squeeze out of the second processor.

 

[vandy]

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.

I ordered mine with my B&H credit card with a promotional 12 months no interest to pay for it. The credit card won't be charged until the unit ships.

 

[vandy]

Earlier this year my wife ordered a 2022 F350/powerstroke. It took 4 months. We received updates regularly on the status. Then it arrived slightly ahead of schedule.

Once our groundman at work heard the trade in offer, He exclaimed "I'll give you that right now!" so we let him. and she had to drive my 2006 Dodge Ram while waiting.

WOW, 4 months. I hope I do that well on the time but I have my doubts. The used car market is crazy right now, with people willing to pay literally through the nose to get anything they can get their hands on. I was an automobile technician my entire career until my son and I started an automotive locksmith business in 2013, I joined him full time in 2014. With the used car market the way it is right now, I can honestly say that business is booming.

 

[grossidm]

I thought the ship date was updated to 24-Dec. Did I miss something?

 

[vandy]

Used prices are insane, I would be ashamed to ask the price we could have gotten for the 2014 so that kid got a great deal given the times.
I am not lying here when I say we paid full price for the '22 and when she went to pick it up the salesman offered $10,000 for her to walk away from the deal. It's a gorgeous black "tremor" crew cab. He said in one day he has 3 people begging to buy it for 10 grand over sticker.

That is absolutely insane! I hope my salesman doesn't sell mine from under me with an over the top offer like that, I don't think he will but you know what they say about money. I am just wondering when all of this will get back to normal, not any time soon I bet! If new vehicle production gets back to normal in the next few months it will take dealers at least a year to get back to normal inventory levels.

 

[billklipp]

I preordered the Z9 at two locations the day it was released. I realize by now we’ve been given 2-3 possible ship dates with nothing set in stone. For the life of me I don’t understand if Nikon has a stock of ready to go cameras, why don’t they give a date and stick to it. Perhaps the preorders exceeded their expectation and they’re trying to assemble more units. I called one of the places I preordered from yesterday and was told they don’t expect any will ship before 12/31. I called the other place earlier in the week and was told they really have no idea. No matter what the shipping circumstances or chip shortages, there is absolutely no reason not to give your customers a ship date. I am referring to Nikon, not the vendors. I am not a marketing expert but it shouldn’t be rocket science just to give a date of availability. I am not 100% sure I will even go through with the purchase at this point but the longer they string us alone is most likely going to create hesitancy in their customers. I have always been beyond loyal to Nikon because I’ve liked their products. This last year has really got me disgusted with them. From talking to these two vendors, I have no faith whatsoever these cameras will be available to anyone before the end of the year. Hopefully I’m wrong but time will tell.

Have you heard about the supply chain and shipping delays at the ports?

 

[AzYooper]

Welcome to the delays we all went through to get our original D850's. It's pretty obvious that Nikon has another winner on their hands.

 

[sh1209]

Have you heard about the supply chain and shipping delays at the ports?

Yes have you?

 

[Ken Miracle]

I have a few items in my basket currently on backorder. A small Kubota tractor, Starlink internet services, and a camera. The tractor and Starlink have been on order longer than the camera, but I bet I get the camera first.

Kubota still back ordered all these years later eh ? I worked for a farm machinery manufactuer back in the late 70's when Kubota was starting to come into high demand in the small specialty farm and gentleman farmer market in Washington and Oregon. The dealers were shocked then with how long it took to get product but at that time Kubota were the kings of that market with the main competition being old used Fords and John Deeres and the big tractor makers that were still around were changing production to Big equipment.

 

[sh1209]

Listen, I’m not going to explain myself to any more people with condescending comments on here. If this post offends you then please reframe from your petty comments. I will say now what I have said at least 10 times now, I have every right as a consumer, as a Nikon customer or any other reason I see fit to feel I have the right to be informed if there’s going to be massive shipping delays. As a customer who has probably spent more than $50,000 with Nikon over the last several years I absolutely beyond any shadow of doubt have the right to feel I’m entitled to be informed if they were going to be shipping delays and some kind of timeframe for shipping in general.

 

[Ken Miracle]

Well for what it is worth, I ordered a new Toyota RAV 4 3 months ago and still no word on when I will get it. The only reason I settled on ordering a new one is because I did not want to pay more for a used one than for a new one, and that is what I was faced with. The way the world is right now nothing is certain, I also ordered a Z9 on the 1st day and don't expect to get it until possibly early next year. I am looking forward to trying it out as soon as it does finally make it here.

Yup a lot has changed over the last 18 months. I bought a certified used 2019 Rav4 Adventure back in 2020 when the dealer here in Idaho was scrounging for business as the Pandemic set in and they had a buyer for my used older 4th generation RAV4. The adventure got traded in on a 3 seat row highlander by someone that moved here from Minnesota had another kid on the way and needed a 3rd row of seats .. hence how an east of the rockies model got to Idaho and saved me thousands to get the better ground clearance and traction system of the generation 5 RAV4 I wanted. Recently they offered to buy the adventure back for much more than I paid for it ... but I like it and they had no new inventory to replace it with

 

[abc123brian]

Used prices are insane, I would be ashamed to ask the price we could have gotten for the 2014 so that kid got a great deal given the times.
I am not lying here when I say we paid full price for the '22 and when she went to pick it up the salesman offered $10,000 for her to walk away from the deal. It's a gorgeous black "tremor" crew cab. He said in one day he has 3 people begging to buy it for 10 grand over sticker.

4 months sounds good. I was hearing closer to a year for a super duty. i really like the tremor package on them.

 

[Ben C]

I agree a date would be nice, but even in normal times companies often miss those dates. With the chip shortage and all the COVID-induced supply chain issues, I am just hoping to get my Z9 before the spring bird migration in April. I never anticipated getting it this year or even in Q1 of next year. If that happens I'd be thrilled.

The key to happiness is low expectations.

 

[sh1209]

I agree a date would be nice, but even in normal times companies often miss those dates. With the chip shortage and all the COVID-induced supply chain issues, I am just hoping to get my Z9 before the spring bird migration in April. I never anticipated getting it this year or even in Q1 of next year. If that happens I'd be thrilled.

The key to happiness is low expectations.

Yeah like I said even if they told me June I’d be happy. We’re all different I suppose but hopefully some of us will start receiving them.

 

[RichF]

I think one thing we can all agree on is Nikon has been bleeding from a gaping wound for the last 3 to 4 years due to not having a pro body and poor focus capabilities. The D850 was the last truly great camera Nikon has released. I would think at this point in the game, their marketing department would’ve made sure every I was dotted and T crossed before the release of this camera. There is nothing that could ever make me understand why any company would release a product and not have that product ready to be sent to customers immediately. I am referring to any company, not just Nikon. As soon as you pull the trigger on that release you have expectations to provide that product no matter what it is or where it is. Also once that product is released you have the responsibility of communicating that products availability and estimated time of delivery. I am hoping in the next few days things will start rolling out and this will be a monumental success for the company. Having said all that, if they do fumble this role out, I’m not sure they will recover from it. I am already disheartened by the fact there’s been no substantial update for the two cameras I already own. Speaking solely for myself, this might be the straw that breaks the camels back and forces me into another system that I can depend on.

They are trying to stop the bleeding. Vaporware only works for so long (promise of a great camera), then they need to show something and then comes the clamoring for delivery date. And the confusion of when to deliver the camera, where. Piecemeal release or all countries (at least major markets) at once. Latter makes sense but is a logistical nightmare today due to backlog (in shipping, clearing customs, ..) due to covid