Official Nikon Z9 Launch, Info, and Discussion Thread

[RoyC]

Great job for scoring one like you did. I looked and, of course, they are now sold out!

Everyday I checked in the AM and PM, just a couple of clicks on the computer until I scored.
Nikon seems to be shipping to US every two weeks. BB opened up orders on Wednesday. Maybe you need to have a calendar reminder for the next few Wednesdays.

 

[wes]

Last Monday I started looking for a Z9, and last Wednesday Best Buy had them available for order. I finished charging the battery and setting the Z9 up about an 2 hours ago.
If one is wanting one soon look to the larger electronic stores that carry them AND do not take pre-orders.

I got a Z6ii from Best Buy a few days ago after noticing my local store and all the online retailers were out of stock. The employee at Best Buy had to dig it out from behind a bunch of boxes They had no idea they had it.

 

[Art Rourke]

Has anyone tried the Z9 with the 1.4 TC and the 500PF on BIF? I could not use this combination on the D6 because of too few focus points at F8 and am curious if the Z9 might be better. I hope to test it today on hawks but what I want it for is peregrines and they will be faster.

 

[fcotterill]

Has anyone tried the Z9 with the 1.4 TC and the 500PF on BIF? I could not use this combination on the D6 because of too few focus points at F8 and am curious if the Z9 might be better. I hope to test it today on hawks but what I want it for is peregrines and they will be faster.

Yes, dare I say I'm impressed the few opportunities presented ...I have some BIF but too far away to share to judge IQ. Here's an example of a perched Klaas's Cuckoo yesterday am:

1/800, f8, ISO 900, 3D Tracking, Subject-Recognition enabled; minimal PP in Lightroom with 1:1 crop

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[arbitrage]

Has anyone tried the Z9 with the 1.4 TC and the 500PF on BIF? I could not use this combination on the D6 because of too few focus points at F8 and am curious if the Z9 might be better. I hope to test it today on hawks but what I want it for is peregrines and they will be faster.

It was noticeably lower hit rate than the bare lens but still managed some nice BIF shots with it...here is one...
January 28, 2022-3.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr

 

[abc123brian]

Has anyone tried the Z9 with the 1.4 TC and the 500PF on BIF? I could not use this combination on the D6 because of too few focus points at F8 and am curious if the Z9 might be better. I hope to test it today on hawks but what I want it for is peregrines and they will be faster.

Yes, that has been on my Z9 since I got the 1.4x tciii a few weeks ago. It works really well. I notice that it doesn’t lock on or stay locked on as good as without it but for the most part, you barely notice it’s there.

 

[Art Rourke]

Thank you all. That is a lovely picture of the pintail drake.

 

[Mommacat]

Apologies if this was previously posted. Interesting info about some oddities in the exif data.

 

[John Navitsky]

Apologies if this was previously posted. Interesting info about some oddities in the exif data.

I'm not sure all those oddities are oddities. He goes on about phase detect noted as off, but you can see that contrast detect (or something like that) is noted as on. AFAIK, the new AF modes work primarily on color/contrast, so the EXIF settings there may be how the engineers felt best to represent what the camera is doing.

And not to say he's wrong, but it seems like it's been often the case that some of the EXIF information, like computed FL, is wrong when you throw a TC on there and things like that.

But it is interesting. It didn't occur to me that exiftool even worked for the Z9, now I'm curious.

 

[Mommacat]

I'm not sure all those oddities are oddities. He goes on about phase detect noted as off, but you can see that contrast detect (or something like that) is noted as on. AFAIK, the new AF modes work primarily on color/contrast, so the EXIF settings there may be how the engineers felt best to represent what the camera is doing.

And not to say he's wrong, but it seems like it's been often the case that some of the EXIF information, like computed FL, is wrong when you throw a TC on there and things like that.

But it is interesting. It didn't occur to me that exiftool even worked for the Z9, now I'm curious.

Yes, I'm curious now too.

 

[fcotterill]

Supported memory cards

https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/eu/BV_article?articleNo=000044197&lang=en_GB&setRedirect=true

 

[BillW]

Supported memory cards

https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/eu/BV_article?articleNo=000044197&lang=en_GB&setRedirect=true

Thanks for posting the link.

Interesting that Nikon does not mention Delkin Black cards for the Z9. I’ve shot 10,000+ images with my Z9 using Delkin Black 128 gb cards and they seem to work fine. I also have a Prograde Cobalt 325 gb that is on the list.

A second interesting item is that it mentions heat issues possibly ending recording early with the Sandisk Extreme Pro cards (and I think maybe some Sony cards). I have used Sandisk Extreme Pro cards (128 gb and 64 gb) in my Z7II and Z6II bodies. I have not had heat issues in my cameras shooting stills. But the cards can get quite warm in my Sony reader when uploading large numbers of photos to my computer. I do not see any heat issues with the Delkin Black and Prograde Cobalt cards.

 

[RoyC]

One should not assume Nikon has tested any card other than those listed. Lacking any direct data about a specific card, I would assume they work. Any brand you have had great results with before I would go with.

 

[John Navitsky]

A second interesting item is that it mentions heat issues possibly ending recording early with the Sandisk Extreme Pro cards (and I think maybe some Sony cards). I have used Sandisk Extreme Pro cards (128 gb and 64 gb) in my Z7II and Z6II bodies. I have not had heat issues in my cameras shooting stills.

yah, i used a lexar cfe-b card in my d500 and it never got warm in the camera, but did get hot with the reader. i think these cards don’t have heat problems until you really push them, then they materialize. now it’s something i take into consideration when shopping for cards

 

[thelordofthelight]

Matt Granger compares the Z9 vs R3 with the respective 50 1.2 lenses. Some interesting insights on the AF!

 

[fcotterill]

I've ordered a pair of Delkin 128mb cards from BandH
I ran a quick test of the Z9 buffer with the Lexar 128gb Gold card rated as 1750mb/s Read - 1000 mb/s Write [sourced in Cape Town, but this looks like the same card]. RAW compressed High-Efficiency* shot 418 files @ 20 fps without any audible sign of slowing down...but I stopped as the total files exceed practical relevance. It seems this image format is effectively bottomless - well at least until the card is full. I then tested Lossless Compression format of RAW @ 20fps - the Z9 ran up to 84 before slowing.

Repeated the same tests with a Lexar XQD 64gb stated as 440mb/s
High Efficiency* RAW made it to 74 images only at 20fps before the buffer filled & Lossless Compression made it to 61images at 20fps.
I prefer the smaller files in High-Efficiency* RAW, as I cannot detect any serious impacts on image quality...which seems to be the consensus. I will only switch to Lossless Compression files for high resolution landscapes etc at ISO64
After each burst test, the Lexar CFExpr card did not feel hot to touch, but XQD card slightly warm afterwards....but have not checked temperatures of the respective card Readers. Basically I plan to keep using XQD for normal shooting of birds etc where I very rarely shoot a long series at highest fps

Thanks for posting the link.

Interesting that Nikon does not mention Delkin Black cards for the Z9. I’ve shot 10,000+ images with my Z9 using Delkin Black 128 gb cards and they seem to work fine. I also have a Prograde Cobalt 325 gb that is on the list.

A second interesting item is that it mentions heat issues possibly ending recording early with the Sandisk Extreme Pro cards (and I think maybe some Sony cards). I have used Sandisk Extreme Pro cards (128 gb and 64 gb) in my Z7II and Z6II bodies. I have not had heat issues in my cameras shooting stills. But the cards can get quite warm in my Sony reader when uploading large numbers of photos to my computer. I do not see any heat issues with the Delkin Black and Prograde Cobalt cards.

yah, i used a lexar cfe-b card in my d500 and it never got warm in the camera, but did get hot with the reader. i think these cards don’t have heat problems until you really push them, then they materialize. now it’s something i take into consideration when shopping for cards

 

[thelordofthelight]

Not sure if this is a bug or a settings/user issue:

I have set my default AF Area mode to Wide-L using AF-ON button and the larger AF box is what generally shows up even when I do not engage the AF-ON (BBF). So, even if I just want to see through the EVF, I generally see the big AF box in wide-L mode. I have noticed more than once when I turn my camera on for the first time the next day that the AF box size automatically changes to a smaller box (single point). However when I press the AF-ON button (set to Wide L), I could see the bigger AF box.

When I press the i button, the AF area mode is changed to single point and when I change it to Wide L, I could see the wide-L box. The problem however is the camera seems to resort to single point AF all of a sudden. Again, this doesn't impact when I start engaging the AF using my AF-ON button but only when I just see through the view finder.

Anyone else noticed this?

Note: I checked if this was due to changing of custom banks but it isn't.

 

[fcotterill]

I have just set up my Z9 with the same default of Wide-L with subject recognition on: restricted to animals only; up to now 3D has been the default which is experimental....
I'll try this for a couple of days to see if the same quirk shows up

Firmware is 1.11

Not sure if this is a bug or a settings/user issue:

I have set my default AF Area mode to Wide-L using AF-ON button and the larger AF box is what generally shows up even when I do not engage the AF-ON (BBF). So, even if I just want to see through the EVF, I generally see the big AF box in wide-L mode. I have noticed more than once when I turn my camera on for the first time the next day that the AF box size automatically changes to a smaller box (single point). However when I press the AF-ON button (set to Wide L), I could see the bigger AF box.

When I press the i button, the AF area mode is changed to single point and when I change it to Wide L, I could see the wide-L box. The problem however is the camera seems to resort to single point AF all of a sudden. Again, this doesn't impact when I start engaging the AF using my AF-ON button but only when I just see through the view finder.

Anyone else noticed this?

Note: I checked if this was due to changing of custom banks but it isn't.

 

[Charlie Lasswell]

You can set it up to use a different af area for portrait. I have mine setup for single point in portrait orientation and wide-L for landscape. The viewfinder is probably showing whatever was selected last. Possibly your landscape and portrait af areas are different?

 

[thelordofthelight]

Thanks! That's what I thought initially but like I mentioned, I do not use shooting banks. I also do not use single point AF on any of my custom controls.

You can set it up to use a different af area for portrait. I have mine setup for single point in portrait orientation and wide-L for landscape. The viewfinder is probably showing whatever was selected last. Possibly your landscape and portrait af areas are different?

 

[zule11]

I SWITCHED to the Nikon Z9 for 30 days// The Pros and Cons compared to the Sony A1/Canon R3

 

[zule11]

Nikon Z9 What I Love & Hate | Before the Firmware Update - Seth Miranda

 

[cchuck]

I ran into a Z9 "Release Timing Indicator" problem yesterday. It was stuck on blacking out the viewfinder image when shooting. Shooting M, f5.6, 1/800, 15 fps. Making changes to d13 setting had no effect. OFF-ON had no effect. Turned Z9 off and removed battery -- no effect. Cure was loading saved Shooting Bank settings. But I don't know what had caused it. Any ideas?

 

[zule11]

Approaching the Scene 190: How To Use Nikon’s Z9 Banks & Save Settings

 

[Maljo]

I ran into a Z9 "Release Timing Indicator" problem yesterday. It was stuck on blacking out the viewfinder image when shooting. Shooting M, f5.6, 1/800, 15 fps. Making changes to d13 setting had no effect. OFF-ON had no effect. Turned Z9 off and removed battery -- no effect. Cure was loading saved Shooting Bank settings. But I don't know what had caused it. Any ideas?

Custom Setting D12