Z8 has same card-door problem as Z7

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Tim Karels

Tim Karels

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I was hiking yesterday with my Z8 and Z 400 on a sling strap so that the camera was at my hip. I stopped for a breather and grabbed the camera and noticed the door was open, furthermore the card was partially ejected and no doubt would have fallen out in short order. Although I tend to have the bottom of the camera against my hip, it must have rotated at some point so that the door was bumped and then the card must have been bumped in order to eject it.

I'm a little disappointed that Nikon decided to go back to the same door style as the Z7 and did not use the same door as the Z9. I've never had the door open on the z9 in the 17 months that I've been using it. I know that some people complained that the z9 door was too cumbersome to open. Perhaps the complaining was a little too loud and now we've taken a step back to a door that opens a little too easy.

Still love the Z8, but now a strip of gaffer tape adorns it to add some more security.
 
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Z9 door is a great, secure design and after a little while breaks in enough that it is easy to do one handed once you know the motion. Don't know why they went back to the non-locking style with all the issues Z6/7 had with opening just by looking at it the wrong way.
I do recall people saying the Z8 door was better than Z6/7 though. Do you find it the same or is it at least a little harder to open accidentally?
 
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Ditto on a preference for the Z9 door. I find that the space available to brace your thumb against the back of the camera (between the joystick and the I-menu button) causes me to overlap the card door with my thumb. I'm sure I'll get used to it in time, but it's a pain, nonetheless. And not to mention, far less secure.

Cheers!
 
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it's been noted that the z9 mechanism integrates a sensor so the camera knows if the door is open and i'm guessing that's a more expensive part and it's cheaper to use the simpler mechanism. i would guess they're re-using parts from the z6/z7 mechanism and every part currently in their parts catalog is a cost/logistics savings.
 
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aolander said:
I find nothing wrong with the Z6/7/6ii/7ii door. I've never had it open on its own let alone have the card pop out. I don't see how the card could be pushed in and then pop out by itself. Seems there were a lot of complaints about the Z9 door actually.
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the door can be brushed open under the right conditions. this happened once to me during my z6ii ownership, but only once. as for the card, you'd have to bump up against it such that it gets pushed in. it seems plausible this could happen if the camera was bouncing against you. 🤷‍♂️
 
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aolander said:
I find nothing wrong with the Z6/7/6ii/7ii door. I've never had it open on its own let alone have the card pop out. I don't see how the card could be pushed in and then pop out by itself. Seems there were a lot of complaints about the Z9 door actually.
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Yes, there were a LOT of complaints about the Z9 door...and while, at first blush, it was different than I was used to, after a surprisingly short period of time, I grew to like it. Very easy to open it one-handed, pulling down with my thumb-tip while applying pressure to slide it back...piece of cake. Adaptation is a wonderful thing, but not a universal trait among us humans. :)
 
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Tim Karels said:
I was hiking yesterday with my Z8 and Z 400 on a sling strap so that the camera was at my hip....Although I tend to have the bottom of the camera against my hip, it must have rotated at some point so that the door was bumped and then the card must have been bumped in order to eject it....Still love the Z8, but now a strip of gaffer tape adorns it to add some more security.
Click to expand...
No gaffers tape necessary. Simply keep a hand on the camera and don't let it flop around while you're walking. Another common complaint is lens buttons getting switched while walking with the camera on a sling. Also easily avoided by keeping a hand on the camera. On smaller lenses I hold the camera grip and with larger lenses hold on to the lens foot. The strap supports the weight and the hand need only grip tight enough to stabilize the rig so it's not bouncing against the hip.

arbitrage said:
Z9 door is a great, secure design and after a little while breaks in enough that it is easy to do one handed once you know the motion. Don't know why they went back to the non-locking style...
Click to expand...
Maybe due to all the whining people did about the locking door? I suppose they have to content themselves if some of us are happy some of the time :(
 
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Tim Karels said:
I was hiking yesterday with my Z8 and Z 400 on a sling strap so that the camera was at my hip. I stopped for a breather and grabbed the camera and noticed the door was open, furthermore the card was partially ejected and no doubt would have fallen out in short order. Although I tend to have the bottom of the camera against my hip, it must have rotated at some point so that the door was bumped and then the card must have been bumped in order to eject it.

I'm a little disappointed that Nikon decided to go back to the same door style as the Z7 and did not use the same door as the Z9. I've never had the door open on the z9 in the 17 months that I've been using it. I know that some people complained that the z9 door was too cumbersome to open. Perhaps the complaining was a little too loud and now we've taken a step back to a door that opens a little too easy.

Still love the Z8, but now a strip of gaffer tape adorns it to add some more security.
Click to expand...
Never had this problem with my Z 8, Granted I only used it for a very hard 2 days of shooting. Had the door on the Z 7/7 II pop open accidentally
 
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...and here I was thinking how nice it was to just pop the card door open quickly without a fuss...my only complaint on the camera so far is the way the battery quickly dies down, but I have nine of them so that should not be a problem. Loving the camera. It's so much lighter with the long lens on than the Z9. Used the 9 yesterday with a landscape lens and that was much better than the wildlife lens weight-wise.
 
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I have a Z8 on order, so we will see. However I did a three day rental of a Z7ii a couple months ago and had no issue. I don't use a sling strap so maybe that's the difference?

As for the comment about wishing they had two CFE slots instead of one SD, I strongly disagree. I only use SD cards. Since I don't do video or high speed bursts, I have no need to spend extra money on more expensive cards nor to buy a new card reader.
 
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I've rarely had issues with my Z6 door opening on accident. The Z8 door is flush with the body so its less likely to catch and open accidentally compared to the Z6. The Z6 thumb rest sticks out a little. All to say, for me it's been a non-issue.
 
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arbitrage said:
Z9 door is a great, secure design and after a little while breaks in enough that it is easy to do one handed once you know the motion. Don't know why they went back to the non-locking style with all the issues Z6/7 had with opening just by looking at it the wrong way.
I do recall people saying the Z8 door was better than Z6/7 though. Do you find it the same or is it at least a little harder to open accidentally?
Click to expand...
I believe the door on the Z8 is a little stiffer than the Z7. I never had this problem with any of my DSLR’s. Card doors popping open really started to be an issue with the introduction of the z6/z7.
 
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NorthernFocus said:
No gaffers tape necessary. Simply keep a hand on the camera and don't let it flop around while you're walking. Another common complaint is lens buttons getting switched while walking with the camera on a sling. Also easily avoided by keeping a hand on the camera. On smaller lenses I hold the camera grip and with larger lenses hold on to the lens foot. The strap supports the weight and the hand need only grip tight enough to stabilize the rig so it's not bouncing against the hip.


Maybe due to all the whining people did about the locking door? I suppose they have to content themselves if some of us are happy some of the time :(
Click to expand...
The gaffer tape is much more convenient than constantly cradling the camera. I’ve never had any issues with buttons getting pushed since, first the camera is always off when at my side and I tend to have it oriented so that the bottom of the camera is against my hip. I do tend to have my hand resting on it to keep it under control, but yes, sometimes it gets bounced around a bit and rotated if I’m climbing over things or if I need both hands to do something else. I bought the Z8 in West Yellowstone on release day and I’ve been in Yellowstone NP since. I’ve probably hiked 40 - 50 miles with the Z400 4.5 and Z8 combo so far and this only happened once. But once is enough to be concerned because I nearly lost an entire morning of bear and pronghorn photos.
 
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John Navitsky said:
the door can be brushed open under the right conditions. this happened once to me during my z6ii ownership, but only once. as for the card, you'd have to bump up against it such that it gets pushed in. it seems plausible this could happen if the camera was bouncing against you. 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...

Although, I have had the Z7 door open multiple occasions (before gaffer tape), I never had the card eject. I think it was just a rare combination of events that caused the Z8 door to open and then a second bump precisely on the card to cause it to eject.
 
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Tim Karels said:
I was hiking yesterday with my Z8 and Z 400 on a sling strap so that the camera was at my hip. I stopped for a breather and grabbed the camera and noticed the door was open, furthermore the card was partially ejected and no doubt would have fallen out in short order. Although I tend to have the bottom of the camera against my hip, it must have rotated at some point so that the door was bumped and then the card must have been bumped in order to eject it.

I'm a little disappointed that Nikon decided to go back to the same door style as the Z7 and did not use the same door as the Z9. I've never had the door open on the z9 in the 17 months that I've been using it. I know that some people complained that the z9 door was too cumbersome to open. Perhaps the complaining was a little too loud and now we've taken a step back to a door that opens a little too easy.

Still love the Z8, but now a strip of gaffer tape adorns it to add some more security.
Click to expand...
In my first photographic trip with the Z8 (4 days), did find the door had popped open one time. Not sure exactly how or when, maybe putting it in and out of my backpack? So before my next trip, will secure with Gaffer's tape. The door seems to more readily pop open than my D500! I did find that I struggled some with the Z9 card door, but maybe better than accidentally popping open?
 
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