Does the Z9 specs meet your expections

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RichF

RichF

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nikonrumors.com

The Nikon Z9 is rumored to be announced in November/December - Nikon Rumors

Just a quick update: I received information from one of my good sources that the Nikon Z9 is rumored/expected to be announced in November/December timeframe. Here is what we know so far about the Z9: The officially announced Nikon Z9 details are: Newly developed FX-format stacked CMOS sensor New...
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Personally if the camera meets these specs I'll order as soon available. Hopefully the wait will not be too long
 
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Very likely if the specs are confirmed by field reports and test and demo images. The z9 AF and Custom Settings options can be expected to match the D6's.
The resolution is the biggest question, especially IQ in lowlight if it is indeed ~50mb.
 
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To me, the spec list looks like they're basically saying "we're going to do what Sony and Canon are doing". So the capabilities should be comparable and I'm expecting it to come down to the quality of the implementation to be the differentiating factor.

The glass could be another strong factor. I'm curious about the 600mm and 200-600mm too.

The toughest thing for me right now is: how long do we have to wait? My patience, like everything else, is deteriorating with age.
 
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Charlie Lasswell said:
To me, the spec list looks like they're basically saying "we're going to do what Sony and Canon are doing". So the capabilities should be comparable and I'm expecting it to come down to the quality of the implementation to be the differentiating factor.

The glass could be another strong factor. I'm curious about the 600mm and 200-600mm too.

The toughest thing for me right now is: how long do we have to wait? My patience, like everything else, is deteriorating with age.
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I am hoping that there be noticeable improvement in AF for example. Do what everyone else has done but a bit (or a lot) better. Hard to be truly innovative in these products. There are so many good ideas already out there.
 
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anthonyrobinson said:
I'm also not a fan of the integrated vertical grip! I was hopeful a Z8 would be on the horizon, seems not to be the case at this stage.
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what do you expect of the Z8? Higher res? perhaps 100 MP?

I would like to see a Z7 III with much better AF (object detection and tracking, including eye focus) than the Mark II and 15-20 FPS. Same MP. I would not be surprised if the price jumped to around $4K USD.
 
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I have said it in other threads and the new rumor seems to confirm what I had expected and that is Nikon will announce the end of this year but likely won't be shipping until spring 2022. Their fiscal year is around April I believe. At the point the Z9 comes out where will the current cameras be? Sony is bringing out cameras each year, Canon has some flagships coming which I suspect they will get it out before the Z9. If you are never going to buy a different brand it won't matter however when everyone compares specs I worry Nikon will continue to be behind. To some this won't matter but to many it will. Moving into a mirrorless system no matter what brand requires a rather expensive investment in native glass and new bodies. Yes you can do this slowly but most won't. I worry that the Z9 catches Nikon up to what the market had last year. I sure hope I am wrong and they blow it out of the water, it sure is a sexy camera. I think Nikon has to deliver or they are in real trouble.
 
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dtibbals said:
I have said it in other threads and the new rumor seems to confirm what I had expected and that is Nikon will announce the end of this year but likely won't be shipping until spring 2022. Their fiscal year is around April I believe. At the point the Z9 comes out where will the current cameras be? Sony is bringing out cameras each year, Canon has some flagships coming which I suspect they will get it out before the Z9. If you are never going to buy a different brand it won't matter however when everyone compares specs I worry Nikon will continue to be behind. To some this won't matter but to many it will. Moving into a mirrorless system no matter what brand requires a rather expensive investment in native glass and new bodies. Yes you can do this slowly but most won't. I worry that the Z9 catches Nikon up to what the market had last year. I sure hope I am wrong and they blow it out of the water, it sure is a sexy camera. I think Nikon has to deliver or they are in real trouble.
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In response to this comment, I just have to wonder when good (great) is good enough.
If Nikon can deliver a camera with A1 capabilities (2020-21 tech), with Nikon color/files, and designed to optimize Nikon's optics, would that be good enough?
Everybody seems to be looking to ride a unicorn along a rainbow road into a pot of gold. The current crop of cameras (ZII's included) are so good today that incremental improvements will do little more than automate the photographic experience. In many ways, the modern tech is so loaded with AI, that I find the photographic experience to be cheapened a bit. Today I photographed my 3rd beaver tail slap in less than 6 months. It took me 5 years to get my first shot like this, and I felt so much pride in catching the moment...
While today's image is beautiful for the light and composition, it is now a "ho-hum" moment because the gear is soooo good. Was the image due to my 30+ years of experience as a wildlife and nature photographer, or just something made possible by technology?
 
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BLev65 said:
In response to this comment, I just have to wonder when good (great) is good enough.
If Nikon can deliver a camera with A1 capabilities (2020-21 tech), with Nikon color/files, and designed to optimize Nikon's optics, would that be good enough?
Everybody seems to be looking to ride a unicorn along a rainbow road into a pot of gold. The current crop of cameras (ZII's included) are so good today that incremental improvements will do little more than automate the photographic experience. In many ways, the modern tech is so loaded with AI, that I find the photographic experience to be cheapened a bit. Today I photographed my 3rd beaver tail slap in less than 6 months. It took me 5 years to get my first shot like this, and I felt so much pride in catching the moment...
While today's image is beautiful for the light and composition, it is now a "ho-hum" moment because the gear is soooo good. Was the image due to my 30+ years of experience as a wildlife and nature photographer, or just something made possible by technology?
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Your image was the result of both, but you knew where to be when, what to anticipate, and what features of the camera to utilize to capture what you planned for. I am guessing that once you learned enough to capture the beaver tail slap the first time it would have been easier the following times even without a more high-tech camera.
Knowing how best to use the AI capabilities of a new camera is a skill in itself, is it not?

And yes, it is possible to become so enamored with/preoccupied with the bells and whistles that they are assigned more importance than is warranted for 95% of the photos we take.
 
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For those who are curious.. Z6II + 300mm f/2.8D AFS II
BeaverLZ6_4153-Edit-Edit.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
 
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RichF said:
what do you expect of the Z8? Higher res? perhaps 100 MP?

I would like to see a Z7 III with much better AF (object detection and tracking, including eye focus) than the Mark II and 15-20 FPS. Same MP. I would not be surprised if the price jumped to around $4K USD.
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Figuratively speaking, a camera that will be held in the same regard as the d850 as being the best all-rounder and a genuine standout that a lot of other bodies get compared to, though I reckon the A1 has that title.
I guess more literally speaking: a small body size, megapixels in the bank and capable AF. 100MP would be nice, I print some stuff at 30x40 @ 300dpi, a 100MP sensor would mean trivial upscaling.
 
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To answer the original question, yes, the specs are what I'm looking for. I would rather see 45-50MP, it's enough! Frame rate at that resolution, I think 20FPS is also enough if the AF is spot on and there's no slowing down. I want the vertical grip, after using them over the last six months I've become to like them.

I've said it before and I'll say it again though, they need better FTZ operation... if I have to buy a new prime all bets are off, I still have thoughts of change every now and then... but then I think I've spent enough! At least getting the Z9 I will sell two Nikon bodies and use all my existing lenses. I'll keep the D5 for the rainforest.
 
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Here’s my quandary, Gentlemen.

The Z9 rumored spec mentions - “Stunning” AF tracking (better than the D6)”

I'll be making a comparison to the Sony A1 specs and performance, e.g.,
- 50.1MP RAW+JPEG **up to 30fps w/ 120 AF/AE calculations per sec**. (With appropriate caveat notes about lenses, etc.)

I won’t be spending 6500 (or more) for a Z9 with incrementally better AF than the D6. The Sony A1 AF tracking is an order of magnitude better than the D6 now. Do I need 30fps? No, 20 would be fine but I’m going to be watching the AF tracking capability very carefully and we all know what the A1 can do with 120 AF/AE calculations per second.

We know the mirrorless lenses are necessary to realize the full image and AF potential of the mirrorless mounts. When are Nikon’s 200-600 and 600 (f4?) Z lenses coming (projected by end of ’21, or during ’22)?

Canon has the RF100-500 and 600 f4 now - with apologies that they cannot produce them fast enough..

Sony has the FE 200-600 and 600 f4 now.
 
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Doug Herr said:
The integrated vertical grip isn't necessarily a deal-breaker but for myself it goes in the negative column.
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Oh, gross. I do not want more weight and size, especially for something I would never use. That is a dealbreaker.

No reason for me to leave the D850 yet, and that's fine. I'm in no rush.
 
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RockvilleBob said:
Looking for A1 or better.
Good use of my existing lenses, the current FTZ is a show stopper
If my current lenses are significantly degraded then I will probably switch to SONY
Good Nikon Z AF tracking performance is long overdue, way overdue
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I agree. Z6/Z7 II are reasonable but not good. A couple of years behind Sony and Canon
 
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RockvilleBob said:
Looking for A1 or better.
Good use of my existing lenses, the current FTZ is a show stopper
If my current lenses are significantly degraded then I will probably switch to SONY
Good Nikon Z AF tracking performance is long overdue, way overdue
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My thoughts exactly. If I must buy a new telephoto lens together with the Z9 to get good AF tracking I might just as well look at another brands. The only F-mount lens I own now is the 500mm f/4 e fl and I hope the Z9 will at least have the same AF speed with this lens as DSLR’s have. I hope to buy the Z9 and use it with my 500mm and then buy a Z 600mm in the future.
 
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The Z9 has one major flaw I see (so far) - nobody knows when we'll even be able to buy one (for us mere mortals). Since hardly anything else is known and nobody has seen one in the wild at this stage there is not much to comment on (considering how close we are to the Olympics that's a bit concerning - the R3s are showing up in many hands by now, under NDA but at least we know they are being real-life tested, which means they are being produced even if in very small numbers).

I just came back from a few days in Colorado and the D850 performed at its usual standard (which means errors were mostly mine) but there are a few times when I wish I had Ibis in camera to supplement the one in the lens and eye tracking - because keeping a single point AF on an Elk's eye is not that simple with a 420mm lens (300pf + 1.4x), but it gets very tricky when brutal gusts of wind are involved - so I had to resolve myself to shooting long bursts at 1/2000s and 1/3200s just for the hope that one would be tack-sharp but it also resulted in higher ISOs than ideal.

I also wish I had wysiwyg exposure, it would have saved me from a couple user errors on some very nice mountain goat shots which are easily 1 stop over exposed (they are salvageable but won't be as nice as they should have been).

And I don't know why I persevere but I tried to shoot videos... I really need to stop trying with the D850 - not worth the aggravation.

So a top performing mirrorless would have been nice indeed and help me get more keepers, without a doubt (but I am quite happy with what I got with the D850) and the question remains open - wait for an unknown period of time, for a Z9 that could still be disappointing or jump ship... good news is the other bands can't supply either, so no rush to decide :)
 
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