It is Brad Hill's post
If you read on from he statement I quoted....see full quote - below"
Congrats.Does this mean it is only for testing purposes or your order is being fulfilled too with a production model ( I am sure you have ordered it too )
"I had it confirmed yesterday that Nikon Canada is sending me a shiny new Nikon Z 9 and a Nikkor 100-400mm f4.5-5.6S for testing purposes this week. To be clear - and to cut-off any rumours before they get started - this is NOT the Z 9 and 100-400mm lens that I have on order for myself (I actually have TWO Z 9's on order, but that's another story). The one arriving this week is a pre-production Z 9. Of course, given where we are in the product development cycle of the Z 9 it is likely that there will be few (if any) differences between the Z 9 I will be testing and a full production version. The Nikkor 100-400mm lens I will be receiving at the same time IS a full-production model.
I will be testing and shooting with the Z 9 and 100-400mm lens for a few weeks, so I should have ample time to really put it through its paces. As always when I'm testing gear, I will be concentrating on how the camera
REALLY performs under tough and real-world field conditions. Nikon has given me
carte blanche in what I do with the camera (I did promise them I wouldn't try it underwater without a housing!) and in what I say about it. And, though most reading this will already know this, I am NOT a Nikon ambassador and really have no official relationship with them (but I do communicate with representatives from Nikon on a fairly frequent basis and we have a good "unofficial" relationship). In my mind the fact that Nikon is willing to let me do this pre-shipping testing without constraints says a lot about how confident they are that the Z 9 is a very, very good product.
During the time I have the Z 9 I will be attempting to thoroughly test as many aspects of the camera (e.g., AF performance, ISO performance, real world buffer depths, image quality, etc.) as possible. I will be testing it (where appropriate) against cameras that are part of my field kit, including a D6, Z 7II, and Z 6II. Similarly, I will be testing and comparing the Nikkor 100-400mm against some pretty good glass, including the Nikkor 180-400mm f4E, the Nikkor 120-300mm f2.8E, and the Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8S.
Interim reports on the results of my testing and evaluation will appear here in my blog. Don't expect to see any reports until at least mid-way through next week, and some tests (notably image quality and ISO performance tests) won't be reported for quite some time. Perhaps I have some form of undiagnosed handicap but, unlike some others, I am unable to write thorough and truly meaningful reviews before I get the camera in my hands and/or before I actually look very carefully at the test results! Odd, eh? ;-)
Anyway...this should be very interesting and a whole lot of fun. Can't wait! Whee-hah!
Cheers...
Brad
...."