FTZ II confirmed but no 400 2.8

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Nikon is banking on keeping folks by adapting F glass which will work however they aren't going to attract any new users who own Sony or Canon gear.
 
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Nikon has maintained momentum since inaugural launch of their entirely new Z system. The Z9 will make a total of 8 Mirrorless cameras.
30 Z lenses will be out by the end of this 2021 Financial year ie April 2022. All within 3 & half years...
A 85mm prime, the 200-600 and the two telephotos are remaining.
Of which, the fast 400 S is likely to be announced as in development.

This bigger gaps is the niche of prosumer cameras in a price range under the Z9. At least 1 of 2 cameras are absent:
1. the Z8 highest resolution ie 60mp at least

2. a Z90 will be more cost effective to produce and sell at an accessible RRP. Built around a DX Stacked-sensor, and cloning across Z9 algorithms in a Prosumer DX MILC. Thom Hogan has mentioned Nikon had been planning for a high performance DX Z MILC aka Z90
Both with optional vertical grips in addition to expended Menu and Controls ie Shooting Banks with much improved Customization options.
 
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fcotterill said:
Nikon has maintained momentum since inaugural launch of their entirely new Z system. The Z9 will make a total of 8 Mirrorless cameras.
30 Z lenses will be out by the end of this 2021 Financial year ie April 2022. All within 3 & half years...
A 85mm prime, the 200-600 and the two telephotos are remaining.
Of which, the fast 400 S is likely to be announced as in development.

This bigger gaps is the niche of prosumer cameras in a price range under the Z9. At least 1 of 2 cameras are absent:
1. the Z8 highest resolution ie 60mp at least

2. a Z90 will be more cost effective to produce and sell at an accessible RRP. Built around a DX Stacked-sensor, and cloning across Z9 algorithms in a Prosumer DX MILC. Thom Hogan has mentioned Nikon had been planning for a high performance DX Z MILC aka Z90
Both with optional vertical grips in addition to expended Menu and Controls ie Shooting Banks with much improved Customization options.
Click to expand...
Either of the 2 cameras you mentioned would interest me greatly. Coming from a D500, the Z90 (or whatever they may call such a beast) would be viewed by me as a replacement for the D500.

Honestly, the Z7ii interests me. I will be renting one in the coming months to see how it works for me. I doubt if the autofocus on it is as bad/horrible/totally useless as the YouTube gurus claim. But the only way to know that is to try it in my own photography.

Like some other luddites, I'm holding onto the D500 for a while longer to see where this mirrorless arms race settles out.

A Z90 could be the "secret sauce" to get me to make the move but I'm not holding my breath for that release anytime soon and I'm not getting any younger.
 
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I used a Z7 intensively for almost 2 years but traded it in for a decent return once it became clear Nikon will not upgrade the Custom menu options in line with my minimum needs. There has been nothing wrong for most genres with the Z AF since updated the v2.* firmware over 2 years ago. In fact, AF is more precise especially with a fickle zoom such as the 80-400 G and fast primes eg 58 f1.4G. The obstacles for wildlife IME is inability to switch AF modes on-the-fly (as can be customized in a D500 and similar) and the grabbing clutter can be . Obviously for BIF the EVF refresh rate/blackout is a hindrance, but I found the Z7 tracked slower flying birds without a problem.

As is often reiterated in this forum (examples), the D500 is still hands-down excellent. It is arguably the best value camera at the price for wildlife photography. I hear the local Nikon dealers cannot source sufficient stock for demand here in Cape Town. It's hard to believe Nikon do not recognize its value, especially as it's often paired with a PF prime and even more often the 200-500 f5.6E (another bargain).

The glaring absences of the D860 and D550 to upgrade these excellent DSLRs speaks volumes - i.e. with Z7 / Z50 sensor and D6 AF engine. Perhaps Nikon either cannot extend factory capacity or they are planning MILC equivalents in Z mount. Perhaps the latter will coincide with the 200-600 or even a surprising Zed PF prime! Both cameras will only sell more new lenses in decent numbers, especially the 100-400 S and 200-600.
 
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fcotterill said:
2. a Z90 will be more cost effective to produce and sell at an accessible RRP. Built around a DX Stacked-sensor, and cloning across Z9 algorithms in a Prosumer DX MILC. Thom Hogan has mentioned Nikon had been planning for a high performance DX Z MILC aka Z90
Both with optional vertical grips in addition to expended Menu and Controls ie Shooting Banks with much improved Customization options.
Click to expand...

Thom Hogan did mention in one of his blogs that Nikon discussed a tandem development/launch of a Z9/Z900 at some (very early) stage, but he also thought that Nikon eventually decided to split the FF and APSC lines within the Z system, and take APSC into a different direction. The Zfc may be the first result of that.
As a D500 user with 500mm lenses, I am not very positive about the chances of a mirrorless D500 replacement. Nikon is not living on an island, and Canon and certainly Sony, seem to want to reserve high performance for their FF bodies.
I have no idea if or when this might change, but the signs are not very positive.

Apart from the prohibitive cost of a Z9, which would give me über high end features that I have zero use for like prolonged 8K shooting, there is also the considerable weight increase over the D500 with eg. my Sigma 500mm f4S. At around 1350 grams with the ftz attached, that would get really uncomfortable.
I forsee that I will hang onto the D500 for some years to come, and there are others who feel the same, judging by how well the D500 still sells where I live.
 
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Considering the specs of the Z9 it looks like by intent or by accident Nikon is finally at least giving a nod to us wildlife photographers. Unfortunately by adding a grip and FTZ I think they are still ignoring the needs of us old fart wildlife photographers :(
 
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Regarding the 400mm 2.8, there is a school of thought that the 400 will indeed have a built in TC but it won't be 1.4x. It will in fact be a 1.25x TC which will effectively convert the 400 2.8 into a 500 f4. As support to this theory consider the lack of a 500mm in the S lens road map published by Nikon. By doing this Nikon accomplishes three things. 1) they offer something unique in the prime lens with built in TC 2) they fill the 500mm gap in the lineup and 3) they don't cut into sales of the 600mm.
 
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Thanks. Intriguing idea, and a neat tactic if Nikon have decided to run with this. It will be very dextrous if the TC125 is built in and bespoke. Based on the 800 f5.6E FL, a bespoke TC125 extends to 1000 f6.7. So the 400 f2.8 will be extend to a very useful 500 f3.3.

This means the 400 2.8S / TC125 can get to 560 f4 / 700 f4.8 if the combination works well with Z-TC14. Correspondingly its maximum will be 800 f5.6 / 980 f6.7 if coupled with Z-TC2..... [EDITED]

Arguably, an analogous design of the 600 f4 could include an integral bespoke TC1.33 to get to 800 f4.8 ?

NorthernFocus said:
Regarding the 400mm 2.8, there is a school of thought that the 400 will indeed have a built in TC but it won't be 1.4x. It will in fact be a 1.25x TC which will effectively convert the 400 2.8 into a 500 f4. As support to this theory consider the lack of a 500mm in the S lens road map published by Nikon. By doing this Nikon accomplishes three things. 1) they offer something unique in the prime lens with built in TC 2) they fill the 500mm gap in the lineup and 3) they don't cut into sales of the 600mm.
Click to expand...
 
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NorthernFocus said:
Considering the specs of the Z9 it looks like by intent or by accident Nikon is finally at least giving a nod to us wildlife photographers. Unfortunately by adding a grip and FTZ I think they are still ignoring the needs of us old fart wildlife photographers :(
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Personally I am glad that the grip is part of the camera. just feels better in my hands. when in portrait mode, I don't like reaching around for the shutter button.
 
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NorthernFocus said:
Regarding the 400mm 2.8, there is a school of thought that the 400 will indeed have a built in TC but it won't be 1.4x. It will in fact be a 1.25x TC which will effectively convert the 400 2.8 into a 500 f4. As support to this theory consider the lack of a 500mm in the S lens road map published by Nikon. By doing this Nikon accomplishes three things. 1) they offer something unique in the prime lens with built in TC 2) they fill the 500mm gap in the lineup and 3) they don't cut into sales of the 600mm.
Click to expand...
Extending your logic, the 600 F4 would have 1.33 built in convert so it also will be an 800 F5.6 (approximately).

Wonder if Nikon will make the 180-400 F4 into a z mount?
 
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philippe said:
Having read hundreds of comments on many fora, one thing is for sure, nikon is damned if it does and damned if it doesn't. No matter what it does, there will be 5 million people who think it has done the wrong thing for 5 million different reasons.
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Result of influencers who are more interested in attracting followers than the truth
 
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