Official Nikon Z8 Launch And Discussion Thread

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Geoff_G said:
Yeah, premature button pushing results in a penalty....always a catch.

But I was expecting something along the lines of a 3 second buffer that just kept 3 seconds of images, dumping older ones as new ones come in...There is no premature button pushing penalty that way...
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It seems that you only have to release button and push it again to start a new 30s cycle. Unfortunately expected event can happen at this time.
 
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JoPoV said:
It seems that you only have to release button and push it again to start a new 30s cycle. Unfortunately expected event can happen at this time.
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Yep, I agree....I'm still not seeing why not keep a rolling 3 sec buffer? There'd always be 3sec of pre-release images before the image is taken.
 
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Geoff_G said:
Yep, I agree....I'm still not seeing why not keep a rolling 3 sec buffer? There'd always be 3sec of pre-release images before the image is taken.
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I suspect they do use a short circular buffer and the 30s timeout is closer to the kind of timers that put the camera to sleep or otherwise minimize how long a function stays active. IOW, if you had something like a button half press with the camera in the camera bag you wouldn't want to drain the battery dry as the camera continually stayed in precapture mode for hours on end.

I could be wrong but I highly doubt they fill a 30 second buffer with images as I don't see any way to access the images way back in a long buffer like that and presumably it's images relatively close to when you press the full shutter release that you're trying to capture. I suspect that longer timer just prohibits the function from staying active for extended periods as it is no doubt drawing down the battery fairly fast if it's effectively capturing high resolution video and storing all those images in the circular buffer as long as the button is half pressed.
 
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DRwyoming said:
I suspect they do use a short circular buffer and the 30s timeout is closer to the kind of timers that put the camera to sleep or otherwise minimize how long a function stays active. IOW, if you had something like a button half press with the camera in the camera bag you wouldn't want to drain the battery dry as the camera continually stayed in precapture mode for hours on end.

I could be wrong but I highly doubt they fill a 30 second buffer with images as I don't see any way to access the images way back in a long buffer like that and presumably it's images relatively close to when you press the full shutter release that you're trying to capture. I suspect that longer timer just prohibits the function from staying active for extended periods as it is no doubt drawing down the battery fairly fast if it's effectively capturing high resolution video and storing all those images in the circular buffer as long as the button is half pressed.
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A 30 sec "watchdog timer" makes sense in that scenario -- and it may be the reason they did it that way....Yep, I'd be surprised if there are more than 3 seconds worth of pre-release images in the pipeline at any one point in time.
 
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Bennvdm said:
Get focal snapshots app. you can then do config on phone/tablet and send to camera via usb-c. Pc version pro focal allows to do it for free if you have active maintenance plan.
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Thank you 😊 don't suppose it's possible to upload a config into focal snapshots and edit it to suit?
 
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flashpixx said:
Thank you 😊 don't suppose it's possible to upload a config into focal snapshots and edit it to suit?
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Does not support config file directly afaik, but you can download from connected camera, edit and then sync updated settings. Not sure if Z8 is supported yet, but the Z9 is. Maybe check their supported camera’s list 1st. Hopefully updated quickly
 
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BillW said:
Hope it might be HE* Raw (and even regular HE raw would be better than jpeg). I’d even be interested in it if it were limited to 20 fps and/or 0.5 seconds to allow enough room in the buffer. Another very useful item would be allowing pre-release capture to be turned on and off with a programmed button (or as part of RSF).

One thing Thom recently pointed out about pre-release capture I had not previously understood. Apparently once the in camera buffer fills, pre-release capture stops and you have to restart it by letting up on the shutter button and half-pressing again. I had assumed that camera would continually update the buffer, discarding the oldest image to add a new one. But apparently it does not do that.

Not sure how the OM pre-release capture works. I assumed it continually cycled new images in and old images out of the buffer. But maybe it does not.
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I have held the shutter pre-release on the OM-1 for over two minutes then used it and it did what I wanted and expected. So it at least cycles new images for two minutes. A brief glance at the manual doesn’t give a limit but just says as long as the shutter is half pressed.
 
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Just got my Z8! First thing I did, before even turning it on, is mount up each of my lenses to see/feel the weight difference compared to the Z9. My first impressions (not that anyone cares, but I'm going to share anyway):

800PF- Overall feels lighter with the Z8, but you suddenly can feel the bulk of this lens, and it's noticeably more front heavy. It's now a lens w/ a camera hanging off the back, whereas the Z9 felt like the centerpiece. I like the feel of the Z9 on this one better.
400 4.5- the balance feels like it sits right under hand at the tripod foot. Weirdly, not as shocking of a change compared to the Z9. Of course it feels lighter, but it's not as "super tiny amazing" as I thought it was going to be.
100-400- this one surprised me, it feels amazing on the Z8! Perfectly balanced and nice to hold. For some reason, on the Z9 it didn't feel as good.

I then went in and copied settings over from the Z9. Camera didn't get hot at all, felt like you'd expect something to feel that you had been holding in your hand for any length of time.

Overall the camera feels nice and light, reminds me of my D500. I think I'm going to like this thing a lot!
 
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MatthewK said:
Just got my Z8! First thing I did, before even turning it on, is mount up each of my lenses to see/feel the weight difference compared to the Z9. My first impressions (not that anyone cares, but I'm going to share anyway):

800PF- Overall feels lighter with the Z8, but you suddenly can feel the bulk of this lens, and it's noticeably more front heavy. It's now a lens w/ a camera hanging off the back, whereas the Z9 felt like the centerpiece. I like the feel of the Z9 on this one better.
400 4.5- weirdly, the balance feels similar, so not as shocking of a change compared to the Z9. Of course it feels lighter, but it's not as "super tiny amazing" as I thought it was going to be.
100-400- this one surprised me, it feels amazing on the Z8! Perfectly balanced and nice to hold.

I then went in and copied settings over from the Z9. Camera didn't get hot at all, felt like you'd expect something to feel that you had been holding in your hand for any length of time.

Overall the camera feels nice and light, reminds me of my D500. I think I'm going to like this thing a lot!
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Thanks for the impressions. UPS is delivering mine today and I'll be using it with the 100-400 a lot. Usually with the 1.4 TC. Can't wait to get my hands on it!
 
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For my Z8, I want to write Raw files to CFE, JPEGs to SD, and maintain FULL BUFFER WRITE SPEED.
Is the Z8 capable of this?
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YES the Z8 is capable of writing Raw to one card and JPG to the other.

But not for an unlimited time if one shoots the largest file formats to both -- that is Lossless RAW and JPG* -- no camera is.

AND since the card slots accept different card types one being a very fast CFE-B and the other a UHS-ii/SD - then of course it all depends. But obviously you will need to use the very fastest and coolest running cards in each slot so that is a GEN 2.0 CF-Express Type B and a V90 UHS-ii card and the very latest generation of each, which is not cheap.

I would ask you to be more specific in your question and provide more details as to what you mean by Full Buffer Write Speed -- AND how many shots are you seeking to shoot in one burst -- endless until the camera starts to slow when the buffer is full; endless until the camera stops; or a shot 0.5 second burst to capture some action. In what formats and what fps - there are many... and so on; but since I test the operating limits of all my gear, perhaps the following table helps:
  • CF-Express Type B -- Delkin Black 512GB - most definitely one of the fastest cards for Slot 1 (the card was updated to a 650GB version and I am waiting for one of these, but for now the 512GB has served me very well)
  • UHS-II SD -- OWC Atlas S Pro V90 Media Card -- also possibly the fastest card for Slot 2
Simple scene AF on 3D tracking shutter pressed until Buffer hit 00 and the shutter stumbled and appeared to slow - roughly. I am not a machine. Camera rested for a few minutes between bursts. Certainly got warm but no heat warnings seen. All shots were taken with one battery.

WARNING —THESE TESTS WERE CONDUCTED USING SHUTTER SPEEDS OF 1/200th or lower and AS I DISCOVERED LATER the Z8/Z9 throttles back fps to 15 fps. So effective all results are for 15 fps NOT 20 fps. I will conduct the same tests again but using 1/400th and a range of slower shutter speeds

Also setting the camera to 15 fps with shutter speeds of 1/200th and 1/160th must also reduce the 15 fps to a lower number. Further tests are needed to discover what occurs and when it kicks in.

For comparison -- I completed the same test on one of my Z9. All tests we shot with a 24-120/4 and of the simple scene from my desk

Screenshot 2023-06-03 at 09.31.04.png
 
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fcotterill said:
My experience concurs that 3rd party batteries are not worth minor saving nor risks
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There's also just the practical aspects. With my D500 I picked up a couple of those Cube dual chargers to charge my Nikon batteries. Had a great reputation and worked fine. But then I picked up a Z6II which came with the new en-el15c. The charger couldn't charge the new batteries. So in the end it turned out just to be a waste of money.
 
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John Navitsky said:
There's also just the practical aspects. With my D500 I picked up a couple of those Cube dual chargers to charge my Nikon batteries. Had a great reputation and worked fine. But then I picked up a Z6II which came with the new en-el15c. The charger couldn't charge the new batteries. So in the end it turned out just to be a waste of money.
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Hahnel ENEL18 clones worked fine in a D850 and D500 but then proved unreliable in a D5.
Similar experience with a Wasabi charger that charged ENEL18 batteries initially, but failed with calibration... Then it became temperamental with charging. I guess a year's usage at most.
These Nikon ENEL15 and ENEL18 form factors have a long history, and the upgraded electronics have basically made each model a different battery, in its own right, with each iteration. Only Nikon is the position to maintain compatibility across chargers and cameras.
 
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fcotterill said:
Hahnel ENEL18 clones worked fine in a D850 and D500 but then proved unreliable in a D5.
Similar experience with a Wasabi charger that charged ENEL18 batteries initially, but failed with calibration... Then it became temperamental with charging. I guess a year's usage at most.
These Nikon ENEL15 and ENEL18 form factors have a long history, and the upgraded electronics have basically made each model a different battery, in its own right, with each iteration. Only Nikon is the position to maintain compatibility across chargers and cameras.
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But at the time I bought my two EN-EL 15c third party batteries I needed them for a video shoot and Nikon batteries were impossible to source. The great battery famine on 2022. I would always prefer to buy 1st party batteries. This was not a cost decision…
 
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First real outing with the Z8 yesterday. Never once did I think: "man, I could really use the Z9 right about now", so no regrets about selling Big Bertha. Battery life after ~3 hours was down to 2/5 bars; I regularly turn the camera off during down times versus letting it go to sleep like I did w/ the Z9, which contributes to the decent battery life.

This was the maiden voyage w/ the 800PF though, probably the #1 reason I was most excited about the new camera. The reduced weight is very much welcomed, and it performs just like it did on the Z9. Didn't really notice any difference in AF performance vs. Z9.

So yeah. the excitement is wearing off... the constant bombardment of discussions, hype/rumors and gear churn has left me burnt out, so it's time to unplug and get to know the new stuff as summer rolls along. The next thing that would pique my interest is if a 600PF gets rumored/announced, or someone releases a camera that fixes the tendency current AF has to leg-hump the background any chance it gets.
 
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Took my new Z8 for an initial test shoot yesterday. Size works well with the 800PF which it will be pretty much stuck to from here onwards. Battery life was fine, no different to any previous mirrorless body I’ve used. The autofocus system is a big improvement from what I’ve used before (Z7ii) but I can tell it’s going to take a long while to get comfortable with. It’s not love at first sight but I’ve already purchased Steve’s eGuide and will see how this combo is working for me by the end of the year.
 
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