Official Nikon Z9 Launch, Info, and Discussion Thread

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THE Z 9

My Z9 is on order...........but don't get to hung up on it being a brilliant flawless state of the art focus tracking monster.........i predict it wont be as good as the A1 or R3 but not to far behind.
That's the general impression i have got watching live footage on the Z9.
Ambassadors feedback is only good if you believe your local politician...........
I feel the Z9 will be just OK in some ways and excellent in other ways.
If i can have a 20 fps at 45mp its a win
Silent shutter when needed, a win
Weight ahhh its a pity............
Tilt screen.
I am happy..............

What i am hoping for is that the Z 9 has the accurate colour and dynamic range in the field no less than the D850 or Z7II.............I hear a lot of talk but no evidence hands on.............

The A1 is state of the art bench mark, spectacular.......yet Thom Hogan when asked.......... do you use the A1 for sports action.......he replied No, i prefer the D6 as its much stickier...

No that said if the A1 is Thom's second choice and the Z9 is third cab in the rank behind the A1......be prepared...........
Nikon has done a huge job on marketing lets hope the Z9 delivers........
 
Interesting that linking an article about the Z9 turned again into "but the A1 is still better". Can you please take the A1 out of this thread? We already had this discussion 10 pages back or so, and everybody agrees your A1s are best, no need to rehash it.
A1 shooters are worried they sold all their old nikon or canon gear at a loss for no reason at this point. I think they feel the need to justify their decisions even tho nobody really cares.
 
A1 shooters are worried they sold all their old nikon or canon gear at a loss for no reason at this point. I think they feel the need to justify their decisions even tho nobody really cares.
It’s just a couple of guys that feel they need to throw some shade at Nikon and they can’t close their Sony A1 briefcase at every opportunity. We’ve read the comments from the know everything Sony and your Nikon is inferior. Sorry just being facetious here, nuff said.... 😃
 
THE Z 9

My Z9 is on order...........but don't get to hung up on it being a brilliant flawless state of the art focus tracking monster.........i predict it wont be as good as the A1 or R3 but not to far behind.
That's the general impression i have got watching live footage on the Z9.
Ambassadors feedback is only good if you believe your local politician...........
I feel the Z9 will be just OK in some ways and excellent in other ways.
If i can have a 20 fps at 45mp its a win
Silent shutter when needed, a win
Weight ahhh its a pity............
Tilt screen.
I am happy..............

What i am hoping for is that the Z 9 has the accurate colour and dynamic range in the field no less than the D850 or Z7II.............I hear a lot of talk but no evidence hands on.............

The A1 is state of the art bench mark, spectacular.......yet Thom Hogan when asked.......... do you use the A1 for sports action.......he replied No, i prefer the D6 as its much stickier...

No that said if the A1 is Thom's second choice and the Z9 is third cab in the rank behind the A1......be prepared...........
Nikon has done a huge job on marketing lets hope the Z9 delivers........


I will be buying the Nikon Z9. #3rd on the list in my local area.

I partly agree with you. Based on what I have seen on Youtube, in terms of stills AF,
R3 seems to be the best followed by A1 & then Z9.

I am not too worried about the AF on Z9 as I am sure it will get better with firmware updates as Z9 has the best processor.

Also, when it comes to eye AF with a fast glass, a mirrorless flagship should outperform D6-like cameras.

When it comes to video AF, Z9's AF seems to be the best. Also, one can do lock-on focus in video in Z9 by moving the AF point with the joystick. One can't do that in Sony & Canon. It has to be done via the live screen only if I am not wrong.

So my main concern about the Z9 is actually not AF, but the dynamic range & chromatic noise. I have a feeling it will be a stop worse than A1 & that it won't do well at an ISO above 3200.
 
I don’t think we know how the Z9, A1 and R3 rank against one another. And rankings might be different between individuals, depending on features they want or use more often. All 3 look like amazing tools for wildlife photographers. The choice between them may not come down to a simple comparison of specs. Might more turn on system issues (including lenses owned and lenses available); current system owned, ergonomics, size/weight, accessories, current availability and the like. I have pre-ordered a Z9 and have used Nikons for years. But the A1 looks like a terrific camera that is already in people’s hands. Don’t know as much about the R3. But I think competition between Nikon, Sony and Canon will benefit us all. I can enjoy my Nikons and be happy that others are enjoying their Sonys and Canons.
 
So, I will suggest you cannot tell which AF is "best" by watching Youtube videos, or even brief hands-on with the cameras. You're going to have to learn the AF system of EACH camera, figure out how to best employ it for your subject matter and then and only then are you going to be able to draw meaningful conclusions about the AF systems.... LIMITED to that _specific_ AF context.

And, I think it's clear they're all pretty darn good.
 
I don’t think we know how the Z9, A1 and R3 rank against one another. And rankings might be different between individuals, depending on features they want or use more often. All 3 look like amazing tools for wildlife photographers. The choice between them may not come down to a simple comparison of specs. Might more turn on system issues (including lenses owned and lenses available); current system owned, ergonomics, size/weight, accessories, current availability and the like. I have pre-ordered a Z9 and have used Nikons for years. But the A1 looks like a terrific camera that is already in people’s hands. Don’t know as much about the R3. But I think competition between Nikon, Sony and Canon will benefit us all. I can enjoy my Nikons and be happy that others are enjoying their Sonys and Canons.

Well said (y) (y)
The vast majority of photographers embedded in a system - Nikon in scope of this thread - are comparing the Z9 against D5 and D6, and also the Z6 and Z7. We like what we see and for many our years of experience underscore pre order of the Z9.

I am not alone to having been driven away from forums (namely FM) by the endless cross-brand tyre-kicking and arguing and bragging about the minutiae of specs etc that most posters do not understand in sufficient detail because they have not compared them in depth.

So, I will suggest you cannot tell which AF is "best" by watching Youtube videos, or even brief hands-on with the cameras. You're going to have to learn the AF system of EACH camera, figure out how to best employ it for your subject matter and then and only then are you going to be able to draw meaningful conclusions about the AF systems.... LIMITED to that _specific_ AF context.

And, I think it's clear they're all pretty darn good.

Is not this what Steve does, also Thom Hogan? how else does one even get close to a reliable review and expand one's educational skills, especially in workshops, writing exhaustive ebooks etc?
 
Is not this what Steve does, also Thom Hogan? how else does one even get close to a reliable review and expand one's educational skills, especially in workshops, writing exhaustive ebooks etc?

Certainly as close as possible. My comment is a response to a variety of "i think this is better" comments creeping in based on no extensive hands-on experience.
 
1 stop ISO difference (worse) between the Z9 compared to A1 will be a disaster for sure. I thought the A1 was already falling slightly behind the Z7/D850 on Iso performance. It is highly unlikely for the Z9 to at least not match or come close to the Z7 ISO performance but we will never know until someone tests it properly.

I will be buying the Nikon Z9. #3rd on the list in my local area.

I partly agree with you. Based on what I have seen on Youtube, in terms of stills AF,
R3 seems to be the best followed by A1 & then Z9.

I am not too worried about the AF on Z9 as I am sure it will get better with firmware updates as Z9 has the best processor.

Also, when it comes to eye AF with a fast glass, a mirrorless flagship should outperform D6-like cameras.

When it comes to video AF, Z9's AF seems to be the best. Also, one can do lock-on focus in video in Z9 by moving the AF point with the joystick. One can't do that in Sony & Canon. It has to be done via the live screen only if I am not wrong.

So my main concern about the Z9 is actually not AF, but the dynamic range & chromatic noise. I have a feeling it will be a stop worse than A1 & that it won't do well at an ISO above 3200.
 
I don’t like tiny cameras. I could never get comfortable using a z7ii or a Sony A1 without grips for wildlife. The AF is so close I'm sure that it comes down to personal preference. Z9 over A1 personally because I like Nikon and have big glass. I have the option to switch because eventually, everything has to be mirrorless and I still choose to stay with Nikon. If I was shooting sports, I would have gotten an R3, it looks amazing. But, for wildlife, I like what I see in the Z9. If the A1 was a full-body I would have considered it more but in the end, would probably stick with Nikon still after seeing the Z9. It's like having a favorite car brand, they are so close and can all do the same thing that it really comes down to how you feel.
 
1 stop ISO difference (worse) between the Z9 compared to A1 will be a disaster for sure. I thought the A1 was already falling slightly behind the Z7/D850 on Iso performance. It is highly unlikely for the Z9 to at least not match or come close to the Z7 ISO performance but we will never know until someone tests it properly.
Ricci recently did a video discussing ISO being noticeably better on the Z9 vs Z7ii.
 
Exactly but the problem is lot of folks would just take Ricci's claims with a grain of salt as he is a Nikon employee. I feel he's balanced with his reviews (maybe he doesn't talk too much about the negatives but is very careful about the positive aspects, so I like this videos).

Ricci recently did a video discussing ISO being noticeably better on the Z9 vs Z7ii.
 
There are really only 2-3 people online I can think of that may be able to give a reasonably unbiased comparison between the flagships once the Z9 is available. Those be Steve Perry (A1, R5 and Z9 experience), Steve Mathies (A1 and Z9) and maybe everyone's favorite ;) Mr. Fro who does have experience with all of them.

I'll compare them myself though. I've had A1 since March. I'm #1 after NPS on my dealer list for Z9. I owned the R5 for 6 months. I will be getting a 3 day test drive of R3/600RF from CPS Canada to compare that also.

I rarely find anyone pushing the AF to the extent I push it. People rave about the R5 AF but I found numerous ways to make it fail miserably compared to not just the A1 but the 2017 A9. I still think the R5 AF is excellent and better than any of the flagship Canon DSLRs I owned but it isn't the best out there.

I'll be sure to report my findings and I'll be sure to keep it all in a dedicated thread so I don't have to hear the complaints from the people who don't like to read about other gear.
 
My store's representative asked if I also wanted the FTZ II when I ordered the Z9. I said yes, but also understand that there's no guarantee that they arrive at the same time. Because of that, I'm considering ordering a 50mm f1.4 S-Series lens while they're on sale.
As I sent my FTZ 1 out the door with the sale of my Z6 this morning I had the same thoughts about delivery of the ATZII (which I've also ordered) -- I may be shooting nothing longer than 70 mm on the Z9 if the ATZ doesn't ship :D No idea where ship date promises are now but at announcement the adapter was promised to ship in November....
 
I rarely find anyone pushing the AF to the extent I push it. People rave about the R5 AF but I found numerous ways to make it fail miserably compared to not just the A1 but the 2017 A9. I still think the R5 AF is excellent and better than any of the flagship Canon DSLRs I owned but it isn't the best out there.

I feel ya. As a canine action photographer, I find people's reports on AF only vaguely useful. Even human sports operate at much slower speeds with much less difficult AF targets.
 
Here is a good post from wildlife photographer Brad Hill about his experience testing and learning the Z9. It's a different perspective emphasizing the controls, setup, and handling. Spoiler - he loves it but images and AF testing will come in a future post.


Spoiler 2 - he wants two Z9's for his two camera setup.

There is a separate post discussing his blog. This is just for information to keep things in context.
 
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A1 shooters are worried they sold all their old nikon or canon gear at a loss for no reason at this point. I think they feel the need to justify their decisions even tho nobody really cares.

It is clear we are experiencing the Five Stages of Dream Camera Ownership:

1. Euphoria: Buy Dream Camera.

2. Anger: Hears competitor, long thought dead, has new camera with superior capabilities. Possibly calls Dreamer decisions made in haste into question...Unacceptable and hence impossible!

3. Denial: Dream Camera owner shoots down competitor's new, but still future, entry. Experience with new camera is selective and limited, and its advocates are quickly and easily dismissed as shills or incompetents.

4. Bargaining: As the fog of marketing dissipates, many features of the upstart appear competitive or arguably superior. Dreamers grudgingly start to reassess their value system and strive to position the newcomer as, just maybe, a worthy, but belated effort on the part of a struggling competitor with only a few, but nevertheless fatal, flaws. Best wishes are extended.

5. Acceptance: Competitor's camera emerges into the wild. Lots of photogs have them. The superior performance is unquestionable. Dream Camera owner, refreshed by a new sense of awareness, pivots to the next new shiny toy...The B-Next or the A-Infinity. As before, the more fog the better.

And that's what dreams are made of.
 
1 stop ISO difference (worse) between the Z9 compared to A1 will be a disaster for sure. I thought the A1 was already falling slightly behind the Z7/D850 on Iso performance. It is highly unlikely for the Z9 to at least not match or come close to the Z7 ISO performance but we will never know until someone tests it properly.

True, but it is Nikon's first stacked sensor. Sony's A9 i's stacked sensor is not great in terms of dynamic range. Stacked sensors have a reputation to be not as good for image quality.

Matt Granger's video worries me. I know the settings weren't perfect, but the chroma noise on the face of the subject was worrying.
 
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