Official Nikon Z9 Launch, Info, and Discussion Thread

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Balanced.I am trying to ascertain the pattern where the focus falters so that I am prepared for it & shift focus & then refocus to get the focus correctly.
I have my tracking on back button focus and my spot focus on my ael lock button. See attached. I have never had the problem you're showing. I have had it refuse to focus
on a bird, but then drop down to ground near bird or focus on something close to bird, then switch to bird and get sharp focus.

 Rufous-backed Robin  Paton's DSC0369511092021.jpg
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One feature I am looking forward to is the inbuilt GPS. I always carry a Garmin GPS with me for creating track logs to geotag my photos. Trouble is I don't always remember to turn it on so having it set in camera will be a plus for me.

The Z 9 certainly looks water resistent in that Morten Hilmer video.

The GPS is one of my most looked-for features as well. The Snapbridge integration puts pictures on the other side of the mountain, sometimes, so I'm doing the Garmin thing as well. We will see how accurate/reliable the built-in GPS will be.

As to the rain… I wouldn't dare, not to that extent :)
 
Has anyone spotted an expected shipping date?
BH says shipping starts on December 15th. I think Adorama or Sammy's said November 30th. Amazon said December 31st! So it's a crap shoot. I think the official ship date is December 15th though since BH is usually on top of that. Hopefully it won't end up like the 500mm pf which some people waited over a year to get. I ordered mine the day you could officially order it and I got it 3 weeks later. A friend ordered his a month after me and it took a month. Another friend ordered his about 3 months after me and it took almost a year to get it!
 
The GPS is one of my most looked-for features as well. The Snapbridge integration puts pictures on the other side of the mountain, sometimes, so I'm doing the Garmin thing as well. We will see how accurate/reliable the built-in GPS will be.

As to the rain… I wouldn't dare, not to that extent :)
If the built in GPS is anything like the one on the D6 is extremely accurate but it does draw a lot of battery juice.
 
I think it'll just be an update. The AF system looks like it's close to the current one (with the addition of 3D), only it works better. I think most of what's in the book will remain the same. As for timeframe, no way to know. I need to get one first and then I'll have a better idea. I'd guess Feb / March at the earliest for the update, but we'll see.
We all need to flood Nikon with e-mails stating how important it is that Steve gets his Z9 on the first day of release so that everyone can utilize his expertise and use tips to better their satisfaction with the camera. ;)
 
Another overview of significance of the Z9 etc, @ 7:15 approx this chap emphasizes the industry future will be interesting to watch, considering this is the first ILC with no mechanical parts....

 
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Just curious, to what extent? A day of shooting, or a few hours, or…?
Using the big batteries in D4s, gripped D500 and D850 I had never run out of battery in a day of shooting before. With the GPS on all the time in the D6 I had to change before the end of a days shooting for the first time with one of the EN EL 18 batteries. Much better battery life with the GPS off.
 
Using the big batteries in D4s, gripped D500 and D850 I had never run out of battery in a day of shooting before. With the GPS on all the time in the D6 I had to change before the end of a days shooting for the first time with one of the EN EL 18 batteries. Much better battery life with the GPS off.

Wow, less than a day of shooting? That's very significant. And here I was hoping, the GPS will be close to null, or 10% at max. Well, one can't expect Garmin-level performance, but…

Thanks for the info.
 
We all need to flood Nikon with e-mails stating how important it is that Steve gets his Z9 on the first day of release so that everyone can utilize his expertise and use tips to better their satisfaction with the camera. ;)

It worked with Sony and Mark Smith… he is now sponsored, maybe a step before being an ambassador.

The “problem” for Steve is that he plans to keep on shooting 3 brands so not sure Nikon will give him priority unless he becomes as annoying to them as Jared Polin and somehow I doubt that it is in Steve’s nature.
 
Wow, less than a day of shooting? That's very significant. And here I was hoping, the GPS will be close to null, or 10% at max. Well, one can't expect Garmin-level performance, but…

Thanks for the info.
That was the D6 and I read that the Z9 has a new battery with more power available but I expect the Z9 to use more juice but will not know until that someday when it arrives :). I preordered an extra battery and have extra EN EL 18a and c batteries, albeit with less capacity, used for the D6, D500 with grip (the camera's I sold) and my D850 with grip.
 
That was the D6 and I read that the Z9 has a new battery with more power available but I expect the Z9 to use more juice but will not know until that someday when it arrives :). I preordered an extra battery and have extra EN EL 18a and c batteries, albeit with less capacity, used for the D6, D500 with grip (the camera's I sold) and my D850 with grip.
hopefully you have a charger for the EN EL18A battery as it seems the one included with the Z9 won’t charge that one.
 
hopefully you have a charger for the EN EL18A battery as it seems the one included with the Z9 won’t charge that one.
I have 2 that work with the a and C ... and I see that it says in the acessory area that the new MH-33 single chamber will not work with the a just the d,c &b yet the D will can only be charged in the MH-33 or in camera so one way or the other I will probably end up buying a second MH-33 somewhere down the line. I bailed out a friend on a trip to Africa when his HM-26a charger died ... luckily I had a spare with me and so he could use it in his room. If am away from home I try to have redundant stuff like that :)
 
23 Nov '21: Nikon Z 9 & 100-400mm f4.5-5.6S Arriving This Week!
"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....."

 
23 Nov '21: Nikon Z 9 & 100-400mm f4.5-5.6S Arriving This Week!
"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....."

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 )
 
It is Brad Hill's post :LOL:
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
...."
 
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