I have had my Z9 on order for a month, I called today to ask when. GAG!

[abc123brian]

I'm also waitlisted for everything ... the Nikon z24-120 and the z100-400
In fact, I cancelled both orders as I was told sometime between July and September. I'm not a pro

You might try ordering direct from Nikon. Not sure how they allocate to different countries but many have reported getting the 100-400mm from them within 3 weeks of ordering in various online forums from Nikon USA. I ordered from Adorama and it shipped 2 weeks later. I am not a pro, no NPS.

 

[BrianMM]

FWIW: I ordered my Z9 from Nikon USA direct on February 3rd and received in less than two months. Yes, I had to pay sales tax but I already knew that suppliers such as B&H (from whom I have had excellent service) would have a huge backlog of orders for the Z9 and the newer Nikon Z lenses.

It was the same when I ordered my Z7 a couple of weeks after it was first announced and I went the direct from Nikon USA route, even although B&H did not have such a large order backlog in that instance.

 

[rwilso15]

Z9 ordered 11/5/21 from the big NYC store that starts with A. Arriving today 5/6/22. Basically 6 months after receipt of order. Thought it might have been a lot worse.

 

[Steve]

Call Nick at Roberts - he might be able to help. Also, might want to tell him I sent ya

Although I order a lot from B&H, my advice is to never, ever place your only pre-order with B&H, Adororama, or any of the big online stores. Everyone else is doing the same thing - it's like going to the longest line at the grocery store.

 

[Whiskeyman]

Maybe Nikon shouldn't have come up with the Z9. If so, they wouldn't have problems delivering it to meet the high demand and thus lose so many customers...

 

[Whiskeyman]

... - it's like going to the longest line at the grocery store.

Or like when I get in the shortest one; "Price check at checkout number two!" or "Manager to checkout number two!"

 

[Whiskeyman]

Very frustrating to be sure, but it's not just Nikon. Try buying a car nowadays.

What really worries me are projections about the food supply. If people are willing to beat each other silly over a discount 50-inch TV at Walmart on Black Friday, what is going to happen when they can't get food like they want to?

 

[John Navitsky]

Very frustrating to be sure, but it's not just Nikon. Try buying a car nowadays.

and lots of other things. we JUST received some outdoor furniture we ordered over a year ago. and i'm still waiting for the BBQ...

 

[Kenny88]

Nikon is really risking losing customers with these long waits. Literally everything is on back order. If they can’t deliver, stop taking orders.

Agreed.....or phantom lenses on the roadmap that doesn't seem to have any release dates.

 

[John Navitsky]

Is this the new normal? It would seem so.

we are reaping the benefits of the move to JIT (just in time) supply chain

 

[John Navitsky]

We are reaping the benefits of the nanny state.

we're going to run afoul of forum etiquette here soon if not already, but industry totally did this to themselves. we leaned into JIT hard so they wouldn't have to hold inventory. it was in pursuit of the buck.

 

[Woody Meristem]

we are reaping the benefits of the move to JIT (just in time) supply chain

Yes indeed! Almost every industry has gone to JIT to keep inventory down and reduce the cost of holding inventory. But JIT is a really DUMB was for a society to function; there are always interruptions to transportation and manufacturing, but they're usually short and only impact one company. But with the concentration of manufacturing into a few hands things have gotten a lot worse. Nikon and Olympus (and maybe Panasonic) can't seem to supply the demand, nor can the car manufacturers, nor ...

 

[Calson]

Products have become much more complex and when something has hundreds of parts from a hundred or more supplers it only takes one supplier to halt production. Furniture makers in the USA have delivery lead times of 8-10 months for a sofa as there is a shortage of the staples they use that are made only in China. Americans do it to themselves when they shop at Wal-Mart or Harbor Freight or Home Depot instead of with a local independent merchant.

I have had very good success getting S lenses from Berger Bros (24-120mm, 105mm macro, 100-400mm) and I was notified today that Nikon shipped them a Z9 for me.

There are many alternatives to the NY dealers and they provide for ordering over the internet and in some cases there is no sales tax collected with out of state buyers. When B&H started collecting state sales tax I started looking for alternative sources.

 

[tickle_my_nikon]

I've read several places of people ordering a Z9 directly from Nikon and getting it in 3-4 weeks.

That's how I ordered. Came in about five weeks. I ordered it in January. Sold it to a friend who couldn't get one either, and had pre-ordered with Park Cameras but was long on the list.

 

[joe43]

Try ordering aand buying it directly from Nikonusa. Then try Best Buy--check their website every day. Some of my Canon friends have used Best Buy to get their R5.

I got my Z9 a few weeks ago after ordering it in Oct 2021. I am not NPS.

 

[MadMikeOne]

I learned many years ago buying a popular item from B&H is not the way to go if you want/need the item quickly. While I should have signed up for the PayBoo card and saved the tax on a lot of recent purchases, I knew I’d probably not be ordering from them due to the lengthy wait times. I might have saved the tax, but would likely still be waiting on the items. The fact we are in currently seeing supply chain issues, logistics issues, staffing issues is only going to make the overall problems worse. Saving the tax can be a substantial savings, but is it worth waiting such long periods of time for? I decided I’d rather get the gear and enjoy using it.

That was my thinking, also. Made the decision to order the Z9 mid- November, placed the order with my closest camera shop, and had it 4 months later. That seems like an awfully long time, but I'd also placed an order with B&H the same day I called my (non NPS) order in to the local shop. I'd called B&H for a delivery status report just a couple of days before my local shop called me that my Z9 was waiting for me. The B&H rep told me that they were still filling orders that were placed at the end of October, and that it would be "a few more months" before I'd receive mine. In the meantime, I was able to enjoy practicing with my Z9 while we were in Florida.

 

[Muddy Valley]

I ordered the Z9 from Adorama around noon PST 10/28/21, and received it 3/1/22. I managed to get my order for the 800mm PF in around 7:30 am and hopefully the wait will be shorter.

 

[O]

I called B&H today to ask when I might be expecting my backordered Z9. I politely said I was not wanting to be a nuisance and the rep politely told me he would check.

When he came back he told me, still very politely, that I probably would not like to know that it was going to be possible into August or even September when I get the camera. He went on to let me know that some people who had ordered their cameras on the opening day of availability are still waiting.

I am glad I have a good camera to keep me through the summer, but I really wanted to play with my Z9 and get to know it before my trip to Norway...

I resisted the urge to tell the nice man that I am too old to wait that long...

Get a D850 used cheaply enjoy your holiday and great photgraphy, your not missing much with a Z9 unless your into 3 things, 1 is 20 fps if you even need it, 2 high quality Video. 3 auto tracking which still has a way to go. Again this all depends on what your doing.........on your holidays.

 

[BrianMM]

I got totally depressed with the long wait time fro a Z9 from B&H so I placed my order directly with Nikon USA on February 6th and got my camera in just under 7 weeks. Very pleasant surprise, even although I had to pay sales tax. After 3-½ years with my Z7 and now a few weeks with my Z9 I would be very hard pressed to go back to my D850 so I have passed it on to a relative who will put it to good use instead of it gathering dust on the shelf.

 

[Lance B]

As it stands at the moment due to covid etc, things that very few people want to buy are generally available. Things that people really want to buy can be hard to source. There are good reasons for this. I would rather be running a business where demand outstripped supply rather than the other way round. Where supply outstrips demand just means overproduction or the product is not that good, both good ways to lose money. Good products are worth wating for and they are in demand for a reason. No point in Nikon buying more machines, production line equipment and train up personel to make more Z9's only to have demand fall off in 12 months and have to sell off machines/production line equipment and lay off those trained up workers. Having said that, that all depends on them getting parts from other sources like chips etc.

 

[Simon Nutrient]

I ordered TWO things in my life that took a long time to receive:
ONE was an Astrophysics telescope and separately an equatorial mount. Fifteen years later I got a call that said the scope was ready to be shipped out but the mount might take another 4 or 5 years. I felt lucky to have moved up to #1 on the list but I didn't want to sit around another 5 years for the rest of the unit. So I cancelled - a handmade, difficult to get superior optics scope! I felt terrible that I cancelled but glad I had moved up on the list over 10 years.

TWO, and this is a little more humorous, I was 12 or 13 years old and wanted to watch Bozo's Circus in Chicago. I heard it was a long wait but I was 12 or 13, had all the time in the world and the tickets were free. I ordered 3 of them. 15-30 years later I received a postcard from WGN Chicago. My 3 tickets were ready. Unfortunately by that time, I was 30 years old and in medical school in Mexico. I couldn't make the show so I gave my tickets to my 23 and 15 year old sisters and my 32 year old best friend who had become a lawyer by this time. He showed up at WGN just a bit late. They asked why he was there and he told them "I'm here to see Bozo." Since he had come directly from work, and he had his three piece lawyers suit on, they thought he was there to see Bozo about a legal matter and that he was already on stage. "No, I'm here to see the show," he said so they got him him in the bleaches with the other kids. Then it was time for the Grand Prize Game, they had two arrows to pick out a child for the bucket game. If the arrow landed on an older woman or man, they would say "It's s daddy" or "It's a momm.," and do it again until they got a child. It landed on him and they said "It's a daddy." After he stated that he was definitely not a Daddy as far as he knew, they passed him by anyway for a child, even though he really, really wanted to play the game. He sat there in his 3 piece suit and was disappointed he couldn't play the Grand Prize Game with the other kids, but he was still thankful that after 20 years he was still able to watch Chicago's Bozo's Circus.

The moral of the story is that if you don't get your Z9 until your're in your 90s, you'll still enjoy it, barring you haven't developed hearing problems by then, or Parkinsons, or cataracts or some other condition that precludes you from operating the camera. And what if by then they come up with a Z10 that does absolutely everything that Z9 won't - 300fps, faster focusing than a speeding bullet, etc. Will you happily take that Z9, or "pre-order" the Z10 and wait til you're 100 ?

 

[Wink Jones]

Get a D850 used cheaply enjoy your holiday and great photography, your not missing much with a Z9 unless your into 3 things, 1 is 20 fps if you even need it, 2 high quality Video. 3 auto tracking which still has a way to go. Again this all depends on what your doing.........on your holidays.

Thank you O. I am currently shooting a D500 and getting some great results and I have over spent my budget getting the Z9, so I will not be getting an 850, although I would eventually have gotten one if the Z9 had not come around. I am sure as soon as I get anywhere near good with it there will be the Z25 fully AI camera for another bazillion dollars, but fortunately, I will get too old to get out of the car by myself and not be in the market for that one...

My real goal is to get the Z9, save up my pennies and dimes and eventually get the 800 PF so I can shoot photos on the far side of my duck pond and end up cluttering the ceiling of my living room, as my walls are already pretty full.

 

[Wink Jones]

The moral of the story is that if you don't get your Z9 until your're in your 90s, you'll still enjoy it, barring you haven't developed hearing problems by then, or Parkinsons, or cataracts or some other condition that precludes you from operating the camera. And what if by then they come up with a Z10 that does absolutely everything that Z9 won't - 300fps, faster focusing than a speeding bullet, etc. Will you happily take that Z9, or "pre-order" the Z10 and wait til you're 100 ?

I loved your long wait stories. Thank you. My last camera was the D500, my camera before that was the D7100 and before that the D300, so as you can see, I always skip a few new versions. I am 75 and expect the Z9 to be my last new camera, so I hope they fix the tracking issues soon.

I am curious, why would my lousy hearing prevent me from using my camera? I have had hearing problems since I got back from Vietnam. Very little high range hearing, but I can hear the lower ranges pretty good. My wife says I make that up so I can pretend not to hear her when she calls me from the basement. I just tell her to call me in a bass profundo and I will be there on the spot.

 

[NWGuy]

When I asked B&H about the Z 100-400mm wait time, I was told it was company policy not to provide that information. Still waiting since early November.

Nikon led the way, then I suspect that many groups like this one added to the FOMO that surrounded the Z9. You have to admit that the FOMO about the Z9 was out of this world! It is obviously one heckuva camera, but I am also seeing some with buyer's remorse due to size, weight and/or another factors.

 

[Wink Jones]

I should speak better acronyms, having been a Marine for 8 years. But I will take the shame and just ask, what is FOMO?