Nikon Rumors: Z9II

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Precapture brings some new fun to shooting again. I love having it. There are many shots I've been getting that the only way to have got them previously would have been just to hold down the shutter continuously waiting for the thing to happen (Exactly what precapture is doing anyways). Or had a really lucky guess. But the amount of shots one would accumulate even if one has enough card space and has an unlimited buffer like the Z8/Z9 in HE mode would be ridiculous to get some of the shots I've got with precapture. There are just certain things that happen faster than the human reaction time and therefore there is no way to get those without doing one of those two methods. Precapture keeps the file management to a reasonable level. And if you really learn to adapt your shooting style you can actually cut down on the number of "anticipation" shots that never worked out because your guess was wrong and nothing happened. Only shoot after you see it. It is hard to learn and even after a good while using precapture I can't totally train my brain to shoot like that all the time after decades of anticipation shooting but I'm continuing to try and learn.

That said, it is just one more tool in the shed and not something one has to have. Just like AF and eye detect aren't things one has to have. But once you have them it is sure nice.
 
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Ivan Rothman said:
Precapture has been a game changer for me, especially shooting birds flying off branches. I've gotten incredible shots I could never get before. I'm waiting for a chance to use precapture to photograph lightning strikes. Or a butterfly taking off. Or a snake or lizard shooting out their tongue.
I can live with Precapture with high quality JPEGs. As long as I get the exposure and white balance correctly, I have very usable images.
That said, I would love to have Precapture with RAW and I hope that will be coming soon.
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On the one hand, I am on the edge of my seat when some new cool thing is on the horizon. On the other hand, I wonder what we loose by having more done for us. At the extreme of this, are we even "making images" anymore?

I don't actually use the pre-capture on my Canon which does it in RAW, mainly because I seriously do not want to be sorting through thousands of images from only a couple hours in a good spot.

In fact, I don't even use high speed shutter (yes, LMAO!) I am agile and my finger is fast LOL but I know I'm missing moments in between the moments I do catch. So far though, my shots show what I expected and intended.

So, for pre-capture, I can totally see the draw, whether for animals or sports, and so many situations, but what's next? Maybe we could have AI remove all out of focus shots, all with a bird eye closed, etc, etc. Might as well have 5k video and just pick out frames. To me, a lot of this is no longer "photography" in any sense of the word, at least not in spirit.
 
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JWest said:
On the one hand, I am on the edge of my seat when some new cool thing is on the horizon. On the other hand, I wonder what we loose by having more done for us. At the extreme of this, are we even "making images" anymore?

I don't actually use the pre-capture on my Canon which does it in RAW, mainly because I seriously do not want to be sorting through thousands of images from only a couple hours in a good spot.

In fact, I don't even use high speed shutter (yes, LMAO!) I am agile and my finger is fast LOL but I know I'm missing moments in between the moments I do catch. So far though, my shots show what I expected and intended.

So, for pre-capture, I can totally see the draw, whether for animals or sports, and so many situations, but what's next? Maybe we could have AI remove all out of focus shots, all with a bird eye closed, etc, etc. Might as well have 5k video and just pick out frames. To me, a lot of this is no longer "photography" in any sense of the word, at least not in spirit.
Click to expand...
Your comments reminded me of the thread below from last year.

For me, a camera is a tool to make art. Since the invention of photography, technological advances have made it more available, affordable, and easier to use. That’s all to the good. As photographic capability improves I will use it to more effectively capture and share compelling images. I celebrate that.

Is Technology Killing Photography?

Is Technology Killing Photography? Warning - you might not like what I have to say. In this short video, I'll share my perspective on it and why I believe many view technology as a challenge. I'll discuss our past, our future, and what I believe is truly unfolding. I'll also touch on the kind...
bcgforums.com bcgforums.com
 
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arbitrage said:
Precapture brings some new fun to shooting again. I love having it. There are many shots I've been getting that the only way to have got them previously would have been just to hold down the shutter continuously waiting for the thing to happen (Exactly what precapture is doing anyways). Or had a really lucky guess. But the amount of shots one would accumulate even if one has enough card space and has an unlimited buffer like the Z8/Z9 in HE mode would be ridiculous to get some of the shots I've got with precapture. There are just certain things that happen faster than the human reaction time and therefore there is no way to get those without doing one of those two methods. Precapture keeps the file management to a reasonable level. And if you really learn to adapt your shooting style you can actually cut down on the number of "anticipation" shots that never worked out because your guess was wrong and nothing happened. Only shoot after you see it. It is hard to learn and even after a good while using precapture I can't totally train my brain to shoot like that all the time after decades of anticipation shooting but I'm continuing to try and learn.

That said, it is just one more tool in the shed and not something one has to have. Just like AF and eye detect aren't things one has to have. But once you have them it is sure nice.
Click to expand...
I see it as an very efficient feature, but not something I can't get a shot at 20 FPS (Nikon's RAW limit unlimited) without it by just holding the shutter, then just hitting play back up to that point which was close, hit protect, menu, delete all which saves just the protected file. I'm pretty quick at this now, end of the day I just have the filtered files. It's for sure not as convenient as pre-capture but I don't miss anything. For me I won't shell out thousands for that alone. I completely understand the appeal though and why some do value it that highly and will pay for it, but I don't feel I'm not getting shots without it. Which brings me to the follow-on of what I think will surpass it below:
JWest said:
On the one hand, I am on the edge of my seat when some new cool thing is on the horizon. On the other hand, I wonder what we loose by having more done for us. At the extreme of this, are we even "making images" anymore?

I don't actually use the pre-capture on my Canon which does it in RAW, mainly because I seriously do not want to be sorting through thousands of images from only a couple hours in a good spot.

In fact, I don't even use high speed shutter (yes, LMAO!) I am agile and my finger is fast LOL but I know I'm missing moments in between the moments I do catch. So far though, my shots show what I expected and intended.

So, for pre-capture, I can totally see the draw, whether for animals or sports, and so many situations, but what's next? Maybe we could have AI remove all out of focus shots, all with a bird eye closed, etc, etc. Might as well have 5k video and just pick out frames. To me, a lot of this is no longer "photography" in any sense of the word, at least not in spirit.
Click to expand...
It will be stills frame grabs from 14 bit RAW video, like 8.3K60 raw where you can just record video, play it back on the camera and extract the exact frame out of a 60/120/240 FPS video in the same quality we have in RAW stills now. I think that's what will surpass it. I think that's why Nikon thought RED RAW codecs were so valuable, to enable that before Sony and Canon have a chance. Compression technology is the advantage now, everyone has the same hardware available, but not patented more efficient lossless compression that enables higher framerates and unlimited buffer as well as pushing RAW video to the point where stills for action are outdated when you can just have lossless RAW frame grabs and just use video recordings of wildlife while missing nothing.
 
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JAJohnson said:
Your comments reminded me of the thread below from last year.

For me, a camera is a tool to make art. Since the invention of photography, technological advances have made it more available, affordable, and easier to use. That’s all to the good. As photographic capability improves I will use it to more effectively capture and share compelling images. I celebrate that.

Is Technology Killing Photography?

Is Technology Killing Photography? Warning - you might not like what I have to say. In this short video, I'll share my perspective on it and why I believe many view technology as a challenge. I'll discuss our past, our future, and what I believe is truly unfolding. I'll also touch on the kind...
bcgforums.com bcgforums.com
Click to expand...
Yeah, I pretty much feel like how you described it but I ponder these things sometimes. For example, I am ALL about what Adobe has done with the "enhance+noise reduction" tool in Lightroom. Using it on some older images from various 5D cameras is pretty cool too.
 
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Technology presents a graduation extending from ye olde manual cameras (plates and magnesium flares etc) through to extreme automation.

IMHO it's all good if PreCapture, unprecedented Frame Rates, camera controlled Autofocus (Subject Detection and 3D Tracking), improved sensor gain (= high ISO) enable capturing biodiversity to aid and abet education and enlightenment - Biophilia as described by the late Edward O Wilson.... All towards supporting environmental conservation.

Ultimately, photography is an Art as many keep reminding us. These cameras are instruments.

For example, Laser trip technology and silent shutters make remote photography possible... All the better towards highlighting the uniqueness of threatened biota and landscapes, exemplified by the Congo Basin

petapixel.com

Photographing Forest Elephants in the Congo

Photographer Will Burrard-Lucas shares how he used camera traps to capture incredible wildlife photographs of elephants in the Congo.
petapixel.com petapixel.com
 
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Paying for firmware is a complex area, as Nikon would need to serial number lock the update so that it can’t be shared. This would involve considerable work inside the firmware not to mention the back end support required to get it to work. This would not be profitable for Nikon and would remove the flexibility that they currently have over FW development.

Pre-capture raw is talked about a great deal, people want it but unlikely will need it; or for that matter use it. The same goes for pixel shift, because one camera has it, they want it on theirs; even if they won’t use it.

Personally, I think Nikon will likely keep this feature for an updated Z9 and that function would then trickle down to any updated Z8.

www.jamesgrove.photography
Instagram @jpgrove
 
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jpgrove said:
Paying for firmware is a complex area, as Nikon would need to serial number lock the update so that it can’t be shared. This would involve considerable work inside the firmware not to mention the back end support required to get it to work. This would not be profitable for Nikon and would remove the flexibility that they currently have over FW development.

Pre-capture raw is talked about a great deal, people want it but unlikely will need it; or for that matter use it. The same goes for pixel shift, because one camera has it, they want it on theirs; even if they won’t use it.

Personally, I think Nikon will likely keep this feature for an updated Z9 and that function would then trickle down to any updated Z8.

www.jamesgrove.photography
Instagram @jpgrove
Click to expand...
Probably would not be hard to do. You supply the serial and pay for the firmware, their system sends you a link to your unique download with your serial baked into it. first thing the firmware does is check for the serial. if no match, aborts install. they can make it hack proof too. What'd really be cool, IF they decided to charge for firmware (major upgrades only), extend the warranty of the camera by 6 months (or something like that).

Having said that. The fact that they "went to town" on the Z9 / Z8, added true features without additional cost, I'd be shaking my head (and my fists) if they did start charging for firmware.

Now, what about "special" feature adds. for example, to date, the Z9 does not have pixel shift. And let us assume they don't plan on adding it. However, I think it'd be cool to sell feature adds, like Z9 pixel shift, heck I'd pay for it if it were reasonable, say $50.00 (or a bit more).
 
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Does anyone know how Canon and Sony did it when they had paid FW upgrades? I suspect they had you send the camera in to service and they did the paid FW for you so the actual FW file was never out in the wild.
 
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Lance B said:
If its not an April Fools joke, then I want one, LOL.
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Me too, if it can actually shoot at 60fps with 14-bit RAW and even better AF than my two Z8s, I will be very tempted to buy one for action. I would keep the Z8s for landscape, macro, people, cities and back-up action camera but probably use the Z9 II for most BIF and other action situations unless I want to reduce weight.
 
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Lance B said:
If its not an April Fools joke, then I want one, LOL.
Click to expand...
4D Tracking and 4D Autofocus might be bolstered marketing speak or just joke terminology on today's date

On the other hand, an EXPEED AI processor would a logical progression. So this is more plausible

We shall hear fairly soon if it's true that Nikon marketing is already polishing up the official set of presentation slides.
 
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