Nikon Z8 vs. Sony A1ii

[O]

I'm currently shooting with Olympus/OMDS gear. I like the gear, no issue there. My main concern is that they aren't going to be able to keep up. Also, I have damn near every piece of glass I could possibly want which is keeping me from experiencing the joy of GAS.

That said I've been looking at trading it in for a Nikon Z8 with the assumption that Nikon will be able to keep up with Sony and Canon. Then Sony announced the A1ii, and I got to thinking. Would I be better off going with the Sony. Here are some thoughts I've had around that:

1. I could buy two Z8's for the cost of a Sony A1ii. Eventually, I would likely get a second A1ii as a second body when the price drops.
2. Sony and Nikon glass are similar in pricing, but with Sony I have the option of using third party glass like Sigma. Sony's openness to other vendors is appealing.
3. I could care less about the difference in MP.
4. It seems like most of the specs for the Sony are just a tad bit better than the Nikon, but not the twice as good to justify the price.
5. I don't expect an upgrade of the Z8 for another couple of years, the A1ii is new so probably no upgrades for 4 years or so. Which means I won't be tempted to spend more money on a new body anytime soon.
6. The Z8 is discounted, the A1ii isn't.
7. I considered the A1 as well, but it's still quite a bit more than the Z8 and likely not to get to many more updates.

I'll probably end up with the Nikon eventually but I'm curious about other thoughts on this.

First comes actual photography, generally 90% of what we achieve comes from the user not just the tools.

If you can take a shot at a fast moving rodeo in good lighting conditions with the Z9 on a 300 2.8 VR II or with the pedestrian old DF on the 300 2.8 VR II or even the enchant D3X and viewers cant tell the difference as to which camera took the shot, that's the time you say ok lets see what the new tools can do for me going forward............ if much at all.

It also depends greatly on what you do or plan to do going forward.

Photographs are made not just bought.

Marry the glass, date the camera.

Nikon bodies over the long run will nearly always trail Sony an Canon, that's what they mostly do, its a copy and leap frog situation or in Nikon's case usually catch up.

The newer versions of the Z9 Z8 will narrow the gap from time to time. We see the progression of accumulative changes already in the ZF Z6III

Nikon has a exceptional range of lenses.

You can almost buy two Z8 units for one A1 II.

Canon it seems to be hands down the leader in focusing tracking if that's what you are dependent on.
Sony seems next in line,
Nikon is now trailing again.

I feel in my situation currently if i was changing brands from Nikon it would be to Canon. I feel Sony is no doubt brilliant, hats of to them for setting a trend.

Again, That said if 10% of what we achieve comes from the gear why spend all that money on improving the 10% if at all possible i would rather put it into glass.

Choose your bride, marry the glass, stay with your family eco system, invest in yourself, just use the right tools fit for the purpose.

Short answer is

No1 is Canon
No 2 is Sony
No 3 is Nikon
And i am currently Nikon

Only an opinion

 

[macwalter]

I agree! They all work. Why would I spend thousands to change platforms for 30fps vs 20. Pre capture would be nice but I do BIF and find I can often get shots as they take off etc. I have no doubt the newest cameras will be improved but by next year canon or Nikon will be releasing their newest models. I still prefer the Nikon glass options overall except for the sony 300 f2.8 but I find I often shoot the 600pf with the 1.4tc with good effect. You will not do that with the Sony. I would likely most often use it at 420 f4 for low light and decent reach. I do prefer full frame though and would not likely go m4/3. modern mirrorless cameras are so good now And I find it a joy to go and shoot with what I have.

 

[Jadiehl]

Im primarily a wildlife/bird photographer and the precapture mode allows you to get shots you would otherwise never get like this hummingbird taking off. I took this shot with the a9iii and now Im considering if I should keep it along with the a1ii. For hummingbirds and flycatchers, 60 fps is really useful with the lower MP caveat.
View attachment 101627

Nice!

 

[Jadiehl]

The A9iii has 60 and 120 FPS at full resolution which is a real advantage to have with pre-capture in RAW. It's definitely the fastest camera out there for RAW usage. I've used 60 and 120 FPS in JPEG on the Z8 and it's pretty great what you can get at those framerates but JPEG is JPEG and you have to nail the settings and in low light the noise will damage the image because a RAW processed with Ai Denoise is superior. In bright light you can get very usable results with JPEG and good settings in advance, but obviously RAW is great and we all love it.

That said I've had to adapt with the Z8 because pre-capture is JPEG so I just leveraging the unlimited buffer and hold the shutter down for minutes on end will get through the same moments. You have to scroll some shots afterward but I still get anything I would have with pre-capture JPEG at 20 FPS.

What I cannot get is the 30/60/120 RAW that the A9iii can and that is a real advantage for RAW. The Canon R5ii honestly is a better value with similar capability to the A-1ii. But the A9iii is on its own standing out. It's 24 megapixels but it genuinely presents a capability that Canon and Nikon do not have at this time.

The RAW pre-capture is the ultimate convenience in not having to scroll through remotely close to the same image count a the end of the day.

If I had the A9iii I would not let it go, it's a unique camera in the market right now.

One of the shots with a macro this summer at 60 FPS. I would love to have RAW for this but 60 and 120 FPS are very nice to have. This one was manual zone focus on a 100mm macro too, fancy algorithms not needed when a subject has to pass through a 60/120 FPS zone of focus.

Nicely done! Absolutley great pic! Thanks for sharing!

 

[JAJohnson]

In summary: I don't expect Nikon to pioneer high-mp, FF global shutter in Z9ii. More likely it will be the same sensor as the Z9, maybe inching to the 60mp Sony sensor if they can keep the frame rate up and heat down.

This seems reasonable from my point of view, particularly with a Z9II having a version of Sony’s 60mp sensor. The Z9 style body structure should provide for adequate heat dissipation.

 

[Nimi]

This seems reasonable from my point of view, particularly with a Z9II having a version of Sony’s 60mp sensor. The Z9 style body structure should provide for adequate heat dissipation.

I assume we'll hear about a stacked CMOS version of their current 60mp with much improved readout speed next year. Not sure what body they'll put it into, their Rs are typically sub $4,000.

 

[Lee R]

I assume we'll hear about a stacked CMOS version of their current 60mp with much improved readout speed next year. Not sure what body they'll put it into, their Rs are typically sub $4,000.

I’d be extremely surprised if they released a fast shooting 60mp camera a year after the A-1ii. That seems like it would kill that cameras sales really fast.

I would think the priority would be on a higher megapixel global sensor.

 

[Nimi]

I’d be extremely surprised if they released a fast shooting 60mp camera a year after the A-1ii. That seems like it would kill that cameras sales really fast.

I would think the priority would be on a higher megapixel global sensor.

More likely we'll see nada until late 2026 because as you pointed out they just refreshed their two expensive models. Maybe they'll have a 30mp FF global shutter in their next FX9 or even FX6 which are sorely needed to combat the outstanding C80 and C400 from Canon. That requires solving the dynamic range issue of global shutter senaors. So I guess the Z9ii will have the same sensor as the A1ii.

 

[AlanB313]

Z8 and Z9 photographer and very happy. But either system is excellent. Which ever your buy, the 'grass will always be greener' on the other side of the fence. The only. logical solution is to buy both systems. We'll expect a report from you in five years on which system is better.

This approach will satisfy the deepest GAS attack you can have! !

 

[Lee R]

More likely we'll see nada until late 2026 because as you pointed out they just refreshed their two expensive models. Maybe they'll have a 30mp FF global shutter in their next FX9 or even FX6 which are sorely needed to combat the outstanding C80 and C400 from Canon. That requires solving the dynamic range issue of global shutter senaors. So I guess the Z9ii will have the same sensor as the A1ii.

That would make a lot of sense.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Z9ii sticks with the same sensor and just adds pre-capture RAW and 30-40FPS to just step ahead of the A-1ii with some AF improvement honestly for its refresh cycle. I feel like with what Canon and Sony just released it’s getting to be a real challenge for them all technology wise to continue large leaps in performance.

 

[Lee R]

This approach will satisfy the deepest GAS attack you can have! !

If part of the enjoyment of photography is collecting, which is a hobby of its own and wanting the latest greatest at all times and someone has the money, buy 2-3 systems and then let us all know the differences. I’d have no shame in owning all three if that’s what made me happy. Get some nice glass cases and enjoy having the option to grab the best one for each application off the shelf.

 

[PFP]

Le foto a 8,3k con Nraw a 60 FPS sono molto belle. Basta aumentare la velocità dell'otturatore. Ma per modificarle è necessario DVR Studio.

Ciao, cosa significa DVR studio, non ho trovato software con questo nome, inoltre volevo chiederti come estrapolare immagini raw a 33 mpx dal video della z8? grazie.

 

[RichF]

I would ignore the timing of refresh cycle. They are out synch. Long term (10, 15, 20 years) the difference in 2 years vs 4 years will not matter look at the system, not just camera. Which system meets your needs better. Which system do you think will continue to innovate?

 

[O]

When you look at the cost of a Z8 even used and a used 300 2.8 VR II, total weight is around 4kg, in Sony the similar rig is 2.3 kgs.

If you look at the cost of the two options the difference is very significant for some.

Its simply horses for courses.

It seems weight is a target objective and Sony still leeds the field with camera and lens, Nikon is there in lenses so far but a long way to go in the bodies if weight is any concern.

Nikon i assume will come out with their 300 2.8 VR mirror less possibly in a PF style version, or be it a revamped turbo charged 300 F4 PF down to F2.8.

If you have the money and the tool fits your requirements go hard, if you don't have the money, the compromise is weight and some features, but optically at the end of the day if you know what your doing it wont be that much of a difference in outcome.

Only an opinion