Official Nikon Z8 Launch And Discussion Thread

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MatthewK said:
Matt Granger has a new video out comparing buffer times of the Z8 against the Z9, but it's kind of a convoluted video that jumps around all over the place because he had a pre-production model, and then wanted to test writing to both card slots... in general, it seems the Z8 chokes at some point, whereas the Z9 goes forever (Lossless Raw just slows down, but never stops, HE and HE* are infinite). He stopped testing and jumped to another topic before he did HE* to single card on the Z8 though, which is what I really wanted to see. I'm not a big "lay on the shutter for minutes at a time" kind of shooter, so I don't think it'll affect me, but it's certainly good to know the limits.

Steve, if you have the time/bandwidth, any chance you could buffer test the Z8 (please?) :)
Click to expand...
Yeah seen that video as well which made me left wondering.

Is the Z8 buffer with lossless RAW to 1 CF card the same as on the Z9??
 
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NorthernFocus said:
Are you familiar with homo sapiens? We should start a list of complaints. So far:
- specs are too similar to Z9
- battery life is not enough
- two different cards
- form factor is still too big(i.e. bigger than Z6/7)
- grip is ugly
- grip won't take same battery as Z9
edits:
- no pixel shift
- no gps
- no dial on top for setting fps etc.
- costs too much compared to D850
- doesn't cost enough, Nikon will go broke
- going to take all the Z9 sales(Nikon will go broke)
- no lock on memory card door
Click to expand...
You forgot too small and light (you got too big)
Also the bottoms on below the rear LCD screen are missing
No microphone for voice notes
 
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MatthewK said:
Matt Granger has a new video out comparing buffer times of the Z8 against the Z9, but it's kind of a convoluted video that jumps around all over the place because he had a pre-production model, and then wanted to test writing to both card slots... in general, it seems the Z8 chokes at some point, whereas the Z9 goes forever (Lossless Raw just slows down, but never stops, HE and HE* are infinite). He stopped testing and jumped to another topic before he did HE* to single card on the Z8 though, which is what I really wanted to see. I'm not a big "lay on the shutter for minutes at a time" kind of shooter, so I don't think it'll affect me, but it's certainly good to know the limits.

Steve, if you have the time/bandwidth, any chance you could buffer test the Z8 (please?) :)
Click to expand...
I have :)

Seems exactly the same. I get about 82 pics before it hits "0" remaining. After that, it still seems to fly along at a good clip, my guess is 12-15 FPS. Delkin 256 Black series - which is the one I have done the same test with in my Z9. I'll double-check once my Z9 is back, but I'm confident it'll be the same.

Nikon has also told me that the buffers are identical, not sure what Matt is doing.
 
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Steve said:
I have :)

Seems exactly the same. I get about 82 pics before it hits "0" remaining. After that, it still seems to fly along at a good clip, my guess is 12-15 FPS. Delkin 256 Black series - which is the one I have done the same test with in my Z9. I'll double-check once my Z9 is back, but I'm confident it'll be the same.

Nikon has also told me that the buffers are identical, not sure what Matt is doing.
Click to expand...
You're the man, thank you, Steve!
 
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Steve said:
Nikon has also told me that the buffers are identical, not sure what Matt is doing.
Click to expand...

If I got it right from the clip (it is convoluted with the jumps) he actually does his tests with back-up on secondary slot enabled. So he is testing with 2 CF express cards in Z9 but a CFExpress and an SD card (Sony Tough 299MBps by the looks of it) in the Z8.
 
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MatthewK said:
Matt Granger has a new video out comparing buffer times of the Z8 against the Z9, but it's kind of a convoluted video that jumps around all over the place because he had a pre-production model, and then wanted to test writing to both card slots... in general, it seems the Z8 chokes at some point, whereas the Z9 goes forever (Lossless Raw just slows down, but never stops, HE and HE* are infinite). He stopped testing and jumped to another topic before he did HE* to single card on the Z8 though, which is what I really wanted to see. I'm not a big "lay on the shutter for minutes at a time" kind of shooter, so I don't think it'll affect me, but it's certainly good to know the limits.

Steve, if you have the time/bandwidth, any chance you could buffer test the Z8 (please?) :)
Click to expand...
There is an update in the comments:

Matt Granger UPDATE - I just retested. Many asked about writing only to CFXB. Here is the full story. When testing on the day (with a rep on hand who checked we had everything matched) the Z8 was a lot slower than the Z9. But as it was pre-production I cut that from the video - luckily! Test - I used the prograde 650gb card, writing only raw to one card slot. In Lossless, HE* and HE - and the performance is pretty much the same now on Z8 and Z9. Tiny variations only. So if you only want to write to one card slot - you can get around 500 HE*, 80 lossless or unlimited HE RAWs to the CFXB slot. Cheers.

I'm sure soon we will have more info from other reviewers :)
 
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Can I ask a question about the Z8: How many intend to use the DX mode, and could it be a replacement for a D500? Eventually, I'd like a camera that can combine the hi res of a D850 for landscapes (10%) and the performance of my D500 for wildlife (90%).

This isn't for now as I've just bought a 500 pf lens, but once I've recovered from that purchase, I might look at a new camera.
 
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Doomrider74 said:
Can I ask a question about the Z8: How many intend to use the DX mode, and could it be a replacement for a D500? Eventually, I'd like a camera that can combine the hi res of a D850 for landscapes (10%) and the performance of my D500 for wildlife (90%).
Click to expand...

I believe the Z8 will be a great replacement for my D500. I will be using it with my 500 pf and TC-14III, same as I've been using my D500.
It remains to be seen how much I'll use DX mode.

If you haven't already, go to https://backcountrygallery.com/ and search for "cropping" and review the videos Steve has posted. He has provided a ton of info on cropping, DX vs FX, using teleconverters. In fact, I need to go re-watch them.
 
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Craig42 said:
I believe the Z8 will be a great replacement for my D500. I will be using it with my 500 pf and TC-14III, same as I've been using my D500.
It remains to be seen how much I'll use DX mode.

If you haven't already, go to https://backcountrygallery.com/ and search for "cropping" and review the videos Steve has posted. He has provided a ton of info on cropping, DX vs FX, using teleconverters. In fact, I need to go re-watch them.
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Thanks, will do (probably not right away as it will make me want to buy something, which wouldn't be good :p )
 
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MatthewK said:
Matt Granger has a new video out comparing buffer times of the Z8 against the Z9, but it's kind of a convoluted video that jumps around all over the place because he had a pre-production model, and then wanted to test writing to both card slots... in general, it seems the Z8 chokes at some point, whereas the Z9 goes forever (Lossless Raw just slows down, but never stops, HE and HE* are infinite). He stopped testing and jumped to another topic before he did HE* to single card on the Z8 though, which is what I really wanted to see. I'm not a big "lay on the shutter for minutes at a time" kind of shooter, so I don't think it'll affect me, but it's certainly good to know the limits.

Steve, if you have the time/bandwidth, any chance you could buffer test the Z8 (please?) :)
Click to expand...
The main issue for me in Matt’s buffer test is that he wrote to both cards and of course the far far slower SD Card in the Z8 killed performance.
I stopped doing this a very long time ago, like I stopped saving both raw and jpg. Top CFE-B cards are far more robust than any other type of card and I have had no failures. I have lost shots using SD and CF cards (this was very early in 2003)
 
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Doomrider74 said:
Can I ask a question about the Z8: How many intend to use the DX mode, and could it be a replacement for a D500? Eventually, I'd like a camera that can combine the hi res of a D850 for landscapes (10%) and the performance of my D500 for wildlife (90%).

This isn't for now as I've just bought a 500 pf lens, but once I've recovered from that purchase, I might look at a new camera.
Click to expand...
Most certainly. With D850 and now with Z9 I use DX mode a lot. So surely will do so with Z8.
 
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dkleinsmith said:
CFE-B cards are new to me. Will they fit into the SD slot? Are you forced to use an SD card in the SD slot?
Click to expand...
NO, Don't even try. You will break something.
CF-B cards are much faster than SD cards. I find SD very thin and too small. CF-B cards feel much more solid to me and IMO are not as easily lost.
 
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