Official Nikon Z9 Launch, Info, and Discussion Thread

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PAUL50 said:
When you pre-order the camera is it traditional for wthe retailer to charge the full amount on the credit card before they ship, or even receive the camera from Nikon, or do they hold off and not charge the card until the product ships? I’m asking because the store I’m about to pre-order with wants to let the full charge go through even though it could be months before I get the camera. The group’s advice will be appreciated. Thanks.
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Three Nikon Dealers in Portland Oregon one wanted Full payment to place the order / hold my place in line and another required $200 non refundable deposit and I would be number two inline on their waiting list. If decided to not complete the purchase when the Camera arrived or chose to cancel the order my deposit could be applied to any purchase in their store. That’s the dealer I purchased my Z7ii with and placed my deposit for the Z9 and the 100-400 Lense. Paying up front the Full amount and having a possible 6 month wait doesn’t work for me.
 
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Snapshot2020 said:
Three Nikon Dealers in Portland Oregon one wanted Full payment to place the order / hold my place in line and another required $200 non refundable deposit and I would be number two inline on their waiting list. If decided to not complete the purchase when the Camera arrived or chose to cancel the order my deposit could be applied to any purchase in their store. That’s the dealer I purchased my Z7ii with and placed my deposit for the Z9 and the 100-400 Lense. Paying up front the Full amount and having a possible 6 month wait doesn’t work for me.
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Agreed. Thanks.
 
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It is Early days being Z9 + 1. It will a couple of weeks at very least before more reliable first field tests are published on the Z9.
Thom Hogan summarizes the landscape rather well in this and accompanying Commentaries about the Z9 ....



fcotterill said:

The Z9 is Announced | Thom Hogan

Nikon announces the Z9 top end mirrorless camera
www.zsystemuser.com

Okay, Props Where Props are Deserved | Cameras and Photography Explained | Thom Hogan

Nikon's Z9 marketing was their best in recent times
bythom.com bythom.com
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Ok, now that the excitement about the launch seems to have settled a bit, and i have pre-ordered the Z9, here are some of the things that needs more clarity. In spite of a lot of these unknowns, i took a leap of faith after i saw the new tele lens roadmap. So i'm keeping my fingers crossed on the below list:
  1. Bird-Eye AF - The AF in general looks superb on the Z9 based on the videos we have seen and the human eye-af in particular seems to have matched or even looks to have some advantages compared to the competition (like from how far it is able to track eyes). But, the bird-eye AF is where i have my doubts. There are no videos i have seen yet on fast moving birds except one video on terns which looks ok but not as good as the competition. - I would have seriously not cared about the bird eye af or any other tracking options had they ported my most loved group af mode from the DSLSRs..so thats a bit of a disappointment.
  2. Hi efficiency raw format - Not sure what this is, again Nikon is quiet about it. Is this 12 bit or somewhere in between 14 and 12 bits or is it worse than 12 bit?? or are these like the small/medium raw files on the D850?
  3. Buffer - No official numbers yet from Nikon but all those great numbers i have heard so far on High efficiency raw (which itself is an unknown zone). I'd like to know the buffer size at 14 bit compressed raw, high efficiency (Star) and high efficiency and also if the buffer improves in slower frame rates like 15 or 10 or in DX mode
  4. EVF refresh - Again, missing in Nikon spec sheet and there are mixed info from different reviewers (DPR says 60Hz whereas fro, kai etc say its 120Hz) - Even if it is "only" 60Hz, will their live EVF with dual stream make it any better?
  5. Customization options - Ability to assign AF-on+AF Area mode to any of the Fn, AF-on buttons, also ability to assign tracking/eye af to a Fn button.
  6. Performance limitations (FPS and buffer) with F mount adapted glass
 
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It is clear this camera matches and likely exceeds the AF performance of the D6 (subject to rigorous testing) which means the Z9 is overkill for most genres and in our context almost all demands for wildlife.

More importantly, What is the lowlight noise compared to the sensor and downstream processing of raws out of the D5/D6and Z6 / D780 sensors? The 45mp files are usually well worth the IT overheads and card costs IME with the D850 and Z7.

For once, a dpr 'initial review' [their title, not mine] of a preproduction camera reported this snippet of useful information: " Like Nikon's DSLRs, you have the option to assign AF area modes (with or without AF-On then being activated) to the camera's Fn buttons, to provide quick access in fast-changing circumstances. You can't assign different subject recognition modes to these combinations, though."


Strong hints from Grays of Westminster suggesting they have some insider insights later today, and hopefully discuss the haptics in their Livestream this afternoon. The other unknown is what is the scope of Recall Shooting Functions of the D5/D6 - given how Nikon have improved this Custom feature in the D6?

Based on Z7 + FTZ I am already happy with the FTZ. No worries there whatsoever - especially with my core G and E lenses.

The much bigger challenge for me and I suspect many others is how to afford a Z9!

thelordofthelight said:
Ok, now that the excitement about the launch seems to have settled a bit, and i have pre-ordered the Z9, here are some of the things that needs more clarity. In spite of a lot of these unknowns, i took a leap of faith after i saw the new tele lens roadmap. So i'm keeping my fingers crossed on the below list:
  1. Bird-Eye AF - The AF in general looks superb on the Z9 based on the videos we have seen and the human eye-af in particular seems to have matched or even looks to have some advantages compared to the competition (like from how far it is able to track eyes). But, the bird-eye AF is where i have my doubts. There are no videos i have seen yet on fast moving birds except one video on terns which looks ok but not as good as the competition. - I would have seriously not cared about the bird eye af or any other tracking options had they ported my most loved group af mode from the DSLSRs..so thats a bit of a disappointment.
  2. Hi efficiency raw format - Not sure what this is, again Nikon is quiet about it. Is this 12 bit or somewhere in between 14 and 12 bits or is it worse than 12 bit?? or are these like the small/medium raw files on the D850?
  3. Buffer - No official numbers yet from Nikon but all those great numbers i have heard so far on High efficiency raw (which itself is an unknown zone). I'd like to know the buffer size at 14 bit compressed raw, high efficiency (Star) and high efficiency and also if the buffer improves in slower frame rates like 15 or 10 or in DX mode
  4. EVF refresh - Again, missing in Nikon spec sheet and there are mixed info from different reviewers (DPR says 60Hz whereas fro, kai etc say its 120Hz) - Even if it is "only" 60Hz, will their live EVF with dual stream make it any better?
  5. Customization options - Ability to assign AF-on+AF Area mode to any of the Fn, AF-on buttons, also ability to assign tracking/eye af to a Fn button.
  6. Performance limitations (FPS and buffer) with F mount adapted glass
Click to expand...
 
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thelordofthelight said:
Ok, now that the excitement about the launch seems to have settled a bit, and i have pre-ordered the Z9, here are some of the things that needs more clarity. In spite of a lot of these unknowns, i took a leap of faith after i saw the new tele lens roadmap. So i'm keeping my fingers crossed on the below list:
  1. Bird-Eye AF - The AF in general looks superb on the Z9 based on the videos we have seen and the human eye-af in particular seems to have matched or even looks to have some advantages compared to the competition (like from how far it is able to track eyes). But, the bird-eye AF is where i have my doubts. There are no videos i have seen yet on fast moving birds except one video on terns which looks ok but not as good as the competition. - I would have seriously not cared about the bird eye af or any other tracking options had they ported my most loved group af mode from the DSLSRs..so thats a bit of a disappointment.
  2. Hi efficiency raw format - Not sure what this is, again Nikon is quiet about it. Is this 12 bit or somewhere in between 14 and 12 bits or is it worse than 12 bit?? or are these like the small/medium raw files on the D850?
  3. Buffer - No official numbers yet from Nikon but all those great numbers i have heard so far on High efficiency raw (which itself is an unknown zone). I'd like to know the buffer size at 14 bit compressed raw, high efficiency (Star) and high efficiency and also if the buffer improves in slower frame rates like 15 or 10 or in DX mode
  4. EVF refresh - Again, missing in Nikon spec sheet and there are mixed info from different reviewers (DPR says 60Hz whereas fro, kai etc say its 120Hz) - Even if it is "only" 60Hz, will their live EVF with dual stream make it any better?
  5. Customization options - Ability to assign AF-on+AF Area mode to any of the Fn, AF-on buttons, also ability to assign tracking/eye af to a Fn button.
  6. Performance limitations (FPS and buffer) with F mount adapted glass
Click to expand...


Congratulations!

How much does the Z9 cost in Indian rupees??? Expected delivery data?

What's the status on the 20 FPS 14 bit raw buffer with CF express B card?

Here is a video of bird AF tracking of the Z9. It seems better than D6 for sure. That's good enough for me. I am sure it will get better with firmware updates.

 
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So in India the MRP is 4.75L (approx USD 6350), inclusive of GST. Still no reliable reports regarding the buffer..it seems both the high efficiency star and High efficiency (compressed) are 14 bit files but we will need more information about those raw formats.

Chris from DPR has confirmed in their youtube video comment that they checked with Nikon and are correct about the EVF refresh rate of 60Hz...This is what he says:

"So we have confirmed with Nikon and the refresh rate is indeed as we stated. I'm not sure where the others got that value from. It's still a very good EVF to use though, and I found it very effective."

sid_19911991 said:
Congratulations!

How much does the Z9 cost in Indian rupees??? Expected delivery data?

What's the status on the 20 FPS 14 bit raw buffer with CF express B card?

Here is a video of bird AF tracking of the Z9. It seems better than D6 for sure. That's good enough for me. I am sure it will get better with firmware updates.

Click to expand...
 
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thelordofthelight said:
Ok, now that the excitement about the launch seems to have settled a bit, and i have pre-ordered the Z9, here are some of the things that needs more clarity. In spite of a lot of these unknowns, i took a leap of faith after i saw the new tele lens roadmap. So i'm keeping my fingers crossed on the below list:
  1. EVF refresh - Again, missing in Nikon spec sheet and there are mixed info from different reviewers (DPR says 60Hz whereas fro, kai etc say its 120Hz) - Even if it is "only" 60Hz, will their live EVF with dual stream make it any better?
Click to expand...

Key here is the performance of the EVF in terms of lag and brightness as I am less interested in the refresh rate. I am ok with some blackout but cannot stand any lag as I become nauseous. If the Z9 EVF has near zero lag, no slide show effect and no stutter while panning at 20FPS and the same brightness as seen with my open right eye, I will be happy.
 
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Hut2 said:
Well that proves it is very similar to Sony and that the af box in the “teasers” actually were fake.

Bird eye AF is such an unbelievably nice function.
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I have already posted this video couple pages before...
What is interesting for me is that footage in this video is from september 2021, so it might have some improvements in the meantime... Most of other people (p)reviewing Z9 only had them for last 3 days or so...
 
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About a year ago I ditched my old Canon gear for an a7RIV and 200-600 lens (mostly because of the 200-600, I'm doing this as a hobby/passion), and soon I'll be in position to finally get a big prime. The announcement of the 400/2.8 with built-in TC and this Z 9 body is a real pleasure to see, because if I had to pick the brand I like and respect the most, that'd be Nikon.
 
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