Official Nikon Z9 Launch, Info, and Discussion Thread

[thelordofthelight]

It is very unlikely for it to be an 800 f5.6 PF...looking at the silhouette image, it looks more like an f8.
If it is an f5.6, I'm sure it'll be the most expensive lens by any canera brand.

Just the thought of hand-holding a Z9 with an 800mm 5.6 PF lens makes Nikon the absolute KING in my mind. Think of what the 500 pf was like the first time you used it. Now, imagine insane autofocus with 800mm reach that's lighter than a 500 F4 and sharp enough to hide any difference to the naked eye. Wow, if it happens, wow.

 

[NorthernFocus]

Just the thought of hand-holding a Z9 with an 800mm 5.6 PF lens makes Nikon the absolute KING in my mind. Think of what the 500 pf was like the first time you used it. Now, imagine insane autofocus with 800mm reach that's lighter than a 500 F4 and sharp enough to hide any difference to the naked eye. Wow, if it happens, wow.

It is very unlikely for it to be an 800 f5.6 PF...looking at the silhouette image, it looks more like an f8.
If it is an f5.6, I'm sure it'll be the most expensive lens by any canera brand.

Yes so far all of the PF lenses have been one stop smaller than the big prime equivalent. The 800mm E is f5.6 so it stands to reason that a PF version would be f8. Unfortunately.

 

[jmurthy]

I suspect the card used is a lot more important than ever. To get the 8k video performance the pipeline and write speed of the card is key. So for still shooting they may be relying a lot more on how fast the buffer can write to the card than on the size of the buffer memory chip. But still something doesn't add up because the high efficiency format only gains 30 percent reduction in file size.

Here is another video that talks about the 20fps bursts for 1000 RAW images that can be achieved. I hope its raw lossless compressed.
its at 10:16 in the video.

 

[Steve]

Agree with you but still puzzled at this limitation. My take is that the readout speed, calculations per second and bus speeds are very similar in the A1 and Z9. Unless the A1 has a much larger internal buffer that. How many frames can the A1 do before the buffer slows down? I think the buffer in the Z9 could be where the bottleneck is? I may be completely wrong as well.

At full lossless compressed RAW, 14 bit, it gets about 105 before it slows with a CF express a - it gets between 80 and 90 with an SD.

 

[arbitrage]

Grays Westminster live stream has confirmed AF Area and Recall settings are available for custom buttons. Also Ricci says FW will bring fully customizable for size and shape AF Area mode like D6 Group

 

[NorthernFocus]

Ricci also demonstrated that the "cat, dog, bird" AF works for animals in general. And actually in the video he shows that in 3d tracking mode one of the choices is simply "animal".

 

[John Navitsky]

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?

I think there is some confusion about the AF calcs per second vs the EVF. I think it's distinctly possible the EVF is 60fps/hz even though there are 120 AF calcs per second. It makes a certain amount of sense to me from an architectural perspective since each stream of data out of the Exceed is overhead and I can see why they'd prioritize the data to the card, so using a lower refresh rate to the EVF might be a reasonable design compromise. I'd guess they might organize it like 2 PCI lanes for the cards, 1 for the EVF and 1 for everything else. Just a guess. And even though some people can "see" 60hz (think 60hz florescent light flicker), it's generally considered a reasonable refresh rate (think monitors).

 

[John Navitsky]

Wait for the world wide shortage of memory cards.

At least the fast ones.

 

[John Navitsky]

Ricci's video says the only 2 card brands, which 1. do not overheat and 2. meet the Z9 output are Delkin Black and Prograde Cobalt; their minimum write speeds are fast enough.

It looks like Delkin claims min write of 1405MB/s and Prograde claims 1400MB/s. Be curious if people have thoughts on the relative merits of these brands.

 

[DougC]

That makes sense to me. Procam wants it all up front and run the card through. I wonder if that’s because I’m out of state. I know Adorama doesn’t charge the card until the item ships regardless of from where in US the order comes from.

They want to use your money for weeks or even months before you receive the merchandise. This is a shady practice IMHO. Run far, run fast.

 

[arbitrage]

It looks like Delkin claims min write of 1405MB/s and Prograde claims 1400MB/s. Be curious if people have thoughts on the relative merits of these brands.

They are both really good brands. Prograde is all the ex Lexar employees that left after Lexar was taken over by Chinese giant conglomerate. Delkin has excellent customer service.

One thing to know about Delkin. Their cards run cooler than most. Also their "POWER" line should be identical performance to the "BLACK" line. The black line is just tougher build (like Sony Tough) but as far as I know the internals are the same and Power are cheaper. I've owned Power CFe-B and Power SD V90 and they are great cards.

Prograde has Gold and Cobalt lines. Gold will perform worse. Cobalt is one of the best cards out there. Buy Delkin Power over Prograde Gold for similar prices.

I think Delkin has guaranteed 48hr replacement turnaround if you are a pro that needs that.

 

[fcotterill]

Among the deluge of early reporting so far, RicciTalks video (link above) and Thom Hogan synopsis are the most reliable and give some explanations and context, the EVF included with the dual data streaming of stacked sensor and Expeed7 - " blackout free reproduction at 20 fps, and far brighter than any previous mirrorless camera"

I think there is some confusion about the AF calcs per second vs the EVF. I think it's distinctly possible the EVF is 60fps/hz even though there are 120 AF calcs per second. It makes a certain amount of sense to me from an architectural perspective since each stream of data out of the Exceed is overhead and I can see why they'd prioritize the data to the card, so using a lower refresh rate to the EVF might be a reasonable design compromise. I'd guess they might organize it like 2 PCI lanes for the cards, 1 for the EVF and 1 for everything else. Just a guess. And even though some people can "see" 60hz (think 60hz florescent light flicker), it's generally considered a reasonable refresh rate (think monitors).

 

[ssheipel]

Watching Kai's video and he shoots high speed fps silently and I think the camera better have a fake shutter noise option, certainly for cold weather shoots when I can't feel the shutter button and rely on hearing the camera fire to know if I've actually pushed the shutter (true story) LOL Then I saw Morton's video and heard the 'shutter.'

 

[ssheipel]

At full lossless compressed RAW, 14 bit, it gets about 105 before it slows with a CF express a - it gets between 80 and 90 with an SD.

Steve, Ricci talks about experiencing considerable difference in loading speed (and card heating!) between CFE cards.

 

[John Navitsky]

Steve, Ricci talks about experiencing considerable difference in loading speed (and card heating!) between CFE cards.

FWIW, I think that comment from Steve is related to the A1, not the Z9.

 

[Hatch1921]

Watching Kai's video and he shoots high speed fps silently and I think the camera better have a fake shutter noise option, certainly for cold weather shoots when I can't feel the shutter button and rely on hearing the camera fire to know if I've actually pushed the shutter (true story) LOL Then I saw Morton's video and heard the 'shutter.'

It's funny you bring that up... as I thought he should have had the shutter silent in his situation. It looked liked it spooked the animals. If it was off, maybe more shots? The camera from what I understand (could be wrong) has three settings with various "bars" options to blink in the viewfinder on the sides when shooting in silent shutter mode.

Hatch

 

[la551ve3]

Doing a quick scan of my previous bif (wildlife) shots shows that most were taken with at least 500mm zoom setting. I never gave that much thought before now and wonder if the new Z9 along with the new 100-400mm would be too much of a limitation.

Curious to hear peoples thought on the z9,100-400 combination. Is it practical for bif? Would you add a converter or just shoot in crop mode?

 

[Mommacat]

Apologies if this has already been asked, but do we know how customizable the Fn buttons or other controls are especially in regards to engaging different AF modes + AF ON? One of the things I really enjoyed on the Sony rentals and especially the Canon R5 rental was the ability to program the top right buttons (AF ON, AEL, etc.) to engage different AF modes by just sliding my right thumb. I do have my PV button programmed on my D500 for single point, as Steve demonstrated in one of his videos, but, for me, sliding the thumb is more comfortable. Also, I'm hoping it's a true toggle on/off as opposed to having to keep it engaged along with the AF ON button. Thank you!

 

[GrandNagus50]

OK, after going over everything, there are three area where I have a little concern:



3. Eye AF - The fact that Nikon says it's for cats, dogs, and birds makes me wonder how it'll do with the rest of the mammals out there.

Maybe Steve's concern here has been thoroughly addressed by now, but I wanted to add that in the Ricci Talks review of the Z9 it shows successful eye autofocus on a fish.

 

[ssheipel]

It's funny you bring that up... as I thought he should have had the shutter silent in his situation. It looked liked it spooked the animals. If it was off, maybe more shots? The camera from what I understand (could be wrong) has three settings with various "bars" options to blink in the viewfinder on the sides when shooting in silent shutter mode.

Hatch

Good point. I was just glad to see (hear?) the option existed.

 

[John Navitsky]

Curious to hear peoples thought on the z9,100-400 combination. Is it practical for bif? Would you add a converter or just shoot in crop mode?

Take a look at Ricci's video about the 100-400. He compares it to the 180-400 (including using a 1.4 TC). It sounds like it stacks up super well in terms of image quality. That said, I don't think this is really intended to be a wildlife lens, I think it's really more of a action/sport lens, but it certainly seems up to the job if you can deal with the aperture.

 

[R.Philip]

"Enhanced Eye AF for people, pets and birds.
Eye Detection AF automatically tracks the eyes of people, dogs, cats and birds (and similar creatures) even when they’re small in the frame, covered by hair, glasses or goggles, right-side up or upside down. "

Whatever similar creatures are I did see one of the Nikon videos where the photographer was videoing a Pika and it did seem to lock focus on that small Pika eye.

This is a big issue for me. I'm a SASQUATCH shooter and am tired of getting fuzzy pictures. For years, I've never been able to get a wall hanger. LMAO

 

[Mike Bull]

Some more info on the Z9 :YouTube 'Ricci Talks' - '3 months with the Z9' giving the reason for the new FTZ.

 

[Steve]

Steve, Ricci talks about experiencing considerable difference in loading speed (and card heating!) between CFE cards.

That was in re to the a1 buffer. As I said in my review for that camera, I'd like to see more. I have ordered a Delkin Black card already for the Z9 and I'll be testing for sure.

 

[Steve]

I saw the video and that does ease my mind a bit. Still, I'd like to compare. What I saw in the video demo form him, looking at the eyes, looks promising. However, I saw a lot of swapping between eye AF and the larger box too - a little more than I'd expect on a a1 or R5. However - it's impossible to know without testing side by side and the video was with a pre-production unit.