Official Nikon Z9 Launch, Info, and Discussion Thread

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Calson said:
It also begs the question that if one needs to buy two new cameras and new lenses, then why not consider Sony and Canon and even the Olympus MFT systems as well. With Olympus my kit would be half the size and half the weight which makes overseas travel far simpler.
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I'm not following. Keep your D5 as a backukp, keep your existing glass and use the Z9 with the FTZ. Why do you have to dump all your equipment?
 
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Hut2 said:
<---Not a business major.

I would hazard a guess they have a bundle wrapped up in R&D here. After a couple years of significant losses.
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the value to Nikon is not the sales of the Z9 itself, but follow on glass sales (from buyers of the Z9) and when pros have a z9, other people will copy them with a Z5, Z6 or Z7.
 
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Hut2 said:
To be honest I’m not all that excited about using my 500 Pf ever again. I am enjoying the versatility of the 200 to 600 much better. The results are excellent.
if Nikon matches the performance with their own 200 to 600 they will have a big winner
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I love my 300-800 Sigmonster. Lol
 
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Kenny88 said:
Unless I missed it in this thread of 9 pages, I wonder if Steve is going to be picking up the Z9 and will do a review on it - I sure hope so - I trust him more than anyone for an accurate review and from a real wildlife photographer.
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Already pre-ordered and planning a review. Looking forward to seeing what it can do and I'm really excited about the new lens lineup.
 
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fcotterill said:
Yet another of the many videos I cannot bear to watch... too contrived and he sounded like he had shot up himself up with something rather strong ;)
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Agreed.

I'd add his shots demonstrating birds eye AF were pretty lame. Many were bullseye centered images of perched birds where he could have just locked to the center AF point and achieved the same results.
 
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Charlie Lasswell said:
As many of us have said before, due to my current Nikon glass investment, the Z9 doesn't have to be better than the others, it just has to be competitive. I'm confident that it is, so my money is down. I'm also very intrigued by the new unannounced 400mm and 800mm that are showing up in the updated lens road map. It all looks like a lot of fun.
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Those lenses also have my interest. That 400mm looks like a great size and I’m very curious to the 800mm. This roadmap looks a lot better to me now. While I would have preferred a smaller body than the Z9, the size seems manageable. I need to look for actual size comparisons. I’ve preordered one figuring I’ll have some time for additional reviews before I get it.. Though I am somewhere In the first 10 at my local camera shop.
 
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Utah Dave said:
I've heard the F-mount glass works great on the Z cameras with the converter. Is there a reason we would want the z glass over the f glass?
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With the current Z cameras, F mount glass focuses at about half the speed (on average) as it does with an F-mount camera like the D850 - at least when going from min to mx focus distance.

More significantly though, in my experience the Z mount native glass is a noticeable step up in IQ. It's just outstanding.
 
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Steve said:
With the current Z cameras, F mount glass focuses at about half the speed (on average) as it does with an F-mount camera like the D850 - at least when going from min to mx focus distance.
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caveat, on current z cameras. certainly there is an _implication_ in the materials presented that the story will be different with the z9. at least that's how i read it.
 
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Steve said:
With the current Z cameras, F mount glass focuses at about half the speed (on average) as it does with an F-mount camera like the D850 - at least when going from min to mx focus distance.

More significantly though, in my experience the Z mount native glass is a noticeable step up in IQ. It's just outstanding.
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It'll be interesting to see how the Z9 performs with F-glass with their new upgraded autofocus system. It may be fast enough for me. It will be interesting. I'll wait for your review before I purchase...👍
 
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Steve said:
With the current Z cameras, F mount glass focuses at about half the speed (on average) as it does with an F-mount camera like the D850 - at least when going from min to mx focus distance.

More significantly though, in my experience the Z mount native glass is a noticeable step up in IQ. It's just outstanding.
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Is the new FTZ mount designed to fix the slower focusing?
 
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Tom Reynolds said:
"So basically, they traded weight for battery performance which is something I can get behind."

Yep. I disagree. Not happy with Nikon's direction.

I watched the professional photographers lug around huge lenses and get in contorted positions, even one lying on rocks to shoot birds and reindeer. I do not see Joe average retiree now wildlife photographer do anything like that. The Z-9 is a professional camera not a semi-pro retired enthusiast camera whereas the Sony A1, while quite expensive, fills the bill quite nicely.

The crucial question for marketers is who is your target market? How big is the target market for Steves, Thom Hogans and the like?
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The target market for flagship cameras is NOT old men who cant carry pro gear.
 
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PAUL50 said:
Is the new FTZ mount designed to fix the slower focusing?
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It's unclear. The videos suggest the Z9 + FTZII + F-mount glass autofocus fast, but it's unclear that this has anything to do with the FTZ involved. I tend to subscribe to the idea that the FTZ/FTZII is not the problem here but I guess only time will tell. The primary feature, as far as I can tell is the FTZII doesn't block your hand from using the vertical grip of the Z9.
 
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Well, very pleased by this. Was on the fence about whether to jump ship but I tried the A1 and R5 and didn't love either. Perhaps because I'm so used to Nikon's and their feel. So long as the Z9 was in the ballpark of the competition, I had no intention of changing from the very (to me) comfortable Nikon ecosystem. Assuming the AF is as good as the reviewers to date claim it is, I'm going to be happy. Already pre-ordered. And the only hiccup might be the 20 fps for RAW (and 5 years ago I would have been delighted with that, as who wouldn't have been?). But a firmware upgrade might well be able to improve that (would seem doubtful, to me, that there is a hard limit on the 20 fps RAW). And while I don't see a lot of mention of it, the 120 FPS could be incredible for some of the sports I shoot. So, too, would be the fast start-up. I think the weight was a bit surprising (2.9 pounds with battery) but, heck, it's basically the same as the D850 with the grip, and I still love the feel of that camera. If this is the same feel, and I'll bet it is, it should be wonderful to hold and use. Very pleased not to have jump systems.
 
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Well, here goes an obvious newbie question but they haven’t banned me from the group yet. I’m going to preorder this camera. What’s the best way to do it. I’m not a pro so I can’t go NPS. Is it best to go through Nikon, or one of the really big mail order stores, or go local, or place orders with a couple of places. What’s the best way to do this. You assistance will be, as always, much appreciated.
 
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PAUL50 said:
Well, here goes an obvious newbie question but they haven’t banned me from the group yet. I’m going to preorder this camera. What’s the best way to do it. I’m not a pro so I can’t go NPS. Is it best to go through Nikon, or one of the really big mail order stores, or go local, or place orders with a couple of places. What’s the best way to do this. You assistance will be, as always, much appreciated.
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If you have a local shop that carries Nikon then it may be your best bet. The big shops might carry more inventory but they also attract folks from all over the country and the waiting times can be long for a new and hot item.

I'll add that I've had good luck in the past searching out smaller brick and mortar stores and calling them to get on shorter lists for hard to find gear. We unfortunately no longer have a Nikon dealer in town so I either find a small Nikon dealer further away or get on the list with a big retailer like Adorama and just wait it out.
 
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