Rumors: New Nikon Z9 Firmware Update With Enhanced AF Acquisition Coming Soon (or not 🙂)

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Both models of the Z7 - inaugural and vII - are still a first choice of landscape photographers, and not too shoddy for video either. Nikon must know the size of its working population of these cameras, and recognize they should not be left behind - especially as there's no Z7 III (yet).
 
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Weird how Nikon takes literally years to recognize he importance of some features, before they are finally added/fixed. The AFmode+AFOn custom setting finally reached the Z6 line almost 6 years late. This feature is essential to use the MILC AF efficiently, so too bad for Nikon's lost traction with these otherwise very capable cameras.

A few features get comparatively quick attention: eg RSF [Hold] was quickly added to the Z9, already being in the D6, as were the Custom Area AF modes... April 2022. Agence France Presse and other sports Pros are likely the reason these features were fast tracked for the new Z9.

In contrast, enthusiasts, hobbyists don't have the clout and links into Nikon to get straightforward firmware fixes for the Z6 and Z7....

Another explanation is the very real Japanese philosophy of prioritizing a full house of functions in flagships, but culling the desirable functions from lower tier models, justified by their lower cost.

Conservatism is yet another - rigid seniority that kills off new ideas and demoralizes innovators. And, as Thom Hogan's often criticizes... too few of the managers and engineers understand how their products are used by experienced photographers. In short they don't shoot their own cameras!

Perhaps the biggest obstacle is the customer relations employees are too ignorant (also not photographers), and/or their feedback fails to get back to where it matters in Tokyo.
 
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Anyone remember the senior Nikon USA representative at an on line technical review of the new Z9 in 2022... Under auspices of Paul's Camera? When challenged about the lack of PreCapture RAW, his response was wildlife photographers should be shooting jpg :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Such arrogance in the wrong places in a corporation often explains a lot, including why products fail because customers are alienated, and in this case critical feedback is blocked from reaching the appropriate experts
 
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fcotterill said:
And, as Thom Hogan's often criticizes... too few of the managers and engineers understand how their products are used by experienced photographers. In short they don't shoot their own cameras!
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i think this is a big thing.

and it’s multi-faceted; there are so many types of photography and skill levels within photography.

even if you talk to an xyz photographer, that particular photographer is going to know certain things, not know certain things, have a certain style and approach.

in reality you are going to need a very proactive and ongoing effort to really get a feel for any given photography area.
 
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John Navitsky said:
i think this is a big thing.

and it’s multi-faceted; there are so many types of photography and skill levels within photography.

even if you talk to an xyz photographer, that particular photographer is going to know certain things, not know certain things, have a certain style and approach.

in reality you are going to need a very proactive and ongoing effort to really get a feel for any given photography area.
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I also wonder if the pros they interact with the most for these high speed cameras are mostly in sports and actually do shoot jpeg often, for the speed of uploading immediately. I could see the wrong executive having met them once and formed that in his head “it’s good enough for professional sports, it’s good enough for seagulls” kind of mentality. People who build products often dont actually use them in these businesses.

Eventually some marketing exec will show them that RAW is a feature stealing sales though and they’ll either fix it or bait everyone with it as a feature in the next series of camera. Nikon being way behind in market share probably shouldn’t play games like that though. They need to capture not tread water or lose customers.
 
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Lee R said:
I also wonder if the pros they interact with the most for these high speed cameras are mostly in sports and actually do shoot jpeg often, for the speed of uploading immediately. I could see the wrong executive having met them once and formed that in his head “it’s good enough for professional sports, it’s good enough for seagulls” kind of mentality. People who build products often dont actually use them in these businesses.

Eventually some marketing exec will show them that RAW is a feature stealing sales though and they’ll either fix it or bait everyone with it as a feature in the next series of camera. Nikon being way behind in market share probably shouldn’t play games like that though. They need to capture not tread water or lose customers.
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Nikon has twenty or so Ambassadors around the world who are wildlife photographers, so they have access to people who know what capabilities wildlife photographers need. Granted, those needs may have to be balanced against the needs of photographers in other genres, and against Nikon’s desire not to make radical changes in camera UI, etc.

I believe that, over time, more of the anticipated features BCG members have discussed will be available in Nikon cameras. If nothing else, being competitive demands it.
 
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JAJohnson said:
Nikon has twenty or so Ambassadors around the world who are wildlife photographers, so they have access to people who know what capabilities wildlife photographers need. Granted, those needs may have to be balanced against the needs of photographers in other genres, and against Nikon’s desire not to make radical changes in camera UI, etc.

I believe that, over time, more of the anticipated features BCG members have discussed will be available in Nikon cameras. If nothing else, being competitive demands it.
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Well I hope they've got on Nikon's case about the jpeg only pre-capture.
 
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Frame buffers are volatile memory and not designed to retain settings. That's what writable CF express flash memory is for. With a stacked sensor the sensor Dram is a moving high speed target, and must be kept at or below a specific threshold to maintain a level of performance (like cache). Camera settings are usually written to some flash memory or eprom chip designed to store settings permanently, but never used for in transit data (too slow, that's usually a dedicated pipeline )

John Navitsky said:
ok, how about “automatic uploads”? better?


i suspect basically outlets that normally would use ftp uploads wanted something a bit more 21st century and it’s an enabling technology because you can upload directly into adobe’s cloud and thus be read for editing.

i also suspect the biggest users are going to use facilities wifi but low volume shooters can take advantage of hotel wifi or even hotspots.

sure, it’s not a feature for everyone, but seems like a solid step forward.


what lockups? i’m not saying they don’t happen but i’ve not heard of anything widespread.

and often lockups can be induced by media issues and that type of issue they _can’t_ fix


it’s not a problem, it’s just how it’s designed. you have a 20 frame buffer and enough storage for your settings and they in turn lowered the price of the entire camera which benefited users of all brands since it put price pressure on everyone.

i’m not saying it’s the best choice for everyone, but it is what it is.
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maxxus46 said:
Frame buffers are volatile memory and not designed to retain settings. That's what writable CF express flash memory is for. With a stacked sensor the sensor Dram is a moving high speed target, and must be kept at or below a specific threshold to maintain a level of performance (like cache). Camera settings are usually written to some flash memory or eprom chip designed to store settings permanently, but never used for in transit data (too slow, that's usually a dedicated pipeline )
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fair.

i was mostly responding to the generic complaint about memory limitations, and the frame buffer and non volatile memory are what's there, and what limit the features the poster i was responding to.
 
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i'm guessing we'll see a fw update on the 24th for the z8 and z9....

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peculiar no mention of the z8 and z9. but i’ll be very happy if we see some movement on c2pa.

nikonrumors.com

Nikon announced the development of a new Z6 III firmware update with C2PA Content Credentials support - Nikon Rumors

Today Nikon announced the development of a new Z6 III firmware update with C2PA Content Credentials support. Back in 2022 during the 2022 Adobe Max conference, Adobe announced a partnership between the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) and Nikon to add content credentials in Photoshop for...
nikonrumors.com nikonrumors.com
 
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In the mean time, I'll blame nikon for not having new updates that can punch through horrible heat distortion. :) still got some cool badger pictures (among other things), but I'll have to edit after my trip once I'm at my pc.

Also hoping for support through c1 eventually for content credentials
 
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Cameron T said:
In the mean time, I'll blame nikon for not having new updates that can punch through horrible heat distortion. :) still got some cool badger pictures (among other things), but I'll have to edit after my trip once I'm at my pc.

Also hoping for support through c1 eventually for content credentials
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Prediction: At some point there will be AI tools to address the heat haze problem. They’ll be awful for a while and gradually improve.

I have a lot of photos saved for that happens. 😂
 
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