Z8 vs Z9 in view of new firmware

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I shoot the Z9, mostly for the grip and the battery life. My wife shoots a Z8, as weight is one of her primary considerations, and she does not like to use a grip. She complains a lot about the limited time a battery lasts in the Z8, though. Sometimes she goes through 3 batteries in a busy day of shooting!
 
cr_wildlife said:
I shoot the Z9, mostly for the grip and the battery life. My wife shoots a Z8, as weight is one of her primary considerations, and she does not like to use a grip. She complains a lot about the limited time a battery lasts in the Z8, though. Sometimes she goes through 3 batteries in a busy day of shooting!
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Is there a grip for it?
 
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bleirer said:
The Canon competitor to the z8 is the R5. New it is $3800 and 26 ounces. As the brands leapfrog the r5ii expected in a couple months ought to be a winner and be worth considering. The R3 with its low pixel dimensions and much higher price is positioned as a professional camera for journalists, sports, events, etc. Who would rather have smaller files and faster write speeds, more in the buffer.
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FWIW, Canon Rumors has been saying for months that the R1 will be Canon’s next release and that the R5ii will come out at the end of the year, at the earliest.
 
groob said:
FWIW, Canon Rumors has been saying for months that the R1 will be Canon’s next release and that the R5ii will come out at the end of the year, at the earliest.
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We'll have to see. They are right with their predictions some of the time.
 
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Nimi said:
groob said:
I'm sorry, but this is incorrect. The cellar for a used Z9 is $4,000 and has been for a while. Z8s are going for under $3K nowadays. Both are selling for about $500 less than Nikon's refurbished prices.
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groob said:
I'm sorry, but this is incorrect. The cellar for a used Z9 is $4,000 and has been for a while. Z8s are going for under $3K nowadays. Both are selling for about $500 less than Nikon's refurbished prices.
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And I passed on buying a used Z9 for $3995 three weeks ago!!! :eek:
 
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Viathelens said:
I think it is difficult now to sell the Z9 as there is not a lot of interest in a used Z9 even if it is priced competitively. I base this on trying to sell mine on this site and seeing what happens when others post theirs on this site. There are a lot of them for sale. I ended up selling mine by trading out photography trips with a tour guide leader for some of the cost, it worked out well for both of us. I bought the Z9 when it first came out, used it until the Z8 came out, bought one, then bought another one. So far no over-heating issues but then I don't shoot a lot of video. I did shoot 20,000 images, over a period of days, in Antarctica without any problem. However, the battery life sucks...I don't know if it's just one of my cameras or both, I need to investigate this, but at one point I only got 59 photos on a fully charged battery, it was 20 degrees out. I have nine or so batteries so it's not a problem, just an annoyance for the most part. I can't decide which functions to put on the available buttons I already have so certainly don't need more buttons and I can't really remember what I've set them to anyway! I always remember what the AF-ON is set to, but always have to check the rest. I love the Z8 and the 600PF, a really great combo.
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Nine batteries? That's quite the investment in preparedness.

Was your 59-exposure battery life over a long time, or was the power exhausted rapidly after installing the battery and turning the camera on? If over a long time, was the camera in continuous use, or were you turning it off and on repeatedly? Did you have the issue with one battery, or did multiple batteries exhibit the same performance? Also trying it on a second camera is the right thing to do. To keep all of the other factors consistent, you might need to replicate the trip to Antarctica...;)
 
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groob said:
What are you waiting on? It's fantastic!
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It sold while I was thinking about it. The shop owner told me not to worry, they'll have more soon.

As t is for now, I'll have to do with just one Z9, although that one isn't getting any use these days. I'm hoping to get to Orlando Wetlands sometime the last weekend this month. Unfortunately, my schedule is already very busy.
 
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BigIUFan said:
Then I suppose we should compare a used Z9 with a used Z8 then . . . and the beat goes on. Regardless, my point is that there is still a price differential to consider if that matters.
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Correct…but at least for me the weight is a much bigger factor…and if both of the bodies had been available simultaneously I would have 2 Z8s as I could not care less about a grip or vertical shooting and the battery live is a non issue for me…and although the two are very similar there are more buttons on the Z9 to program. Unfortunately…at least for me…that last item made muscle memory harder so I've mostly ignored programming the additional buttons so the two bodies work the same.
 
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wotan1 said:
I have been saved by the Z9 dual CF Express card layout. On more than one occasion in the rush out the door I forgot that my main card was still at home in the card reader. Having a backup CF Express B card meant I did not miss a beat.
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Not being a very smart guy sometimes…I learned long ago that leaving the card door open when I pull the card out to take into the office is the optimum solution…that way it's much harder to forget to put the card back in the body. Actually…I think it's not really not being smart…it's just being a creature of habit and the older I get the more habit focused I need to be so as not to forget things.
 
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John Navitsky said:
i don’t find the z8 batteries problematic , just put the little cap on it and throw it in your pocket
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Yep…much ado about nothing to me. OTOH, I don't shoot long videos so that and the heat for long video aren't an issue for me. Carrying even 3 extra batteries for the Z8 is still less weight than the Z9 and despite never getting close to running out on the Z9 I always have it's spare battery in my picket as well.
 
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John Navitsky said:
the r5ii? seems likely. that would put them at apples to apples with the z9/a1. right now they have nothing in that slot since the r3 is lower MP
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I would think so, but Canon's only stacked sensor so far is in the R3. And all the recent rumors were that the R1 was coming next. A stacked sensor in the R5ii would seem to be a necessity with the existence and price of a Z8, but I wouldn't be too confident about it until the specs are officially released.
 
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Anjin San said:
Not being a very smart guy sometimes…I learned long ago that leaving the card door open when I pull the card out to take into the office is the optimum solution…that way it's much harder to forget to put the card back in the body. Actually…I think it's not really not being smart…it's just being a creature of habit and the older I get the more habit focused I need to be so as not to forget things.
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I do the same and also with the battery
 
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Whiskeyman said:
Nine batteries? That's quite the investment in preparedness.

Was your 59-exposure battery life over a long time, or was the power exhausted rapidly after installing the battery and turning the camera on? If over a long time, was the camera in continuous use, or were you turning it off and on repeatedly? Did you have the issue with one battery, or did multiple batteries exhibit the same performance? Also trying it on a second camera is the right thing to do. To keep all of the other factors consistent, you might need to replicate the trip to Antarctica...;)
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I’ve always kept the battery when I sold a camera and also bought some new ones… I’m prepared!
 
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Anjin San said:
Not being a very smart guy sometimes…I learned long ago that leaving the card door open when I pull the card out to take into the office is the optimum solution…that way it's much harder to forget to put the card back in the body. Actually…I think it's not really not being smart…it's just being a creature of habit and the older I get the more habit focused I need to be so as not to forget things.
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Many Years ago, owning my very first ILC I made a short list of critical checks :
* Camera Settings
* ISO
* Film Tension
* Spare film
* Lens cap off and blow dust off front element

Post Film era, the 2 key checks have been Battery(ies) and Card. It's the analogous process to clearing and checking a rifle
 
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fcotterill said:
Many Years ago, owning my very first ILC I made a short list of critical checks :
* Camera Settings
* ISO
* Film Tension
* Spare film
* Lens cap off and blow dust off front element

Post Film era, the 2 key checks have been Battery(ies) and Card. It's the analogous process to clearing and checking a rifle
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Yep…procedures and habit. Decades ago during my submarine days we learned the benefits of always following the procedure down to the same litany of words and reports throughout for critical evolutions involving ship safety or things that are going to go bang. Same with operating the reactor and propulsion plant…haven’t been on a sub since 1988 and I can still quote verbatim the immediate actions for a reactor scram…don’t think I will ever forget those and many other procedures and words.
 
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Anjin San said:
Yep…procedures and habit. Decades ago during my submarine days we learned the benefits of always following the procedure down to the same litany of words and reports throughout for critical evolutions involving ship safety or things that are going to go bang. Same with operating the reactor and propulsion plant…haven’t been on a sub since 1988 and I can still quote verbatim the immediate actions for a reactor scram…don’t think I will ever forget those and many other procedures and words.
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I believe I could come up with my own litany of words in the even of a reactor scram. Likely none would be in the manual.
 
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KAC said:
I believe I could come up with my own litany of words in the even of a reactor scram. Likely none would be in the manual.
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True as well. But in reality a reactor scram is just shutting off the heat source, and pumps keep running so there’s no danger of a meltdown or anything like that. They are essentially all caused (non drill ones anyway)…by being at too much power for the current pump combination. The operators don’t actually try and use too much power…but if a pump turns off or the inlet or outlet valves get shut…and it’s actually based on loss of a pump running indication or valve open and the system assumes the pump is off or valve is shut even if it’s just a failed indicator…and the control rods hit the bottom. This stops the fission process essentially instantly.

You do a lot of scram drills at sea though…typically at least weekly…and although it’s just a drill the rods actually hit the bottom and shut it down…so it’s not really a simulation. The drills are pretty sophisticated though…there a simulated failure and until the crew finds and ‘fixes’ the simulated failure the reactor is still down. Once that’s done you do a fast recovery startup and from rods on the bottom to reactor critical to getting to the power range and making heat is just a few minutes.

They sound scary to non operators…but in reality they’re not anything like one might expect from the various power company disasters. And submarine movies like Hunt for Red October and Crimson Tide are so unrealistic that submariners just roll their eyes. But then…flyboys roll their eyes at Top Gun and similar as well…there a whole lot of movie hocus pocus going on.
 
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Anjin San said:
Not being a very smart guy sometimes…I learned long ago that leaving the card door open when I pull the card out to take into the office is the optimum solution…that way it's much harder to forget to put the card back in the body. Actually…I think it's not really not being smart…it's just being a creature of habit and the older I get the more habit focused I need to be so as not to forget things.
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I'm almost there with you... I'm just not smart enough to develop, and stick to, habits that are helpful. :oops:
 
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Anjin San said:
Yep…procedures and habit. Decades ago during my submarine days we learned the benefits of always following the procedure down to the same litany of words and reports throughout for critical evolutions involving ship safety or things that are going to go bang. Same with operating the reactor and propulsion plant…haven’t been on a sub since 1988 and I can still quote verbatim the immediate actions for a reactor scram…don’t think I will ever forget those and many other procedures and words.
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Like the BOLDFACE PROCEDURES we flyers had to commit to memory and perform immediately and w/o error in some emergencies.

We even had written tests where the answers had to be written down verbatim (perfectly) down to the letter, comma, period and number. Missplace one word, or leave out one or a comma, and you failed.
 
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