z9 Failure

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Steve said:
No idea.

There's part of me (I used to do programming a couple of decades ago) that thinks maybe they kill off one bug and introduce another. I've done it myself LOL :)

I hate to say the "S" word, but my a1 bodies seem to have more complex software (they can do a lot more) and I've had zero lockups with them since their first firmware update a year and a half ago. They just work and have, overall, seen more use and abuse than my Z9. Of course, it might be hardware issue they are struggling with. Plus, random lockups terribly tough to pin down. Again, I want to stress that, so far, these lockups haven't really stunted my work and have only been a minor annoyance. 99.9% of the time (or more) my Z9 is fine.

Just want to keep it in perspective. And, for my use, I don't have to worry about blowing a paid gig :)
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S users sitting here 🤤 🍿🤣 I hope they figure it out for everyone! That new 600 coming out needs a reliable pro body
 
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Venkatesh VT said:
Could DOF be the culprit specially if you were shooting wide & very close to the subject ?
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Could be but maybe 50 feet from subject.... and again, each shot gets worse. Spoke with a Nikon tech again today trying to get this escalated... he said probably a V3 issue, then backtracked.... but at least he understood it was not doing what it was supossed to do.
 
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O said:
Nothing wrong in your logic, if its the cause or not i don't know,

i do know this......

Nikon knows exactly what the issue is, they authorize and know replacing the mother board in cases where their fully bricked or damaged is the fix.
Ok to do that they must know the issue.

Only an opinion
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I am merely stating that I have had zero lock-ups and not even a hiccup since owning my Z9 since 24th December 2021. So, it can't really be anything to do with using the camera at 20fps as I have basically only ever used it at 20 fps for about 40k of shots. I have a number of friends that bought their camera at the same time and have also had zero issues. However, it seems as though there have been more issues with later released cameras causing me to think that Nikon may have changed a component since inception probably due to supply chain issues.
 
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Does anyone know any tricks to get to second level support at Nikon? I spent a fair bit of time today with someone who seemed to understand the problem and was going to get me some help. Then I received an email from them saying if AF-ON was not working, put the focus back on the shutter release.... sigh.... These guys are doing their best but it is not helping. I placed a call into NPS - crickets back. Second question - anyone know how to backdate to 2.11?
 
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Lance B said:
I am merely stating that I have had zero lock-ups and not even a hiccup since owning my Z9 since 24th December 2021. So, it can't really be anything to do with using the camera at 20fps as I have basically only ever used it at 20 fps for about 40k of shots. I have a number of friends that bought their camera at the same time and have also had zero issues. However, it seems as though there have been more issues with later released cameras causing me to think that Nikon may have changed a component since inception probably due to supply chain issues.
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I hear you and your very lucky, and yes it makes sense what your saying, i just hope Nikon fixes the issue sooner than later before the resale market gets effected and my confidence to rely on it continues to be effected.
 
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Risk = Probability of Occurrence X Cost per Occurrence

Estimating the Probability from a single thread on the interwebz is a fool’s errand. The best we know is that shxx happens, which we already knew.

We can estimate the Cost. If your livelihood and reputation depends on delivering once-in-a-lifetime images, then you can’t afford one of the rare events to happen…So bring a backup camera which is something every pro will do even…and has done for time immemorial…before this thread, or the Z9, ever existed.

I iterate again: I have had zero problems with my Z9 and love it to death.

Edit: Actually, I did have a problem with it once…It slid down a concrete culvert with me chasing after it.
 
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John Woodworth said:
Risk = Probability of Occurrence X Cost per Occurrence

Estimating the Probability from a single thread on the interwebz is a fool’s errand. The best we know is that shxx happens, which we already knew.

We can estimate the Cost. If your livelihood and reputation depends on delivering once-in-a-lifetime images, then you can’t afford one of the rare events to happen…So bring a backup camera which is something every pro will do even…and has done for time immemorial…before this thread, or the Z9, ever existed.

I iterate again: I have had zero problems with my Z9 and love it to death.

Edit: Actually, I did have a problem with it once…It slid down a concrete culvert with me chasing after it.
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I too am lucky to have not had any real issues with my Z9, but the disappointment that it refused to fly and instead landed on the concrete floor I let it fall to :)
 
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My Z9 stopped working completely when using the first 120/ips bursts early in January 2022 ( no action possible using buttons, wheels, shutdown, barrery removal, resets. Firmware release was 1.1 . As no one control was possible anymore for a minimum recovery it was clear that the main board was guilty.

Nikon Europe changed the Mother Board within 10 days. And from this time an included the FW 3.0 i didn get any new trouble along 9 months including heavy and multiple long bursts. No use of Wifi during my works.
 
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Restoc said:
My Z9 stopped working completely when using the first 120/ips bursts early in January 2022 ( no action possible using buttons, wheels, shutdown, barrery removal, resets. Firmware release was 1.1 . As no one control was possible anymore for a minimum recovery it was clear that the main board was guilty.

Nikon Europe changed the Mother Board within 10 days. And from this time an included the FW 3.0 i didn get any new trouble along 9 months including heavy and multiple long bursts. No use of Wifi during my works.
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FW 3.0 has only been available since late October 2022, not since January 2022 when your fault occured so couldn't have been available from 10 days after it was fixed in January.
 
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Lance B said:
I am merely stating that I have had zero lock-ups and not even a hiccup since owning my Z9 since 24th December 2021. So, it can't really be anything to do with using the camera at 20fps as I have basically only ever used it at 20 fps for about 40k of shots. I have a number of friends that bought their camera at the same time and have also had zero issues. However, it seems as though there have been more issues with later released cameras causing me to think that Nikon may have changed a component since inception probably due to supply chain issues.
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I got my Z9 on the same day as Lance. So far no problems at all, except it has not made me a better photographer…
 
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tickle_my_nikon said:
It's not the card causing the camera to burn up it's motherboard. The camera would have some kind of error detection to just inform you the card is defective and replace it. I bet if I look up the Z9 manual there is an entry for it.
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You dont need to "burn up the motherboard" to brick it. All you need to do is corrupt the firmware in a way that it cant boot.
 
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Maljo said:
Z9 since Feb 2022. No issues so far. 100,000 images.
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Yep. Same here. It's been working fine since I got it in Feb. I've been out with it most days since I got it and it's worked well apart from an error message I was getting , that was cured with FW 2.0. Love the camera and the firmware updates have just made it better. Added the 800PF to it back in May and for me it's a fantastic combination. Perfect for wildlife, there isn't a camera/lens combo out there which comes anywhere close to it and in my opinion it's outstanding value for money compared to all the opposition.

I've been following this thread with interest and at first I found it hard to believe. The mathmatical odds on four top of the range cameras from the same brand all failing at the same venue at the same time must be off the chart. If there was a widespread problem with the Z9 then it would be making headlines everywhere but it appears to be limited to a handful of users.

One thing I always do between major updates is to reset the camera and re-enter all my settings and then save them. It's a pain to do and I only do it for major updates so I did it for 2.0 and 3.0. I'm never sure that it's a good idea to reload settings from a previous update.
 
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DaveR said:
I've been following this thread with interest and at first I found it hard to believe. The mathmatical odds on four top of the range cameras from the same brand all failing at the same venue at the same time must be off the chart. If there was a widespread problem with the Z9 then it would be making headlines everywhere but it appears to be limited to a handful of users.
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If cameras were people, one could call this a mass hysteria event. However it isn't clear if all 4 Z9's in Dennis's post had the same symptoms and ended up completely unusable. For sure it is disturbing to hear that even a single Z9 becomes completely unusable for unclear reasons. Luckily mine hasn't given me any problems for the 100,000 plus photos I have taken (almost all taken at 20fps and even some at 100 fps) in the time since I have gotten it and will await hearing how common this problem is and whether there are any conditions which make it more likely to encounter this problem.
 
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DavidT said:
S users sitting here 🤤 🍿🤣 I hope they figure it out for everyone! That new 600 coming out needs a reliable pro body
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Let's not forget the S-camera's viewfinder sensor lockup with low sun angle behind the photographer (fixed 100% with a firmware update). The z9 problem doesn't seem to be widespread but for the sake of those with a significant investment in the Z system I hope it's figured out soon.
 
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Wes Peterson said:
You dont need to "burn up the motherboard" to brick it. All you need to do is corrupt the firmware in a way that it cant boot.
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You cannot corrupt the ROM by taking a photograph and the camera having an issue writing to the card. Firmware is stored on a ROM, and only updated via special sequence --- hence it's name Read Only Memory. More likely one of the processors responsible for recording data to the memory card "burns up" from ... at the moment ... some unknown reason. Something is failing on a hardware level - either the EXPEED processor or another chip responsible for data communications.

Likely subpar chips.

The video posted of the camera lagging/struggling to write the file before bricking speaks wonders.

This is not a memory card issue.
 
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DaveR said:
All other camera brands have their problems. There's a thread on this forum about someone who seems to be having a number of issues with their A1. This thread is about problems with the Z9 so it would be good to keep it on topic please.
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If you Google search --- all of the brands have very similar "Freezing" issues. Even the R3, with it's low megapixel count which should require far less processing power in general compared to the A1 or Z9 is having very similar issues:

community.usa.canon.com

R3 Freezes - Canon Repaired - Problem Persists!

Preordered the R3 and patiently awaited its arrival. It arrived on time and, wow, what a camera. However, within the first week, I experienced two instances where it froze. No button or dial would respond, however the touch screen still worked. Of course it takes a 'button' to turn it off, so a...
community.usa.canon.com community.usa.canon.com
 
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tickle_my_nikon said:
You cannot corrupt the ROM by taking a photograph and the camera having an issue writing to the card. Firmware is stored on a ROM, and only updated via special sequence --- hence it's name Read Only Memory. More likely one of the processors responsible for recording data to the memory card "burns up" from ... at the moment ... some unknown reason. Something is failing on a hardware level - either the EXPEED processor or another chip responsible for data communications.

Likely subpar chips.

The video posted of the camera lagging/struggling to write the file before bricking speaks wonders.

This is not a memory card issue.
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All of your settings are saved on the camera. If that config file gets corrupted and the camera cant load settings what happens?
 
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Wes Peterson said:
All of your settings are saved on the camera. If that config file gets corrupted and the camera cant load settings what happens?
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Why on earth would a defective memory card cause memory issues inside the camera itself?

Moreover, what possible correlation is there between the video posted in this thread of the Z9 taking about 30-40 seconds to shut off while in the middle of saving a photo to the memory card, and corruption of the stored settings? No one is modifying settings and the camera shuts off, and never turns back on. For what it's worth any sensible programmer would attempt to read the settings file, and if corrupt, simply rewrite the file to default settings. There's a certain amount of error correcting built into any software.

Also keep in mind that if it was something basic, Nikon wouldn't replace the entire imaging PCB for the fun of it when they could flash the camera.
 
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tickle_my_nikon said:
Why on earth would a defective memory card cause memory issues inside the camera itself?

Moreover, what possible correlation is there between the video posted in this thread of the Z9 taking about 30-40 seconds to shut off while in the middle of saving a photo to the memory card, and corruption of the stored settings? No one is modifying settings and the camera shuts off, and never turns back on. For what it's worth any sensible programmer would attempt to read the settings file, and if corrupt, simply rewrite the file to default settings. There's a certain amount of error correcting built into any software.

Also keep in mind that if it was something basic, Nikon wouldn't replace the entire imaging PCB for the fun of it when they could flash the camera.
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I never said a memory card would cause memory issues inside the camera. The camera takes that long to shut off because something failed while writing to the card.

Nikon would be able to find out whats going on if they simply flashed the board. Replace the board then send the bad one back to the people who designed it to see what failed.
 
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