z9 Failure

[Dennis Gray]

I have had a pair of Z9 since January and have taken almost 100,000 images and a fair amount of video in all weather and locations -- not a single issue with either of mine. I regularly shoot with others who also have Z9 and have also had no issues.

I would ask the originator to provide much more specific details AND back them up with photos or other evidence so we can understand more about what is happening -- specifically what firmware is in the camera, what battery - is it the original EN-EL18d and has that been calibrated, what lens/lenses were being used, and was the camera sourced new from a accredited Nikon supplier? ETC.
Then I would suggest the originator goes back to who he purchased the camera from and have them look at it Or at least an authorised Nikon Repair Centre.

I’ll furnish the info you ask for. But if you read through the post you will see at least two of the bodies are already back at Nikon. Original nikon battery used. They both were calibrated. A third battery also calibrated was also used. Bought from San Francisco Samy’s Camera. What photos? Again if you read the post you will see the problem is not with images but with the z9 body. You can see sample images from Bill and Dennis on Sportscardigest.com and from Dennis on VintageRaceCar.com. Again i posted this only to alert you guys to keep your eyes open for these problems. Ciao DG

 

[Dennis Gray]

Exactly, now I’m suspect the validity of the OP’s claim of 4 Z9’s going Brick Mode.

You are correct. Late August early Sept this year. DG

 

[Dennis Gray]

You are correct. Late August early Sept this year. DG

Suspect if you want just be sure to keep that head in that sand….

 

[Dennis Gray]

I was one of the first people in my country to get a Nikon Z9, i have used it regularly without any issue. I do update my firmware as soon as a new version becomes available, and i use a high quality fast memory card.

Was the cameras up to date? What memory cards were used?

I have heard of issues with the camera model previously and strange as it may seem most issues I've read about could be related back to memory cards. Seems the Z9 is very sensitive in regards to that.

But for all four cameras to develop faults at the same time, i cannot think of a good explanation for that.

Did you USB charge the cameras from the same electrical source?

 

[Dennis Gray]

all four were current with updates. Nikon now has two of the bodies and i’ll let you know what they say. DG

 

[ButlerKid]

I don't think Steve would suggest Dennis post here if he thought this was not valuable input for us - and a good place to see if others are experiencing similar issues.

Please try to be respectful and helpful.

 

[frdjohns]

I've had no issues with mine so really can't contribute anything useful. However I am interested in hearing back from Dennis once it gets sorted out by Nikon.

 

[Dennis Gray]

Once again my sweet wife is correct. I do not respond well to my honesty and integrity and base photographic knowledge being questioned. So I am out of here until Nikon gets back to Bill and I. I’ll forward any progress on to Steve. Thanks for an entertaining afternoon. DG

 

[Patrick M]

We all know in the motor industry we get lemons, I wonder if that happens with camera manufacturers? Don’t buy a camera made on Friday?
hopefully these Z9s will be repaired or replaced by Nikon for you Dennis.

 

[jeffnles1]

I wold write this up as some Z9's have had issues. A friend of my wife's has 3 Kia/Hyundai autos in her family (her, her husband, and their daughter). All 3 automobiles have had serious problems, all fixed under warranty but the details were 2 transmission failures (needed new trans on both) and one engine timing failure caused valves to slap a piston (never good). The engine timing failure was in the first couple hundred miles. Here is my point, does that mean Kia/Hyundai automobiles are junk? Nope. It means this one family was batting 1,000 with bad ones.

It is more than possible something as complex with software as complex as today's cameras to have a batch that just were not up to par. No need to rush to the defense of Nikon (or Kia) nor is there any need to rush to dogpile on attacking the brand. "Stuff" happens.

 

[John Navitsky]

No strange radio waves or outer space vehicles affecting our z9.

i suspect there’s a lot of weird communications in a facility like that, including emerging stuff like strong 5g ultraband traffic, radio traffic, microwave and such . that said i would expect nikon to design with this in mind because… sports

 

[Ivan Rothman]

if you have a Z9 that you use hard and aren't seeing issues, post that as well. We'd like to see what everyone's experience is. If we get enough good info, I'll forward this thread to Nikon.

I've had a pair of Z9s since early January. I have easily shot 100,000 images on them. I have had no issues at all with camera function. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[MartyD]

Last weekend my z9 and three other z9 Nikons at the Velocity Invitational vintage car races at LaGuna Seca Monterey Ca all failed.

I have only had my Z9 for about 2 months (50,000 images) and I am still learning every day how I want to configure the camera. I haven't noticed anything while sitting in my living room reviewing and changing settings. I have seen cases when I am shooting action and I decide to quickly change a setting and I press a menu button and the menu flashes on the rear display then the display goes black, I press the button again and the menu displays correctly. I have had to press a menu button 3 times to get the menu to display. I have always attributed this to the fact that I am in a hurry, I might be holding my hand against another button, or the menu is being displayed in the viewfinder because something triggered the eye sensor, but I am keeping an eye on this. I do believe their are a few firmware glitches that still need to be ironed out.

I have spent many years as an IT user and manager and this event is important. What helps solve any technology issue is to identify common components or settings that would allow Nikon to reproduce the issue. It appears you are in contact with the individuals who also had Z9 issues, so take some time to discuss what might have been common about this event and the way you were shooting. Consider not only camera settings, but also all lenses, FTZ adapters, and any other equipment used in conjunction with the Z9s. Usage habits are also important, were lenses changed, was the camera powered off and back on from time to time or was it left powered on for hours, were you shooting video or just stills, were cards changed, and many other things could be helpful. Were your Z9s connected to SnapBridge, NX Field, or any other remote trigger or software. Doing a little brain storming could help identify what caused the issue.

Since it appears that you all know each other, is it possible that the same lens was on all failed Z9s? Was there borrowed or rented lenses? If 4 Z9s failed there just has to be common link that contributed to it.

I do think there might be some sort of environmental factor as well since you were all shooting at the same event, but I have no idea what that could possible be.

Keep us posted and what you come up with and what Nikon finds.

 

[StarDust]

All technological devices can fail including airplanes leading to catastrophic consequences. But to post that 4 Z9's failed and all the four where participating in the same event while the OP is not ready to provide sufficient details, is a proper ground for suspicion. Not saying the OP is not credible, but I don't blame any one who get suspicious.

Mine failed but I know exactly why, the Nikon salesman who was doing the FW update (He was not a trained technician, pulled the battery before the update get completed) So it really does not count as a failure, it is a human error lead to the failure.

 

[DsD]

Thank you Dennis. THIS IS an important heads-up. I have had my Z9 since June 15, 2022 and don't believe I've had any issues at all. Always shooting via evf though.

 

[Dennis Gray]

For those who asked both Bill Wagenblatt’s and my z9 were powered by EN-EL28d batteries furnished by Nikon with the z9 body. We had three we ran through Friday to Sunday in both body’s. Fully charged and correctly calibrated as per Nikon.
The memory cards were:
64GB SanDisk Extreme Pro
64GB SONY XQD 440/400
64GB SONY XQD G 440/400
I keep to a 64GB size for two reasons: If a card fails I may be able to recover from the loss of those images. Any larger number of images lost would be hard to recover from. However I have yet to have one of these XQD type fail. The second reason is I primarily shoot single images and not burst. I don’t often need the high image count of larger cards. I shoot primarily vintage race cars and find it’s easier to capture the image at the peak of action rather then burst for 10 to 30 images then spend all that time editing down to what I should have captured originally.
For those who sent me a request to see images you can find images from my z9 on Sportscardigest.com coverage of the CSRG Charity Challenge. On the same site Bill has coverage from the weekend his z9 failed for the Velocity Invatational. My coverage of this event the same weekend my z9 failed will be on VintageRaceCar.com sometime this Monday.

 

[Dennis Gray]

All technological devices can fail including airplanes leading to catastrophic consequences. But to post that 4 Z9's failed and all the four where participating in the same event while the OP is not ready to provide sufficient details, is a proper ground for suspicion. Not saying the OP is not credible, but I don't blame any one who get suspicious.

Mine failed but I know exactly why, the Nikon salesman who was doing the FW update (He was not a trained technician, pulled the battery before the update get completed) So it really does not count as a failure, it is a human error lead to the failure.

what more information could you want? Have you read my post? Proper grounds for suspicion is someone who apparently does not read the post. Or if you needed more information then I gave ask for it with a specific question.

 

[CoyoteCreationsNW]

I received my Z9 the week before Christmas. I shoot some BIF and other general wildlife and sports. I often put more than 1500 images on my card in a day. I have completed all available firmware updates. The only glitch I have seen is with the sensor shield. It sometimes seems to stick open. I notice it when I change lenses. Cycle power on/off and it goes back to how it is normally set. My better cards are Cobalt 325s but I have some Delkin Power (green) and even used a few older Sony XQD cards when I first got the camera and was waiting for cards to be delivered. Have not had an overheat warning or incident. I seldom see dust where I live and shoot but the camera has been through more than a few rainy days with no problems. No issues using a 500 PF with the FTZ for several months. I now have the Z 400 mm 2.8 TC and have shot long days without issues (accept operator errors). Over the years, I have owned a D610, D750, D5 & D850. None ever required anything but routine maintenance. I did have a D600 that had oil spots on the sensor repeatedly until I finally traded it in for the D610. I have had only posiive experiences with Nikon camera bodies.

 

[Joel N]

No issues with my z9 beside the known bugs which Nikon have yet to address. No stall no hang so far. Moderate user.

Still on last iteration of fw 2.1.
January 22 batch

 

[Lance B]

For someone to have so many cameras malfunction, there has to be a common cause, possibly something that the owner is inadvertantly doing wrong. I mean, one can accept one camera failing, but all 3 within a short time frame of each other? I just can't see that happening by chance. A faulty lens that is causing an issue somehow and being used on each camera at one time or other? A faulty battery that somehow gets moved from camera to camera and thus "infects" all cameras somehow. As other's have suggested some sort of radio interference?

 

[Dennis Gray]

Maybe i did not explain clearly…Not one owner or one photographer. Four different photographers with four different z9s at four different parts of the track. All nikon S mirrorless lenses.

 

[Whiskeyman]

On an assignment and to have Nikon’s top of the line z9 turn into a useless brick is concerning.

That , sir, is an understatement! That this occurs is down right unacceptable. There are a myriad of possibilities as to the cause, and I am very anxious to hear what Nikon's response on this matter is. One of my biggest fears is that there is a software virus that does this that's been transferred to the memory card.

 

[Whiskeyman]

I don't think Steve would suggest Dennis post here if he thought this was not valuable input for us - and a good place to see if others are experiencing similar issues.

Please try to be respectful and helpful.

Hear, hear!!

 

[Dennis Gray]

I have only had my Z9 for about 2 months (50,000 images) and I am still learning every day how I want to configure the camera. I haven't noticed anything while sitting in my living room reviewing and changing settings. I have seen cases when I am shooting action and I decide to quickly change a setting and I press a menu button and the menu flashes on the rear display then the display goes black, I press the button again and the menu displays correctly. I have had to press a menu button 3 times to get the menu to display. I have always attributed this to the fact that I am in a hurry, I might be holding my hand against another button, or the menu is being displayed in the viewfinder because something triggered the eye sensor, but I am keeping an eye on this. I do believe their are a few firmware glitches that still need to be ironed out.

I have spent many years as an IT user and manager and this event is important. What helps solve any technology issue is to identify common components or settings that would allow Nikon to reproduce the issue. It appears you are in contact with the individuals who also had Z9 issues, so take some time to discuss what might have been common about this event and the way you were shooting. Consider not only camera settings, but also all lenses, FTZ adapters, and any other equipment used in conjunction with the Z9s. Usage habits are also important, were lenses changed, was the camera powered off and back on from time to time or was it left powered on for hours, were you shooting video or just stills, were cards changed, and many other things could be helpful. Were your Z9s connected to SnapBridge, NX Field, or any other remote trigger or software. Doing a little brain storming could help identify what caused the issue.

Since it appears that you all know each other, is it possible that the same lens was on all failed Z9s? Was there borrowed or rented lenses? If 4 Z9s failed there just has to be common link that contributed to it.

I do think there might be some sort of environmental factor as well since you were all shooting at the same event, but I have no idea what that could possible be.

Keep us posted and what you come up with and what Nikon finds.

Good questions. I’ll try to answer.
1. My z9 was often turned off between group sessions. Once the Off switch failed I would pull the battery to turn off and restart.
2. Only nikon mirrorless S lenses used.
3. On my z9 the primary lens was the 100/400 but I also used a 50 1.8.
4. Shot stills only. Almost always in single eclosure.
5.No remote trigger.
6. We used only our own lenses and no rented lenses.
7. I talk with one of the photographers multiple times a week. We are friends. The other two I see only at vintage car races in N. Cal.

 

[Alistair]

Last weekend my z9 and three other z9 Nikons at the Velocity Invitational vintage car races at LaGuna Seca Monterey Ca all failed. 1. View finder went black. 2. Rear screen froze. 2. off button failed. 3. i Button failed. And so on. For awhile Fri and Sat I removed the battery to restart the body. Saturday night I used the two green buttons to reset to Factory settings. Only partially successful. By late Sunday it was a brick. A dead brick. On down loading the images I found a number of images numbered out of sequence. A few had duplicate file numbers with -2 added to the file number. Nikon now has my z9 and Bill Wagenblatt’s z9. Bill took delivery of his the Wednesday before the event my z9 was two months old. Both updated. Comments???

Very sorry to hear about the problems you and your fellow shooters had with your Z9's at Laguna Seca. It is incredibly disappointing when an expensive piece of kit let's one down, especially at a critical time such as that.
I don't have a lot to offer other than to note that others have experienced the VF going black, only to find that the small button on the side of the VF has been inadvertently pressed.
It is probably of no comfort whatsoever that I have 100,000's of still images and many hours of video on my Z9 since getting it in March and it has been largely trouble free. I do note that the review button occasionally refuses to discharge it's duties and can act a bit mad in general but a turn off/on cycle restores it's function.
Good luck with the repairs and I would be most interested to learn of the outcome in due course.