Nikon Z* mirrorless

psybear said:
I still think/hope there will be a Z7III and Z6III. Nikon are supposed to have ordered a load of the Sony 61mp sensors and it would make sense to stick them in a Z7III, along with various other updates. The Z8's larger form factor will stop a lot of Z6/Z7 users upgrading to it and even risk them jumping to Canon or Sony for the latest tech. Nikon can't afford to ignore them....
Click to expand...
Coming from a DSLR, I like the small size of the Z6. I prefer it, although the DLSRs had better ergonomics with larger lenses, it has to be said. If I was to go to a larger camera, I'd want it to have better ergonomics, so I'd prefer the Z9 over the Z8 (which will actually be larger when paired with the control grip). The Z8 just doesn't appeal to me really. At such point that I will be 'replacing' or 'updating' my Z6, I'd much prefer something similar in size really. With the 24-70 and 14-30, the Z6 is a nice small, lightweight kit that's great for travelling and can handle most scenarios I want to shoot. So, near perfect. I bought a D3300 as a 'travel' camera, which was a bit disappointing in terms of overall IQ, so the Z6 was almost perfect for my needs. Better IQ and performance than the D600, yet overall much smaller. So I hope Nikon continue to produce something in that size.
 
I was a early Z adopter and swiftly went back to F with my tail between my legs because, being colourblind, I found it impossible to pick out the very fine red focus squares, vs the bit chunky boys on the F. Such a simple function, surely, being able to change the colour of the focus boxes, but has it been done yet?
 
psybear said:
Wonder how long before Panamoz and E-infinity have stock.
Click to expand...

Panamoz said within the next few days, but the price would be about £3700, but they did say sourcing was expensive at the moment, but they hoped that would come down in the not to distant future, personally I would of been hoping for something around £3400. I'm in no rush, and their is bound to be bugs to iron out through firmware. But quite honestly that's if I bother at all, I do love the size of the Z6III, and I'm not sure I'm fussed about 45mp, I do landscape photography, and the Z6III with the 14-30 f/4 is pretty much perfect for me weight wise. That's not to say I wouldn't be swayed in the future, if the price was right
 
Me² said:
I was a early Z adopter and swiftly went back to F with my tail between my legs because, being colourblind, I found it impossible to pick out the very fine red focus squares, vs the bit chunky boys on the F. Such a simple function, surely, being able to change the colour of the focus boxes, but has it been done yet?
Click to expand...
Hasn't been done as a firmware update on the Z6/7 series... wish it would, I have exactly the same problem :ROFLMAO:
 
TG. said:
Panamoz said within the next few days, but the price would be about £3700, but they did say sourcing was expensive at the moment, but they hoped that would come down in the not to distant future, personally I would of been hoping for something around £3400. I'm in no rush, and their is bound to be bugs to iron out through firmware. But quite honestly that's if I bother at all, I do love the size of the Z6III, and I'm not sure I'm fussed about 45mp, I do landscape photography, and the Z6III with the 14-30 f/4 is pretty much perfect for me weight wise. That's not to say I wouldn't be swayed in the future, if the price was right
Click to expand...
That's interesting.

Personally a £300 saving on a 4k purchase wouldn't be enough for me to go grey with the Z8.

I have a Z6 and Z7 and like you I'm very happy with the size (would love to know how you managed to pick up a Z6III though, another new model from Nikon lol).

If it when (more likely when) I pick up a Z8 I will be hanging on to at least one of my current cameras, potentially upgrading to a 'II' model in due course. I like hiking with the camera and the Z8 size/weight wouldn't be as suitable for that.
 
Me² said:
I was a early Z adopter and swiftly went back to F with my tail between my legs because, being colourblind, I found it impossible to pick out the very fine red focus squares, vs the bit chunky boys on the F. Such a simple function, surely, being able to change the colour of the focus boxes, but has it been done yet?
Click to expand...
This is an important issue, and worthy of consideration by Nikon and other camera manufacturers. You can change the colour of the focus peaking indicator lines, so why not the focus indicators? It's a very good point you;ve raised. Perhaps forward these thoughts to Nikon themselves; making their products more accessible and useable by more people can only be a good thing.
 
psybear said:
love to know how you managed to pick up a Z6III though, another new model from Nikon lol).
Click to expand...
Yes that would be nice, my fat fingers, lol
 
I was holding off moving from F to Z for ages, waiting for the Z8, but ended up buying a Z6ii and a Z7ii last year. And having seen a few reviews of the Z8, it was definitely the camera I thought it would be. But £4000? No thanks. I’m glad I got the Z’s that I did and have been busy using them for the past few months. I’ll maybe wait a year or two, flog the Z6 and pick up a used Z8 or buy grey.
 
Z8. Panamoz £3700 in stock
 
Last edited:
viewfromthenorth said:
It was definitely the camera I thought it would be. But £4000? No thanks. I’m glad I got the Z’s that I did and have been busy using them for the past few months. I’ll maybe wait a year or two, flog the Z6 and pick up a used Z8 or buy grey.
Click to expand...
These are pretty much my feelings on the Z8 £4000 is to much for me, I will probably wait for a year or so, when it's nearer the £3000 mark ( grey ) and the countdown is on for the Z8II, besides I've never ever purchased a new model on launch, and I never will. I'm happy with my Z6II and Z5 for now, which I only got last year, and they do what I need for now, but yes the Z8 has got great features, although I was hoping for the Z8 in a Z6II body, but you can never have it all.
 
TG. said:
These are pretty much my feelings on the Z8 £4000 is to much for me, I will probably wait for a year or so, when it's nearer the £3000 mark ( grey ) and the countdown is on for the Z8II, besides I've never ever purchased a new model on launch, and I never will. I'm happy with my Z6II and Z5 for now, which I only got last year, and they do what I need for now, but yes the Z8 has got great features, although I was hoping for the Z8 in a Z6II body, but you can never have it all.
Click to expand...
I actually quite like the idea of a slightly larger body than the Z6/Z7. I’ve put hand grips on both my cameras (not the battery grip, that’s a bit big), feels much nicer in the hand and still smaller than my old D810. Z8 looks to be the perfect size for me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TG.
I got my Z8 today and swiftly tried it out with the 100-400mm lens. As expected it's night and day compared to my old Z7II and the focus is very snappy.
I photographed both my dogs chasing a small ball in my back garden and instantly knew the keeper rate was far above the Z7II.
I then spent the evening along the shore line, photographing diving gulls, speed boats and paddle boarders.
I followed Steve Perry from back country gallery settings for auto focus, using the fn1 for 3D tracking. It worked very well.
I was very surprised at the distance and even backlit autofocus ability.
I was shooting 20fps in highefficiency* in very limited bursts and took 1153 images.
I was using a 2 year old en-el15C, setup the whole camera using it, updated my FTZ firmware, shot those 1150 images and still had 60% of the battery left.

Now a question for anyone else using highefficiency*, while browsing the images to select them before importing them to lightroom I'm finding they take longer to appear, to the point of being a pain in the arse.
I'm using Delkin Black 150GB cfexpress card and Delkin cfexpress reader via usb-c.
This wasn't a problem on the Z7II, so the highefficiency* must be the problem. You'd think with smaller files they'd be quicker not slower.
Checking task manager and nothing is hogging resources.
Anyone else notice slower displaying of images while browsing before importing in lightroom?

Switching the Z8 on is very fast, but find coming out of standby takes longer than I'd have liked, a longer time before standby is probably the answer.

Early days and still finding my feet with it's settings and controls.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TG.
wilt said:
Now a question for anyone else using highefficiency*, while browsing the images to select them before importing them to lightroom I'm finding they take longer to appear, to the point of being a pain in the arse.
Click to expand...
That doesn't make any sense to me because you are browsing jpegs regardless of the primary file format... I've used HE* from the beginning (Z9) so I can't really compare; and I upgraded to a MBP M1 Max at about the same time, so everything is generally quite fast.
 
sk66 said:
That doesn't make any sense to me because you are browsing jpegs regardless of the primary file format... I've used HE* from the beginning (Z9) so I can't really compare; and I upgraded to a MBP M1 Max at about the same time, so everything is generally quite fast.
Click to expand...
It could be a lightroom thing as it's in the import browser of lightroom I'm having the problems.
I'll have to check the usb-c cable, maybe it's on it's way out or one of my kids has replaced it with a lesser one..
 
Last edited:
Well preordered my Z8 so the wait begins. Reading some of the comments and those going from the Z7’s and finding out how good the focussing is with the Z8, it reaffirms why having owned the Z9 for over a year why I sold my Z7ii in frustration when compared to the Z9. Now I’ll have a baby Z9 to go with the Z9 and won’t need to keep swapping lenses. At last.
 
psybear said:
That's interesting.

Personally a £300 saving on a 4k purchase wouldn't be enough for me to go grey with the Z8.

I have a Z6 and Z7 and like you I'm very happy with the size (would love to know how you managed to pick up a Z6III though, another new model from Nikon lol).

If it when (more likely when) I pick up a Z8 I will be hanging on to at least one of my current cameras, potentially upgrading to a 'II' model in due course. I like hiking with the camera and the Z8 size/weight wouldn't be as suitable for that.
Click to expand...
I'm surprised they have it in stock already as I thought it would be a while but agree it's too small a discount, I was thinking it would be more looking at the Z9 price.

I've been using a mix of a D750 and a Sony A9 mk1, the Nikon as I still have a better selection of lenses I haven't replaced in FE-mount and better DR with the Sony for its high speed blackout free and silent shooting. I've damaged the D750 slightly and the Z8 looks like it could potentially do the job of both cameras but I'm getting very mixed opinions on how good F-mount lenses are on Z-mount, I don't want to end up eventually buying all Z-mount lenses as well so would appreciate any thoughts of Z9 users who have used F-mount lenses at all.
 
JohnMcL7 said:
I'm surprised they have it in stock already as I thought it would be a while but agree it's too small a discount, I was thinking it would be more looking at the Z9 price.
Click to expand...

Give it a few months and I think the price will drop, a fair bit more. I emailed Panamoz just out of interest about the price, and they said sourcing Z8s was difficult at the moment, which I think is standard for them with new models. In my experience cameras from them are normally a discount of £500, but even so £300 is a good discount, but I'm happy to wait another year, and get the maximum.
 
JohnMcL7 said:
would appreciate any thoughts of Z9 users who have used F-mount lenses at all.
Click to expand...
They are just as good on a Z body as they are on a D body.

Z lenses do have some advantages, more/less depending on the model; but I haven't bought one yet. The only Z lens I am planning on buying is the 200-600...
 
I'm still in the camp of being quite satisfied with the Z7ii for what I point mine at most of the time, although I'm looking on in interest at Z8 owners and the satisfaction 99.9% of them show towards the new model. Maybe in a year or so when prices have flattened out I may look again... albeit, I'm not sure I want to add any more weight to my set up.


310523_Z723152 by Dave Young, on Flickr
 
  • Like
Reactions: TG.
The Z8's image quality has no improvement over the D850 or the Z7II. So unless you shoot something that moves, the Z8 will offer very little.
It is a jack of all trades, much like the D850 but on steroids.
I was sitting out in my back garden last night and the swallows were swooping and diving for all the insects in the late evening sun. I was amazed at how it locked on to them and tracked them at such an erratic speed and movement. I'd never have stood much hope with my Z7II, the D850 would have got a few but I was getting as many as I wanted with my Z8.
 
Z8 in stock at Panamoz

panamoz.com

Nikon Z8 Mirrorless Camera (Body)

Why Buy From Panamoz.com? Free 3 Year UK/EU/US Local Warranty 14 Day Money Back Guarantee Prices include taxes and duties All inclusive prices with no hidden fees Products are 100% brand new and in box Express shipping with insurance and tracking Delivery in 7-14 business days only Secure...
panamoz.com panamoz.com

Immediate dispatch and £300 off. It pays to go grey, but not as much as their stonking price on Z9s
 
viewfromthenorth said:
I was holding off moving from F to Z for ages, waiting for the Z8, but ended up buying a Z6ii and a Z7ii last year. And having seen a few reviews of the Z8, it was definitely the camera I thought it would be. But £4000? No thanks. I’m glad I got the Z’s that I did and have been busy using them for the past few months. I’ll maybe wait a year or two, flog the Z6 and pick up a used Z8 or buy grey.
Click to expand...
For me it was being hailed as the D850 successor, effectively making it the D850/D5or6 comparator. However when comparing the z8 to z9 the z8 is basically a de-engineered z9 without the grip, the backwards step in removing the CF Express second slot and downgrading the battery. So it took 2 years to reverse these hardware aspects. Then as you say, the price the z8 is 70% the price of a z9 when the D850 was 50% of the price of the D5/6; so a lot of money for very littel advancement in development from the r]previous model.
 
They milked Nikon users in that time, getting them to buy a Z9. Then when sales slowed released the same camera, smaller and cheaper. Genius idea I'd have said. The only downside to the Z8 compared to the Z9 for me, is the SD card slot. I've now shot 3551 images in sporadic bursts and still have 13% battery remaining.
 
Last edited:
sk66 said:
They are just as good on a Z body as they are on a D body.

Z lenses do have some advantages, more/less depending on the model; but I haven't bought one yet. The only Z lens I am planning on buying is the 200-600...
Click to expand...
That's really helpful thanks as it's useful to know you're getting on that well with f-mount lenses, what is your setup? I'm expecting thanks to the blackout free shooting that C-AF will work a bit better with the Z8/Z9 since the mirror isn't getting in the way between shots but that may not be the case in practice.
 
JohnMcL7 said:
That's really helpful thanks as it's useful to know you're getting on that well with f-mount lenses, what is your setup? I'm expecting thanks to the blackout free shooting that C-AF will work a bit better with the Z8/Z9 since the mirror isn't getting in the way between shots but that may not be the case in practice.
Click to expand...
Mostly the Sigma 60-600...
AF is just different; they are different animals... sometimes it is far better, and almost as often it is worse. With a DSLR the mirrors enable PDAF, they don't block it.
 
wilt said:
They milked Nikon users in that time, getting them to buy a Z9. Then when sales slowed released the same camera, smaller and cheaper. Genius idea I'd have said. The only downside to the Z8 compared to the Z9 for me, is the SD card slot. I've now shot 3551 images in sporadic bursts and still have 13% battery remaining.
Click to expand...
but sales will slow in the year prior to the release of new flagships - assuming that all the main manufacturers release a new flagship for the Olympic year as they have done in the past. ?I guess it comes down to Nikons strategy, do they just want to turn over units or be considered a player in the market. If all they want to do is "milk" customers eventually those customers will switch over to Canon or Sony.

As mirrorless have only been out in any real guise for about 4 years there will come a time when consumers think their DSLRs need a refresh. At such a time if they are doing a complete overhaul of their kit and their F mount lenses are becoming redundant and therefore they are not beholden to a particular body type, they might decide its time to shift manufacture. Currently Canon do have a better range of mirrorless and with them coming out with the 100-300 f2.8 whereas Nikon say they wont do a Z mount equivalent of the 300 f2.8 (not sure if they'll do the 120-300 Z equivalent) their lens roadmap seems better too
 
jamesev said:
but sales will slow in the year prior to the release of new flagships - assuming that all the main manufacturers release a new flagship for the Olympic year as they have done in the past. ?I guess it comes down to Nikons strategy, do they just want to turn over units or be considered a player in the market. If all they want to do is "milk" customers eventually those customers will switch over to Canon or Sony.

As mirrorless have only been out in any real guise for about 4 years there will come a time when consumers think their DSLRs need a refresh. At such a time if they are doing a complete overhaul of their kit and their F mount lenses are becoming redundant and therefore they are not beholden to a particular body type, they might decide its time to shift manufacture. Currently Canon do have a better range of mirrorless and with them coming out with the 100-300 f2.8 whereas Nikon say they wont do a Z mount equivalent of the 300 f2.8 (not sure if they'll do the 120-300 Z equivalent) their lens roadmap seems better too
Click to expand...
I understand sales fall off naturally. But I believe that many purchased a Z9 due to nothing else available from Nikon. There was no prosumer FX/DX like a A7R4 or R5 or R7. These Z9 sales have made the Z9 the success it's become. While Canon has a fuller camera lineup, I'd argue that the lens lineup isn't a one sided affair. Nikon has great super telephoto lenses that many other users look at in envy. I know of 2 that switched to Nikon because they could purchase a Z9 and super telephoto lens for less than just the lens of their original brand. Moving from DSLR to mirrorless is the perfect opportunity to seriously think about others manufacturers, but the more competitive bodies and lenses Nikon has, the less someone will switch away from them. I think if they release a competitive DX D500 mirrorless in 30mp next, it will give them another hit on their hands. Making 3 hugely successful cameras in a row, but that won't happen until Z8 sales drop off too I feel.
 
JohnMcL7 said:
I'm getting very mixed opinions on how good F-mount lenses are on Z-mount, I don't want to end up eventually buying all Z-mount lenses as well so would appreciate any thoughts of Z9 users who have used F-mount lenses at all.
Click to expand...
They're absolutely fine ime. Slightly heavier with the FTZ of course, but performance wise, spot on. The Z lenses are optically better, but we're talking about very small margins here, as many of the F-mount lenses were already superb.
 
sk66 said:
Mostly the Sigma 60-600...
AF is just different; they are different animals... sometimes it is far better, and almost as often it is worse. With a DSLR the mirrors enable PDAF, they don't block it.
Click to expand...
Sorry I realised I got that the wrong way round, it's blocking the PDAF when the mirror comes back down which I'm assuming makes it harder for the C-AF.
 
JohnMcL7 said:
Sorry I realised I got that the wrong way round, it's blocking the PDAF when the mirror comes back down which I'm assuming makes it harder for the C-AF.
Click to expand...
PDAF is interrupted when the mirror is up and an image is being taken. AF is also interrupted on the mirrorless as the sensor is read out; the Z9 AF occurs at 120 cycles/sec (~ 50% readout speed).

1/120 is much slower than most shutter speeds (mirror cycle speed) used with continuous/demanding AF situations. IDK what the typical AF readout/refresh rate is for a DSLR or if that's the specific cause; but the limitation is much lower (i.e. 14fps with AF/AE).

The main thing is that the Z9's AI AF is computer algorithm based/controlled... if you don't give it enough accurate information to use, then it doesn't function well at all. And the "dumb modes" also seem to be less effective than a DSLR's similar modes in many situations.
 
wilt said:
I understand sales fall off naturally. But I believe that many purchased a Z9 due to nothing else available from Nikon. There was no prosumer FX/DX like a A7R4 or R5 or R7. These Z9 sales have made the Z9 the success it's become. While Canon has a fuller camera lineup, I'd argue that the lens lineup isn't a one sided affair. Nikon has great super telephoto lenses that many other users look at in envy. I know of 2 that switched to Nikon because they could purchase a Z9 and super telephoto lens for less than just the lens of their original brand. Moving from DSLR to mirrorless is the perfect opportunity to seriously think about others manufacturers, but the more competitive bodies and lenses Nikon has, the less someone will switch away from them. I think if they release a competitive DX D500 mirrorless in 30mp next, it will give them another hit on their hands. Making 3 hugely successful cameras in a row, but that won't happen until Z8 sales drop off too I feel.
Click to expand...
I was using a D5/D850/D4S and D500 and mainly doing motorpsort but bought a Z6 for video work. I tried it doing motorpsort and although I had some good results it was perfectly clear the speed of the camera and focus speed was awful but the mirrorless format and EVF were excellent. Hence I wanted a cross in mirrorless form from the D5 and D850 and the Z9 is that perfect blend. Nikon needed a flagship and it was perfect timing to introduce the Z9 but I believe lots of sales did go to Nikon users who had nothing else to go for because the Z6 and Z7 in both first guise and second models were just not good enough compared to the likes of Canon and Sony. I almost switched because of this and luckily the Z9 was introduced as I was about to pull the trigger.
Nikon have hit the mark with the Z8 and I believe the DX D500 version will do exactly the same again and yes sales of the Z8 need fulfilling first before that hits the shelves.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top