Z9

[tcdeveau]

Thanks - I'm mainly interested in subject tracking, and use for birding/wildlife and macro (use of the tilting screen) - which should be useful when working low down.
Fortunately there are now some decent reviews appearing online...

unfortunately I haven’t had much time to test for birding, and I don’t really do any macro stuff. Hoping to do some birding soon though!

my impressions of subject tracking are very positive so far though. I’d say I was getting maybe a 10-20% hit rate with continuous AF and things moving to the camera with the Z6, with the Z9 I’d conservatively say 70ish% or better. Below are two shots with the Z9 and 70-200 2.8S at 2.8. Dog running towards the camera and my son swinging towards me. Both of those would’ve out of focus on the Z6 (actual photos are much higher rez and sharper than the SnapBridge 2mp exports), and for both of those runs the hit rate was probably 90% or better. Tracking definitely does better with more light than less light but that’s to he expected IMHO. I need to practice more and play around with the settings.

its not a magic camera where all of a sudden you’ll get a 100% hit rate of birds in flight, but, out of the box, it’s a huge improvement over the Z6 at least.

 

[Swissblad]

unfortunately I haven’t had much time to test for birding, and I don’t really do any macro stuff. Hoping to do some birding soon though!

my impressions of subject tracking are very positive so far though. I’d say I was getting maybe a 10-20% hit rate with continuous AF and things moving to the camera with the Z6, with the Z9 I’d conservatively say 70ish% or better. Below are two shots with the Z9 and 70-200 2.8S at 2.8. Dog running towards the camera and my son swinging towards me. Both of those would’ve out of focus on the Z6 (actual photos are much higher rez and sharper than the SnapBridge 2mp exports), and for both of those runs the hit rate was probably 90% or better. Tracking definitely does better with more light than less light but that’s to he expected IMHO. I need to practice more and play around with the settings.

its not a magic camera where all of a sudden you’ll get a 100% hit rate of birds in flight, but, out of the box, it’s a huge improvement over the Z6 at least.

View attachment 191949View attachment 191950

Thank you - most helpful!!

 

[revaaron]

I'm planning on renting the Z9 for a festival in May. I really want an 85mm f/1.2 for it.

 

[tcdeveau]

I'm planning on renting the Z9 for a festival in May. I really want an 85mm f/1.2 for it.

Yep that's the last lens I'm waiting on from Nikon....at least for the time being

 

[paladin]

Nikon Z9 vs Nikon D6 Camera Size Comparison
a good place to play

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

Nikon Z9 vs Nikon D6 Camera Size Comparison
a good place to play

I think you need a lens to take photos, even with the Z9.

Compact Camera Meter

Compare unlimited number of cameras with lenses, see how compact or bulky a camera is and sort by height, width, depth and weight.

camerasize.com

 

[paladin]

there are so many to choose from

 

[hotshoe]

its not a magic camera where all of a sudden you’ll get a 100% hit rate of birds in flight, but, out of the box, it’s a huge improvement over the Z6 at least.

Dogs make great AF test subjects! All one needs is a ball and a chuck-it! I am absolutely loving the Z9, but I'm still very new to it. For times where need good AF, I had been shooting the R5 but I sold once the R3 and Z9 were close to being announced and decided on Z9. Straight out of the box, R5 AF performance was darn near magic for me -- truly impressive hit rate, and consistently so. I'm not seeing same level of AF performance w/ Z9 thus far, but, still, very good and the Z9's other redeeming qualities more than make up for the gap. For dogs, I'm setup for back button and using 3D tracking. Also setting object detect to animals instead of relying on auto, which seems to help. Again, the camera is very fresh in my hands and speaking to my experience only. YMMV.

 

[Jan Brittenson]

Got my Z9 finally. Love it. It has some oddities, mainly in firmware though. Like, it has four shooting banks and four custom settings banks (for a1-g10 or whatever things that can be set). But it doesn't remember which custom settings bank I used last for a particular shooting bank, so changing between shooting banks requires changing the shooting bank and custom settings bank. I added them both to the i menu, but that takes up two slots and is twice as fiddly as just changing one...

 

[aksclix]

Dogs make great AF test subjects! All one needs is a ball and a chuck-it! I am absolutely loving the Z9, but I'm still very new to it. For times where need good AF, I had been shooting the R5 but I sold once the R3 and Z9 were close to being announced and decided on Z9. Straight out of the box, R5 AF performance was darn near magic for me -- truly impressive hit rate, and consistently so. I'm not seeing same level of AF performance w/ Z9 thus far, but, still, very good and the Z9's other redeeming qualities more than make up for the gap. For dogs, I'm setup for back button and using 3D tracking. Also setting object detect to animals instead of relying on auto, which seems to help. Again, the camera is very fresh in my hands and speaking to my experience only. YMMV.

You know what? I found chickens to be incredibly hard to track with their unpredictable head movements

 

[Darin Marcus]

Got my Z9 finally. Love it.

Congrats!

 

[Thorkil]

late news is better than no news..., so:

THE NIKON Z 9 IS THE TOP SELLING PROFESSIONAL FLAGSHIP FULL-FRAME MIRRORLESS CAMERA IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2022

www.nikonusa.com

 

[KC_2020]

Actually the latest new is NIKON is still just barely hanging on to any market share.

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

Actually the latest new is NIKON is still just barely hanging on to any market share.

That was an exceptionally confusing article, and as long as no comparisons are made to other brands, both number of cameras and lenses and value of those sales, it's impossible to draw any conclusions.

 

[tcdeveau]

Clickbait articles on market share are getting old, regardless of manufacturer. The only thing that matters to me as a consumer/photographer is that brand competition generally is good for innovation and gives us better tools to work with. The Z9 probably wouldn't exist right now if it weren't for Nikon wanting a bigger piece of the pie.

If NIkon's press release is true, good for them. Demand for the camera definitely still seems much higher than supply based on a number of factors.

I've been enjoying my Z9. Still waiting for that 85 f1.2 and z-mount 180-400 + TC to go with it though.

 

[KC_2020]

That was an exceptionally confusing article, and as long as no comparisons are made to other brands, both number of cameras and lenses and value of those sales, it's impossible to draw any conclusions.

Agreed, it's a poor article but you can use the links in the article to reference enough information to discern that they are loosing market share.

Which follows the trend of the previous year.

 

[hotshoe]

You know what? I found chickens to be incredibly hard to track with their unpredictable head movements

Reminds me of that scene from Rocky

Regarding the contrast between the two "latest news" links above (Nikon is top-selling vs. barely hanging on), it stands to reason both. IMO, Nikon is undercutting the market w/ the Z9 to drive sales and reestablish their brand, but it's going to take more than the Z9 selling at a discount to turn around their financials. Their Spring lens sale is going on now too, so it's a great time to be a Z9 shooter (at a time when inflation in high gear).

What gives me hope for Nikon (even though I prefer Canon system for it's ergonmics and focus system), is they seem to have finally awoke to their dire situation. and are firing on all cyclinders. The 2.0 firmware update came out much quicker than I had anticipated, and Nikon worked w/ BlackMagic to ensure Resolve suppoted NRAW *before* the firmware was releaed -- very impressive! Intenral ProRes RAW too (albiet at 4K), which is another magic trick. In a world where video is overtaking stills (esp. with younger gen), Nikon is starting to look more and more promising for hybrid shooters w/o a crew, esp. if Canon keeps pulling out their cripple hammer to protect their cineline.

 

[ptomsu]

This is a pretty extraordinary video about working with the Z9 - it is in German, but mostly self explanatory.

After seeing this the "want have" factor for the Z9 becomes pretty high - at least for me

This is a truly perfect and wonderful workhorse camera

 

[tcdeveau]

FWIW I'm still really enjoying mine!

 

[paladin]

for work and play