I completely agree that a 61MP Z7III would hurt Z8 sales and that development is one that I have difficulty believing. I think that - as this video says - there will be a Z9II sometime this year which means that a Z8II will be at least a year after that.
I really think the idea of a Z30II and possibly a Z90 makes a lot of sense. Nikon has pretty much ignored the APS-C market until now and that is where many people enter the MILC market (and eventually become full frame owners). They did bring out the Z50II and that is an amazing camera for the money. It just seems they need a few more models to make that line more attractive.
Nikon may just be throwing everything at the wall - but I doubt it. They are a big company that has been around for a long time. They must have a plan - it’s just not obvious to you and I.
I had a D750 for 10 years - great camera. I now have a Z6III and find that not only do the two cameras feel similar but the Z6III fits into the Nikon lineup (24.5 MP full frame) in a position similar to what the D750 once did.
Yep, I don’t know what would become of the Z8 if the Z7III had those rumoured specs.
I like the idea of the Z5 being the good all-rounder hybrid base model, then the Z6 being the upgraded version with a stacked sensor (prioritizing fast bursts, video) and the Z7 being the upgraded version with a high-res sensor (prioritizing DR, resolution, not stacked). So the Z6 and Z7 occupy the same mid-range segment but specialize in different things, a bit like how Sony have the R and S models.
The Z8 would still be their flagship hybrid, and the Z9 their pro studio flagship.
This kind of segmentation would make sense to me at least.
Yeah, fair enough. I know there are lots of photographers who aren’t so bothered about gear weight as me. Although, now that I have my M43 travel kit, I’m not so bothered about having the lightest setup possible for my more “serious” kit, which is what I use for more local outings.
Still, something like the Z8 would have to have some serious advantages over a smaller body for me to consider it. As you say, when you add lenses, it becomes a very heavy kit - not something I’d want to go on a hike with.
I am using a Nikon ZF with a couple of lenses. The Nikon ZF just hits every box for me. It has some stuff I don’t use and it lacks nothing I need. The esthetics, for me, ensures I keep picking it up and bringing it with me. I just love how it looks & feels and I want to touch it, use it and take it with me every opportunity I get (one could say it resembles my love for the other sex ). So the way a camera looks and feels absolutely is important to me.
The lenses I use the most are the:
Nikon 40mm f2
Nikon 24-120mm f4
TTArtisan 75mm f2
I also use the chipped TTartisan Leica M to Z adapter and several vintage lenses, mostly M42 which I adapt to Leica M.
At the moment I am eying a Tamron 50-400mm to get the longer range covered. I just wonder how much use it will get. Back when I shot Fujifilm I used the Fuji 70-300mm a lot, but on fullframe the equivalent will be so much bigger and heavier…
1st world problems I guess.
Apparently Samyang/Rokinon is coming to Z mount and they are just waiting for licensing approval. This is a solid addition to the mount.
While I’m still leaning towards investing in E mount, I keep flip flopping and thinking about Nikon. The two hesitations I have are the lack of Sigma (and potentially other 3rd parties depending on the recent legal proceedings) and lack of high-res bodies. Of their “current” bodies, it’s just the Z8, which is too expensive for me. The Z7II is a decent option right now, but it uses the last-gen processor, and the line’s future is in doubt.
It will be interesting to see what the next Z5 and Z6 bodies will have for sensors seeing as both Sony and Canon are now at 33MP for their mid-range lines.
As a reminder, I like cropping flexibility, so I want something in the 33-45MP range.
But are they going to be zooms, or another wide-angle primes like we already have plenty of? Z mount just needs more zoom options as there are even completely empty categories, like budget/compact 100-400mm or better 70-300mm.
Good question. I don’t think there’s any word on what they are bringing to Z mount, but apparently they have several zooms and primes in the works, such as:
20-50mm f/2
28-85mm f/2
60-180mm f/2.8
200mm f/1.8
300mm f/4
These are collaborations with Schneider Kreuznach.
Those three zooms sound like DX format lenses, which would honestly be better even if not relevant for me, as APS-C is in general overlooked for the most part
Would the Tamron 50-400 count as budget for you? Their 70-300 certainly is, I’d say. I just wish more of their lineup would come with VC, as I can’t keep my hands still to save my life.
Yeah the Tamron Z is sadly missing stabilization, which makes it pretty much useless for APS-C…
Yeah, that’s pretty much what I meant. The focal range is double of a 100-400, but there are not as many compromises with sharpness as I would have thought.
To my knowledge, hardly anyone besides Sony (a few models like the A6600 and such) has IBIS in crop cameras. You’d have to go a step lower in term of sensor size to get IBIS - OM System apparently has that.
I’m very much happy for it in the Z5 ii. I think it’s a requirement since almost no FX lens has VR except for telephoto lenses. A full-frame without IBIS would be almost just as hard to use, unless you picked older F mount lenses with VR.
Hmm true, but Fuji has mostly only APS-C, right? Like they have a GFX 100 ii, but that’s already medium format. I’m actually not aware of any Fujifilm full-frame, I might have missed one
Ah, okay, I get it now. Fair point, Fujifilm is a pretty solid choice for a camera, the lens selection should be pretty good as well… at least based on this meme:
Not entirely. An IBIS mechanism for FF-sized sensors would be different engineering than that for APS-C, in terms of motions and forces. And, it makes for a feature-differentiator between the two lines.
Yeah, that makes sense. The IBIS mechanism would need to be at least re-calibrated, if not completely reworked for the APS-C camera line-up…
It’s still a shame because that limits the use of crop sensor bodies as wider full-frame lenses don’t need need VR anymore. Back in the days of F mount, most relevant lenses had VR that could be utilized in crop bodies too. Primes usually didn’t have them, so IBIS now makes a lot of lenses extra usable
Oh, IBIS for me was an all-round game changer, and it wasn’t even why I bought the camera. I can now reliably shoot hand-held down to 1/10sec, giving me more real light vs. faking it by cranking up ISO.
Yeah, shame Nikon isn’t enabling their APS-C lineup with these sort of features.
). So the way a camera looks and feels absolutely is important to me.
Especially now with all major third parties in on the game, the system is quite complete and filled with choices at any price point