Well looks like everyone on YouTube got their New Toy!

R

Range-rover

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Yep, it's that time of year again when our trusty camera users on Youtube are talking over an hour on how
great and not great the new Nikon Z9. Can I bear the suspense!
 
Yawn... Wake me up when Nikon releases the F7. Might be a lengthy nap...
Just for the hell of it, I took a look at the Z9. Insane specs, for those who need them. But remember when full frame mirrorless promised us light, compact, portable cameras and lenses? This bloatus looks as big as any full-frame DSLR. Guess I'm just old and jaded with "new and improved".
 
You're right, they're big and expensive. It's Nikon playing catch up with Sony and Canon. It's amazing that the more things change
the more they stay the same. Now if they made a S3 or SP rangefinder in digital count me in.
 
If I was a pro Nikon user I'd be all over the Z9. But it's way out of my budget unless I hit the lottery. However, I liked it when the folks at B&H asked Jen Pottheimer if she was going to buy one, and she said "No...I'm going to get two, maybe three!" And watching Joe McNally getting all mudded up to get the photo (the camera got pretty well coated too and kept on working) and smiling like a kid in a candy shop told me all I need to know. It is quite the impressive tool to have when on a shoot.

PF
 
Range-rover said:
You're right, they're big and expensive. It's Nikon playing catch up with Sony and Canon. It's amazing that the more things change
the more they stay the same. Now if they made a S3 or SP rangefinder in digital count me in.
Click to expand...

Obviously answer to Canon dual brick.

Building huge cameras like this in 2021 shows nothing but lack of budget and talent on R&D side to make camera processing and else within normal size.

And none of those YTers are going to use it for real.
 
I haven't seen any such videos suggested in my YT feed. I think you have to be looking for them, or have a history of watching that kind of videos?
Anyway, I have no problem avoiding them, obviously.
 
Totally agree. I’ve oddly been moving backwards in my camera acquisition. Lately for color I’ve been using an old 5d classic and I can’t really figure out what more I need for still work at Normal printing sizes than that. I think my most high tech is an EOS R that I bought for work but tbh I don’t enjoy using it. I get more enjoyment out of simple cameras. It seems most of the improvement comes in the way of AF accuracy and “dynamic range” or “high ISO”. AF could be important for certain applications. Dynamic range and high ISO ability tends to lead to bad photos in some cases. Flat or improperly exposed results. Some people tend to think there’s magic in older sensors…maybe. But another possibility is that the limitations of the camera in terms of ISO or dynamic range actually create stronger images than cameras being able to lift shadows into being brighter than the sun. I find this in painting as well. Limited palettes often create more pleasing results. I don’t think I will be buying new cameras until one that I use breaks. Even then it will be a top model from a few years ago.
 
Am reminded of William Safire’s phrase about “the nattering nabobs of negativism.” Those not interested for their own personal reasons likely have no reason to buy the camera, but it’s hard to justify being completely uninterested in technological advances, and not wanting to learn about those on Youtube or anyplace else. Matt Granger and Ricci both have useful hands on experience with the camera and there is, for once, some interesting content on the Nikon USA site as well. For professionals who want the best video capabilities or who shoot primarily sports, and action, the only camera in the world right now that competes with the Z 9 is the Sony A1, which is enough to make it interesting to me even though I won’t be buying one, because like most here, I never shoot videos and my need for a maximum frame rate tops out at about 3-4 frames per hour. And the Z 9 is $1,000 less than the A1.
There are a whole host of things that might be interesting to any photographer in some of those Youtube videos, such as an EVF that is not only 3 times brighter than any other currently on the market, but is real time, no lag, without any blackout either. Industry leading VR just got better. AF Tracking moving subjects is insanely good, even at the edges of the frame, 100% or near 100% hit rate even with F mount lenses such as the 200/2, even at 120fps. I don’t need it, landscape photographers don’t need it, and most of the hobbyists here don’t need it for their “work”, but it does seem like people interested in photography in general wouldn’t just stick their fingers in their ears and say, “la, la, la, la”.
It’s a legitimate advance in photographic tools, it’s an amazing achievement. And I enjoy being amazed by anything that is inherently more capable, just as I enjoy being amazed by Formula 1 tech even though my newest car is 38 yers old.
From all appearances, as a Nikon user, this camera is so good that I “want” to “need” it, but I just don’t. For those that do, though, this is a sweet day.
 
jsrockit said:
This is the exact opposite of what we can expect from Nikon in the future.
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Exactly. And exactly why I'm being "bitter" and "negative" (according to Timmyjoe) about a camera I wouldn't own or use. The Z9 is indicative of where the industry is trending, and I don't care for that direction. That affects me and all photographers, and I think we have a right and responsibility to voice our opinions without being shot down by name-callers. Sometimes the emperor has no clothes, and pointing that out is anything but negative.
No doubt Nikon has done the market research, and has created a camera that many pros will want, and will own. But many amateurs take their cues from the pros, and want the same or similar. The Z9 will doubtless be the impetus towards bigger cameras with an even more dizzying selection of questionably valuable features. That's quite the opposite of what many of us (though a minority) want from our equipment.
 
The further along in my pursuit of Photography I get, the less I need all the bells and whistles of the latest Wunderkamera. The lack of pressure to keep up with the latest is a huge burden gone...

This doesn't stop me from marveling at and enjoying the magic of these kinds of cameras, btw. I just don't have to want them. I'm perfectly happy banging about with my old Hasselblad 500CM, with or without the digital back, or my ancient Kodak Retina IIc, or my Polaroid SX-70. And enjoying the marvel that is my Leica CL (digital) as well.

G

"Equipment is transitory. Photographs endure."
 
Godfrey said:
The further along in my pursuit of Photography I get, the less I need all the bells and whistles of the latest Wunderkamera. The lack of pressure to keep up with the latest is a huge burden gone...

This doesn't stop me from marveling at and enjoying the magic of these kinds of cameras, btw. I just don't have to want them. I'm perfectly happy banging about with my old Hasselblad 500CM, with or without the digital back, or my ancient Kodak Retina IIc, or my Polaroid SX-70. And enjoying the marvel that is my Leica CL (digital) as well.

G

"Equipment is transitory. Photographs endure."
Click to expand...

Perfectly stated!
 
Retro-Grouch said:
Exactly. And exactly why I'm being "bitter" and "negative" (according to Timmyjoe) about a camera I wouldn't own or use. The Z9 is indicative of where the industry is trending, and I don't care for that direction. That affects me and all photographers, and I think we have a right and responsibility to voice our opinions without being shot down by name-callers. Sometimes the emperor has no clothes, and pointing that out is anything but negative.
............
Click to expand...

A few short months ago Nikon introduced the Z fc along with a smallish lens. So, maybe they are, with both cameras, not "trending" anywhere, but just addressing two very different perceived needs from two very different groups of photographers. Some people want one of these cameras, some people want the other, and some don't need or want either of these. "Emperor's New Clothes" signifies some lie that foolish people propagate. How is it that Nikon isn't what it claims to be, that either Nikon or its customers are living a lie, by virtue of either of these two cameras, or the fact that someone, somewhere, thinks they are good cameras for them, and mentions it in public? It is good to point out when the Emperor truly does not have new clothes. Just not seeing it in this case. Maybe I'm just being negative, about someone else being negative, ha, ha. It's all good, great time to be a photographer.
The only place the camera industry is "going" is to lenses that are sharper, and sharper to the corners, with less chromatic aberration, and less aberration of any kind, and to bodies with better AF, with sensors with better dynamic range and better color bit depth. They are doing that, because people already have, and are in many cases satisfied with, lenses and bodies that don't do any of those things. There is no point for manufacturers to build something new that is just like things that people already have, because people, already having those, have no reason to spend money on anything else. And if photographers don't buy, the only place manufacturers will be "going" is "away".
If all the above qualities were currently possible in cameras which were ever smaller and lighter, for the same cost, it's obvious that manufacturers would be doing that. Maybe it's not obvious. Leica may possibly make the worlds's best overall small lenses (and how much do those cost?), but Leica/Peter Karbe acknowledges that the huge lenses for the SL system are "better" in absolute terms. I won't personally be purchasing either the SL lenses, or an SL (again), or probably the Z 9, but I can't really see any reason for faulting the industry for "going there" since I can't see that they realistically have any other choice than to create products that are intrinsically and demonstrably "better". Whether I need them or not.
 
You are correct, Larry. My choice of calling this a case of "the emperor,s new clothes" is not apt. It was my hot-under-the-collar response to being described as bitter and negative; we seem to be living in a world where criticism of any sort is often frowned upon, whether true or not. It makes me a little crazy.
That being said, the Z9 is an astonishing piece of technology! But, like Godfrey, I have no wish or need to keep up with the newest or latest. I do wish the industry would do more for those of us with a different definition of better, but, as you point out, economics dictates what the new products will look like.
Sadly, I remember when Nikon did release products for the minority like me. The rangefinder re-issues of a few decades ago, the FM3, the long-continued production of the F3... all flew in the face of then-current trends. But the industry has changed utterly, and I realize that wanting such niche products (or their digital equivalents) is a pipe dream.
 
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