Nikon Z8 Launched

The Z8 from a landscape photographers perspective - Thomas Heaton :

youtu.be/oEQqoviuTb0

Regards,
Joe.

Well, 900-something grams is "quite portable," sure, if you're looking at Fuji GFX medium format. Horses for courses.

I don't care about the size and weight of the Z8 since I'm not looking for Z9 features and won't buy this camera regardless. But if they make future FF Z5/6/7 models one whit heavier or larger, they'll drive me to Sony and the future successors to the A7C that are surely in development.

For landscape photography The Z7 or Z7II is perhaps the best camera on the market, especially when paired with the best Z lenses that fit your FL requirements. This would apply to genres with similar needs such as architecture and real estate.

No surprises there really!

No need for a larger body, no benefit from a fast stacked sensor etc.

Like all these things, you pick the bodies and lenses that meet your needs, and budget too. Meeting your needs might also include things such as looking at overall system bulk and weight. For me personally that's a massive driver in my decisions.

YMMV....

Me too 😀

The z7 iso64 (v1 or v2) is something magical. I still carry it around and use the z9 mostly for action or fast lenses (as in 1.2/1.4)

Z1? According to Thom Hogan, each Nikon body that is a level higher is approximately 1.4x the cost. Therefore, from Z9 $5500 x 1.4 = $7700 😬

Alternatively, the Canadian Consumer is paying for the cost of doing business in Canada and the higher SRP reflects a higher CODB.

I'm a little curious about the absence of a release mode turret on the Z8. At the risk of beating the "D700/D3 duality" dead horse even more, this seems like it wouldn't have been difficult to incorporate. The release mode button from the Z9 is there in the same shoulder cloverleaf location, so if that didn't become an overburdened control on the Z8, why would the Z9 have needed two controls for one category? It's like the turret was there mostly for the comfort of the D6 et al crowd, and the button is there for adding functionality via firmware updates... and try to not to worry about the overlap.

Aside from that curiosity, I'd like to congratulate Nikon on the wisdom to carry over very nearly all of the physical UI from the Z9, "from the knees up". It will prove to be a welcome layout similarity when using an '8 as a 2nd camera to a '9. I would have dearly loved to have had that in Tanzania a few months ago. My 2nd camera on that trip was a Z7, and even after having done as much as I could to converge the button assignments there was still enough of a difference to have slowed me down on my first shooting day.

I personally know one Z9 owner who will switch over to an '8 but I don't think that anyone's predictions at this point about how often that will happen are based on anything concrete. I may very well pick up an '8 in maybe a year, and I'm pretty sure that I'll eventually sell off the '9 due to weight... when I'm 80 years old 😁. When I get an '8 that may be the time to have my '7 spectrum-converted.

Heck, I am paying $600 a month for health care that has an $8000 deductible. It probably all balances out in the end.

I can skip the camera. Skip the health care and .........................

From a business point of view, don’t you think this undermines the Z9 to some extent? I can’t really see why anyone would buy a Z9 when the Z8 is available.
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I think Nikon made a business decision to release the Z9 first and hold the Z8 back for a bit. Given the similarities, they could have released both cameras at the same time (in theory, and based on the technology in each; logistics are another story). Releasing the flagship first makes perfect sense, because Nikon at the time needed to make a statement (and succeeded) and because they could then sell the body to shooters who might have otherwise chosen the Z8. Call me cynical, but that's my take on it.

Not that I'm complaining. I'm glad the Z8 is here. I think it'll be good for the Z ecosystem and will sell well.

Yes, they did make a business decision and a darn good one for a company that is dealing with a shrinking market, massive supply chain disruptions and in the middle of a global pandemic. They took a limited supply of components, built the best product they could at the time and undercut the competition with an innovative product that in many ways is still unequaled in a number of areas. And in doing so, they got tens of thousands of buyers to spend $5500 on a flagship camera that would never have considered it previously...myself included in that number. As you stated...they made a statement...and they just made another one.

I have no doubt that given their product research with their group of loyal pros that are their primary market for the flagship models, they built what they understood them to need. The Z8 would not have been that camera, at least not as a primary.

If both models had been available when I finally made the jump from my D850 and D500 in late March of 2021, I'd have still picked up a Z9 and a Z8, not 2 Z8's.

There is still a sizeable market for the Z9, it has features and capabilities that some want/need and $1500 is not going to deter those who have those wants/needs. I'd look at it a different way, it's going to wreak havoc on Z7 sales until it's upgraded to whatever it becomes.

Right, I don't disagree with anything you're saying here, and as I said, I'm not complaining. In fact, as a Nikon shooter since the early 1990s, I really do want the company to thrive. I just think there may have been a bit of calculation about the timing of the release of the Z8 in relation to the Z9.

As for the Z7, some speculate that that body may evolve into the high megapixel (~60MP) model. That could be interesting, and could help to differentiate that body, although for me it already has more megapixels than I want to store and deal with (happy Z6 shooter here).

In the meantime, I hope the Z8 sells well. I hope to rent one just to try out some of the evolved features (once it's available for rent).

Nice set of articles Thom. Read them all. Thanks!!

Yes, I do think the Z7 will morph into Nikon's highest resolution body, though they may go beyond 60MP. Thom Hogan brought up a good point in that they really need a sensor that is more advanced than the fairly pedestrian sensor that Sony put in their A7RV that is all about the MP...slow readout, rolling shutter, etc. That might take some time.

You turned out to be right about the “baby Z9” in your prediction a couple weeks ago. Can you go 2-for-2?? 😄. IMHO you have a good chance… they’re not gonna stay at 45mp forever. That said, I have two Z7’s for mostly landscape… didn’t see a good reason to upgrade to the Z7ii… and I’m not really longing for more pixels in a Z7iii. But I do think you’re right. We’ll see … maybe later this year.

Wouldn't be most of the weight be in the lenses anyway? 100-200g will be negligible once you kit out the whole thing.

I mean, you don't have to have a Z8 to practice photography!