Silly Season at Nikon Rumors

I am more interested in lenses and even there to a limited extent. A Z50 with ibis would probably the only body i would buy now.

Higher res leak just appeared:
nikonrumors.com/2023/04/24/first-leaked-picture-of-the-nikon-z8-camera.aspx/

Calling the camera Q2070 makes me wonder why this exists - glossy brochures and internal development codenames are an odd pairing. Maybe this to try and convince retailers to buy lots of stock, and nikon really puts off deciding on the final name until the last possible moment? That moment can't be too far from final release, given the need for physical items carrying the name when they start selling the camera (printing all the bumf that comes in the box, and the box itself, and the label on the camera, and finally getting the thai orphan to put it all in the box for thousands of units of day one stock)

"The Nikon Z8 camera body or parts of it are rumored to be made out of high-stiffness carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastics or similar material"

I though the comment wars over plastic lens mounts were bad enough... Get ready for a few years of "Z8 isn't a true pro camera because it's made of plastic!"

That will be the same people who would criticice the weight if it is fully build from metall

In a not-surprising bit of news, both RED and Nikon have agreed to drop their suits against each other. With the Z8 introduction scheduled for May 10, I've been wondering if an announcement of a settlement might be made. Both parties agreeing to drop their respective legal actions is even better.

petapixel.com/2023/04/27/reds-lawsuit-against-nikon-dismissed-z9-gets-to-keep-compressed-raw/#

My guess is the RED dropped the case so as not to set a legal precedent, when the knew they were going to lose the court case.
There was no formal "settlement" (which is a legal agreement) -- either party can restart the action any time they want to. A settlement would preclude this. NOW this does not mean that Nikon and RED did not do a deal. BUT to be honest with only a few years left on the patent and RED desperately trying (and failing) to extend the patent and the whole rest of the industry awake this time and blocking this one does wonder about RED's financial future.

The competitive life-cycle of a modern hybrid camera is 2 years tops.
This is different to the camera's useable life - which may well be (subject to part) infinite for a shutterless Z9 or Z8 -- what wears out -- well the body if it is bashed about and much of the rest is designed to be replaceable - like the lens mount and most of the rest of the camera the fits in or on the metal body.
I expect that a successor to the Z9 may emerge before Paris Olympics -- or if not then the 2026 world cup. AND I expect we will see Z9 tech rolling through smaller/lighter bodies before then.

Well, There are people with less than such complex needs and requirements. I use my camera as just a sensor and a shutter button. Nothing more.
So it is about sensor tech. And it does not move enough to be revolutional in two years. And so even old cameras are very competitive devices to not only me it seems.