Absolutely there is room for that. You would expect the Z6 III and Z7 III to be Z6/7 size bodies with some, if not most of the Z9's AF capability. What else would they be? That has nothing to do with a 'mini Z9', that is simply the expected upgrade for the Z6 and Z7.
April 21, 2023
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So what? That is a temporary situation. Technology companies are always playing catch up to compete for sales. That dynamic isn't going anywhere.
No, I wouldn't, because I don't obsess over which gear has better technical specs. I embrace whatever tool(s) I've chosen and concentrate on my photography skills and vision to make the best of it. A skilled photographer with a vintage camera that has no autofocus can produce an image that is aesthetically equal, or superior, to an image captured by an R5 or a Z9 or an a7 IV.
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As much as Nikon may have wanted us to think the Z7 was the ML equivalent of the D850, it has never been accepted as that by the most of the Nikon faithful as far as I can see. The Z7/Z7II just didn't have the tracking ability nor responsiveness of the D850 and there is a disconnect there that Nikon needs to address, IMO. Whether Nikon intended for the D850 to seen as a "baby" D5 is irrelevent as it was seen that way by the Nikon users and was a success simply because it was basically a "baby" Z9. This intention or unintenbtion was a success and thus needs to be repeated in the ML world, IMO. So, with all that aside it leaves us with, where does the Z7III, or is it a Z8, or is there both, now fit? Whatever we say will be conjecture, but I think Nikon does have to introduce a gripless Z9 in the form of a Z7II or Z8 (pick your name to fit with the Nikon heirarchy).
A Baby Z9 was brought up by the OP and not a term that I wanted to go with but did use it in my response to him as that was where he was at, although the term is not without merit but is open to conjecture as to what he actually means as far as a Nikon camera smaller than the Z9.
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The spiel that a marketing department gives to separate people from their money and reality are not the same thing.
If anything is very clear, it's that the Z7 isn't a mirrorless D850.
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I was hoping for a constructive thread. When will DP Revived catch up to Backcountry which has banned stupid brand bashing threads?
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That's your view, not what Nikon intended. And in fact it does just about everything the D850 did, except that Nikon hadn't got their mirrorless AF working as well as their top-end DSLR AF. I doubt that was the plan.
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That's the point, isn't it? The way it lags the D850 is that Nikon hadn't sorted their mirrorless AF. You have to believe that when it was launched it was the best they could do - and that they didn't deliberately make the AF deficient.
The D850 is in no way a 'baby' D5. It's a completely different camera. The D6/6 was is a specialist sports/action camera, aimed predominantly at sports/action PJs. The D850 was/is a much more all-round camera, can do hi-res, can do sports action, but not at the level of the D5/6. The Z9, by contrast, is an all-round camera, able to excel at most types of photography. There is no gap for a 'baby' Z9. There is a strong possibility of a higher resolution model, 60-100MP. But that won't be a 'baby' Z9.
I don't. Why would they want to do that? I think the next two cameras will effectively be Z6III and Z7III, both with pixel count and speed upgrades and a lot of the AF improvements from the Z9. Nikon might call the Z7III the 'Z8' and put on the control turret interface, if they think they'll sell more cameras doing that.
Still, it appears that the 'Z8' people are prepared to call just about anything a 'baby Z9', so whatever Nikon produces, they'll probably hail it as the 'baby Z9' they demanded. -
Never, because it's not possible to find a widely accepted definition of what is a 'stupid brand bashing thread' - and if people get emotional over someone saying bad (or just true) things about their favourite brand, they maybe need to grow up a bit.
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Interesting in that I have no "colleagues" per se and have never wanted or owned a full-frame digital camera.
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Bob,
I think you're missing the point here with all this nomenclature talk. I realize most people are caught up on this nomenclature, BS, but many of us don't give a rat's a$$ about what it's called.
As I've said before, many of us want as much of the Z9 goodness as current technology allows to be squeezed into a D850/D500 sized body. I have a Z9 and I'd like to have a second body, sans grip (grip optional) that I can have with me as I usually did with my D850/D500 combo. We'd like the same ergo's and control/button layout as the Z9 so one can move easily between the two bodies, just as with the previous pair. That is never going to happen with the smaller Z6/7 bodies, there is not enough space to do that. A larger body and creative design might allow space for a new battery that is more powerful than the EN-EL15 series, too...something smaller than the EL18 series.
If push comes to shove, I'll end up buying another Z9 before buying a Z6/Z7 sized FX body...and spending an extra $2K isn't going to change my standard of living in any meaningful over the balance of my life, is it. Well, it might make me stronger by carrying that extra weight around. :)Also, with regards to a second body being DX, as the D500 was...the only reason I chose the D500 over the D850 as the second body was for the higher frame rate, greater AF coverage and, to a lesser extent, the lower price. At this point, I have zero interest in a DX body as a second body...rather have two FX bodies, I can make either one of them DX at the touch of a button, and the frame rate/AF coverage advantages no longer apply.
In my case, is there a place for a smaller form factor body...sure, as a standalone, two lens, DX travel kit. I almost pulled the trigger on a Z50 during the recent sale, but I'm holding out for a new model with improved processor...hopefully they'll move the Expeed 7 through the full lineup over the next year. I still have a D3200, 12-24 and 18-300 kit that suits me just fine for a minimal travel kit. Still have a few F primes if need be, too.
Cheers!
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This isn't subjective. The Z7 didn't hit the mark. It is not a successor or even an equivalent in terms of performance. You allude to this in your following statement.
LOL!! You think?
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Bob, you'll clearly admit that the Z7/Z7ii wasn't an equivalent to the D850 because it simply couldn't match it's performance, then in the same argument, say that it is the D850 equivalent because Nikon had "hoped" that it would be. Are you not able to see the fallacy in that?
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I think he is explaining Nikon's marketing, not real world performance. This seems very important to you.
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There is no fallacy. Nikon designed and marketed the Z7 as the mirrorless version of the D850. The fact that it didn't reach the D850's AF performance was not by design, it was down to Nikon at that time not having sorted mirrorless AF completely. So, the Z7 was 'the mirrorless equivalent of the D850'. Nikon's not going to keep redoing the D850. A new camera will not be another go at a 'mirrorless equivalent', it will be a development which will very likely outdo the D850 in areas of its specification, probably pixel count, likely video capability, and hopefully in all aspects of AF (the Z7's AF was in some ayes better than the D850, and some ways not as good - to get the most from it you had not to pretend it was a D850).
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Of course it's subjective.
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Then they should stop talking about a 'Z8' and instead talk about what the specs of this camera would be.
The Z9 is not a whole load bigger than a D850. So all of a Z9 should be able to be 'squeezed' into it, but I doubt whether that's what Nikon has in mind, why would it be a good idea to have a gripped and gripless version of the same body? And also, it's not very specigfic. The Z9's 'goodness' covers a range of specification areas. Which ones do you want?
Yes, but you may not speak for the whole market, and Nikon has no obligation to make exactly the camera that you want.
Of course though maybe a bit longer than that. Why would they not?
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Slow, deep breaths everybody :)
It does appear Nikon is on the verge of officially announcing a new camera body. Once that happens, we can spend endless hours analyzing the specs and debating whether or not to click the pre-order button. My hope is that there will be a healthy dose of Z9 goodness beneath the skin of the new beast. The right mixture of features could generate significant interest and pre-order traffic. Assuming this next new Z body will be full-frame, my hope is also that we're one new product closer to Nikon introducing an APS-C Z body that's spec'd for fast action...sports, birds, wildlife, etc.
Fortunately, the NFL draft will definitely start in just a few days. That will keep me occupied for much of the lead-up to whatever it is that Nikon announces. Time's gonna fly like stuff through a goose :)
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"Why would they do that?" Well, I don't see why they wouldn't, although I think we are talking at crossed purposes here. The next Z7III or Z8 - take your pick of naming - will need to have AF near as good or as good as the Z9. The issue has always been that most of the DSLR D850 users did not feel as though the Z7/Z7II was able to deliver the AF performance of the D850 and thus this is what Nikon needs to release - a ML D850 - and that was not the Z7/Z7II no matter how much Nikon thought it was and wanted us to believe it was. Whether it is in a body like the Z7II or a larger body will depend on whether Nikon feels that it need s larger body for longer lenses and/or the requirements of the internals and battery size (maybe a new larger capacity battery).
