Nikon Z9 Review

The Nikon Z9 is arguably Nikon’s most anticipated and needed camera in their history. Was it worth the wait? Does it stack up against the competition? Was this a Nikon D3 moment?

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[DrNick]

Me too...switching from Z7ii to Sony A1 for 10 months only, and switched back to Z9 2 weeks ago

[dancejam]

Jason, can I ask you seriously why you feel the need to make a video rehashing every other Z9 video of specs the last 4 months without taking a unique vantage point, rendering some visual examples, or documenting what you don't like and why? I've been shooting wildlife/action/sports for the last 4 months and love the camera, but I could also list in a minute the 10 things I think they could have improved on (and I know some of them weren't even mentioned in the massive firmware update 2.0). In my opinion, just saying what you like or how you feel about the Z9 doesn't provide those watching with anything substantive to leave with. I still watch YouTube videos from time to time on the Z9 because I like to hear other's experiences. Jan Waganer (A Canon Shooter) has provided some of the best viewpoints and issues he sees with the camera and even recently went back and made a video of "now that I've shot the Z9, here is what I don't like about the R5"). Mark Smith has been shooting Sony for a while after "leaving" Nikon (as did Steve Perry), but but Mark has made videos of what he likes/doesn't like about Nikon's system compared to Sony, and Steve just makes excellent reviews of what he is using (choosing to stay out of the fray). Even JP "Know photo" did a side to side comparison. Those are helpful to people thinking of replacing their high end DSLR (i.e 1DX Mark ii/iii, D850, D5, D6, a9ii) in their considerations - since going to your local camera store and shooting them to compare isn't really possible. There are also post production issues (i.e. Lightroom doesn't seem to handle HE* files well - too much noise) - and it took them the better part of a year to fix the R5 file handling. Also, perhaps it was an unforced error, but the comment of you can get 1000 shots before hitting the buffer, but you have to use the poorest raw format and best card is incorrect. You can get 1000 shots in HE* using good cards (at 20 fps). With HE (the smallest and worse "RAW" compression algorithm) the buffer is unlimited at 20 fps (as it is with full size jpg at 30 fps or 11 mp 120 fps). Again, there is so much good about this camera, but we need to point out Nikon's and the Z9s failure points (few as they might be). With the current firmware (prior to 2.0) you can't internally save your "Banks" settings and then reset them back where they were without saving them to a card. Nikon, please fix that. Photo Shooting Banks and Video Banks are inexplicably tied together. Nikon, please fix that. Previewing the DOF is limited to wider apertures (below f/5.6) when it was available in DSLRs and in Z video. Nikon, please fix this. The EVF doesn't have blinkies in stills, but has zebras in video (and now waveforms - how about wave forms in stills?). Why not? I'm not going to harp on the AF modes (3D and Wide Area) as they are getting improvements in Firmware 2.0, so I'll leave my comment on that for later. Lastly, let me relate a story from dance to your Nikon File comment "I just like them better". In dance competitions, it's just not right to tell a competing couple the reason you, as a judge, scored another couple higher, is that you just "liked their routine better". That really provides no valuable feedback for them to improve. So we put a system in place that was weighted and scored using various items such as timing, technique, pattern variation, level of difficulty, connection with the partner and music, with many other items with the tiebreaker - overall performance (i.e. you liked it better). This way, compared to another competing couple you could say I scored them higher because their timing was better, their musicality was better, their interaction between partners was better, the level of difficulty was higher = you get the idea. If you are going to say "you just like the Nikon files better" give examples with those shot with the Sony and Nikon (equal megapixel and generation). I can't do that because I haven't owned a full frame Sony or Canon digital camera. I've heard many talk about Nikon's video edit ability in N-Log being easier than C-Log for Canon. Again, no experience here. So back to my initial comment: If you are going to make an UNBOXING video or Review of features/specs video 5 months out, please provide some in-depth knowledge that isn't already out there or at least show some comparative images in this visual medium talking about a photographic art. Thanks.