No Camera is perfect - but the Z8 is pretty great. I think it is only fair to revisit the wishlist I shared back in April, and take stock of what things I listed were and were not addressed... to be fair most of them were not... SETUP GUIDE: learn.mattgranger.com/courses/zsetup
@@mattgranger You said that, in the 18 months since the Z9 was released, there have been new flagship products from other companies. But the A1, R5, and R3 were all released before the Z9. Only the R5C has been released since Dec 2021. The A1II R5II, and R1 are all somewhere on the horizon. Things are slowing down, as always happens as tech matures.
Hey Matt I have been shooting with Z7 since it launched. I shoot product and food primarily and interiors occasionally. I saw on many reviews that the dynamic range of Z9 is not as good as Z7 because of the electronic shutter. Could you please test side to side which one is cleaner in noise and has more DR between Z7 and Z7? Thanks!
I don’t know about the comments here it’s a bit all over the place , if you have a Z9 and you find it great ! It’s the flag ship ! Why compare it to a non flagship . Also there are people , many actually moving up from 24 mp to 46 . With vastly improved autofocus . Not being able to shoot video non stop for 2 hours in the highest raw format is almost a mute point for most users . If you’re shooting video unless you’re filming yourself non stop talking most people won’t be using it this way . Just my 2 cents ! It’s a great camera !
I sometimes shoot live events which go up to 1.5 hours, but I wouldn't be using the high bitrate or high framerate formats for something like that anyhow.
Hey folks - to anyone a bit upset by this video - please re listen to the intro of this video, and notice the title is ‘disappointments’ not ‘failures’. This is me revisiting my wishlist. It’s a great camera - but nothing is perfect and this video runs through my own personal wishlist. If the camera is perfect for you - that’s awesome and I’m sure you’ll love it! I may get one myself too!
You've plowed this earth a number of times now. For clicks? Loooook! I drive a car actually available in Australia, a Kia Stinger. On paper, it can do 167 miles per hour. I don't know, I have never tried that. But I DO know that it will perform magnificently at 120 mph for just about as long as my nerve holds. I actually wanted a Porsche Cayenne Turbo, but $42,000 was in my budget, and $180,000 wasn't. Chin up! Let's create!
I have ordered a Z8. The Z8 gives me the opportunity to get some of the features that I have long been waiting for that the Z9 has had, but which is a camera that I, as an amateur photographer, cannot afford. Also, I found the Z9 to be unnecessarily large and bulky. So yes - I understand you're disappointed that nothing more has happened in 18 months, but I'm glad this camera has now arrived. I also mostly shoot stills, so your tests and criticism of video don't matter to me.
As a professional not needing the speed I’m actually really happy it has the SD card slot, they go directly into my MacBook without any special reader or cable and can be bought pretty much anywhere if needed. Pre-order is in, having had a play at the local store I am very happy 😀. My only very slight disappointment is the lack of a locking card door but we can’t have everything I suppose!
Looking back, I have to admit to myself that SD card is fairly weak system by comparison. It from a different era. A bit like floppy disks. I think that in a few years time we will all look back on SD in similar way. It was useful for a while but……. Anyway all that is sort of irrelevant in a sense because you can ignore the SD slot easily enough. It is just there so Nikon and the Z8 users can “say” that it has 2 slots. If you are using the Z8 for things the Z7ii cannot do, then just set slot 2 to overflow and forget to use it.
I love my Z9, but it is an absolute bear at the end of a 10 hour wedding. And I'm a good sized guy, 6'2 and 260. I customarily use two cameras on a dual harness with different focal lengths until cocktail hour, then break down to one body and a 24-70 for the rest of the night. Maybe a 20mm 1.8 for fun on the dance floor. I'm looking forward to the SD card in the Z8 for quickie sneak peeks. No need to pull out a card reader, just plug it into the side of the MacBook Pro at the beginning of cocktail hour, and whip up a quick slide show of the ceremony.
Surely you can't expect the Z8 to have a better evf etc than the flagship Z9?? Rather we should be happy that it has most of the features of the Z9 at a lower price!
Hi Matt,I'm sure you are trying to be objective, but I think that this video is too much on the negativity side, especially with regards to the EVF; building a camera is always the result of choices. The EVF of the Z9 (Z8) is just great, and you are not mentioning the advantages it has, compared to the competition (absolutely no blackout, great optics, brightness, dual-stream,...). It is quite a achievement to put so many features in a $4000 body.
UA-camrs only talk about resolution. Maddening. I have a 1080p plasma that at times has better picture quality than my 4k oled and it will destroy many 4k leds. Resolution should be just a part of the discussion but they don’t have the capability to quantify the other important components of a great display (color, brightness, gradient, volume) so nothing else is mentioned or compared.
Makes me rethink if I really need a D500 replacement now. DX mode at nearly 20 megapixels with all the features I don't think I need it any longer. Can't wait to get my Z8. I appreciate all the diligence putting it through the paces.
I think that every one here (or most of you) is expecting very demanding features wich none use. The camera was created according to the market and it will improving and evolving with firmwares and new updates like Z8II maybe.
I think we need to reset our timescale for improvement expectations. First, 18 months is less than it was a decade ago. Second, the Z9 was only "on the shelves" at camera stores in Aug/Sept, so in some ways it's less than 18 months. Third, the Z8 might have been released in Feb 2023, and perhaps the lawsuit by Red added a delay. Fourth, the AF performance is probably better than the Z9 from Dec 2021, but they're already in the current Z9 firmware, further reducing the "18 months" factor. Fifth, high ISO sensor performance improvement expectations probably need to be really tempered, that seems to be more about software going forward. The next big jump for the Nikon Z system will probably come with the Expeed8 processor, hopefully in the next year or so. Ideally for the Paris Olympics... * Expeed3: [1/2012] D4, D800 * Expeed4: [6/2014?] D810 * Expeed5: [1/2016] D5, D850 * Expeed6: [8/2018] Z7/Z6 * Expeed7: [10/2021] Z9 * Expeed8: [2024?] Z9II? Processor technology improvements have slowed down in general, because quantum physics is a real thing. Moore's law may now be Moooore's law. Since the note added to the video said that the SD card was the biggest disappointment, I will completely disagree and say that is one of the biggest wins. Again, it's the same as the D850. The Z8 is a balancing act rather than the kitchen sink for the full time pro who will stress the camera. Many of us will rarely use 8K or 4K120. The SD card is very effective for 4K30, which is likely for long record times for many users. While CFexpress cards have become very cost-effective, many of us have high-end SD cards from the D850 and Z7II. To the disappointments of the card slots and video overheating issues, Nikon has a very simple answer: Z9.
@@chiefjudge8456 I'm happy with the Z7II I got before the Z9 announcement. If I decide I do need the next level camera, I'll actually opt for the Z9 over the Z8, for the extra $1100.
@@UnconventionalReasoning The Z7II is also extremely bad value, but it's pretty obvious you own a Z9 which is why you tried to downplay the price difference. The difference is 1500 dollars.
@@chiefjudge8456 I always put a vertical grip on the camera (except the Z7, which is why it got immediately replaced with the Z7II). The Z8, grip, and second battery are $1100 less than the Z9. The Z7II is an excellent value, if it works for that photographer. It works for me. It's hilarious that you think you know what camera I have. 🤣
I’m more than happy! Gonna sell my Z9 and buy the Z8 because the Z9 is too big and heavy. Of course a smaller body is gonna get hotter. But it’s ok for me. I only record for about 10-15 minutes at a time. And almost never the highest codec or 8K 60fps. Love the AF and love the ergonomics and Nikon lenses. 😊
I use a Z9 and a Z7II. Agree with the weight issue of the Z9, yet love how it performs. Fantastic autofocus compared to the Z7II. I'd lose so much on my Z7II that I'm just going to keep it along with my Z9, but if I had the money, I'd trade in my Z7II on a Z8, and rarely be concerned about focus as frequently.
Hi Matt: Another good video about the Z8! Thank you for all the videos so far - they have been informative, educational and interesting and they are appreciated! I wanted to make a couple comments in response to what you have said - as a 'by the way' kind of thing, and not as a contradiction or anything like that :) You mention that the two different card formats (CF Express B and SD UHS II) are your biggest disappointment with the camera and there is a part of me that agrees with you. Still, I think this was likely the right decision on Nikon's part. For event shooting, there are just so many SD card users out there - it is so ubiquitous. I know that when I would occassionally second shoot, using the Z6 II, I would often have a CF Express B in the main slot and then 'borrow' an SD card from the primary shooter for the second slot and then just shoot RAW to both cards. This way, at the end of the event, I was able to simply hand the SD card back to the primary shooter and just walk away from the gig instead of having to somehow get them the files later. This was super convenient, and would not have been possible if there were 2 CF Express B slots in my camera as most people still are not using that format and would not have those cards to lend out. So, although I personally agree that 2 CF Express B cards would be better, I also recognize that the Z8 is intended to be an 'all arounder' more so than the Z9 - more adept to being as useful as possible for all use cases and less specialized toward fast action shooting and large bit rate video. If super fast action is the reason someone is getting this camera then they really should still just get the Z9 - and I think that Nikon planned it that way - this makes sense. As to your other point about the video not going as long, I think (and I am sure you agree) this was to be expected. The Z8 simply does not have the mass to act as a heat sink on the level of the Z9 and as such we would expect it to overheat sooner than the Z9. From the test that I have now seen, it seems that the Z8 still does pretty well getting like an hour to 90 minutes of even some of the highest resolutions and bit rates (RAW etc.) - as such it is a perfect camera for the hybrid shooter who does not do takes that are so long - rarely longer than a few minutes in the field - and even for a short interview or general UA-cam applications these times suffice. Obviously, if you have a use case for longer video, as you yourself do, then a person such as this should go with the Z9 - as I know you have decided to do for your work - which makes sense. Again, this is a perfect example of how these cameras are differentiated in spite of being so similar in so many respects. Matt, I know that you know all of what I said and that you were not disparaging the Z8 camera in any way - simply pointing out facts (which I agree with incidentally). I mainly am writing this comment just to give any interested parties a response to these points that I think you might (and have) actually made yourself. Been a long time - hope to connect with you some day again :) -PD (Baron)
Honestly battery life is a small concern to me. Yes I do appreciate the long battery life in my D850. But I always have extra batteries in the bag anyway. And it just takes a few seconds to switch out. Though I don’t shoot video so that might be a different story for those that do.
I feel exactly the same way. I have 4 batteries, so if one dies, I'll just switch it on the spot, no biggie. I have never even needed more than 2 batteries on the same day, so anyone could do with two (I have 4 because I cycle between them, so as to complete fewer cycle charges for each, so they can last longer, at least a few years longer). But again, I use my camera for stills, not video, so perhaps videographers would feel differently about it. But then again, how many people will record anything for 2 hours straight, no pauses? I don't think anybody would do that.
@@francescogaldieri In actuality, you would be powering the camera via the PD battery pack, while the internal battery stays at its current level. To charge the internal battery, you would need to have the camera off.
Ricci and Gerald Undone have both released video overheating tests and both got substantially better results shooting 8k 10 bit. Ricci got almost an hour and a half shooting at 8k30p on a delkin black card with auto temp cutout set to standard, Gerald got just over an hour and a half shooting 8k24p on an unspecified card with auto temp cutout set to high. Gerald reports that Nikon told him directly to expect around 60 minutes of 8k with the temp cutout set to standard, and around 90 minutes with temp cutout set to high.
@@mattgranger Can't remember Gerald's, but Matt Irwin and Ricci tested in an indoor controlled environment of around 20 degrees C (which is warmer than where I am at the moment!). Key takeouts from Ricci and Matt Irwin's tests are that 1. choose your memory cards carefully - some cards generate considerably more heat than others, significantly affecting record times, 2. using an external power source, as Matt Irwin does often, also extends recording time (in fact, Matt managed to fill up a 2TB card with 60 fps NRAW). Obviously, the outdoor temperature is yet another variable. What this clearly demonstrates is that anyone who makes a statement about recording times should always qualify that statement with the parameters around their testing (and more than just the ambient temperature).
Yep. It’s also fair to have a control point such as another camera to show whether it’s the card or the camera that’s the issue. The cards I used (and said in video) are the ones Nikon says to use for high res video. And I’m the z9 no heat issues. In z8, heat issues. Hard to blame the cards.
The Z 8’s EVF is brighter than the Z 9’s and brighter than anything else in the marked. I’ll that over resolution any day of the week. Plus, it looks better than some other EVFs with more resolution. Just my 2cents.
@@tc6912 the biggest difference is no blackout. If you have a Z6ii set it to a high frame rate and try to track something. It’s doable but difficult because of blackout. Besides that the Z9 EVF seems more true to life and is much brighter
My guess is that this will be the last generation of pro machines to need dual cards. The next generation is likely to have one card and one SSD, like the Hasselblad, or the DJI mavic Cine.
@@mattgranger It's a valid option for those scenarios where you NEED to maintain your burst performance while also backing up in the field. The camera doesn't have dual CFE, so time to stop sucking lemons over it and adapt. No need for this when doing anything but the most demanding work.
As a Z6ii user I'm pretty happy with upgrading to the Z8. Sure, it's not perfect but it is what it is. I already own pretty well all the Z lenses I need so it's just a body upgrade for me. I don't shoot video.
I'm going to "disagree" with you on a couple points. The SD card slot - we're in total agreement on the negatives but in the real world - today - SD cards are easier to get and non-pro to semi-pro shooters will find them easier to find and cheaper. I think they expanded the crowd of potential buyers by going this route (that said, I hope it's the last camera that uses them, time to pull an Apple and just ditch 'em). Port covers; the fewer covers you have the fewer points of failure you have (I rarely use them at all so I probably shouldn't comment either :^) ). For the other negatives; pulling from the same parts bin as the Z9 goes a long ways to keeping the price in check. I suspect most buyers will accept the lower price as a good compromise for not getting higher resolution evf and back screen and the adjustable screen. Save those bits for the Z9ii and Z8ii. I'll probably pull the trigger on one next month (too many toys this month.... :^) ). I got very impatient and bought a Z9 a few months back when the Z8 was looking like a mythical Unicorn instead of a real product. Don't like the weight of the Z9 but dang, that battery has really sucked me in.
They could have done something like allowing SD/Cfexpress type A like Sony. Frankly, the only reason a nonpro is going to buy a Z8, besides having tons of money is that Nikon is far behind in terms of AF on the Z6 II and Z7 II. They are great until you grab a Sony or Canon. Then they are competitive most of the time for portraits, but not for the rest. Please keep in mind that the. Z7 II has a better image quality, in particular in terms of high ISO than the Z9. Personally, I don't mind the SD I am planning to buy the camera (if I don't switch brands) and as a nonpro I see the SD as insurance: I will send jpg small basic to it. If something brokes I don't lost the images.
i haven't had any overheating issues with the z8. i had them on the z9 but fixed the problem. found out that gettting the right card with extra bandwidth fixes the problems. it's a really finnicky problem too. the card manufacturers don't make it easy as they try and only boast max output. even some boast constant output, but fudge those numbers. there is a lot of info out there on this.
I can only imagine that I will be very happy with the Z8 compared to my D850 for birds in flight and eye focus. There is no need for me to compare the Z8 to the Z9 unless I won Powerball last night.
Could of saved $3000 and got a canon R8 40fps man. Also this non mechanical shutter cameras have less dynamic range more noise and less image quality in the details.
@@lewcehjitl3282 i hear ya but I am not a canon fan, been a Nikon fan since 1976. To me it is the same as Chevy vs Ford and I am a GM fan, the Nikon feels so good in my hands and I love the sound. Have owned Nikon FM, 8008, D90, D200, D7000 & D850. I bought the D850 because the Z6 and Z7 were their first mirrorless releases and they had underpowered AF for birds in flight. In addition i have a large collection of F mount lenses. The D850 is still considered a beast and the best DSLR ever and its built in focus stacking, timelapse have taught me a lot. My 2 sons have R5's and love them.
I just got my Z8 and i find myself having banding issues in high speed sync photos with my godox ad400pro flashes going faster than 1/1000s. really love everything else about the camera
nit picky stuff. For a lot of people who did not want the size and cost of a z9, it's a pretty good piece of kit., And answers the question that a lot of people had about moving z9 features into lower end bodies. Going beyond the z9 for Nikon is an expensive ordeal, and the money might be better spent on improving the lens range, and improved lower cost cameras. The z9 holds up well against the r3 and a1. I am sure the successor to the z9 will give you more of what you want. One thing I think Sony is struggling with now is a lot of complaints from a1 owners is that a7r5 has better features in a cheaper camera Great review and valid points. Lets hope they show up in the z9ii
Matt Irwin did some video heat tests that are more in line with my interests; no heat problems there. Video is secondary for me anyway. The Z9 is an incredible camera ( I rented one for a week last year), although a little heavy and quite pricey. The Z6 II is a good camera (rented last year), just too small for my hands. My hobbies of landscape and wildlife photography seem well suited to the Z8. I think my preordered Z8 will be perfect for my use case.
Long time viewer, first time commentor. I have personally been awaiting this camera. Will be upgrading from D780 to a Z8 soon. I am not understanding the seemingly big gripe about the SD Cards? I feel that it gives choice. If I need speed, use the CF slot, if I dont need the speed and need value per Gb I would go the SD cards. And for anyone who needs the fast speed and redundancy, then hey, buy the Z9. Also for the video you did regarding the buffer speeds and such between the z9 and z8, you heavily kept saying its not as fast. But you didnt make it fair. Is it really not as fast, or is it just because you used a SD card? put the same CF card in both and test. Then we will know what the camera can do with fair comparisons. And in this video you said the Autofocus is the same but forgot to mention it is a tiny update as they added Airplane AI. Thou I do expect the Z9 will get it to via firmware. I do have 1 question about the Z8 that I am yet to find an answer too, does the z8 have an antialising filter or not? Anyway keep up the vids, love learning all about my next camera.
Af improvements were not just airplane mode, the spec sheet says it’s improved in low light focusing and Nikon says there’s improved af. Z9 will probably get an update to make it equal.
Mine is on pre order. I think you need to put size and weight as a satisfied category, yes I understand the disappointments, but there are performance trade offs that would likely require an Exspeed 8 to overcome.I am very satisfied with what I expect to be a great companion to my Z9.
Thank you for unbiased/critical reviews. Your dedication is appreciated but I hope you kick that Covid and are 100% soon. I'm shooting a Z7ii now (I shoot mostly landscapes and architecture). I ordered a Z8 as soon as it was possible to avoid waiting if I decide to go ahead with the purchase. I am starting to shoot birds, so I was interested in better auto-focus and a better EVF. Most of all wanted a 60 megapixel sensor so I could crop and print a little larger than I currently can. After getting more information from post-release reviews I'm still on the fence. I didn't get everything I wanted and if a Z7iii comes out with 60 megapixels I will want to buy it. Feeling like Goldilocks.
I've never had a problem with the card door opening on my Z7II, which a lot of people seem to complain about. I don't know if the rubber eye cup on the Z8 is similar to that on the Z7II, but I've had to replace mine once, and have had to apply some superglue to the replacement..
Oh dear Matt. You really wanted the Z8 to be a “new” camera. Instead it’s a mini Z9 with things missing. It’s a shame you didn’t just review it as a new camera instead of comparing it to the Z9. Nikon said this is the true successor to the D850. My ears picked up as I am a D850 owner. But spending £5500 on the Z9 I can’t justify, but spending £4000 and able to use my existing cards and battery is a step up to me and thousands of D850 owners. I feel your disappointment but it does water a lot of good things too
How is in low light situations because am a user of z6ii and i have ishues in low light situations. Same problem have z7ii cant find point focus all the time and struggle. A had Nikon D750 never had this problem
I totally get you on the card slots. Now that I have the Z9 I don’t want to be going back to SD. That is probably the one thing holding me back from the Z8 and pushing me towards a second Z9. I appreciate the videos buddy. 👍
yes would of been nice for duel CFXB cards but how often would you actually need them? Changing cards is quick and easy and you still have the overflow to an SD card if needed in a pinch!
I have the same concern with you. However I wonder if it is possible to just use the CFE-B and backup using SnapBridge to a smartphone in the background.
Well I placed my ‘pre-order’ on May 14th and canceled it today. It’s easy to get swept into the ‘hype’ but one must first take a serious inventory of what their needs are verses just salivating over technology. None of my photography is video, so much of the Z8 is unnecessary. I don’t do large bursts of RAW for sporting or BIF type photography, so I really don’t need the stacked sensor and fastest cards. I currently own a D850 and use only a 256gb UHS-I card…..and I can burst both RAW and fine JPEG for about 15 images before it slows down. And knowing the Z8 is really 1.5 year old technology….decided for now I don’t need the Z8. I do like new ‘stuff’, but this one just doesn’t make sense in my situation. Mileage may vary by driver…. :-)
Good points. One big reason I did not buy the ever so popular Zf - lack of CFExpress card slot. For me that is a bummer. Wish Nikon will release another camera that can make use of the bigger EN-EL 18D battery. Or make a grip for the Z8 that can take one, like the D850.
Here in Canada the Z9 is 1500$ more thatn the Z8 and TBH the difference in video and battery makes me think I would spend the extra for the Z9... Was hoping to save a few bucks but Not this time. Thanks for the work you do Matt!
D850 Video capable... lol. love D850 for stills. bought Z6ii for video. Z8 perfect all-around camera I think. Don't have to carry 2 cameras anymore ( still cam and vid cam).
I was looking for the GPS Sensor I really like the function. I was looking for a smaller body as the Z9 so means I have ordered a Z8 and there is a change that I will have it in my hands at 25. 😊
The SD card may be an issue for the cross-section of people shooting fast action (or high-res video), and those having to have redundancy. I actually wondered if Nikon could have given the Z8 a combined SD/CFe-A slot in addition to the CFe-B slot. That way, they could have maintained compatibility with SD while also providing a faster option for redundant shooting. But it would also mean people would have to have more expensive cards, that they probably don't have yet. So I guess Nikon might not have considered it worthwhile. But I wonder about something. The USB data transfer port is said to be USB 3.2 gen 2, which means it has a maximum speed of 10Gbps. SSDs like the SanDisk Extreme Pro achieve about 950 MB/s - way more than any SD card and closer to some CFe-B cards. So I'm wondering if the camera could output files through USB-C for redundant storage? If they can mount an SSD on a cage or something. I wouldn't want to run such a setup, but then I don't care about redundancy. I have my two D750 slots set to overflow.
Feel better Matt! I am wondering how really significant are all these overheating tests are? I get it if you wan to record continuously but how often does someone record 2 hours and 5 mins straight or even less without pausing? How much time to reset the heating process and how much of a pause is needed to help?
I think the biggest drawback to me, although not a deal breaker necessarily, is the inclusion of the SD card slot versus a CFE-A (which was very unlikely to begin with, and CFE-B would not have even been considered by Nikon since the Z9 has dual CFE-B cards) at least Nikon does have the function to allow you to copy files from the CFE slot to the SD card slot separately. While not the exact same as shooting to dual cards at the same time, it does offer some peace of mind (this feature is actaully found in the Z6/Z7 bodies too, but I think it may have been added later via firmware as I don't recall it being there initially in the gen 2 bodies). But at least we do have the option. So I guess I give them a half a star for that one. The battery life and 8k video recording limits likely aren't going to hamper my personal needs as I'm mainly going to use the z8 for stills (wildlife) and other non-action related shooting (portraiture and some landscape). But I think for those who need dual card slots and speed, consider the Z9. But on the other hand, coming from a Z9, yes the Z8 will appear to be inadequate in various ways. But I think that someone coming from a D850 or Z6/Z7 may see things differently and feel the z8 is a great camera. I'm not disagree or agreeing here necesarily, and more or less, for other people, it depends on your perspective and what you've been shooting with.
The battery trick. You don't need to buy Nikon cable to charge the battery in the camera. All you need a charging cable which is dirt cheap on the Amazon. I bought a few 100w cables for like $7. Camera will charge the battery from a Thunderbolt port. To charge the battery on the go all you need is a small powerbank with output of no less than 3A. Just shut off the camera in between the picture taking and battery will charge. SD card. Most new laptops that are very thin and only have SD slots. So SD slot on the camera is very helpful.
Is it true that they took away RAW-M and RAW-S for stills? If so that is sad because RAW-M on my D850 is my general whatever shooting mode as it doesn't take up much space but still gives me a good quality image I can work with I I feel the need.
Gee, I’d be happy with a Z8. Much better than my much loved Z6ii, but I don’t actually need one. It might be the only way I can get better autofocus, so… . Q: how many Covid vaccinations have you received? 6 for me, but I’m an old guy and my wife has been terrified, hence very careful. Q: other than a backup, would a pro use a Z8 for video? The shorter recording time would far exceed my foreseeable needs.
Well if I ever make the jump to a Z I'll be sure to grab your setup guide and the Z8 sounds like a great option for what I do as my video is usually limited to short clips of wildlife. But you probably know me well enough at this point to know that unless the affiliate link points to KEH or MPB I almost certainly won't be using it. 😉 Actually there is one Nikon here that was purchased new in this century, it's a Nikon Coolpix S3000 SWMBO bought before cell phones took over that market.
Someone in another video suggested that the general build quality on the Z9 is better and more solid than that of the me Z8. Did you get that impression?
Okay with Memory card config - on par with Canon having same slots, agree that the EN-EL15* battery should have been upgraded - more MaH, One bug bear with Z8 is the grip not offering a cradle / option to use the D4-D6/Z9 EN-EL18 battery and wonder weather Nikon could do a Battery Grip that housed 1 x EN-EL15c (allowing hot swap) with USB-C charging and built in Power Bank - although this accessory grip would eat into sales of the official Z8 Battery grip
Not disputing the validity of your disappointments wrt your needs and comparison to Z9, but for me the Z8 is exactly what I've been looking for from Nikon. I need better AF tracking than my Z7 provides as most of what I shoot is sport, wildlife, and model aircraft aerobatics. The Z9 is too heavy for me (due to a combination of injury and frequent need for prolonged sessions of hand held shooting). All I have been looking for is a slimmed down Z9 and I've been explicitly saying all along that I'd be happy to accept the attendant worse battery life and limitations that stem from heat dissipation challenges. Nikon delivered exactly what I was looking for. While I would be even happier if it was lighter yet, the compromise works for me and the price is well below what I would have been willing to pay.
My complaints: -Eye cup is horrendous. As a basis function of shielding light from your eye, it fails miserably. Also it is made out of a hard material with no give. It shouldn't be too much to ask a high-end camera company to have problem-solved a luxurious, comfortable and light-shielding eyecup. It's the only other contact point with your body aside from the grip. -Removing the release mode dial (top left) is a downgrade. To change release mode now requires two hand operation.. It's not a big deal, but to remove it from the 9 does not improve them camera. -Still no 4:5 crop mode. This was on many previous Nikon bodies, even the 6/7. -No two-shot brackets. Only a 3 and 5 option, and only in middle>under>over format. Previously you could do middle>under>2under (or over), as well as two shot brackets. Also, you can change the order in which the bracket is recorded, but not with your brightest exposure first. As a whole, the bracketing function is too limited, which is surprising considering its a more expensive camera than the ones that have these features, and it has a dedicated bracket button. -No live-view zebras for still photography. They have it for video. Even my outdated DJI drone has live view zebras for stills.
Idk Matt - I haven’t seen yours. Seems John has. I was saying it doesn’t surprise me. In general (from what I’ve seen - not meant as any criticism) Ricci is very technical and a Nikon employee - he isn’t impartial. And you’re extremely enthusiastic and positive in all videos I’ve seen. And I anticipated you had alternate findings to share, as you repeatedly copied and pasted the same comment in to my video replies the other day.
Just sold my D500 and 500mmpf Now deciding what camera I’m going to invest into. Z9 or Z8 out of my pocket but if I was going to invest it would be Z9 No point to buy other Nikon z cameras it’s just throwing money out of the window. So now it’s wait or Canon R6ii
Do you really think there was no work done in the recent 18 months? To me it‘s a development to transform a camera with features of a Z9 into a smaller body. And I think there were a lot of internal technical issues to consider resp. solve to build a camera like the Z8 which you and me can‘t really judge. It‘s easy to be disappointed if you expect 60 Mpix oder a brighter shutter or whatever. But your expectations are totally personal. Just my two cents!
Thanks for the reviews, I just purchase a Z8 recently but I’m having a little trouble with the EVF. When looking through the finder there is a Red Highlight on objects. I have check all settings and i can not figure out the issue. My focus peaking is set to off. When i take photos it doesn’t impact the image. And The red Highlights are not on the back screen only the View finder. And Yes I have reset the camera to factory on multiple occasions. Any Ideas would really help before sending it back for warrant work.
Get well dude!!! The resolution on that is considered HI-RES... NIKON will more likely create a medium format... Cramming all those video specs into that little camera is over kill. They knew it was overheating in development. I personally wouldn't expect more from that because IT'S NOT THE FLAGSHIP it's the Z8 the 2 cards slots doesn't matter because you can't shoot video to both cards on the Z9... So the SD card makes perfect sense...
Thanks Iem - it is not the flagship true - but it was marketed as having the same video capabilities. And SD card is an issue for high speed stills, more than video. But this camera will no doubt satisfy the needs of many shooters!
I watched the video, well done. Honest and on point. Then I decided to take a dive and look at the comments, and this confirmed that there is a real problem with Nikon fanboism , a phenomena that makes all of us Nikon shooters ashamed for them. On a more important note, get well at God speed !!
I think z8 is a decent camera. If you buy one you will wish to buy one vertical grip because of additional batteries. In this case the camera is bigger than Z9. Why to buy one if you own Z9 already? Cannot see any reason. .
@@UnconventionalReasoning Seems to be more related to the card itself (depends on the card) as Ricci pointed out in his video. Using the same power source (the 15C battery) two or three cards caused a shutdown, one didn't.
@@HR-wd6cw I think it might be both which affect the overheating. The sources of heat include the sensor, processor, LCD/EVF, card, and battery. So many things going on...
I am just being curious about something. About the 2 USB-C ports, it has been mentioned that you can use one for power and the other for data. Does this mean that both are fully implemented or does it actually require that power is supported in one of the ports and not the other?
It's that one is dedicated for power delivery and one supports data transferring beck and forth. Think of your phone cables, charging cables can only do charging, if you want to use your GPS capabilities in your car you need the data cable.
I think both ports are implemented but one is for power only I believe. The other can only connect to certain data devices (external video recorder and USB LAN I think, but probably not an external SSD/storage drive).
Already have Z9, had the Z8 came with front facing articulating screen (prefer A7RV execution) I would have pre-ordered it as my all-in one hybrid camera. Except for the smaller size nothing really making me buy the Z8. Nikon I think missed an opportunity here.
Hi Matt - good job -- keep plowing on: I wanted the Z9 style card door with lock -- the card doors work perfectly on my pair of Z9 now they are worn in a little. Lets see how long the LCD on the A7RV lasts. With its similar tilt but then addition of a flippy style hinge. I prefer no blackout EVF rather than higher res -- and in the end of the day as an action shooter I do not want or need more res in the EVF. I want and need the camera to perform taking shots and vids. I am with you in relation to SD -- but Nikon has said they had to include SD to open up the market AND we will live with just using the CFE-B and leaving the CD for overflow. Do not use BACKUP if you want speed and long bursts. I am not with you in relation to how you choose to shoot video - In your over heating vid you were a little more balanced -- you said the video will be fine for 90+% of shooters, but it overheats when folk try to shoot at the highest resolutions fps for very long times. I shoot short 2-3-5 min segments not long long long single recordings - at high frame rates. I shoot long segments at far far lower fps. At 24-30p I expect the Z8 will fill large cards or hit the 125 min limit before having a problem and I will test this in mine when it arrives on Friday. If heat is an issue the I have a pair of Z9 to "fall back on". For friends in Africa and parts of North America where it is often over 35 degrees C ambient heat is always an issue - that is why cold gel packs and coolers were invented -- ask any RED shooter.
Pre-ordered one because I still have a Z6 and was looking to upgrade to a Z6/7 III, but Nikon knew that buyers like me would crack with the Z8 just being $500 more than a Z7. 😅
Hi nice like always Matt I am this ballpark to order but not yet still have one grown up at University for a bit more than a year so later on yes !so Still up to DSLR D800 more than 10 yrs and counting
not sure why nobody noticed that hss with godox at 1/1600s 1/3200 1/4000s and higher you get banding or lines on the skin. This was the most annoying thing I found out myself. Sometimes you don't see the HSS banding but you will see it in a darker situation.
You can have 9.44M dots in the EVF...just not combined with speed. Look at the Sony A1; viewing is high res, but tap the shutter, use the AF, and the resolution of the EVF drops dramatically. Nikon understood that, which is why they opted to stay away from an ultra high res EVF in a camera oriented towards speed and performance.
I’m thinking I will use the HEIF format as my backup. That should prevent the SD card from being a bottleneck. I think the chance of a CF card failure is small enough to use HEIF as an emergency backup. If I were saving video to a second card, I’d be unhappy with SD.
@@mattgranger Thanks so much for the response. I didn’t expect it. Hope you’re over Covid. For others’ benefit, I’ll add that I’m a serious shooter but not for money-yet. I would want a backup RAW if I were making my living with photos.
Hi Matt, I have been watching all your Z8 videos, which helped me make my mind up about upgrading from the Z6 original to the Z8. You speak about disappointments but I only have one... The clunking from the IBIS when you switch the camera on and off and also when you go into the menu button. If I turn the IBIS off and the Señor screen off, the camera is silent. Does your Z8 make this sounds? Thanks Nic
You were deluded to think there would be any significant improvement in ISO or dynamic range performance, when sensor technology had already reached the limits of physics in this regard ten years ago. The only way the visible signal to noise ratio can improve further is by improvements in software (like AI denoisers) and in image stabilisation in the few cases that it helps.
Matt I have really appreciated your reviews of the Z8. I believe you had more timely information about the Z8 performance than the rest of the UA-cam folks. I think the physics of heat dissipation would have made a Dual Card slot Z8 even larger and heavier than it is. CFX-B cards do get hot, and your mileage may vary on card brands.
@@mattgranger I just got my Z8, the only thing I wish it had more from rhe Z9 is GPS, I use a micnova to compensate, I use a powebank for longer shoot sessions, and love the space a cheaper SDcard provide. I see reviews that compare Z8s to Z9s as if they are made for same market,and thats why I asked.
Having 2 Z9, 2 d6 , and 1 D850, this announcement is just a big yawn. Good news… my bank account will not take a hit. Bad news … c’mon Nikon, this is not what we wanted.
SD is a mixed bag. I agree with your statements, but OTOH if you occasionally shoot long form 8k video or a very long timelapse, you could use a cheap 512GB or 1TB SD card for that and stick to smaller CFE-b cards for regular use. So that plays into the scheme of the Z8 being a cheaper solution than the Z9 for doing mostly the same stuff. (In regard to long 8k video on SD cards with no overheating, see Matt Irwin's recent video.)
Cheers. Good point. Doesnt solve the fact that SD will slow down this camera in stills - it is high res and high speed. If you want to use burst mode and 2 cards, SD hurts.
@@mattgranger Yes, and that's one of the reasons I will stick to my Z9. We're comparing edge cases against each other here. But if someone wants to talk himself into the SD slot being a possible advantage, here you go :)
![АЛАУДИНОВ у Скабеевой: эти их ВСУ нас НЕ ДОГОНЯТ 😁 [Пародия]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/an0anqU4WGQ/mqdefault.jpg)
No Camera is perfect - but the Z8 is pretty great. I think it is only fair to revisit the wishlist I shared back in April, and take stock of what things I listed were and were not addressed... to be fair most of them were not... SETUP GUIDE: learn.mattgranger.com/courses/zsetup
Is the sd card enough to keep this out of your bag?
What "new flagship products" have been released since Dec 2021?
@@UnconventionalReasoning I am not sure I understand the question
@@mattgranger You said that, in the 18 months since the Z9 was released, there have been new flagship products from other companies. But the A1, R5, and R3 were all released before the Z9. Only the R5C has been released since Dec 2021. The A1II R5II, and R1 are all somewhere on the horizon. Things are slowing down, as always happens as tech matures.
Hey Matt
I have been shooting with Z7 since it launched. I shoot product and food primarily and interiors occasionally. I saw on many reviews that the dynamic range of Z9 is not as good as Z7 because of the electronic shutter. Could you please test side to side which one is cleaner in noise and has more DR between Z7 and Z7? Thanks!
I don’t know about the comments here it’s a bit all over the place , if you have a Z9 and you find it great ! It’s the flag ship ! Why compare it to a non flagship . Also there are people , many actually moving up from 24 mp to 46 . With vastly improved autofocus . Not being able to shoot video non stop for 2 hours in the highest raw format is almost a mute point for most users . If you’re shooting video unless you’re filming yourself non stop talking most people won’t be using it this way . Just my 2 cents ! It’s a great camera !
Totally agree 👍
I think, most content creator only needs 30 mins or less of video recording.
I sometimes shoot live events which go up to 1.5 hours, but I wouldn't be using the high bitrate or high framerate formats for something like that anyhow.
@@andystandys yea
@@andystandys good point Andy
Hey folks - to anyone a bit upset by this video - please re listen to the intro of this video, and notice the title is ‘disappointments’ not ‘failures’. This is me revisiting my wishlist.
It’s a great camera - but nothing is perfect and this video runs through my own personal wishlist.
If the camera is perfect for you - that’s awesome and I’m sure you’ll love it! I may get one myself too!
You've plowed this earth a number of times now. For clicks? Loooook! I drive a car actually available in Australia, a Kia Stinger. On paper, it can do 167 miles per hour. I don't know, I have never tried that. But I DO know that it will perform magnificently at 120 mph for just about as long as my nerve holds. I actually wanted a Porsche Cayenne Turbo, but $42,000 was in my budget, and $180,000 wasn't.
Chin up! Let's create!
I have ordered a Z8. The Z8 gives me the opportunity to get some of the features that I have long been waiting for that the Z9 has had, but which is a camera that I, as an amateur photographer, cannot afford. Also, I found the Z9 to be unnecessarily large and bulky. So yes - I understand you're disappointed that nothing more has happened in 18 months, but I'm glad this camera has now arrived. I also mostly shoot stills, so your tests and criticism of video don't matter to me.
do you find any overheating issues?
As a professional not needing the speed I’m actually really happy it has the SD card slot, they go directly into my MacBook without any special reader or cable and can be bought pretty much anywhere if needed. Pre-order is in, having had a play at the local store I am very happy 😀. My only very slight disappointment is the lack of a locking card door but we can’t have everything I suppose!
Enjoy!
Looking back, I have to admit to myself that SD card is fairly weak system by comparison. It from a different era. A bit like floppy disks. I think that in a few years time we will all look back on SD in similar way. It was useful for a while but……. Anyway all that is sort of irrelevant in a sense because you can ignore the SD slot easily enough. It is just there so Nikon and the Z8 users can “say” that it has 2 slots. If you are using the Z8 for things the Z7ii cannot do, then just set slot 2 to overflow and forget to use it.
Waited for the Z8. Didn’t want different card types. Want to carry one type. Z9 arrived today. Love it. Size weight and reminds me of of long gone F5
Enjoy
I love my Z9, but it is an absolute bear at the end of a 10 hour wedding. And I'm a good sized guy, 6'2 and 260. I customarily use two cameras on a dual harness with different focal lengths until cocktail hour, then break down to one body and a 24-70 for the rest of the night. Maybe a 20mm 1.8 for fun on the dance floor.
I'm looking forward to the SD card in the Z8 for quickie sneak peeks. No need to pull out a card reader, just plug it into the side of the MacBook Pro at the beginning of cocktail hour, and whip up a quick slide show of the ceremony.
You wasted your money.
Surely you can't expect the Z8 to have a better evf etc than the flagship Z9?? Rather we should be happy that it has most of the features of the Z9 at a lower price!
Why?
@@mattgranger dumb answer, Matt.
@@coreybrooks3493 most of them have been so far
Hi Matt,I'm sure you are trying to be objective, but I think that this video is too much on the negativity side, especially with regards to the EVF; building a camera is always the result of choices. The EVF of the Z9 (Z8) is just great, and you are not mentioning the advantages it has, compared to the competition (absolutely no blackout, great optics, brightness, dual-stream,...). It is quite a achievement to put so many features in a $4000 body.
UA-camrs only talk about resolution. Maddening. I have a 1080p plasma that at times has better picture quality than my 4k oled and it will destroy many 4k leds. Resolution should be just a part of the discussion but they don’t have the capability to quantify the other important components of a great display (color, brightness, gradient, volume) so nothing else is mentioned or compared.
See my earlier videos, which are overall positive. And in this video I mention the brightness and speed of the evf too 🤷♂️
Matt, really. Aren't you picking nits?
Get Well soon !!!
Thank you!
Makes me rethink if I really need a D500 replacement now. DX mode at nearly 20 megapixels with all the features I don't think I need it any longer. Can't wait to get my Z8. I appreciate all the diligence putting it through the paces.
I think that every one here (or most of you) is expecting very demanding features wich none use. The camera was created according to the market and it will improving and evolving with firmwares and new updates like Z8II maybe.
I disagree, too much unnecessary negativity and nit picking.
I think we need to reset our timescale for improvement expectations. First, 18 months is less than it was a decade ago. Second, the Z9 was only "on the shelves" at camera stores in Aug/Sept, so in some ways it's less than 18 months. Third, the Z8 might have been released in Feb 2023, and perhaps the lawsuit by Red added a delay. Fourth, the AF performance is probably better than the Z9 from Dec 2021, but they're already in the current Z9 firmware, further reducing the "18 months" factor. Fifth, high ISO sensor performance improvement expectations probably need to be really tempered, that seems to be more about software going forward.
The next big jump for the Nikon Z system will probably come with the Expeed8 processor, hopefully in the next year or so. Ideally for the Paris Olympics...
* Expeed3: [1/2012] D4, D800
* Expeed4: [6/2014?] D810
* Expeed5: [1/2016] D5, D850
* Expeed6: [8/2018] Z7/Z6
* Expeed7: [10/2021] Z9
* Expeed8: [2024?] Z9II?
Processor technology improvements have slowed down in general, because quantum physics is a real thing. Moore's law may now be Moooore's law.
Since the note added to the video said that the SD card was the biggest disappointment, I will completely disagree and say that is one of the biggest wins. Again, it's the same as the D850. The Z8 is a balancing act rather than the kitchen sink for the full time pro who will stress the camera. Many of us will rarely use 8K or 4K120. The SD card is very effective for 4K30, which is likely for long record times for many users. While CFexpress cards have become very cost-effective, many of us have high-end SD cards from the D850 and Z7II.
To the disappointments of the card slots and video overheating issues, Nikon has a very simple answer: Z9.
Absolutely nailed it 👏
This sounds like the comment of a butthurt Z9 owner who is upset that he overpayed.
@@chiefjudge8456 I'm happy with the Z7II I got before the Z9 announcement. If I decide I do need the next level camera, I'll actually opt for the Z9 over the Z8, for the extra $1100.
@@UnconventionalReasoning The Z7II is also extremely bad value, but it's pretty obvious you own a Z9 which is why you tried to downplay the price difference. The difference is 1500 dollars.
@@chiefjudge8456 I always put a vertical grip on the camera (except the Z7, which is why it got immediately replaced with the Z7II). The Z8, grip, and second battery are $1100 less than the Z9. The Z7II is an excellent value, if it works for that photographer. It works for me.
It's hilarious that you think you know what camera I have. 🤣
I’m more than happy! Gonna sell my Z9 and buy the Z8 because the Z9 is too big and heavy. Of course a smaller body is gonna get hotter. But it’s ok for me. I only record for about 10-15 minutes at a time. And almost never the highest codec or 8K 60fps. Love the AF and love the ergonomics and Nikon lenses. 😊
I use a Z9 and a Z7II. Agree with the weight issue of the Z9, yet love how it performs. Fantastic autofocus compared to the Z7II. I'd lose so much on my Z7II that I'm just going to keep it along with my Z9, but if I had the money, I'd trade in my Z7II on a Z8, and rarely be concerned about focus as frequently.
Hi Matt:
Another good video about the Z8! Thank you for all the videos so far - they have been informative, educational and interesting and they are appreciated!
I wanted to make a couple comments in response to what you have said - as a 'by the way' kind of thing, and not as a contradiction or anything like that :)
You mention that the two different card formats (CF Express B and SD UHS II) are your biggest disappointment with the camera and there is a part of me that agrees with you.
Still, I think this was likely the right decision on Nikon's part. For event shooting, there are just so many SD card users out there - it is so ubiquitous. I know that when I would occassionally second shoot, using the Z6 II, I would often have a CF Express B in the main slot and then 'borrow' an SD card from the primary shooter for the second slot and then just shoot RAW to both cards. This way, at the end of the event, I was able to simply hand the SD card back to the primary shooter and just walk away from the gig instead of having to somehow get them the files later. This was super convenient, and would not have been possible if there were 2 CF Express B slots in my camera as most people still are not using that format and would not have those cards to lend out.
So, although I personally agree that 2 CF Express B cards would be better, I also recognize that the Z8 is intended to be an 'all arounder' more so than the Z9 - more adept to being as useful as possible for all use cases and less specialized toward fast action shooting and large bit rate video. If super fast action is the reason someone is getting this camera then they really should still just get the Z9 - and I think that Nikon planned it that way - this makes sense.
As to your other point about the video not going as long, I think (and I am sure you agree) this was to be expected. The Z8 simply does not have the mass to act as a heat sink on the level of the Z9 and as such we would expect it to overheat sooner than the Z9. From the test that I have now seen, it seems that the Z8 still does pretty well getting like an hour to 90 minutes of even some of the highest resolutions and bit rates (RAW etc.) - as such it is a perfect camera for the hybrid shooter who does not do takes that are so long - rarely longer than a few minutes in the field - and even for a short interview or general UA-cam applications these times suffice.
Obviously, if you have a use case for longer video, as you yourself do, then a person such as this should go with the Z9 - as I know you have decided to do for your work - which makes sense.
Again, this is a perfect example of how these cameras are differentiated in spite of being so similar in so many respects.
Matt, I know that you know all of what I said and that you were not disparaging the Z8 camera in any way - simply pointing out facts (which I agree with incidentally). I mainly am writing this comment just to give any interested parties a response to these points that I think you might (and have) actually made yourself.
Been a long time - hope to connect with you some day again :)
-PD (Baron)
I agree, not everyone has money to buy those CF Express B ... it is a great camera.
Honestly battery life is a small concern to me. Yes I do appreciate the long battery life in my D850. But I always have extra batteries in the bag anyway. And it just takes a few seconds to switch out. Though I don’t shoot video so that might be a different story for those that do.
I feel exactly the same way. I have 4 batteries, so if one dies, I'll just switch it on the spot, no biggie. I have never even needed more than 2 batteries on the same day, so anyone could do with two (I have 4 because I cycle between them, so as to complete fewer cycle charges for each, so they can last longer, at least a few years longer). But again, I use my camera for stills, not video, so perhaps videographers would feel differently about it. But then again, how many people will record anything for 2 hours straight, no pauses? I don't think anybody would do that.
But who uses it for video can use the dedicate USB port for charge it.
@@francescogaldieri That's true. Even if you're out in the field, you can use a battery pack to charge the camera.
@@francescogaldieriDon't tell anyone, but power delivery battery packs are 1/2 the cost of the EL-15c.
@@francescogaldieri In actuality, you would be powering the camera via the PD battery pack, while the internal battery stays at its current level. To charge the internal battery, you would need to have the camera off.
Ricci and Gerald Undone have both released video overheating tests and both got substantially better results shooting 8k 10 bit. Ricci got almost an hour and a half shooting at 8k30p on a delkin black card with auto temp cutout set to standard, Gerald got just over an hour and a half shooting 8k24p on an unspecified card with auto temp cutout set to high. Gerald reports that Nikon told him directly to expect around 60 minutes of 8k with the temp cutout set to standard, and around 90 minutes with temp cutout set to high.
I wonder what temp there testing space was. And how it’ll compare when people are actually outdoors
@@mattgranger Can't remember Gerald's, but Matt Irwin and Ricci tested in an indoor controlled environment of around 20 degrees C (which is warmer than where I am at the moment!). Key takeouts from Ricci and Matt Irwin's tests are that 1. choose your memory cards carefully - some cards generate considerably more heat than others, significantly affecting record times, 2. using an external power source, as Matt Irwin does often, also extends recording time (in fact, Matt managed to fill up a 2TB card with 60 fps NRAW). Obviously, the outdoor temperature is yet another variable. What this clearly demonstrates is that anyone who makes a statement about recording times should always qualify that statement with the parameters around their testing (and more than just the ambient temperature).
Yep. It’s also fair to have a control point such as another camera to show whether it’s the card or the camera that’s the issue. The cards I used (and said in video) are the ones Nikon says to use for high res video. And I’m the z9 no heat issues. In z8, heat issues. Hard to blame the cards.
The Z 8’s EVF is brighter than the Z 9’s and brighter than anything else in the marked. I’ll that over resolution any day of the week. Plus, it looks better than some other EVFs with more resolution. Just my 2cents.
Same brightness. 3000nits
Is the viewfinder brighter/clearer than the Z6ii?
I’m sorry, Livejames is right. Z 8 and Z 9 have the same evf.
I am curious how it compares to a Z6ii. Similar resolution. Is it cleaner? I have no Z9 experience.
@@tc6912 the biggest difference is no blackout. If you have a Z6ii set it to a high frame rate and try to track something. It’s doable but difficult because of blackout. Besides that the Z9 EVF seems more true to life and is much brighter
Be well. Hope you recover soon and completely.
My guess is that this will be the last generation of pro machines to need dual cards. The next generation is likely to have one card and one SSD, like the Hasselblad, or the DJI mavic Cine.
ssd has a life expectancy and the cost of replacing an internal one could be a trouble
Shoot in overflow and copy your Slot 1 images to SD via the playback menu periodically through the shoot. You get max buffer AND backup. Simple.
Simple. Just follow some diy process not required on any other camera. What could be simpler, other than using appropriate cards slots to begin with.
@@mattgranger It's a valid option for those scenarios where you NEED to maintain your burst performance while also backing up in the field. The camera doesn't have dual CFE, so time to stop sucking lemons over it and adapt. No need for this when doing anything but the most demanding work.
I’m not sucking lemons. I made a video with my opinions, and days later you replied. This isn’t weighing on my mind.
Even for the Z9 today's AF is much better than 18 months ago :D
As a Z6ii user I'm pretty happy with upgrading to the Z8. Sure, it's not perfect but it is what it is. I already own pretty well all the Z lenses I need so it's just a body upgrade for me. I don't shoot video.
For its price of $4k, I think, its perfect, if you want more features, you have to pay more
I'm going to "disagree" with you on a couple points. The SD card slot - we're in total agreement on the negatives but in the real world - today - SD cards are easier to get and non-pro to semi-pro shooters will find them easier to find and cheaper. I think they expanded the crowd of potential buyers by going this route (that said, I hope it's the last camera that uses them, time to pull an Apple and just ditch 'em).
Port covers; the fewer covers you have the fewer points of failure you have (I rarely use them at all so I probably shouldn't comment either :^) ).
For the other negatives; pulling from the same parts bin as the Z9 goes a long ways to keeping the price in check. I suspect most buyers will accept the lower price as a good compromise for not getting higher resolution evf and back screen and the adjustable screen. Save those bits for the Z9ii and Z8ii.
I'll probably pull the trigger on one next month (too many toys this month.... :^) ). I got very impatient and bought a Z9 a few months back when the Z8 was looking like a mythical Unicorn instead of a real product. Don't like the weight of the Z9 but dang, that battery has really sucked me in.
They could have done something like allowing SD/Cfexpress type A like Sony. Frankly, the only reason a nonpro is going to buy a Z8, besides having tons of money is that Nikon is far behind in terms of AF on the Z6 II and Z7 II. They are great until you grab a Sony or Canon. Then they are competitive most of the time for portraits, but not for the rest. Please keep in mind that the. Z7 II has a better image quality, in particular in terms of high ISO than the Z9. Personally, I don't mind the SD I am planning to buy the camera (if I don't switch brands) and as a nonpro I see the SD as insurance: I will send jpg small basic to it. If something brokes I don't lost the images.
Fair enough. But note the title. These are disappointments - not negatives per se.
i haven't had any overheating issues with the z8. i had them on the z9 but fixed the problem. found out that gettting the right card with extra bandwidth fixes the problems. it's a really finnicky problem too. the card manufacturers don't make it easy as they try and only boast max output. even some boast constant output, but fudge those numbers. there is a lot of info out there on this.
I can only imagine that I will be very happy with the Z8 compared to my D850 for birds in flight and eye focus. There is no need for me to compare the Z8 to the Z9 unless I won Powerball last night.
Could of saved $3000 and got a canon R8 40fps man. Also this non mechanical shutter cameras have less dynamic range more noise and less image quality in the details.
@@lewcehjitl3282 i hear ya but I am not a canon fan, been a Nikon fan since 1976. To me it is the same as Chevy vs Ford and I am a GM fan, the Nikon feels so good in my hands and I love the sound. Have owned Nikon FM, 8008, D90, D200, D7000 & D850. I bought the D850 because the Z6 and Z7 were their first mirrorless releases and they had underpowered AF for birds in flight. In addition i have a large collection of F mount lenses. The D850 is still considered a beast and the best DSLR ever and its built in focus stacking, timelapse have taught me a lot. My 2 sons have R5's and love them.
@@lewcehjitl3282 im between the Nikon Z8, Sony a7 iv or v, What do u recommend?
Get Well Soon Matt....
I just got my Z8 and i find myself having banding issues in high speed sync photos with my godox ad400pro flashes going faster than 1/1000s. really love everything else about the camera
nit picky stuff. For a lot of people who did not want the size and cost of a z9, it's a pretty good piece of kit., And answers the question that a lot of people had about moving z9 features into lower end bodies. Going beyond the z9 for Nikon is an expensive ordeal, and the money might be better spent on improving the lens range, and improved lower cost cameras. The z9 holds up well against the r3 and a1. I am sure the successor to the z9 will give you more of what you want. One thing I think Sony is struggling with now is a lot of complaints from a1 owners is that a7r5 has better features in a cheaper camera
Great review and valid points. Lets hope they show up in the z9ii
And built-in flash, very handy in many situations is also missing.
Feel better soon! Just piping in to say that your studio shot on the red background looks especially nice in this video.
Matt Irwin did some video heat tests that are more in line with my interests; no heat problems there. Video is secondary for me anyway. The Z9 is an incredible camera ( I rented one for a week last year), although a little heavy and quite pricey. The Z6 II is a good camera (rented last year), just too small for my hands. My hobbies of landscape and wildlife photography seem well suited to the Z8. I think my preordered Z8 will be perfect for my use case.
Long time viewer, first time commentor. I have personally been awaiting this camera. Will be upgrading from D780 to a Z8 soon.
I am not understanding the seemingly big gripe about the SD Cards? I feel that it gives choice. If I need speed, use the CF slot, if I dont need the speed and need value per Gb I would go the SD cards. And for anyone who needs the fast speed and redundancy, then hey, buy the Z9.
Also for the video you did regarding the buffer speeds and such between the z9 and z8, you heavily kept saying its not as fast. But you didnt make it fair. Is it really not as fast, or is it just because you used a SD card? put the same CF card in both and test. Then we will know what the camera can do with fair comparisons.
And in this video you said the Autofocus is the same but forgot to mention it is a tiny update as they added Airplane AI. Thou I do expect the Z9 will get it to via firmware.
I do have 1 question about the Z8 that I am yet to find an answer too, does the z8 have an antialising filter or not? Anyway keep up the vids, love learning all about my next camera.
The Z8 does not have an antialiasing filter.
Af improvements were not just airplane mode, the spec sheet says it’s improved in low light focusing and Nikon says there’s improved af. Z9 will probably get an update to make it equal.
No AA. Enjoy your camera
Mine is on pre order. I think you need to put size and weight as a satisfied category, yes I understand the disappointments, but there are performance trade offs that would likely require an Exspeed 8 to overcome.I am very satisfied with what I expect to be a great companion to my Z9.
happy to see these are the insatisfactions, none of those bug me a bit
Great!
Just take pictures and be happy!
Get well soon Matt, you did fabulously well to stay away from Covid for this long..............hope it clears up quickly, without any long term effect
Thank you for unbiased/critical reviews. Your dedication is appreciated but I hope you kick that Covid and are 100% soon. I'm shooting a Z7ii now (I shoot mostly landscapes and architecture). I ordered a Z8 as soon as it was possible to avoid waiting if I decide to go ahead with the purchase. I am starting to shoot birds, so I was interested in better auto-focus and a better EVF. Most of all wanted a 60 megapixel sensor so I could crop and print a little larger than I currently can. After getting more information from post-release reviews I'm still on the fence. I didn't get everything I wanted and if a Z7iii comes out with 60 megapixels I will want to buy it. Feeling like Goldilocks.
I've never had a problem with the card door opening on my Z7II, which a lot of people seem to complain about.
I don't know if the rubber eye cup on the Z8 is similar to that on the Z7II, but I've had to replace mine once,
and have had to apply some superglue to the replacement..
Oh dear Matt. You really wanted the Z8 to be a “new” camera. Instead it’s a mini Z9 with things missing. It’s a shame you didn’t just review it as a new camera instead of comparing it to the Z9. Nikon said this is the true successor to the D850. My ears picked up as I am a D850 owner. But spending £5500 on the Z9 I can’t justify, but spending £4000 and able to use my existing cards and battery is a step up to me and thousands of D850 owners. I feel your disappointment but it does water a lot of good things too
This camera is definitely more than a D850 replacement! That is a good thing!
@@williambuford6136 I agree. Shame other can’t see this
Have you watched my review? I absolutely did review it for what it is.
Strange not to mention the card make dependency as a key to understanding over hearing (cf Ricci's analysis)
In my overheating videos I specifically mention the cards used. Both Nikon certified.
How is in low light situations
because am a user of z6ii and i have ishues in low light situations.
Same problem have z7ii cant find point focus all the time and struggle.
A had Nikon D750 never had this problem
I totally get you on the card slots. Now that I have the Z9 I don’t want to be going back to SD. That is probably the one thing holding me back from the Z8 and pushing me towards a second Z9.
I appreciate the videos buddy. 👍
yes would of been nice for duel CFXB cards but how often would you actually need them? Changing cards is quick and easy and you still have the overflow to an SD card if needed in a pinch!
Meanwhile, for those of us with the D850 or Z7II, the SD card is still in our camera bag.
I have the same concern with you. However I wonder if it is possible to just use the CFE-B and backup using SnapBridge to a smartphone in the background.
@@shang-hsienyang1284 that might be way to slow however an external recorder may work!
@@shang-hsienyang1284What backup are you doing that the SD card is insufficient?
Sorry about your covid Matt, and your good reviews.
Basically: at its best it’s a z9 (nothing more), at its worst it’s a z7 (nothing less).
Well I placed my ‘pre-order’ on May 14th and canceled it today. It’s easy to get swept into the ‘hype’ but one must first take a serious inventory of what their needs are verses just salivating over technology. None of my photography is video, so much of the Z8 is unnecessary. I don’t do large bursts of RAW for sporting or BIF type photography, so I really don’t need the stacked sensor and fastest cards. I currently own a D850 and use only a 256gb UHS-I card…..and I can burst both RAW and fine JPEG for about 15 images before it slows down. And knowing the Z8 is really 1.5 year old technology….decided for now I don’t need the Z8. I do like new ‘stuff’, but this one just doesn’t make sense in my situation. Mileage may vary by driver…. :-)
Good points. One big reason I did not buy the ever so popular Zf - lack of CFExpress card slot. For me that is a bummer. Wish Nikon will release another camera that can make use of the bigger EN-EL 18D battery. Or make a grip for the Z8 that can take one, like the D850.
Here in Canada the Z9 is 1500$ more thatn the Z8 and TBH the difference in video and battery makes me think I would spend the extra for the Z9... Was hoping to save a few bucks but Not this time. Thanks for the work you do Matt!
I am leaning the same myself
I ordered 2 pcs
Having a D850, I would have been tempted to purchase the Z8 had it had the 60mp that was rumored, but with these specs can't really justify the move.
D850 Video capable... lol. love D850 for stills. bought Z6ii for video. Z8 perfect all-around camera I think. Don't have to carry 2 cameras anymore ( still cam and vid cam).
Fair enough. If higher res is your only concern.
Be careful with these titles and videos Nikon fan boys will smash the thumbs down button hard. 😅
Those who can listen, read, comprehend and think probably won’t. :)
I was looking for the GPS Sensor I really like the function. I was looking for a smaller body as the Z9 so means I have ordered a Z8 and there is a change that I will have it in my hands at 25. 😊
The SD card may be an issue for the cross-section of people shooting fast action (or high-res video), and those having to have redundancy. I actually wondered if Nikon could have given the Z8 a combined SD/CFe-A slot in addition to the CFe-B slot. That way, they could have maintained compatibility with SD while also providing a faster option for redundant shooting. But it would also mean people would have to have more expensive cards, that they probably don't have yet. So I guess Nikon might not have considered it worthwhile.
But I wonder about something. The USB data transfer port is said to be USB 3.2 gen 2, which means it has a maximum speed of 10Gbps. SSDs like the SanDisk Extreme Pro achieve about 950 MB/s - way more than any SD card and closer to some CFe-B cards. So I'm wondering if the camera could output files through USB-C for redundant storage? If they can mount an SSD on a cage or something.
I wouldn't want to run such a setup, but then I don't care about redundancy. I have my two D750 slots set to overflow.
Feel better Matt! I am wondering how really significant are all these overheating tests are? I get it if you wan to record continuously but how often does someone record 2 hours and 5 mins straight or even less without pausing? How much time to reset the heating process and how much of a pause is needed to help?
As I said in the video, I expect 95% of people won’t be affected. Doing a test on long video recording is for those that do…
I'm satisfied the camera is coming in at under $4000 US.
I think the biggest drawback to me, although not a deal breaker necessarily, is the inclusion of the SD card slot versus a CFE-A (which was very unlikely to begin with, and CFE-B would not have even been considered by Nikon since the Z9 has dual CFE-B cards) at least Nikon does have the function to allow you to copy files from the CFE slot to the SD card slot separately. While not the exact same as shooting to dual cards at the same time, it does offer some peace of mind (this feature is actaully found in the Z6/Z7 bodies too, but I think it may have been added later via firmware as I don't recall it being there initially in the gen 2 bodies). But at least we do have the option. So I guess I give them a half a star for that one. The battery life and 8k video recording limits likely aren't going to hamper my personal needs as I'm mainly going to use the z8 for stills (wildlife) and other non-action related shooting (portraiture and some landscape). But I think for those who need dual card slots and speed, consider the Z9.
But on the other hand, coming from a Z9, yes the Z8 will appear to be inadequate in various ways. But I think that someone coming from a D850 or Z6/Z7 may see things differently and feel the z8 is a great camera. I'm not disagree or agreeing here necesarily, and more or less, for other people, it depends on your perspective and what you've been shooting with.
Can I take still photo while recording a video with nikon z8 camera?
You have some video comparing the AutoFocus tracking of the Z6II and the Z9/Z8 ?
The battery trick. You don't need to buy Nikon cable to charge the battery in the camera. All you need a charging cable which is dirt cheap on the Amazon. I bought a few 100w cables for like $7. Camera will charge the battery from a Thunderbolt port.
To charge the battery on the go all you need is a small powerbank with output of no less than 3A. Just shut off the camera in between the picture taking and battery will charge.
SD card. Most new laptops that are very thin and only have SD slots. So SD slot on the camera is very helpful.
Yep! One point - its USB-C, not Thunderbolt.
@Matt Granger USB-C doesn't have power. Thunderbolt USB-C does.
Incorrect.
@@mattgranger It needs to be USB-C PD. Regular USB-C does not have 3A power. Thunderbolt does.
All usb c cables can carry 3a. Maybe you’re confusing PD with Thubderbolt. Thunderbolt is a data transfer protocol that uses usb C connections.
Is it true that they took away RAW-M and RAW-S for stills?
If so that is sad because RAW-M on my D850 is my general whatever shooting mode as it doesn't take up much space but still gives me a good quality image I can work with I I feel the need.
Gee, I’d be happy with a Z8. Much better than my much loved Z6ii, but I don’t actually need one. It might be the only way I can get better autofocus, so… .
Q: how many Covid vaccinations have you received? 6 for me, but I’m an old guy and my wife has been terrified, hence very careful.
Q: other than a backup, would a pro use a Z8 for video? The shorter recording time would far exceed my foreseeable needs.
I’d not be surprised if the Z8/9 weren’t developed together but the Z8 withheld until the Z9 sales started to drop off.
Well if I ever make the jump to a Z I'll be sure to grab your setup guide and the Z8 sounds like a great option for what I do as my video is usually limited to short clips of wildlife.
But you probably know me well enough at this point to know that unless the affiliate link points to KEH or MPB I almost certainly won't be using it. 😉
Actually there is one Nikon here that was purchased new in this century, it's a Nikon Coolpix S3000 SWMBO bought before cell phones took over that market.
Someone in another video suggested that the general build quality on the Z9 is better and more solid than that of the me Z8. Did you get that impression?
Sure. The z8 is great and totally fine. I’d have no concern using in any conditions. But it’s not as rugged as the z9
Okay with Memory card config - on par with Canon having same slots, agree that the EN-EL15* battery should have been upgraded - more MaH, One bug bear with Z8 is the grip not offering a cradle / option to use the D4-D6/Z9 EN-EL18 battery and wonder weather Nikon could do a Battery Grip that housed 1 x EN-EL15c (allowing hot swap) with USB-C charging and built in Power Bank - although this accessory grip would eat into sales of the official Z8 Battery grip
Not disputing the validity of your disappointments wrt your needs and comparison to Z9, but for me the Z8 is exactly what I've been looking for from Nikon. I need better AF tracking than my Z7 provides as most of what I shoot is sport, wildlife, and model aircraft aerobatics. The Z9 is too heavy for me (due to a combination of injury and frequent need for prolonged sessions of hand held shooting). All I have been looking for is a slimmed down Z9 and I've been explicitly saying all along that I'd be happy to accept the attendant worse battery life and limitations that stem from heat dissipation challenges. Nikon delivered exactly what I was looking for. While I would be even happier if it was lighter yet, the compromise works for me and the price is well below what I would have been willing to pay.
Awesome! I’m sure you’ll love it
My complaints:
-Eye cup is horrendous. As a basis function of shielding light from your eye, it fails miserably. Also it is made out of a hard material with no give. It shouldn't be too much to ask a high-end camera company to have problem-solved a luxurious, comfortable and light-shielding eyecup. It's the only other contact point with your body aside from the grip.
-Removing the release mode dial (top left) is a downgrade. To change release mode now requires two hand operation.. It's not a big deal, but to remove it from the 9 does not improve them camera.
-Still no 4:5 crop mode. This was on many previous Nikon bodies, even the 6/7.
-No two-shot brackets. Only a 3 and 5 option, and only in middle>under>over format. Previously you could do middle>under>2under (or over), as well as two shot brackets. Also, you can change the order in which the bracket is recorded, but not with your brightest exposure first. As a whole, the bracketing function is too limited, which is surprising considering its a more expensive camera than the ones that have these features, and it has a dedicated bracket button.
-No live-view zebras for still photography. They have it for video. Even my outdated DJI drone has live view zebras for stills.
Hello Matt, I did watch your video on Z8 overheating and I think both Ricci and Matt I did, That have but out some very intersting tests.
Yes I’m not surprised the tests are presented differently given the presenters
@@mattgranger How are ours different Matt?
Idk Matt - I haven’t seen yours. Seems John has.
I was saying it doesn’t surprise me. In general (from what I’ve seen - not meant as any criticism) Ricci is very technical and a Nikon employee - he isn’t impartial. And you’re extremely enthusiastic and positive in all videos I’ve seen. And I anticipated you had alternate findings to share, as you repeatedly copied and pasted the same comment in to my video replies the other day.
Just sold my D500 and 500mmpf
Now deciding what camera I’m going to invest into.
Z9 or Z8 out of my pocket but if I was going to invest it would be Z9
No point to buy other Nikon z cameras it’s just throwing money out of the window.
So now it’s wait or Canon R6ii
Do you really think there was no work done in the recent 18 months? To me it‘s a development to transform a camera with features of a Z9 into a smaller body. And I think there were a lot of internal technical issues to consider resp. solve to build a camera like the Z8 which you and me can‘t really judge. It‘s easy to be disappointed if you expect 60 Mpix oder a brighter shutter or whatever. But your expectations are totally personal. Just my two cents!
You are right! Fitting it all in and redesigning to make it work in a smaller body is a lot of work.
Thanks for the reviews, I just purchase a Z8 recently but I’m having a little trouble with the EVF. When looking through the finder there is a Red Highlight on objects. I have check all settings and i can not figure out the issue. My focus peaking is set to off. When i take photos it doesn’t impact the image. And The red Highlights are not on the back screen only the View finder. And Yes I have reset the camera to factory on multiple occasions. Any Ideas would really help before sending it back for warrant work.
Are you in manual focus? Or did you bump the focus ring?
@@mattgranger Nope. The EVF just shows a Red glare in the screen
Here are my disappointments in order: 1. I can't afford one. 2. It's too expensive for me. 3. If I bought one I would starve to death.
Get well dude!!!
The resolution on that is considered HI-RES... NIKON will more likely create a medium format...
Cramming all those video specs into that little camera is over kill. They knew it was overheating in development.
I personally wouldn't expect more from that because IT'S NOT THE FLAGSHIP it's the Z8
the 2 cards slots doesn't matter because you can't shoot video to both cards on the Z9... So the SD card makes perfect sense...
Thanks Iem - it is not the flagship true - but it was marketed as having the same video capabilities. And SD card is an issue for high speed stills, more than video.
But this camera will no doubt satisfy the needs of many shooters!
@@mattgranger I'm saying the Z9 is the flagship... Off course we should expect the lesser system to be dumbed down a little
I watched the video, well done. Honest and on point. Then I decided to take a dive and look at the comments, and this confirmed that there is a real problem with Nikon fanboism , a phenomena that makes all of us Nikon shooters ashamed for them. On a more important note, get well at God speed !!
True, Nikon fanboys are even worse than Sony fanboys.
Does the USB output socket allow video recording directly to T5 SSDs like on the Blackmagic 6K?
Nope 👎🏼
@@mattgranger Thank you
The disappointment. Perhaps you should get your money back. 😢
Forgot to add - good set of videos on Z8 9 haven't seen all yet) and great video of balanced Pros, Neutrals and negs on Z8
I think z8 is a decent camera. If you buy one you will wish to buy one vertical grip because of additional batteries.
In this case the camera is bigger than Z9. Why to buy one if you own Z9 already? Cannot see any reason.
.
I think people want smaller size and lower price. I personally wouldn’t consider the grip.
Maybe the overheated card could be avoided in those overheat situations if you use an Atomos HDMI recorder.
Using USB power would also help.
@@UnconventionalReasoning Seems to be more related to the card itself (depends on the card) as Ricci pointed out in his video. Using the same power source (the 15C battery) two or three cards caused a shutdown, one didn't.
@@HR-wd6cw I think it might be both which affect the overheating. The sources of heat include the sensor, processor, LCD/EVF, card, and battery. So many things going on...
So you expected an AF system better than the Z9? And a better sensor?
Nope
I am just being curious about something. About the 2 USB-C ports, it has been mentioned that you can use one for power and the other for data. Does this mean that both are fully implemented or does it actually require that power is supported in one of the ports and not the other?
It's that one is dedicated for power delivery and one supports data transferring beck and forth. Think of your phone cables, charging cables can only do charging, if you want to use your GPS capabilities in your car you need the data cable.
I think both ports are implemented but one is for power only I believe. The other can only connect to certain data devices (external video recorder and USB LAN I think, but probably not an external SSD/storage drive).
Already have Z9, had the Z8 came with front facing articulating screen (prefer A7RV execution) I would have pre-ordered it as my all-in one hybrid camera. Except for the smaller size nothing really making me buy the Z8. Nikon I think missed an opportunity here.
Hi Matt - good job -- keep plowing on:
I wanted the Z9 style card door with lock -- the card doors work perfectly on my pair of Z9 now they are worn in a little.
Lets see how long the LCD on the A7RV lasts. With its similar tilt but then addition of a flippy style hinge.
I prefer no blackout EVF rather than higher res -- and in the end of the day as an action shooter I do not want or need more res in the EVF. I want and need the camera to perform taking shots and vids.
I am with you in relation to SD -- but Nikon has said they had to include SD to open up the market AND we will live with just using the CFE-B and leaving the CD for overflow. Do not use BACKUP if you want speed and long bursts.
I am not with you in relation to how you choose to shoot video - In your over heating vid you were a little more balanced -- you said the video will be fine for 90+% of shooters, but it overheats when folk try to shoot at the highest resolutions fps for very long times. I shoot short 2-3-5 min segments not long long long single recordings - at high frame rates. I shoot long segments at far far lower fps. At 24-30p I expect the Z8 will fill large cards or hit the 125 min limit before having a problem and I will test this in mine when it arrives on Friday. If heat is an issue the I have a pair of Z9 to "fall back on". For friends in Africa and parts of North America where it is often over 35 degrees C ambient heat is always an issue - that is why cold gel packs and coolers were invented -- ask any RED shooter.
So the perfect mirrorless camera isn't so perfect. What a shock!!
Not at all. But given how some ‘review’ cameras, you’d think they’re perfect.
Pre-ordered one because I still have a Z6 and was looking to upgrade to a Z6/7 III, but Nikon knew that buyers like me would crack with the Z8 just being $500 more than a Z7. 😅
THANKS MATT
Hi nice like always Matt I am this ballpark to order but not yet still have one grown up at University for a bit more than a year so later on yes !so Still up to DSLR D800 more than 10 yrs and counting
not sure why nobody noticed that hss with godox at 1/1600s 1/3200 1/4000s and higher you get banding or lines on the skin. This was the most annoying thing I found out myself. Sometimes you don't see the HSS banding but you will see it in a darker situation.
I don’t use godox hss 🤷
Sorry to hear.
A little of nitpicking. Lol
I do agree with the card door design and not having two CF Express slots.
Keep up the good work!
I preordered mine. Just saw someone say it doesn’t have medium and small raw files. Can you confirm this?
Confirmed
@@mattgranger bummer. Not a deal breaker but for weddings that’s a nice to have for sure.
You can have 9.44M dots in the EVF...just not combined with speed. Look at the Sony A1; viewing is high res, but tap the shutter, use the AF, and the resolution of the EVF drops dramatically. Nikon understood that, which is why they opted to stay away from an ultra high res EVF in a camera oriented towards speed and performance.
Yep fair point.
@@mattgranger Hope you kick the COVID to the curb quickly, btw.
Thanks mate. All done now.
I’m thinking I will use the HEIF format as my backup. That should prevent the SD card from being a bottleneck. I think the chance of a CF card failure is small enough to use HEIF as an emergency backup. If I were saving video to a second card, I’d be unhappy with SD.
Fair enough. As long as you aren’t shooting 20fps that shouldn’t slow you down too much
@@mattgranger Thanks so much for the response. I didn’t expect it. Hope you’re over Covid. For others’ benefit, I’ll add that I’m a serious shooter but not for money-yet. I would want a backup RAW if I were making my living with photos.
Hi Matt,
I have been watching all your Z8 videos, which helped me make my mind up about upgrading from the Z6 original to the Z8. You speak about disappointments but I only have one... The clunking from the IBIS when you switch the camera on and off and also when you go into the menu button. If I turn the IBIS off and the Señor screen off, the camera is silent.
Does your Z8 make this sounds?
Thanks
Nic
That is just the sensor shield closing. Not ibis I believe.
@@mattgranger
No it is the ibis as if you turn of the ibis manually the noise goes away.
So, it is some you hear with your Z8 & Z9?
As I said, the only noise I hear is the sensor shield.
You were deluded to think there would be any significant improvement in ISO or dynamic range performance, when sensor technology had already reached the limits of physics in this regard ten years ago. The only way the visible signal to noise ratio can improve further is by improvements in software (like AI denoisers) and in image stabilisation in the few cases that it helps.
Haha. Ok
Matt I have really appreciated your reviews of the Z8. I believe you had more timely information about the Z8 performance than the rest of the UA-cam folks. I think the physics of heat dissipation would have made a Dual Card slot Z8 even larger and heavier than it is. CFX-B cards do get hot, and your mileage may vary on card brands.
I dont know, but are you wishing for a cheaper Z9?
Nope
@@mattgranger I just got my Z8, the only thing I wish it had more from rhe Z9 is GPS, I use a micnova to compensate, I use a powebank for longer shoot sessions, and love the space a cheaper SDcard provide. I see reviews that compare Z8s to Z9s as if they are made for same market,and thats why I asked.
Rest up for a couple of weeks
Having 2 Z9, 2 d6 , and 1 D850, this announcement is just a big yawn. Good news… my bank account will not take a hit. Bad news … c’mon Nikon, this is not what we wanted.
Well, seems it’s exactly what a lot of people wanted 👍🏼
SD is a mixed bag. I agree with your statements, but OTOH if you occasionally shoot long form 8k video or a very long timelapse, you could use a cheap 512GB or 1TB SD card for that and stick to smaller CFE-b cards for regular use. So that plays into the scheme of the Z8 being a cheaper solution than the Z9 for doing mostly the same stuff. (In regard to long 8k video on SD cards with no overheating, see Matt Irwin's recent video.)
Cheers. Good point. Doesnt solve the fact that SD will slow down this camera in stills - it is high res and high speed. If you want to use burst mode and 2 cards, SD hurts.
@@mattgranger Yes, and that's one of the reasons I will stick to my Z9. We're comparing edge cases against each other here. But if someone wants to talk himself into the SD slot being a possible advantage, here you go :)