p.8 #1 · "Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 – The 10 main differences"
The best way I've found to avoid problems with contrasting specs between two cameras is to just buy them both.
That is my plan for the Z9. Buy it, try it. Then pass judgement once my new flame suit comes in the mail.
I grip all my cameras and only rarely find it nice to have the option to remove the grip. I can go either way but I have no issue with an integrated grip camera and for the most part prefer it as they are usually more compact then an external gripped camera of the same generation/brand. I just wish the Z9 was R3 weight...it is certainly a bit of a pig.
p.8 #2 · "Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 – The 10 main differences"
Lol your hilarious and obviously an experienced troll. Scott your the one who started this argument by accusing me of behaving as if I was superior to everyone else... Your words not mine, and I certainly do not have an overinflated ego...just proves you know nothing about me at all. Your the one who is full of himself. You really think it's ok to routinely insult others on this forum? I'm sure it's easy behind the keyboard . I have watched you insult many others here in the same way. Your the one with an ego problem friendo so now your being called out!
p.8 #3 · "Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 – The 10 main differences"
arbitrage wrote:
The best way I've found to avoid problems with contrasting specs between two cameras is to just buy them both.
That is my plan for the Z9. Buy it, try it. Then pass judgement once my new flame suit comes in the mail.
I grip all my cameras and only rarely find it nice to have the option to remove the grip. I can go either way but I have no issue with an integrated grip camera and for the most part prefer it as they are usually more compact then an external gripped camera of the same generation/brand. I just wish the Z9 was R3 weight...it is certainly a bit of a pig....Show more →
Well, better you than me
I await your impressions of the Z9, when and if you get it. I had the same added grip/integrated grip situation with the d700 and D3...the D700 was bigger AND less ergonomic. I am a bit surprised with the weight as well...you figure they could have shaved a few hundred grams off.
I think the bigger issue in the Nikon system for me is that the new sub 100mm S series lenses seem to be quite large without an obvious functionality/performance advantage over, say, Sony.
Still, I'm sticking with Sony, but will cheerlead Nikon from the sidelines.
p.8 #5 · "Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 – The 10 main differences"
arbitrage wrote:
The best way I've found to avoid problems with contrasting specs between two cameras is to just buy them both.
That is my plan for the Z9. Buy it, try it. Then pass judgement once my new flame suit comes in the mail.
I grip all my cameras and only rarely find it nice to have the option to remove the grip. I can go either way but I have no issue with an integrated grip camera and for the most part prefer it as they are usually more compact then an external gripped camera of the same generation/brand. I just wish the Z9 was R3 weight...it is certainly a bit of a pig....Show more →
Are you planning on trying any Z lenses? I know you still have the PF hanging around, right?
p.8 #6 · "Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 – The 10 main differences"
I look forward to your comparison on the A1's auto focus performance vs. Z9. I think it may be a close race, but have doubts Nikon has caught up to Sony on this regard. Will be very interesting indeed !
p.8 #7 · "Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 – The 10 main differences"
RoamingScott wrote:
Are you planning on trying any Z lenses? I know you still have the PF hanging around, right?
Not at this time. Just the 500PF. I saved that lens just for this type of camera. If the Z9 is really good then I'll look for a big lens in Z mount when they finally make them. But seems like that will be a ways down the road.
The sensible thing to do would be just to forget about the Z9, sell off my 500PF and a few other remaining Nikon things and just forget about it all. But I'm overly curious to see how good it is. If my dealer can get me a Z9 during the first couple shipments I'm sure I can resell it with minimal loss as many people are going to have a long wait for it.
p.8 #8 · "Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 – The 10 main differences"
arbitrage wrote:
Not at this time. Just the 500PF. I saved that lens just for this type of camera. If the Z9 is really good then I'll look for a big lens in Z mount when they finally make them. But seems like that will be a ways down the road.
The sensible thing to do would be just to forget about the Z9, sell off my 500PF and a few other remaining Nikon things and just forget about it all. But I'm overly curious to see how good it is. If my dealer can get me a Z9 during the first couple shipments I'm sure I can resell it with minimal loss as many people are going to have a long wait for it....Show more →
I haven't read much on adapting older Nikon DSLR glass, but what I had seen is that it was fraught with more gotchas than Canon's adaptation. Still, could be a stopgap for a supertele while waiting for a native Z to drop, if you really like the Z9 body.
p.8 #9 · "Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 – The 10 main differences"
I think the real deal is how the AF comparison go between the 2, I don't care about anything else but the AF performance, will have to try the 2 side by side, only way for me to sell my 2 A1 and buy 2 Z9 will be the AF on the Z9 is better to a level that I can easily tell when shooting them side by side, just like when I moved from 2 1DX Mark II to 2 A9 3 years ago, I tried them side by side and those are not on the same level.
Steve Spencer wrote:
There are at least four ways that the A1 specs are better and those include:
Higher resolution (50 vs. 45 MP)
Higher frame rate (30 fps lossy compressed RAW vs. 20 fps lossless compressed RAW)
Faster flash sync speed (1/400 with the half mechanical shutter vs. 1/200 or sometimes 1/250 with low enough power)
Size and weight (the A1 weighs almost 600 grams less and is smaller in substantially smaller in width and height).
There are at least four ways that the Z9 specs are better and those include:
Faster sensor scan speed (we will know more when the camera is release, but Nikon seems to have a small advantage here)
Longer video shooting capabilities (the Z9 claims 2 hours of 8K video whereas Sony doesn't appear to be able to shoot that long).
Faster storage cards (the CFE B type cards in the Z9 are definitely faster than the CFE A type cards in the A1)
Better battery life
Most of these differences are quite small and likely hard to notice (like 50 vs 45 MP and differences in sensor scan speed). Others are likely to be needed by only a fairly small number of shooters (like 1/400 flash sync or real long 8K shooting or need really long battery life). Others are about preferences that will vary from one person to another (whether you like a camera to be small and light or whether you don't care about weight and want lots of room for your hands and easier operation in portrait mode). In the end I think for most people the differences in performance are going to be small, but differences in preference are going to loom large, and it is fine that there are differences in preference....Show more →
p.8 #10 · "Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 – The 10 main differences"
That sounds really great, have you tried the 2 cameras side by side? I don't really care about the other stuff with cameras, AF performance means everything to me, I will sell my 2 A1 to buy 2 Z9 if the AF performance is better on the Z9 to a level that I can easily tell the difference when shooting the 2 cameras side by side, so the question is can the Z9 deliver?
dclark wrote:
Yeah, low light auto-focus will probably transform how I use a camera.
The Sony A1 spec is AF at EV=-4 with an f/2 lens. That means it still focuses when I need a shutter speed of 60sec (not 1/60 sec, a full minute).
The Nikon Z9 is way better. At f/2 it focuses when I need shutter speed of two minutes!
p.8 #11 · "Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 – The 10 main differences"
I feel like I can answer this. I do not have experience with long focal lenses or BIF but I do frequently use my 28, 58, and 104 f-mount lenses on a z6ii body. The f-mount glass is a hair slower than native z-mount, but I haven't found it to be limiting to my current style of photography which is mostly toddlers in flight and everyday life.
The z body has breathed new life into those three lenses and now I assume I'll hold onto them for many more years because they do work just fine with the FTZ. Maybe it helps that each was released not too long ago at 2013, 2016, and 2017.
The 70-200 2.8E that I used to have felt fast. No complaints with it.
RoamingScott wrote:
I haven't read much on adapting older Nikon DSLR glass, but what I had seen is that it was fraught with more gotchas than Canon's adaptation. Still, could be a stopgap for a supertele while waiting for a native Z to drop, if you really like the Z9 body.
p.8 #12 · "Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 – The 10 main differences"
RoamingScott wrote:
I haven't read much on adapting older Nikon DSLR glass, but what I had seen is that it was fraught with more gotchas than Canon's adaptation. Still, could be a stopgap for a supertele while waiting for a native Z to drop, if you really like the Z9 body.
It seems that Nikon was able to address many of those issues in the Z9. Reports indicate that most of the F mount glass performs at least as well as they did on the DSLRs. But not at the same remarkable levels as the new Z glass This is something I didn't believe Nikon would be able to do. Nikon deserves credit for this.
p.8 #13 · "Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 – The 10 main differences"
EdwardDye wrote:
That sounds really great, have you tried the 2 cameras side by side? I don't really care about the other stuff with cameras, AF performance means everything to me, I will sell my 2 A1 to buy 2 Z9 if the AF performance is better on the Z9 to a level that I can easily tell the difference when shooting the 2 cameras side by side, so the question is can the Z9 deliver?
I was being sarcastic about a spec that I consider to be useless.
I agree that the ability to achieve precise AF of action subjects is a key comparison. The problem is that it is not amenable to unambiguous measurements (even if you have both cameras) so all you get is a lot of useless conflicting claims.
Nov 08, 2021 at 07:12 PM
Steve Spencer Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
p.8 #14 · "Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 – The 10 main differences"
RoamingScott wrote:
I haven't read much on adapting older Nikon DSLR glass, but what I had seen is that it was fraught with more gotchas than Canon's adaptation. Still, could be a stopgap for a supertele while waiting for a native Z to drop, if you really like the Z9 body.
Scott, the people who have adapted Nikon F mount glass to the Z9 report excellent results and several videos are out there with absolutely great performance. I will eagerly await Geoff's results, but it seems clear that the Z9 performance with F mount glass far exceeds the earlier Z mount camera's performance.
p.8 #15 · "Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 – The 10 main differences"
Steve Spencer wrote:
Scott, the people who have adapted Nikon F mount glass to the Z9 report excellent results and several videos are out there with absolutely great performance. I will eagerly await Geoff's results, but it seems clear that the Z9 performance with F mount glass far exceeds the earlier Z mount camera's performance.
And that's a major point of difference for Nikon, Sony don't have the solutions Nikon now do for the long glass users.
p.8 #16 · "Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 – The 10 main differences"
Bob_S wrote:
And that's a major point of difference for Nikon, Sony don't have the solutions Nikon now do for the long glass users.
As someone who recently switched to Sony from Nikon the Z9 does not tempt me in anyway to switch back. 2 major reasons.
1- Sony does not need to adapt long glass, they have it already. Nikon will eventually have it. Sony has an amazingly sharp, light and well balanced 600 built for mirrorless so no need to adapt. No way I want to take a Z9 and add an ftz to push the weight of my old 600 f4E even further out. The ability to have a 600 in my hands to use along with the A1 was all I needed.
2- This part is hard to tell because none of us has shot the Z9 but on paper there does not seem to be a single function that I care about that appears to be better than the A1. It is heavier (put me in the camp that prefers the flexibility to shoot with or without the grip), and can not shoot 30fps raw files (even though the A1 are compressed, the Z9 only allows full res jpegs at 30fps). The rest seems to be about a wash between the 2 cameras.
So kudos to Nikon for finally producing a quality mirrorless camera. Every person that I know that has the budget and shoots Nikon ordered one. I don't feel a single bit of regret for not waiting and feel the A1 is still the better, lighter, faster and more flexible camera. Nikon does not have a 600 that even comes close to competing at the moment.
Nov 08, 2021 at 11:30 PM
duncang Offline • • • [X]
p.8 #17 · "Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 – The 10 main differences"
saaketham wrote:
Scott, I'd like to formally invite you to spend just 8 hours on the Nikon forum.
You may be interested to see the Sony users who spend a lot of time there,
educating us poor Nikon users (I shoot both, and I don't care to argue with them as much since the z9 launch)
about the fatal flaws in Nikon products, how DSLRs are dead, how anyone still shooting DSLRs are crazy old people,
how the z bodies are worthless and how only the A1 can save our souls.
I've ordered a z9, but continue using and loving my a1. I am trying all means to save my soul....Show more →
so now your being called out! 
