swifty168 wrote:
I agree that the product performance should be commensurate with the price.
But I do see Burleigh’s point. Reskin that Zf in a Z5 body and price it around $1600 and you have a wonderful Z5 II that resets the category price point, inflation adjusted.
I think it’s about expectations. Whilst I can see value in a Zf reskinned in a Z6 body for $2k, I think market reaction will be very underwhelming. Whereas a Zf reskinned in Z5 body for a lower cost will be seen as a great value, yet up to date proposition.
I see a $2500 Z6 III worthy of that asking price as something the market will respond better to. Certainly more buzz and builds on the Z8 momentum....Show more →
This is segment where buyers are starting to look at price more than specs and start to live with things they can do without. I'm going to look at how the a7cii and the a7iv did compared to the a7iii and say the market is going to respond better to the $2k cameras than a $2.5k a7iv.
As for the Z5, since they're allegedly beefing up the Z6, the Z5 can keep the existing older design and it'll fit right in as a budget camera to not only produce and to sell. Not much work is needed at all. Just drop in the new chip and it's good to go at $1.5k, making it literally a "ii" update.
If this thing does 4K60 uncropped and open gate then that's actually an excellent upgrade in my opinion. Would definitely try to get my job to order this since the AF on the Z6II isn't stupid proof enough.
He's in such a rush he doesn't proof read anymore, laughing at the "XQC" card. He seemed really upset when SAR beat him on both the Z8 and Zf rumors.
That said its shaping up to be an interesting body. May one day replace my Z7 but i've grown fond of it as i wanted it since the system came out and took a while to get. I've really come to love 45mp too but thats less of a big deal.
Interesting if true, especially since the Z8/Z9 perform as they do with just one. That being said, not many camera processes benefit from parallel processing as we can see in the Z6II/Z7II as well. Also there is nothing in the rumored specs that would suggest the Z6III needs more processing power than the Z8/Z9 as again, it is clearly more/less just a refreshed Zf in a different body, exactly as expected (so far).
Dual processors are not ideal from a manufacturing standpoint as it doubles cost for that part minus any bulk discounts, increases heat in the body, uses more precious real estate inside the body, increases power consumption (small body battery life is already not great), requires a different mainboard (bad for re-using parts and purchasing power), etc. That being said, it's possible they would use two processors that don't meet binning standards for Z8/Z9 bodies as a way of reducing waste.
Personally I doubt they will use dual Expeed 7, especially since they are almost certainly using Zf internals, and it won't have to deal with the sampling rate of a stacked sensor, but always happy to be wrong in situations like this
RoamingScott wrote:
And still nothing surprising. It's a grown up Z F.
Which is such a disappointment. There is literally nothing that I want in the Zf/Z6 other than a better articulating screen. Was shooting close to the ground portrait mode tonight and it's absence annoys me to no end every time I do this. I hike with my gear most of the time so an external screen is not really an option, if there was a light compact one I would just buy it and continue with the Z6.
bernardl wrote:
Dual Expeed 7 probably simply means that Nikon follows Sony in dedicating one processor to AF.
Cheers,
Bernard
That's not how the processors work. They are for the most part imaging processing engines. See what dual EXPEED6 gave us: 4k60p and 2 more fps, both are additional frames being generated.
Given the EXPEED7 in the Z9 can already do 4k120 and 8k60, there's little reason to add more image processing power when a single chip is sufficient to do all that.
Sony's chip configuration is the BIONZ XR and another AI Processing Unit. It's not two BIONZ XR chips. I also noticed some outlets report "dual BIONZ XR" chip in the a9iii, but in Sony's own literature they never said that. They however disingenuously used a photo of two processors side by side in their features tab, which may lead others to think there's two of those chips. The a7siii, the first camera to get that new chip, also had the same two-chip marketing image in it's own features page.
Subject recognition and tracking involve image processing operations. The dual Expeed 6 in the Z6 II did enable subject detection in wide area L AF area mode. It was for me at least the mode which made the Z6 II useable.
However, Expeed 7 is unlikely to be fully utilized at this point and there is probably little reason to put in dual processors in a mid-level camera that doesn't try to be better than the Z8/9 and will produce lower resolution images and lower maximum fps.
He claims the new bodies are Z50 II, Zh, and Z6 III. The Zh would be an answer to A9 mark III with speed as the primary focus. The initial NR claim was that the Z6 III would be that speed monster, which never made sense to me. Guess we will know within the next couple of months.
Tech Traveller video about a supposed Z90, 33 MP APSC with high FPS :
They have similar videos for the Z5II and the Z6III. Possibly clicktbaits although in the case of the Z90 video, you can spot Ricci appearing briefly in the background (at 2mn 23), so there may be something there.
Burleigh wrote:
Tech Traveller video about a supposed Z90, 33 MP APSC with high FPS :
They have similar videos for the Z5II and the Z6III. Possibly clicktbaits although in the case of the Z90 video, you can spot Ricci appearing briefly in the background (at 2mn 23), so there may be something there.
This is just a clickbait video using the stupid AI TikTok voiceover with random specifications and using Z9 footage (hence why Ricci is in it)
Getting some traction with rumors now; Nikon has registered a new camera in Asia, typically only done when a release is imminent. I would say based on the rumors of various events going on, end of January at best guess for a release - It appears Tom Heaton is in Mongolia now with (most likely) Nikon as he appears to be getting off a chartered jet with several other people, using an 800 PF for what can only be wildlife, and then the gathering at Lanzarote later in the month. Lead time to get back from Mongolia and publish coinciding with a possibly public even in Lanzarote to release the camera at the end of the month. That's my best (completely uneducated) guess anyway.
More Wildlife photographers out there posting from Mongolia, so I think the camera may be more action/sports focused than let on? Unless they are dual releasing and some have a Z900 or some other APS-C many have been clamoring for.
Regardless of MP, speed, form factor, etc the only thing that will see me buying a new Nikon body is at least a two stop gain in noise reduction above ISO 6400 compared to anything they have out right now. That is my real area of need, everything else is just an extra.
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