I placed an order for the Nikon Z9 the day the stores began to take them. I wasn't in a rush to get it, and I was hoping to hear more concrete information of a possible Z8 before the body arrived. A little less than five months, and I received an email with tracking information.
So far it's been a good experience.
- The AF is much better than the Z7, and better than the D3.
- The Nikon 200-500mm surprisingly focuses much faster than on the Z7. I'm not sure if it's a placebo effect, or whether the AF is stickier, leading to the impression that it's focusing faster as it doesn't hunt.
- I'm getting more peak moment shots for surfing. I'm also getting more junk shots as I don't let off the shutter soon enough.
- The shutter does blank out at 1/100s. I'll have to look into why that's happening, as I thought it would only blank out at sub-1/30s exposures.
- I've only hit the buffer a few times, and this is with Sony XQD cards shooting high efficiency (HE*) files.
- On two surfing shoots (2500+ shots), the battery did not drop below 50%, and I barely filled one 120GB card.
- The Z9 barely fits in my Peak Design 10L Everyday Sling. Hopefully the zipper stands up to the abuse.
- I'm not used to the weight. My arms hurt after the first outing with the Z9 + 70-200E. In my younger days, I could last several hours with a D2H + 70-200VR + SB-800 + flash bracket.
I'll update this post as I continue to learn the camera.
On a side note, I picked up an Irix 11mm f/4 (not that I need something this wide, but it was a bargain) and a Sigma 50mm Art (not that I need yet ANOTHER normal lens, but it was also a bargain, especially for the Otus Lite). More on these lenses as I use them.
