Bipod

Thanks. I just wondered why you were generating "buzz" for a product annoucement.
I'm still wondering. :-)

I have a bunch of old Nikon gear and love it. But I let them do their own cheerleading.
What's best for all concerned if Nikon products sell because they are good, not
because they are heavily marketed (or "stealth marketed").

I've got gear from other manufactures that I like just as well, but many of them are
out of business or no longer making cameras, sad to say.

Competition is good (and I don't mean the "Coke vs. Pepsi" kind). There used to be a
lot more different critters in the woods:
* SLR, TLR, rangefinder designs
* Manual exposure vs. AE
* Manual focus vs. AF
* Digital vs. film
* Simple vs. Complex

Today, there are no simple cameras except disposable film cameras.
All other cameras have have AF and AE (often several modes).
They are microprocessor based, which means they have firmware
and are *enormously* complex. They require large, expensive batteries
or frequent re-charging. And almost all have menus and/or overloaded
buttons, making them very difficult to operate without looking at the
camera. Many are unusuable in bright sunlight.

In short: not only are cellphones evolving towards cameras, cameras
are becoming more like cellphones.

I hope both DSLRs and MILCs remain available. But we used to have a lot more
choices. "Mass extinctions" are bad for photography. So is oligopoly.

It's important to understand why this is happening. Today solid-stat lectronics are
cheaper to manufacture than optical, mechanical or electrical systems. Mass market
camers are under the most pressure to reduce parts count and assembly time--
but *not* complexity: that resides within vastly complex ICs and firmware.

No technology is "neutral": push products in a certain direction. Electronics permits
almost unlimted complexity. But it also tends to replace knobs with buttons, and buttons
with menus--because switches are large and expensive. Only tradition stands in the way.
Up to now, Nikon has been a bastion of that tradition.

The shutter button tended to stay in the same location in SLRs and DSLRs. In the mirrorless
world, it can be *anywhere*. It may not even be a button: it might be on a touch screen.
Reducing parts count trumps everything.

So I can't cheer for yet another MILC annoucement. I hope it's a good product
and I hope it does well for Nikon. But I'm more interested in keeping photography
from becoming a Coke vs. Pepsi kind of thing. Diversity is good.

PVR8 Loc: Raleigh, NC

Agreed...

terrapatesco Loc: Boise, ID

I've read a lot of angst about the single card slot. Certainly a card failure would be catastrophic. But then again, technology moves toward. I am sure many will respond that they have indeed had card failures and are thankful that they had a backup. But hopefully, technology gets more reliable. When was the last time an Apple computer had a CD drive? An iPhone had an ear phone jack? When was the last time you took your car in to have the points adjusted? Clutch replaced? Spark plugs gapped or replaced? Carburetor adjusted?

Will there be cases when someone with a Z6 or Z7 has a card failure and looses all their pictures? Certainly. But I am guessing it will be less often than it might have been a year or 5 ago.

A second card slot would certainly have made for a heavier, bulkier camera body. Nikon choose to move forward just like Apple has disposed of the CD ROM and the ear phone jack on their iPhones.

Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY

Not having a second card slot is a lot like not backing up your computer files. If your hard drive fails and you lose all of your data, files. photos, programs, etc., its exactly the same as a Pro Wedding photographer having a card failure and losing all of the pictures he took of a clients wedding, or a photographer on a shoot and losing a days worth of shots because of a card failure. I'm not a pro, but my second card slot is set for backup ever since I had my camera. In the 5 1/2 years that I have had my D800, knock on wood, thankfully I have never had a card failure... and I hope I don't jinx my self saying that.

A card failure is a lot like an HDD failure... it doesn't happen often, the problem is, when it does it will be too late to do anything about it. Maybe if you are lucky and work with a second shooter, you will still have images. Or, you could use smaller cards and change them out at intervals during the shoot, but that does not guarantee losing images either.

gwilliams6

The valid point folks are making is that Nikon needed to compete for that pro fullframe mirrorless market just like Sony has and Canon will be joining soon. Nikon has plenty of pros in its camp to know that these cameras needed dual card slots to be truly competitive. They have taken a solid first release and dumbed it down, needlessly.

It is not unfair to say, "What were they thinking". It could not have made the bodies much bigger to include the second card slot. Sony has squeezed dual card slots into their fullframe mirrorless bodies which are smaller than these new Nikons. And it can't have cost that much more to have done two slots. And certainly Nikon has shown it has the software and tech to make dual card slots work.

We can only guess at the real reasons Nikon has miscalculated here. But maybe the powers to be at Nikon realized they had to leave something out of these cameras, if they weren't going to totally cannibalize their top pro DSLR lines with mirrorless cameras that have distinct performance and feature advantages such as EVFs, true silent shooting, real autofocus in video, and much more in a smaller, lighter package.

The invited independent test shooters in NYC will do fair justice to the solid releases these cameras are, and they will be mostly praised, and become big sellers for sure. But be assured Nikon folks will also get an earful from Tony, Jared and others invited to NYC. Cheers

gwilliams6

Yes burkphoto, it boggles the mind here. You know Canon will see an opening here and make sure their fullframe mirrorless cameras have dual card slots (which they probably always planned to have) . Nikon has needlessly thrown a big bone back to Sony and Canon, and well as you pointed out Burkphoto, all the other mirrorless cameras that have dual card slots. Maybe there is room in that Z6 and Z7 XQD slot to make a two SD card adapter fit. (Ironically XQD cards are made by Sony). Not sure if this Z7's 45.7 megapixel sensor is also manufactured by Sony like the D850's 45.7 megapixel sensor. Both Nikon and Sony are keeping that secret, only saying it is a Nikon designed sensor. Cheers.

terrapatesco Loc: Boise, ID

The same was said about Apple when they "forget" to include an ear phone jack in the iPhone.

I've heard all the reasons for dual memory cards, just saying there comes a time when...

gwilliams6

I will never shoot a paid assignment with a pro camera that doesn't have this redundancy. It is irresponsible and unacceptable for my clients who pay me to deliver coverage. Cheers

drmike99 Loc: Fairfield Connecticut

And in 1990 all the wedding photographers used the famous Dual Hasselblad (not one of which, inexplicably, survives) that loaded and simultaneously exposed two rolls of 220 film side by side just in case a roll got screwed up in developing or accidentally light-exposed or lost. I agree 2 slots has become an expectation. Ok, why not THREE slots, just in case 2 cards fail? Or 4? I like the analogy others have used with Apple. They were called crazy to drop the serial port in the first iMac, substituting that strange thing they called “USB.” And how did they think their computers would compete without floppy drives? Technology changes and at some point reliability is sufficient to drop the belt and suspenders philosophy.

Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY

Do you back up your computer documents and files, or do you abide by your philosophy that "at some point reliability is sufficient to drop the belt and suspenders philosophy?" I don't think the Apple analogy can be compared to Nikon only putting one card card slot in the new Z-mount cameras. Card failures may not happen often, but they can and will happen, just like HDD's will fail. If you were on a photoshoot for a client and the card failed after the shoot was done and every image you shot that day was gone, I doubt that client would be a happy camper. I'm not a pro myself, but my second slot is set to backup. I wouldn't be happy if I was on the trip of a lifetime and my card failed and I ended up with no photos because my camera only had one card slot and I was not able to backup my shots.

Acufine3200 Loc: Texarkana USA

LOL!!! ROTFL!!!

I didn’t realize pro’s were Nikon’s only target for these new bodies. I can remember the old guys at the coffee shop complaining about the auto manufacturers replacing the old trusty 3-foot jack with a “beer can and a rod.” Opined the crusty guy who owned the local welding shop: “I’d never buy one of those cars, and chance my wife changing a ‘tar’ with that cheap piece of junk.”

tdekany Loc: Oregon

Agreed.

tdekany Loc: Oregon

Are these supposed to be PRO cameras in the first place?

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I can even less of your opinion.

johneccles Loc: Leyland UK

Boring!