Compared to the D850 (not an opinion):
Z7 data first D850 second
Sensor BSI CMOS vs CMOS
Processor dual Expeed 6 vs Expeed 5
Sensor shift Yes vs No
Stabilisation Yes 5 axis vs No
Stabilisation 'effectiveness' 5 stop(s)
File format JPG, raw vs JPG raw and TIF
Focus point 493 vs 151
Screen dots 2,1m vs 2,35m (ah! the correct nomenclature, dots, not pixels)
Continuous shooting 10FPS vs 7FPS
Storage CFexpress Type B / XQD, UHS-II SD vs SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II supported) + XQD
Battery life 420 vs 1840
Weight 0.7kg vs 1kg

This is what I compare when I look for a new camera.

Hi Frank. As a landscape and product photographer, I recently moved from the nice Fuji X-System, to the Nikon Z7, primarily because I wanted to get even more sharpness/detail in my large landscape prints/panoramas. I find the Z7 to be amazing in its build quality, ergonomics, customizability, and most importantly, Image Quality, with the superb Nikkor S lenses, as well as other Nikkor lenses when used with the FTZ Adapter. The sharpness and detail I obtain from this system is the best I've seen in 45 years of photography! (If you don't need the features of the Z7II, IMHO, you'll be quite pleased with the Z7.) Good luck!

I wish once and for all folks would stop bashing anything that is made in China or Thailand or whichever other country. If these people had the opportunity to visit some of these factories, they would see many of them are state-of-the-arts ISO 9001-certified facilities capable of manufacturing top notch products.

We did the same thing regarding Japanese products in the decades after WWII. Look what that has gotten us?

Have people complained about the quality of iPhones? Or solar panels? Almost of them are made in China.

Yes, there are plenty of little factories in China making cheap t-shirts and other low-tech products. But if we think China, Thailand, Vietnam or Taiwan (Taiwan has been producing hi-tech equipment for decades before mainland China) are not capable of making world class equipment, we'll soon have no manufacturing left in this country.

Yes. I have several thoughts on the Nikon Z7. I have less to say about the Z7 II, because I have not looked at it to the same depth that I have looked at the original Z7. You should know that I currently shoot a D850 (2.5 years), D810 (3.5 years), and D500 (x2, for 2+ years) after using a D200 (which I still have and use) for 14 years and a D300. After looking intently at a Z7, I chose not to buy one, although I believe that they are fine cameras. But even though they are the last purchased, the D500s are my most used cameras right now.

You have received several replies which show very serious confusion between the Z7 and Z7 II. These are very different cameras with very different internal architectures. They probably should be considered different models instead of a single model with an upgrade. I'm going to reply separately to Ron's posted comparison, which as written contains several significant errors. So be sure which model you are looking at and read carefully about whichever one you are choosing.

While a number of folks have replied with the implication that the Z7 is the "perfect" camera, it hasn't been that long since the same people were calling the D850 the perfect camera, and before that, the D500. So I'm sure that in a couple of years, neither the Z7 not the Z7 II will be the perfect camera either.

OK...here are a couple of specifics to which I can speak definitively. First...I still do not like electronic viewfinders. Clearly, that it is a minority opinion, but you have asked for opinions here. I find it very fatiguing to use an EVF for any prolonged period of time. I also do a lot of night sky photography and would never use the Z7 for that, because the EVF is too costly to night vision. While it can be convenient, the cost of requiring as much as 30 minutes for my right eye to recover full sensitivity is simply not worth it. I can use Live View to accomplish the same benefits (usually around focusing) with little or no loss of night vision sensitivity.

If you are really looking at a Z7 instead of a Z7 II, be aware that there is no battery grip available and no connector interface to add one even if one becomes available from a third party. This is kind of a big deal (at least to me) when using a camera for which battery life is one of the big negatives compared to other available models.

There is nothing about the Z7 that is likely to "fix" anything about your photography. Some claim that the WYSIWYG capability of the EVF will solve a lot of problems. I guess it might be a help, but keep in mind that the EVF is in no way in the same league as a calibrated monitor, and the image is not large enough to support making really informed critical decisions. I find (and still believe) that the claims made for the EVF, while not totally without merit, are seriously exaggerated. There are other ways to improve your exposure performance without spending $3,000. As far as image stabilization goes, there is also likely some merit to the claims as well, although the claim of 5 stops of stability doesn't wash with me in any real life scenario.

In the end, it doesn't matter to me what camera you buy and shoot, as long as you are happy with it. Hey...I shot a D200 for 11 years...even after a number of newer and "better" choices became available. I still like its CCD sensor when I am in an intense color situation, like a Dale Chihuly glass exhibit. It's just not very good when the light starts to fade.

It's not clear from your question whether you are considering a purchase or just thinking about the camera. Either way...have fun.

Sometimes things run quite a bit deeper than all that. About 25 years ago, we (both at home and work) all of a sudden began having a lot of problems with hardware purchased at a very reputable surplus store on the east side of Seattle. Nuts wouldn't fit on bolts from other sources, and bolts wouldn't work with nuts. Washers and lockwashers were mostly all OK. Initial investigation revealed that the trouble started when the store began sourcing all their standard hardware from a Chinese supplier. But it turned out that wasn't the real problem. The real problem was that they were making all of this hardware on a brand new, highly capable, incredibly precise set of metric-based manufacturing equipment. The equivalent dimensions that they had used to do setups to produce English hardware were insufficiently correct and accurate. The same problem would have existed if the factory had been located in downtown San Jose or Denver.

Imprecise communication and incomplete understanding were the root problem. Once fixed, everything was OK. Based on my conversations with folks in manufacturing who source from China, communication remains a problem today, and has been made worse by a growing arrogance and stubbornness as the Chinese folks have learned their crafts and trades. It is apparently worse when they do business with companies here than when they do business with companies in countries that are less different culturally from them.

So the problem can be real. Especially if companies just dump a prototype and say "make me two million of these." With care, great products can result. With indifference, it is easy to get a shipping container full of junk. And sometimes junk is exactly what is specified and ordered. So yes...it is advisable to shop skeptically and inspect carefully.

The Z7 has a battery grip the MB-N10, it lacks a vertical orientation shutter button(nuisance) - the D850's MD-18 has one. The Z7ii has the MB-N11 battery grip that has a vertical shutter button. Neither of the Z grips support the use of AA batteries, which the MD-18 does.

I have both the Z6, Z7 and the D850. I really like both of them. For landscapes I like to Z's (the Z6 is full spectrum converted) - the WYSIWYG electronic finder is great particularly with the full spectrum z6 where I can see the effects of the filter. The D850 is much faster in operation - particularly with autofocus. Empirically, the Z7 focus seems slightly more accurate than the D850. Live mode D850 focus is really slow but the equal of the Z's.