Nikon just announced the highly anticipated successors of the popular Z6 and Z7 cameras, and named them Z6 II and Z7 II. The first one will be available in November, and the second in December. They have improved the cameras across the board while basically keeping them in the same housing. They look identical to their predecessors on the outside, but the weight did increase 30g (Z6/Z7 weigh 585g, the Z6/Z7 II weigh 615g). Most of the improvements are internal and via software. Here are the key points:
- Dual Processors for better AF performance, especially in low light, higher buffer, less blackout
- Improved Eye detect with Wide Area (L) mode
- Dual Card Slots, one XQD/CFexpress, one SD UHS-II (previously single XQD/CFexpress slot)
- More FPS in continuous shooting, 14 FPS on the Z6 II, 10 FPS on the Z7 II
- 4K 60p video in the Z7 right away with a slight 1.07 crop (Z6 via software update in Feb 2021, and with a 1.5 crop)
- MB-N11 Power Battery Pack with 1.9x improved battery life, buttons, joystick and an USB-C slot
- EN-EL15c battery with increased capacity of 2280mAh (the previous one EN-EL15c had a capacity of 1900mAh)
- You can power the camera via USB-C and use it at the same time
- You can update the firmware through the free iPhone/Android Snapbridge app
- Addition of a 85mm 1.2, 400mm and 600mm S-Line lenses to the road map
With all these additions, Nikon actually lowered the prices compared to the Z6 and Z7 at launch. The Z6 II will cost 2000 USD, the Z7 II will cost 3000 USD.
My reaction
These are some great updates that are meant to attract DSLR shooters into the Z system, those who were holding out because of some deficiencies, but may not be enough to draw in current Z6 and Z7 users. I'm personally very interested to get a Z6 II some time next year when prices go down a bit and the life goes back to normal again where I can travel more frequently. I never buy a camera right away, I wait a bit to see long term reviews, to get a hands-on experience and to see prices fall further. Right now my D810 still serves me well and I hope to use it for a long time, but I would like to have a smaller secondary mirrorless camera for my old manual lenses and for a smaller footprint. The cheaper Z5 could be an option for that as well, so I will wait and see how the prices move here as well. It's definitely great to be a Nikon user, even if you're not in the Z system yet, because I can see how much Nikon has improved in merely 2 years and how much focus they put into making this a great experience for photographers. There will be even more lenses and more bodies coming out next year, so I'll be observing that with anticipation and enjoy shooting with my D810 in the mean time.
Appendix
Here are two introduction videos about the new cameras by a Nikon marketing.
Here are first hands-on reviews by various photography influencers:
Reactions by working photographers:
Pretty good updates by Nikon, and I have no idea why some people complain, since they fixed everything that was there to fix with the first gen. The Z6 and Z7 were already way better than their reputation, these two now moved into 'class leading' category.
ReplyDeleteThese updates are a joke, Sony is much better than Nikon will ever be. In fact, Nikon is going bankrupt soon. They are a terrible company with no leadership, Sony's CEO must be laughing when he saw these two turds.
ReplyDeleteLOL.......
Ok, whatever makes you sleep at night.
DeleteI'm going to get the Z7 II. Pulling the trigger after shooting with Canon DSLRs for over 10 years.
ReplyDelete