List of Nikon Z9 continuous burst data by format and file size

The Nikon Z9 is the best mirrorless camera ever made, there's no doubt about it. The camera is so good, that the usual Nikon-haters are having a meltdown. So they're looking to find any fault to divert attention to that, and there's really not much to find. The latest attempt is the continuous burst in RAW, it is supposedly too small. So one Nikon fan on a forum posted a screen grab from Nikon Japan translated into English that shows all the RAW formats and what are the file sizes. If I had the Z9, I would probably shoot in RAW (high efficiency ★), because the quality is really close to lossless compressed, but a file is only 33 MB in size, which is outstanding, and you get over 600 shots in a burst. The RAW files on my 36 mpxl D810 are around 45-50 MB in size, so it's really amazing that the Z9 has a 45.7 mpxl sensor, but can offer RAW smaller in size. I'm so excited about Nikon's future. Here is the overview:

  

Nikon Z fc hands on in Taipei

 

I just had the pleasure to get my hands on the Nikon Z fc, Nikon's recent mega hit that is also sold out here in Taiwan, and share some of my impressions. First of all, the camera is tiny. It's much smaller than I thought which is a good thing. Secondly, it looks so realistically like a film camera from certain angle, you'd never think it's a digital camera. And that small screen that displays the f-stop is really small, but I like it a lot. The camera is really solidly built, much better than a Fuji in that same segment.

 

List of best ZEISS ZM lenses for the Nikon Z fc

The Nikon Z fc is one of the most popular cameras of 2021, and by far more important than the likes of Sony Alpha A1 which delivered some amazing specs, but is way too expensive for your average consumer. The Z fc with its affordable price of around 1000 USD is a camera for everybody, and offers an amazing digital and analog experience. Much better than Fuji, there's no doubt about it. But what is currently missing are some amazing native compact manual lenses that would complement the camera, however there is an alternative available: ZEISS ZM lenses (lenses that are made for Leica M mount). I decided to create a list of best lenses that could be adapted to Nikon Z fc, and I believe they need to be silver in order to complement it.

Nikon Z fc is putting the company ahead again

Nikon is not only profitable again, but they have shown, that they are having a fantastic future ahead of them. Do you remember the doom and gloom by Youtubers like Tony Trump? Pushing the agenda of an impending bankruptcy, and how Nikon is behind everybody. Lo and behold, it's 2021, and suddenly Nikon is the company that is creating the most excitement in the camera world. Earlier this year they have announced the development of the flagship Z9, a short ime later they have launched 2 amazing macro lenses (a 50mm and 105mm), as well as the development of 2 compact lenses (28mm and 40mm), as well as an 18-140mm DX lens (see my whole list). When we thought this was everything, they shocked the industry with a retro inspired Nikon Z fc! 

The weight of Nikon mirrorless vs Nikon DSLR

 

A lot of people say they switched to mirrorless to save weight and bulk, but that doesn't always seem to make sense these days. I looked into some data and compared Nikon's Z kit with a similar or somewhat equivalent Nikon F kit. You might be surprised, because the weight differences are not so much different.

What I wanted to do is compare cameras with a similar form factor, similar sensor, and comparable lenses. Battery life is also very important to me. All these factors were considered for this comparison. You might agree or disagree, but this is how I feel the two systems should be compared.

Nikon executive Keiji Oishi confirms a new mirrorless flagship camera

DP Review just published an interview with Keiji Oishi, the Department Manager of Nikon's Imaging Business Unit of the UX Planning Department. In the interview Oishi revealed that Nikon is planning to release a new flagship mirrorless camera that will be available within 2021.

Real photographer exposes the marketing hype behind the Sony A1

British photographer Allen Blasdell made a brilliant video exposing the recent hype behind Sony's new flagship, and showing why cameras like the Nikon D780 are just as good, if not better in certain experts.

The 'Nikon is doomed' narrative is getting old

It's pretty sad what kind of a garbage dumpster photography Youtube has become. 

Why has Nikon stopped making rifle scopes?

Suburban Rifleman, a smaller Youtube channel that talks about rifles and guns, is speculating why Nikon exited the rifle scope business over one year ago. He was very surprised to see that Nikon's website is completely clear of any mention of rifle scopes, and he believes they exited the business for political reasons. He said, if that was the case, he doesn't want to buy any Nikon product again.

Influencers push back against Nikon negativity

 

In the video above Australian photographer Matt Irwin, who is in the business for over 30 years, made an excellent video in response to yet another negative article on Nikon by the photography news website Petapixel and to negative bias by some larger Youtube channels. In the video Matt mentions how these articles keep pushing negativity about Nikon without actually providing anything new, and without mentioning Nikon's plan to profitability in the upcoming 2 years (see my video on that in detail). Despite recent losses, Nikon is still a financially sound company, they are not leveraged, have enough cash flow and have good credit. When it comes to their immediate future, they will be fine, and 2021 is expected to be a much better year than 2020, especially if a Covid vaccine will be available and the Olympics take place. I don't think it can get much worse than 2020, also due to the fact that Nikon are working on professional bodies and lenses scheduled for release next year.

Despite losses Nikon is a financially sound company

I made a short video about Nikon's financial situation after the recent quarterly results for the quarter of July, August and September (Q2 for Nikon's current financial year). Bottom line: Just like every company this year, Nikon's sales dropped significantly due to the impact of coronavirus, but there are also many positives. Nikon's cashflow is fine, their credit rating is fine (equity ratio still over 50%), and their P/L increased by 8.2 billion Yen in real terms, however Nikon used these profits to write-off losses incured by the closing of one of their Thailand factories earlier this year. Listen to my commentary of Nikon's quarterly summary:

 

Visiting the Taipei International Photography & Media Equipment Exhibition 2020

The Taipei International Photography & Media Equipment Exhibition 2020 is taking place these days in Taipei. I visited on the 2nd day in the morning, so that I could avoid crowds, but that wasn't a too successful effort. I reached there around 11 and it was already quite busy, since it was a Saturday morning. I stayed until after lunch and it got really crowded, and the vendors had more activities at their booths, such as models posing with gear and hosts interviewing photographers. While Taiwan just celebrated 200 days without a local coronavirus infection, I still did not want to take any chances, so I left early. Let me share my impressions of particular brands and how the show looked like in general.

Nikon's most popular Youtube video 'Har Pal Har Yaad Ko Sameintei' has 6.5 million views

Nikon may not be the biggest camera brand in the world anymore since the mid 1980s, but there is one country where the brand is still regarded as such: India. I don't know about the current market share, but a few years back when I traveled to India I was told Nikon is market leader, and enjoys excellent brand image due to their great service and very good price points for their entry level DSLRs. The gap between them and Canon wasn't that large, however. But still, this is definitely an anomaly in today's landscape. And so it's no surprise that Nikon produced their most viewed video in India. This video with the title Har Pal Har Yaad Ko Sameintei (which means "every moment every memory") was published in March 2020, that is some 6 months ago, and garnered 6.5 million views as of today. It's a Nikon Z6 promo video with a beautiful and emotional narration during a traditional Indian wedding. The main actress in the video is Samreen Kaur, a 21 year old upcoming model and actress from Jammu, one of India's northern states. She became famous when she joined a beauty pageant, then appeared in some music videos and became popular on Instagram and TikTok. It's a beautifully shot video, and Nikon garnered a lot of praise.

DP Review shows how Nikon cameras should be reviewed

If you're looking for a unbiased review of the Nikon Z5 in comparison with its biggest competition, the Canon EOS RP, DP Review just delivered a fantastic video review, which is short and straight to the point. Nikon won in every aspect but the price. Unfortunately bigger channels go a different route and use Nikon for negative click bait (see example 1 and example 2), so make sure you don't follow them. Only follow the best quality channels, if you want truthful information (here is my list).

List of best Nikon centric Youtube channels — My Top 20

Passionate and friendly photographer Matt Irwin from Australia.

If you're a Nikon shooter like me, you probably noticed the quite pronounced anti-Nikon bias on Youtube by some large photography channels (for example this one). Especially in the past 2 years when Nikon entered the full frame mirrorless market with their Z6 and Z7 cameras, the negativity has increased significantly. At the same time I have also noticed that there was an increase of quality photography Youtube channels that love to shoot with Nikon, and talk about their Nikon experience. For most of them photography takes the center stage, and a lot of them are working pros. Some others are doing both, talking about photography as well as Nikon gear, offering useful tips, tricks and tutorials. And most of all, they all seem like very nice people. There is no click-bait or drama on their channel, most of it is really good value content. Please check them out, and follow them, if you like them. If you find any new similar channel, do let me know in the comments, and I might add it in the future.

Is Tony Northrup's Youtube channel about to file for BANKRUPTCY?

In this post I will talk about Tony's EXTRAORDINARY losses in views and subscribers, and I will tell you at the end what ONE thing can save Tony (it's not too late). Please also buy my merch in the Taipei Geek Store.

Photography community calls out Tony Northrup on his Nikon nonsense

In a very predictable fashion, large American photography gear Youtuber Tony Northrup published his video reaction after Nikon revealed their upcoming mid-range full frame cameras, the Nikon Z6 II and Z7 II. As I have written earlier this year, Tony is biased against Nikon. Most of his videos are negative and talk about Nikon not innovating, their cameras not being as good as competition, and being close to bankruptcy. This is a formula that other big photography gear channels have also adopted, such as Fro Knows Photo and Matt Granger, however the latter has become increasingly irrelevant. 

DP Review top comments about Nikon Z two years later

DP Review is one of the largest English speaking photography websites and forums in the world. Before Youtube became so important for camera discussions, it was DP Review that was the place to be to talk about it. And it's still is a vibrant and influential forum today. The site usually has access to preproduction cameras of all major brands and they usually publish their initial impressions and mini reviews right on the launch day, and the real review several days later. I wanted to see how much has changed between 2018 and early 2019, when Nikon launched their first generation Z6 and Z7 and 2020, when they released the second generation with the Z5, Z6 II and Z7 II. I went to the official review, and selected the Top Comment, that is the comment with most upvotes by the forum members. This should give us a little indication about the sentiments back then and how they have changed, if any, in 2020.

Matt Granger is becoming irrelevant

Just like his American Youtube colleague Ken Wheeler got called out on his Nikon Z5 lies a short while ago, Matt Granger, a large Australian photography Youtuber, got called out by his own followers on his Nikon Z6 II and Z7 II nonsense in his recent video. There's a trend I observed a short while ago where large photography Youtubers go distinctly negative on Nikon, while less so with other brands. Regardless of what camera Nikon launches, they will focus on one supposed downside and proclaim Nikon as a failure. The reason for that, I presume, is that unlike Sony, Canon and Fuji, Nikon does not entertain and engage these pseudo-photographers despite their huge subscription numbers, but instead chooses to focus their marketing efforts mainly towards real working photographers and Nikon ambassadors like Joe McNally or Ricci Chera, serious websites like DP Review, as well as their commercial e-commerce partners like Adorama in the US and Calumet in Germany. Nikon also works with selected Youtubers, but those that have a good track record of being fair and balanced, such as Kai Wong in the UK and Stephan Wiesner in Germany. Some say Nikon is doing a bad marketing job, but I increasingly disagree, and I will explain further down below.

Nikon Z6 II and Z7 II and other October 2020 announcements - my reaction

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: