Z6 ii and Z7 ii

WestEndFoto

I would imagine that the date is the earliest date that they figured that they could commit to. Nothing more nefarious than that.

PB_PM

Production line availability is the most likely reason for the delay between the bodies. All the DSLR and mirrorless cameras are made in the Thailand plant, other than the D6, so they likely do runs of bodies on various lines to meet expected demand. Thing is they have a limited number of bodies they can make it one time. Since the Z bodies are basically the same, sensor aside, the the Z6II/Z7II are likely made on the same line, which could mean they can only make one type at a time.

Searcy

pcassity said:

Anyone have any thoughts or ideas why Nikon is waiting until mid December to release the z7II?

Well, with the world on fire I would assume there might be some production and shipping issues slowing things down.

Pistnbroke

I looked at the photos of the Zii grip and immediately noticed that it stuck out beyond the width of the camera on the LHS (from rear). I thought why would you do that ? Cannot be a mismeasure and then I thought I wonder if that grip will also be for the Z8, Slightly wider body ?/with a different grip battery door?

Pistnbroke

Very good article here on futue of Nikon models .
https://www.dpreview.com/opinion/5602333549/what-might-the-z6-ii-and-z7-ii-tell-us-about-future-pro-nikon-mirrorless-models

WestEndFoto

Interesting. I agree that two different models will be based on the same body.

But Nikon needs to differentiate the Z6/7 from the Z8/9 by more than sensors and AF. These differences will narrow over time. The differences that the author described are not enough. These models need to look more like a D6 than a D850.

donaldejose

Pistnbroke: Thanks for the reference. I would like to see the two Z8 bodies the article suggests, with one exception. If Nikon is going to go "pro" I would like to see them go all the way and produce a body with a built in vertical grip. In fact, considering the COVID situation which is keeping me rather isolated and how the summer of 2021 will be here soon I just canceled my order for a Z6 II with optional vertical grip and decided to wait for the Z8. If the Z8 will be out next summer/fall I wouldn't get enough use out of a Z6 II to justify the purchase because as soon as a Z8 will be available that will be the Z body (or bodies) I will want to have. If Nikon can produce two Z8 bodies suggested in the article but with a built in vertical grip they won't need to produce a Z9, at least not yet.

photobunny

donaldejose said:

Pistnbroke: Thanks for the reference. I would like to see the two Z8 bodies the article suggests, with one exception. If Nikon is going to go "pro" I would like to see them go all the way and produce a body with a built in vertical grip.

I really want the built in grip and big battery too. Though there is something to be said if they whole Z line from 5 to 9 has the same body and batteries and they are just separated by features. That kinda lineup would be great if you use multiple bodies.

donaldejose

A built-in battery grip for the Z8 could be designed use two normal Z batteries like the Z6 II/Z7 II new grip does and that would give us a "big" battery plus hot swap-ability.

photobunny

donaldejose said:

A built-in battery grip for the Z8 could be designed use two normal Z batteries like the Z6 II/Z7 II new grip does and that would give us a "big" battery plus hot swap-ability.

The down side to that would be that a lot of the big batteries often mean things like faster AF focus motors, at least on Canon they do. What benefits does the bigger battery give the D5/D6 over having the battery in the Z6ii/Z7ii?

mhedges

Yeah D850 gets more FPS when you use the grip with the big battery right?

My guess is the Z8/9 will use the D6 style battery for extra performance and life.

photobunny

mhedges said:

Yeah D850 gets more FPS when you use the grip with the big battery right?

My guess is the Z8/9 will use the D6 style battery for extra performance and life.

I was thinking more along the lines of AF speed. I only know this from Canon. If you put some of the big white lenses on a 1D body then they will AF faster, the higher voltage drives the AF motors faster.

The extra FPS may or may not need a bigger battery.

spraynpray

I wonder if these would give the hike in fps on the D850?

https://nikonrumors.com/2020/11/25/now-on-kickstarter-new-x-tra-battery-solution-for-nikon-cameras.aspx/#more-152878

Pistnbroke

Does not look like it spray,they are just using two longer batteries of the same diameter to give more capacity. Just increasing the voltage does not trigger the 9fps its in the chip within the EN EL 18 that triggers the 9 fps. If you are looking for a grip kit I have one left (batt/charg/grip BL5) I can let you have minus the ebay/paypal commission.The MH26 chargers are getting hard to find.

mhedges

Yeah the reason the EL18 gives more FPS on D850 is that the camera is engineered to take advantage of the higher voltage. That Kickstarter battery doesn’t give any higher voltage and anyway the camera isn’t designed to use it.

photobunny

mhedges said:

Yeah the reason the EL18 gives more FPS on D850 is that the camera is engineered to take advantage of the higher voltage. That Kickstarter battery doesn’t give any higher voltage and anyway the camera isn’t designed to use it.

Does the voltage increase the AF motor speed too? Or is that just a Canon thing.

spraynpray

Pistnbroke said:

Does not look like it spray,they are just using two longer batteries of the same diameter to give more capacity. Just increasing the voltage does not trigger the 9fps its in the chip within the EN EL 18 that triggers the 9 fps. If you are looking for a grip kit I have one left (batt/charg/grip BL5) I can let you have minus the ebay/paypal commission.The MH26 chargers are getting hard to find.

Ah, ok. I thought the greater capacity would do the job as I presumed the voltage would droop less under load. It's not that I want one thanks Pistnbroke, but I liked the idea of a neat solution like the bigger battery.

mhedges

photobunny said:

mhedges said:

Yeah the reason the EL18 gives more FPS on D850 is that the camera is engineered to take advantage of the higher voltage. That Kickstarter battery doesn’t give any higher voltage and anyway the camera isn’t designed to use it.

Does the voltage increase the AF motor speed too? Or is that just a Canon thing.

I've never heard of that with Nikons but I can't say for sure.

WestEndFoto

Now here is an upgrade that I am looking forward to on the Z 6ii or Z 7ii.

My D850 could track ten "Non-CPU Lens Data" memories and it was full. And as many of you know, I have been collecting AIS lenses - just received a 50mm 1.8 AIS - Japanese version and I have about 17 or 18 now.

I was wondering what I was going to do when I permanently bolt an FTZ on the Z 6ii or 7ii, but the Z 6ii and Z 7ii can track 20. Bonus.

PB_PM

Ouch, just saw some tests comparing the Z6II to the Z6. The Z6 and Z6II focused at the exact same speed with several lenses.

24-70mm S, 0.3s faster on the Z6II than the Z6

FT-Z adapter
600mm F4E --> Z6II, 0.1 second slower than Z6, easily within margin of error. Same
200-500 F5.6E --> Z6II 0.1 second faster than Z6. Within margin of error, Same
500mm PF --> Z6II 0.3/s faster than Z6. Not discernibly faster, could easily be within margin of error.

This was compared to a D850, which was half a second or more faster in all tests, excluding the Z lens of course.

snakebunk

@PB_PM: Can you please post a link?

Pistnbroke

From what I read lenses, the bigger wide aperture ones focus faster with the EN EL 18 in a grip because the lens gets the full 11v and the motors run faster.

WestEndFoto

Is sipped even relevant? Accuracy is relevant?

The S lens is also faster. The f-mount is the same.

I don’t think this is news.

PB_PM

snakebunk said:

@PB_PM: Can you please post a link?

Steve from Backcountry Gallery reported these numbers. He made a post on his forum, such links from a competing site are blocked here.

PB_PM

WestEndFoto said:

Is sipped even relevant? Accuracy is relevant?



The S lens is also faster. The f-mount is the same.



I don’t think this is news.

0.3s is well within margin of error, which could mean Nikon made no improvement in focus speed at all with the Z6II over the Z6. Steve gave no indication that there were any improvements at all in accuracy in his tests. His test methods are well documented in his books, his youtube channel and website.