systemguy
Senior Member
No announcement or hint from Nikon but when would one expect Nikon to replace the Z7 II? with the Z7 III?
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when to expect Z7 III?
- Thread starter systemguy
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Having read the comments of others, I would say that a direct replacement of the Z7 II with a Z7 III is extremely unlikely. The reasons for this conclusion are:
- Nikon already has a 45MP camera that exceeds the Z7 II specification
- There are already two 45MP sensors available to Nikon, the existing Z7 sensor and the stacked sensor from the Z8 and Z9. Using the former won't produce the benefits correspondents seem to expect. Using the latter will compete directly with the Z8.
- It is unlikely that Nikon will develop a third 45MP sensor in competition with its won products
- If there were going to be a Z7 equivalent to the Z6 III it would most likely have been announced at the same time as that camera.
- It is extremely difficult , for me, to see how Nikon could produce a camera cheaper than the Z8, incorporating most of the features of the Z8, without prejudicing sales of the Z8.
Nikon has a habit of upsetting the market by introducing something ground breaking, the D800 for example. There is now an opportunity for such a revolutionary product but, if it happens, it won't be a Z7 III.
LastLapPass
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AF-C, Wide-area AF (S), Bird Detect. I was playing/testing so the box size may have been Wide-area AF (L). They both worked the same, the smaller box lets you target better,Great to hear. You are using bird AF + which AF point, or Auto Area? Thank you.
Cardinal on a smoke break...
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This is a fair point and to add to it, because we’re talking square dimensions and not just lines, a noticeable and useful resolution bump isn’t 15-25%… it has to be double or triple. Then you have to build out a processing pipeline/infrastructure around that.
wco81
Leading Member
Z8 was released in May 2023 for $3995.
Currently it's $3696 at Amazon so only $300 less, though that may soon change with tariffs.
Either the sales are still good enough for Nikon or they have reduced expectations with the continued shrining of the prosumer/ILC market.
They probably have a good idea of how many Z7 and Z7ii owners migrated to the Z8, probably can guess or forecast how may more would eventually upgrade to the newer though bigger and heavier body.
Z7ii is almost 5 years old and now can be had for $1950 new.
As much as I'd vastly prefer a smaller and lighter 45 Mp body now, it looks like the demand is greater for the Z8.
Currently it's $3696 at Amazon so only $300 less, though that may soon change with tariffs.
Either the sales are still good enough for Nikon or they have reduced expectations with the continued shrining of the prosumer/ILC market.
They probably have a good idea of how many Z7 and Z7ii owners migrated to the Z8, probably can guess or forecast how may more would eventually upgrade to the newer though bigger and heavier body.
Z7ii is almost 5 years old and now can be had for $1950 new.
As much as I'd vastly prefer a smaller and lighter 45 Mp body now, it looks like the demand is greater for the Z8.
Nebido
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It always depends heavily on whether Nikon is running any discount promotions at the moment.
There are no discount promotions running at the moment, but if you time it right, you can buy during the discount promotions when the price of the Z8 drops again.
It also varies depending on the region whether VAT is included or not.
For example, when I look at the MSRP for the launch of the Z8 in the EU, it was €4,599, including 19% VAT.
A good two weeks ago, the Z8 was available for €3,500 for a good two months, and in some cases even less.
In a kit with the Z 24-120/4 S, it was even available for €3,999, including 19% VAT.
So there's not much room left for a Z7III.
That's probably one of the reasons why Nikon, at least in the EU, significantly miscalculated the initial MSRP of the Z6III.
It was launched at €2,999, which was far too close to the Z8, which was already heavily discounted at the time and available for €3,800. As a result, they had to correct the prices very quickly, and the Z6III was suddenly available for €2,100.
For any early adopter who couldn't afford something like that out of pocket, this was a bitter blow.
Not that the price would settle over time, but the Z6III price had suddenly dropped by more than 25% compared to its launch price in an unprecedented period.
A Z7III with the Z7II sensor would probably fare similarly.
Apart from users who wouldn't touch a Z8 with a barge pole due to its dimensions, who would buy a Z7III with the Z7II sensor and the slow readout of 65.6ms (1/15) when they could get a Z8 with a fully stacked sensor with a readout speed of 3.7ms (1/268), sensor shield, dual channel feed system for the EVF and all other bells and whistles for a possible $500 surcharge?
Especially since there is still a Z7II available for anyone with application profiles that don't need all that anyway.
Unless it offers some extremely attractive feature that the other Expeed7 bodies don't have.
Otherwise, the Z8 price, which is now outrageously good for this powerhouse category of camera (just look at what comparable fully stacked high MP bodys cost from the competition), will always be a brake parachute in relation to the achievable price of a Z6III or Z7III.
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I love the Z6III but the Z8/9 option of Recall Shooting Functions Hold is sorely missing.
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jimlafferty.com
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I enjoy the hefty build quality of the Z8, and the additional programmable buttons. Although the Z8 "settings bank" system is seriously inferior to the "User Settings" of the Z6 and Z5ii presumably. And its inferior for the better you are as a photgrapher, not the other way around where I have seen condescension and/or snobbish towards "User Settings" suggesting they are for beginner and/or casual photographers, when in actual fact only the more skilled, knowledgeable and technically apt camera person can take advantage only the benefits that the Z6iii User Settings customization offers.
I would probably earn the ire of professional photographers here by proving the Z8 is seriously disadvantaged in terms of shooting settings customization compared to the Z6iii and Z5ii
- The customizable "I" (info) menu is huge, with the Z6iii you get 4 programmable screens
- Having to switch Release Mode every time you switch a Custom Settings Bank is something you never need to do on the Z6iii, where as Z8 you are stuck with manual only.
- The customizable shooting Fn buttons are also a massive advantage to the more serious and more technical photographer, again the Z8 only gets one configuration of stored customizations, where as the Z6iii gets 4 configurations of stored customizations
- These limitations in the field mean that Z8 users need to manually change important settings when if they had the functionality of the Z6iii wouldn't need to.
- additionally the flip out screen on the Z8 needs to be fully clicked back into its cradle before the viewfinder works. On the Z6iii if you are setting up a shot using the flip out screen and then glance at the veiwfinder to check the details the viewfinder works fine. This again is a feature that should be the other way around: the more serious photographer will be more likely to need to check the finer details through the viewfinder, rather than that being necessary for the beginner or casual user.
For these reasons, I see a place for the Z7iii.....and then the Z8ii will probably address these observations with improved customisation configurations
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JIM LAFFERTY
Jim Lafferty is a New York based commercial photographer shooting beauty, fashion & movement.
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That's because Nikon want's you to buy a Z8 or Z9 for that feature.I love the Z6III but the Z8/9 option of Recall Shooting Functions Hold is sorely missing.I enjoy the hefty build quality of the Z8, and the additional programmable buttons. Although the Z8 "settings bank" system is seriously inferior to the "User Settings" of the Z6 and Z5ii presumably. And its inferior for the better you are as a photgrapher, not the other way around where I have seen condescension and/or snobbish towards "User Settings" suggesting they are for beginner and/or casual photographers, when in actual fact only the more skilled, knowledgeable and technically apt camera person can take advantage only the benefits that the Z6iii User Settings customization offers.
I would probably earn the ire of professional photographers here by proving the Z8 is seriously disadvantaged in terms of shooting settings customization compared to the Z6iii and Z5ii
- The customizable "I" (info) menu is huge, with the Z6iii you get 4 programmable screens
- Having to switch Release Mode every time you switch a Custom Settings Bank is something you never need to do on the Z6iii, where as Z8 you are stuck with manual only.
- The customizable shooting Fn buttons are also a massive advantage to the more serious and more technical photographer, again the Z8 only gets one configuration of stored customizations, where as the Z6iii gets 4 configurations of stored customizations
- These limitations in the field mean that Z8 users need to manually change important settings when if they had the functionality of the Z6iii wouldn't need to.
- additionally the flip out screen on the Z8 needs to be fully clicked back into its cradle before the viewfinder works. On the Z6iii if you are setting up a shot using the flip out screen and then glance at the veiwfinder to check the details the viewfinder works fine. This again is a feature that should be the other way around: the more serious photographer will be more likely to need to check the finer details through the viewfinder, rather than that being necessary for the beginner or casual user.
For these reasons, I see a place for the Z7iii.....and then the Z8ii will probably address these observations with improved customisation configurations
MJ_Photo38
Veteran Member
My feeling too, but apparently there are a ton of people that don't want the larger form factor of the Z8, and would want a high res sensor in the gorm factor of the Z6III (or the previous Z7 cameras).
I understand the idea, but that segment is not only pretty crowded nowadays (plenty of high resolution full frame bodies around : A7RV and A7RIV, A7CR, S1RII, R5 that is still being sold at a discounted price, ...) but even if you make it subtantially cheaper than the Z8, it would still get pretty close to the price of a used Z8, or worse, a refurb Z8 from the official Nikon website.
Testing123
Leading Member
I can't speak for others, but I use mine mainly for landscape and travel.
wco81
Leading Member
Me too so every gram counts, no Z8 for me, shrink it down.
After aquiring Z5ii which is the slowest sensor paired with Expeed 7 I think that there is one more opportunity for Nikon. If Nikon is OK with Z5ii/Zf AF speed, it can bring Z6iii sensor semistacked technology to a more pixel dense sensor of 84 megapixels and retain 50 ms (1/20) readout time. With new for Expeed 7 wide open AF (introduced in Z8, and hopefully all Expeed 7 cameras will get that option at some point with firmware updates) that will give studio shooters lots of cropping abilities with capable AF. The limited dynamic range of that semistacked sensor design might become an issue though. And lots of work for a low market volume camera. Lighter all metal (for better heat dissipation) Z8ii seems like a lower hanging fruit.
Whilst a higher resolution sensor might be desirable to some I'm far from convinced that it will garner enough sales in a partially stacked arrangement. Many potential customers will look at the file size and decide that 45MP is enough, others will buy anyway. However, I don't believe such a camera will emerge as the Z7 III. If Nikon were to produce a 90MP+ sensor I would expect it to be fully stacked, possibly featuring a new processor or a dual processor architecture. As you say, a Z8 II, or a completely new camera, is more likely.
Full stack sensor will at least double the price of the sensor (cause that's two sensors sctacked together and some arrangents are lost in pairing process). And even partially stacked sensor will be pricey to produce in low volumes.
I also think that it'll be next Expeed camera cause Expeed 7 can be quite power hungry. But a fully stacked sensor will be something like 1/125 sync speed and that is mediocre for studio shooters. At 1/125 sync speed you can get Fuji GFX 100 S ii for 5K USD. And what can Nikon make to beat that Fuji? Not much.
That will make it a Z8 size for heat dissipation.
Yes, a 750 grams Z8ii might become a Z7iii.
jfriend00
Forum Pro
I agree with many others that the Z8 already is a better Z7II (except that it's heavier and larger and more expensive).
But, is there room in Nikon's product line for a higher res sensor camera (perhaps ~65MP) that would be slower than the Z8 and Z9 (perhaps just Z7II speed), but perhaps have improved AF from the Z7II? Target customers could be some types of studio photographers and landscape photographers? They might not use the newer Z8/Z9 sensor tech that sacrifices a little DR, but gains speed so this new camera could also be the king of DR (very useful for landscape photographers).
Could that camera be a Z7III? In the old days, Nikon would have named is something like the Z7x or Z8x to signify a higher res sensor in the same family, but they probably don't need/want that terminology any more.
I know people argue that we already have more than enough resolution except when printing super giant for up-close viewing (which I don't dispute), but I'm actually finding a new advantage of the 45MP for my landscape photography in that it allows the creation of more accurate masks in post processing (like separating the sky or subject from the rest of the image for different edits). The higher the resolution is, the smaller the imperfections can be in the mask edges (generated using AI masking tools) because the finer the detail they have to look at and thus the less visible any edge perfections are at even large print or viewing sizes. It enables creating more accurate masks which leads to editing advantages.
Anyway, like everyone else in this thread, I have no idea what Nikon will actually do, just describing one possibility.
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John
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That rather depends on where it fits in the Nikon range, as a Z7 replacement id wouldn't be economical but a a new flagship it might, not that I expect a new flagship.
Yes but I suggest that the Z7 form factor is already limiting where Nikon can take it, thermally that is, the body can only dissipate so much heat before it either becomes too hot or has to be bigger.
For thermal reasons a Z7 III might never happen.
I do not think Nikon will use an off the shelf Sony sensor, any new higher resolution sensor will be a Nikon design.
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