Thoughts on the Nikon Z6II and Z7II

[YellowJersey]

So the Nikon Z6II and Z7II are announced. Personally, I'm glad that Nikon seems to have switched to a naming scheme that actually makes sense. Having been involved with cameras since the D40 days, I've always found Nikon's naming conventions to be bizarre.

 

 I can see why people think that they're lacklustre. After all, dual processors, a dual card slot, and some terminals on the bottom are realistically all that's different. Personally, I think that the Z6II and Z7II are what the Z6 and Z7 should have been from the get-go and I think it was a bone-headed move that they weren't.

 

 That said, I'm actually not all that down on the Nikon Z system. Now, I'm probably biased against Canon as a disgruntled former-Canon shooter, but I honestly don't think the R6 and R5 are really all that much better than the Z6II and Z7II. People keep talking about the 8k recording of the R5, but the overheating issues make it and some of the 4k recording modes a rather impractical option. I kind of see it as having your ISO go up to 1,000,000,000; it's great for marketing, but it's probably not usable to any practical degree.

 

 Maybe it's just me getting old, but I find it hard to be "wow'd" by camera specs anymore. Cameras these days, nearly regardless of make and model, are so good that I honestly struggle to think of ways that they can be improved in a way that would "wow" me. Short of some new sensor technology (50 stops of DR? Clean files at ISO 1,000,000? Global shutter for video?), I see the improvements as being incremental autofocus and ever increasing video specs (4k 60p, 4k 120b, 4:2:2, etc). But as stills cameras, I find it hard to think of how you'd blow the competition out of the water. Even as video cameras, I think the Z6II and Z7II are highly capable. I'd personally probably buy Nikon Z before Canon R (again, keep in mind my anti-Canon bias).

 I see cameras as being in a bit of the same boat as mobile phones: manufacturers are kind of running out of ways in which they can be meaningfully improved. 5G, imho, is a godsend for phone makers, as it gives them a major new feature to promote. If people weren't so paste-eatingly stupid, I'd feel sorry for the marketing departments who would have to try and convince people that a new device is worth buying over your current device. (Sadly, "iT's NeW!" is all the justification some people need to drop thousands of dollars for something that is only marginally better than what they already have).

[GDRRiley]

I'd be the A7IV is going to be a bit more exciting than these refreshes. A7SIII menus, 10 bit video ect

nothing earth shattering but a lot better than the a7iii for video or hybrid shooters

if they make an A7RV refresh that has those same features that could sell well

[Fetzie]

There's some nice little details in the menus that have changed with the iis, like the ability to reverse the focussing ring, AF Fine Tune for zoom lenses and new buttons that can be assigned to the custom buttons.