Nikon has started a countdown timer to the Z6 II and Z7 II cameras on their Web site. These new versions of the existing cameras will be launched October 14th, and given the midnight NikonUSA time, it's a Tokyo-based announcement.
Have to say, I'm happy that Nikon chose the roman numeral style model iteration over adding S's, as one rumor site had been suggesting for a long time. Given that Nikon only gave themselves 9 digits to play with for full frame model numbers, you want to have consistency with where products are in respect to one another in the lineup long term, as Sony established with their Mark II,III,IV,V iterations. Sure, that looks a bit like Nikon is copying Sony, but I'm a fan of picking the best solution, and having a clear suffix is the best solution.
For what it's worth, it's not a coincidence that this countdown appears right at the end of September. Had Nikon tipped their hand any earlier, it would have impacted their second quarter financials. By launching a new product early in the third (holiday) quarter, this also gives them the flexibility to lower pricing on the existing cameras and pick up a few more sales, too. This seems more controlled than Nikon has been in the past with regard to late-in-the-year product announcements.
That said, Nikon's biggest current problem is delivery. Since I expect new accessories to appear with these models, we'll once again be watching to see if Nikon can actually deliver them in any reasonable time frame. As it is, lens deliveries are running slow and late. The 24-50mm, 24-200mmm, 70-200mm are all essentially on backorder, and I expect the 14-24mm to be, as well. As I've pointed out before, when you decide to go it alone—which 100% defines Nikon's ecosystem—you need to be perfectly efficient or else you don't get sales when you could.
