Let's start with some positives. The Z9 manual and supplemental material are on line, should you wish to read them. As with much of Nikon's documentation (and help system), there's a lot of "the X function does X," without a lot of meat, but at least you'll see the depth and breadth of this pro camera, as even cut down to the basics the manual is over 900 pages long. The Setting Guide (Sports AF Edition) contains some more beefier content, though I'll point out right now I don't agree with some of Nikon's recommendations ;~).
Also, the so-called DigiTutor is now active for the Z9 (though why we need 30+ second intros to concise content I don't know). Nikon calls this Tips and Tricks, but it's really more basic things that augment the few words in the manual. It's a way to learn about some key things on the camera quickly.
So, let's talk about the elephant in the room...
How many Z9's did Nikon drop into stores this week?
Not enough to fulfill all the existing NPS Priority Purchase pre-orders. If I'm reading the anecdotal tea leaves correctly, I'd say that a little over half the NPS PP pre-orders have been fulfilled so far. Now, that's not as bad as it sounds. There were a lot of pros I know who ordered multiple bodies and only got one. I ordered only one, and I got one (well, it's on a UPS delivery truck somewhere at the moment, as is the pre-production unit I used in Africa and just sent back to Nikon).
The questions still needing to be answered are: (1) how often will we get shipments of Z9's? and (2) when will the NPS PP list clear and the predominance of orders begin going to non-NPS members? I can only guess at this based upon some hearsay. For #1, I suspect we'll get drop shipments every two weeks until the NPS PP orders clear. So start of the year and mid-January if I'm right. For #2, based upon information I'm getting from multiple sources, the NPS PP orders should clear by mid-January and subsequent shipments will be going to the rest of the pre-order crowd.
And crowd it is. I'm stunned by the number of pre-orders I'm hearing about from dealers I talk to (in confidence, so, no, I won't provide actual numbers). Nikon has to be really happy right now, but also really nervous. We're going to see just how fast they can ramp up production (which originally was assessed as being 3500 units a month, a number way too small for initial demand on the Z9).
But demand isn't going to go down any time soon. As people start seeing me and others talk about our experiences with the Z9, we're going to see more orders coming in, is my guess. And speaking of that, don't forget about my upcoming FREE Zoom presentation on December 27th on the Z9 in Africa. Yes, it's at 8pm EST, which will be inconvenient for you Aussies and Europeans (and a host of others), but those that sign up will have access to a recorded version of the presentation, as well. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I'm going to present and say, as I literally just got back and still haven't unpacked, but I'll figure that out over the weekend ;~).
