A lot of folk were hoping for a Z7-sized Z9. They didn’t get it.
The Z8 is about a quarter inch wider, a half inch taller, and a bit thicker than the Z7 body. The Z8 also weighs 910g, which is about 200g heavier than the Z7. (For you Americans, that’s 7 ounces heavier, or a bit under half a pound.)
In essence, the Z8 slots in size and weight between the Z7 and Z9, which is going to please some and displease others (you can see the relative sizing in the camera banner at the top of this site; from left to right it’s Z9, Z8, Z7 II…).
A few things that make the Z7 II the better camera for some:
- Less expensive (US$1300 buys a lot of lens)
- Slightly better dynamic range from ISO 64 to ISO 500 (same dynamic range above that)
- Smaller size and weight
- Somewhat better battery life (440 images CIPA versus 330)
- Less expensive MC-DC2 remote
The things that will make the Z8 seem “better” to some over the Z7 II:
- New autofocus system
- HEIF and HLG support
- Near infinite buffer
- Better video capabilities
- More button customization
- Voice memo
- IPTC captioning
- Skin softening
- Electronic shutter with extended speeds, true silent ability (even with flash)
- High-frequency flicker reduction
- Sensor shield can be deployed when changing lenses
- Extensive USB and networking capabilities
- 8K video, including raw and ProRes codec
