For some reason, the Nikon Z8 is generating quite a few “nice camera, but not for me” responses on the Interwebs. I’ve seen multiple photography and tech sites with full articles along those lines (including dpreview), I’ve seen many forum posts saying the same thing, and I’ve gotten a fair amount of email with the same message.
My sense is that there’s more of this happening than ever before with any significant Nikon camera release. Even the Z9 didn’t get this response from D5/D6 users (but remember, it was less expensive).
I believe that this reluctance isn’t an isolated thing. We’re going to see more and more of that type of comment as the camera makers try to push people higher and higher in their lineups. Most of the user complaints are essential ROI (return on investment) laments. The new, higher price model doesn’t do enough for the customer to justify the expense, basically.
Thing is, on close examination many of the complaints seem shallow (I’m being generous here). The real basis seems to always boil down to “doesn’t do enough to move my photographic bar for the price.”
Which brings me to the D850 crowd. Those still using a D850 as their primary camera look to be fully locked into the Last Camera Syndrome. (For those that don’t remember, this was a term I defined over a decade ago where a user would stop buying because they reached a camera level that would last them their lifetime.)
Nikon seems to think that they’ll convert a significant number of those D850 holdouts to the Z8. I’m betting that this will prove much more difficult than Nikon thinks. The only way I believe a D850 Last Camera Syndrome owner will buy a Z8 is if you provide effective, demonstrable, clear marketing of what the mirrorless world provides over the DSLR world. To date, Nikon hasn’t done that, thus my bet.
Personally, the Z8 is becoming more and more my favorite all-around camera. So I guess that I’m in the opposite position as all those articles and posts: the Z8 very well may be for me.
