Full disclosure: As the Z9 teaser campaign began, I also began asking Nikon about the possibility of getting a pre-production unit to handle or test. I doubt I was in Nikon’s initial list of potential Z9 recipients, as I don’t publish statistics about my Web sites and Nikon has no idea of my reach. Nor do I use social media such as YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram, where subscriptions and followers can be easily determined. I do have a Twitter account I rarely post to, but have never tried to build that into a “following.”
Thus, when Nikon’s marketing consultants work up a plan get the broadest reach from the limited units they have available to distribute, I don’t appear in the results.
To Nikon’s credit, particularly NikonUSA, my initial request was positively received. The only real problem was my desire for a longer period with the camera coupled with the limited number of cameras in North America. That’s probably why I got the camera a little later than some, who only needed it for a two-day quick turnaround impressions video.
While I don’t intend to “review” the pre-production unit, I’ll offer observations and comments about as much as I can. By having a unit prior to my own appearing, I’ll also be developing a head start on the things I need to thoroughly test and wring out in order to write a full review (of the shipping camera) and my eventual Complete Guide to the Z9.
I’m fairly meticulous about early camera use. There’s a long list of things I go through and evaluate. I’ve already pointed out to Nikon a couple of seemingly incorrect Help messages I found, for instance.
Which brings me to one comment I hope Nikon takes positively: the engineers need to stop naming things Mode 1, Mode 2, and Type A, Type B. This popped up recently with the Z6 II/Z7 II firmware update and the awkwardly named Portrait Impression Balance function. Mode # really should User Selected Balance #, or some similar name (and the overall name probably should be Portrait Color Adjustment, or more to the point, Skin Tone Color Adjustment.
The Z9 has several Mode/Type choices in its menus, but the problem here is that they’re not things you customize—where you’d have to remember that you put your customization for indoor lighting in #1, for example—but are rather pre-made choices by Nikon.
For example, this comes up in selecting how the viewfinder provides visual indicators of continuous photography (remember, the camera can be silent at 20 fps and the viewfinder is “live” all the time). The choices should be something like Simulate Blackout, 2-Edge Reminder, 4-Edge Reminder, and No Visual Reminder. Instead we get Type A, Type B, Type C, and Off. Nikon themselves realized this was going to be a problem, so they added automatically appearing help at the bottom of the display to tell you what each type means ;~). Keep the help, but rename the options and make the help reflect the option. For instance, 2-Edge Reminder as an option would have help that said “Lines are briefly turned on and off at the left and right edge of the frame as you photograph.”
People know that I’m all about “muscle memory.” I want things to become second nature as to my holding and controlling the camera. But there’s also such a thing as “cognitive dissonance.” When you get to that Custom Setting and see Type A, you either remember what it means—and note that there are other Mode/Type As in the camera’s menus you have to memorize, as well—or if you don’t remember you have to take the time to read the help. The Z9 is a performance camera. It should be minimizing our having to pay any attention to additional detail. So the Type/Mode construct needs to go.
Today is mostly about going through everything on the camera as well as playing with all the new settings to understand what they do. There’s a lot to go through. Moreover, there are many more combinations and permutations of settings that make sense on this camera than on, say, a Zfc. Even more than on a Z7 II. So I need some time to study and reflect on all of them. Tomorrow will be about trying to get an initial setup that works for me.
