Nikon officially announces the Z7-Z6 cameras

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Nikon finally announced the Nikon Z7 (specs here) and Nikon Z6 (specs here). You can see a full review and new coverage on MirrorlessRumors.com.

It says a lot about this company that they basically match the Sony camera performance without adding any ulterior new features. The goal was clearly to keep their own Nikon DSLR base to not buy Sony. And I think they will achieve this. But it’s disappointing to see that the goal was NOT to innovate. The Z7-Z6 really look like a Sony camera with Nikon design. Some might be happy with that (and I appreciate good ergonomic). But it also confirms that in future innovation will come as usual from Sony with Nikon improving their cameras 1-2 year after Sony.

What’s good on the new Nikon Z:
– Well rounded products (ergonomic and usability)
– True weathersealing
– Has Intervalometer
– 4k 2:2:2 (external)
– the 0,95 autofocus lens (but it’s manual focus only!).
– Nice 50mm f/1.2 autofocus lens coming in 2020

What’s not so good on the new Nikon Z:
– Z7 costs $400 more than the Sony A7rIII
– By end of 2020 Nikon will have 15 Z lenses. Sony currently has 29 lenses in the range (I am not counting in the Zeiss-Tamron-Sigma-Samyang lenses).
– No Eye AF
– Nikon Z6 (310 shots) has nearly half the battery life of the A7III
– Sony A7III and A7rIII have dual card slots (Nikon has 1 XQD slot).
– 18/23 shot buffer (at 12 bit compressed RAW)
– Only 5.5 FPS with auto exposure
– they made a huge mount to accomodate larger, expensive and manual focus only f/0,95 lens.
– Only fast autofocus prime is coming in 2020 (50mm f/1.2). And no fast portrait lens on roadmap yet.

Here is the hands-on video by DpreviewTV:

The Nikon lens roadmap:

This is the 58mm f/0,95 manual focusing lens:

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Good news: Sony A7III and Tamron zoom will be in Stock tomorrow. Bad news: Sigma 105mm shipment delayed.

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Both the Sony A7III (Click here) and the Tamron 28-75mm FE (Click here) will be in Stock tomorrow at BHphoto.

And now the bad news: Sigma US said the Sigma 105mm f/1.4 FE lens will ship in October and not in August :(

Reminder: You save up to $400 on Sony cameras, lenses and accessories at BHphoto, Adorama and other US stores:

Cameras:
$400 off on the Sony A9 superkit at Bhphoto.

Sony FE lenses:
$100 off on the 12-24mm f/4.0 lens at Bhphoto, Adorama, BestBuy, Focus and Amazon.
$100 off on the 16-35mm f/4.0 Zeiss lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$100 off on the 24-240mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the Sony 28mm FE lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$100 off on the 28-135mm PZ lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto
$50 off on the Sony 50mm FE f/1.8 lens at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon, Focuscamera.
$50 off on the Sony 50mm macro at BHphoto, Adorama and Amazon.
$100 off on the 70-200mm G lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 70-300mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the Sony 85mm f/1.8 FE at Buydig, BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama and Focuscamera.

Sony APS-C lenses:
$100 off on the 10-18mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 16-70mm Zeiss lens at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama.
$50 off on the 18-105mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the Sony E PZ 18-110mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$100 off on the 18-135mm lens at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon, FocusCamera and BestBuy.
$100 off on the 18-200mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$25 off on the Sony 30mm macro at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the 35mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the 50mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto

 

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Z7 cost 500 pounds more than the A7rIII…after the hype reality kicks in :)

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Specs leaked by Nokishita got updated with UK pricing info

We got the first Nikon Z7–Z6 versus Sony A7rIII–A7III specs comparison table. Of course we need to see how the real camera works to make a sensible comparison. Plus there are many detailed specs we still don’t know. But just for fun let’s analyze what we know so far:

Sony A7rIII vs Nikon Z7:
The Nikon Z7 costs 500 pounds more than the A7rIII. But from the specs it’s clear the Z7 is slightly ahead in terms of autofocus points. Otherwise we are more or less on par.
But damn it, the Z7 costs really a lot more! We can expect a 400-500$ price difference in the USA.
So while Nikon was able to match the A7rIII performance we have to say the A7rIII is nearly 1 year old and cheaper! Moreover expect the Nikon to be in Stock by Christmas only. I bet a new A7rIV or A9r could be announced in 10-12 months already if Sony feels they have to create a new technological step forward.

Sony A7III vs Nikon Z6:
Both should have the exact same pricing. In that case the A7III beats the hell out of the Nikon in terms of autofocus performance while it’s a bit crippled by the not so good EVF.

To sum up: The Nikon is not a Sony killer but it will certainly reach the goal to convince many Nikon DSLR shooters to buy into Nikon mirrorless instead of Sony mirrorless (aka stop or slow down the bleeding).

On the other hand Nikon DSLR owners should also consider this:
– Sony will soon launch a new A7sIII which is going to be stunning (5.6 million EVF, new sensor with much improved low light performance, new autofocus system and 4k60p).
– Sony also has E-mount APS-C cameras or cheaper second and third generation FF bodies
– 29 native E-mount lenses available now
– A history of innovation Nikon will only play catch up with. So what the A7sIII will do now Nikon can nly hope to match o 1-2 years later.

Image via Flickr, specs via Flickr and table found via Nikoneye.

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(SR3) First rumors about a possible Sony camera announcement happening next week…

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I got two rumors about a possible Sony announcement next week. One of the sources told me that Sony might announce two compact cameras before the IFA Berlin opening. I don’t know if these are small point and shoot cameras or if this means we are also getting a new A6xxx APS-C E-mount camera. For sure it doesn’t sound we are getting the new A7sIII now (I think it’s more likely it will be announced at PhotoPlus).

Short reminder of what to expect to be announced soon:
– New High End APS-C E-mount camera
– New A7sIII
– New fixed lens Zeiss FF camera made in collaboration with Sony
– 24mm f/1.4 and possibily the 135mm f/1.8 GM too
– New Voigtlander FE lenses coming
– New 50mm f/1.4 APS-C E-mount from Sigma
– New 70-200mm f/2.8 FF E-mount lens from Sigma

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Sony now has 40% of the US Full Frame market share!

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Image courtesy SonyMirrorlessPro. Source: The NPD Group, Inc., U.S. Retail Tracking Service, Detachable Lens Camera, Sensor Size: Full Frame, Based on Dollars Share, Jan.- Jun. 2018.

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SonyMirrorlessPro added an additional detail about the Sony Full Frame market share in firts half 2018. The NPD group market anlysis shows Sony owns 40% of the market while Canon follows with 33% and Nikon with 26%.

They also added this interesting note about Nikon:

It’s also important because—well look at that market share position over Nikon. That’s 14% more dollar share than Nikon in a year when Nikon has delivered their highest-demand product in years, the Nikon D850.

This helps put the new Nikon mirrorless camera into context as well. Nikon owns 26% of the market share, so to move up to the number two spot they’d need to capture eight percent more of the share going forwardsfrom the other two companieswho are both competing against Nikon.

So, if Nikon only sells their mirrorless camera to existing Nikon customers, they’ll be competing against their own market share. That’s called “market cannibalization” which is the effect that a new product has on existing product sales. They’d simply be trading the sales of DSLRs for the sales of mirrorless cameras. As it stands now, Sony need only pull away more Nikon customers that are dissatisfied with the new mirrorless ecosystem than Nikon pulls away Sony customers, and that gap is going to be impossible to bridge.

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