After a fruitful debut and a significant update with version 2.0, Nikon has announced that version 3.0 of their flagship mirrorless camera will soon be available.
As the owner of a Z 9, I have used a significant amount of paper and ink over the past year to discuss the system and its role in my workflow as the A camera for all aspects of photography and many parts of filmmaking.
The fact is that there are just a few things that this camera does not perform very well. When version 2.0 was released, bringing waveforms and in-camera N-Raw, it was such a massive improvement that it made it possible for me to get rid of a few of my other cameras and devote even more time to working with this one.
Even if it’s hard to see how the Z 9 could get much better, Nikon has issued a firmware update that promises to sharpen the edges of the camera further.
In contrast to version 2.0, which mainly focused on video enhancements, version 3.0 has a more even distribution of new features, including the following:
- In addition to the existing options for high burst still shooting at 30 fps and 120 fps, the Z 9 now offers an opportunity for roughly 19 megapixels at 60 fps for high burst shooting at a higher resolution. To accomplish this increased burst rate, the function always operates in DX mode by default.
- A high-resolution zoom feature is included in the 4K video capture format. In its most basic form, this is a way for zooming in that makes use of the 8K capabilities of the camera. If you want to successfully increase the focal range of your lens without sacrificing resolution, this is a function you might want to use. 4K Ultra High Definition video is shot in 8K and is cut down to 4K during the live broadcast.
- Enhanced AF capabilities will result from improvements made to the camera’s low-light focusing tracking and a modification to the stickiness of the 3D tracking system. In addition, you can choose the colour of the focusing box, a feature that can be useful in some circumstances.
- Video now has access to High-Frequency Flicker Reduction, which was introduced in version 2.1.
- Now, a single wireless remote system can control the timecode for numerous Z 9s at the same time. The ATMOS Ultra Sync BLUE may now be used thanks to Bluetooth support.
- During playback, photos can be presented in a vertical position thanks to a Vertical Playback Display feature.
- The number of buttons that may be personalized has been expanded, and one of those buttons, the Record button, can now be programmed.
- In addition, changes have been made to the Flash process, upgrades to the on-screen display settings, support added for the FTPS protocol, and a complete format capability added for CF Express cards.
- When utilizing several systems in tandem, you can designate one camera as the “master” camera, which will take precedence over another camera. In addition, the camera can now remember your primary point of focus during focus shift shooting after you have taken several pictures.
I can hardly wait to observe how these enhancements interact with my system. Simply click on this link to get the updated firmware.
