Z 8

I've been using my Nikon D610 for almost 10 years now, saving money for my next camera all the while, first for the D850, then for the Z9; but something made me wait. And, boy oh boy, am I glad I did. I am 74 years old. This will likely be the last camera I ever purchase. Knowing that, I needed to make the right choice. I have the Z8 now, used it for a few weeks. The Nikon Z8 is all the camera I could've ever hope for. It feels perfect in my old hands. For the first time, I can consistently capture birds in flight. For the first time, lowlight situations can give excellent results. For the first time, I am inspired to have more than just a casual relationship with my camera. The Nikon Z8 is the camera for me.

This is an amazing piece of photographic equipment which I am not sure I am qualified to review as it is more camera than I will ever use as I don't do anything with video which according to others is one of its strongest suits. I live the speed of the sensor and the quality of the images when paired with the equally amazing Z glass. If I were to take anything off is I am not YET a fan of the user storage banks for settings. They make for a really big change in workflow using the camera but at the same time very versatile, Amazingly the number of frames/second can't be saved to any of those banks meaning it always as to be checked and I sometimes find myself firing off 20/sec while trying to shoot a sunset after trying to capture birds in flight. One of the nitpicky things I don't like is the fact that they took away exposure delay unless you are willing to wait 2 seconds each time. Maybe Nikon thought there was no need because there is no shutter but if you are doing Astro you probably want some kind of remote shutter or a ton of patience. Even with that it was a quick and easy decision to have it replace my Z7II because of the versatility of 3D tracking and the speed of the sensor for sports, performance arts, and wildlife. Other differences, I would have loved for the memory cards to be the same like the Z9, but I love the extra USB-C on the Z8. Because of the size, I guess there wasn't room for an F3 button but I love the lighter weight. I hope Nikon will continue to improve it with firmware updates the same way they have on the Z9 over the last 18 months. Final verdict, the Z8 is good enough.to be the last camera I will ever buy, but I probably said that about the Z7II as well.

Cons:Quick focus from far to near is awful—no better than my D500. I always have to crank the focus ring counter-clockwise to get to a default position of near-focus. It does much better of going near to far. This is what I had to do with my D500.The EVF display is ugly and low quality, IMHO. It’s not that as an EVF is problematic in principal. It’s just that the picture is literally terrible. It gives you little idea of the quality of your shot. In other words, the feedback it provides from a picture quality standpoint is bad. The back display, however, is phenomenal and does give you excellent shot quality feedback. Battery life is not the greatest. However, it uses the same battery as my D500. I have three batteries and its easy to switch them out. I do turn off the back display for photo shooting. It extends life quite a bit.Pros:It makes my PF 500mm lens better. Sharp shots are sharper. I get more keepers. This was a concern of mine because, for me, the PF500 is the best prime telephoto out there if you want reach and our on a budget. If it didn’t work well, I’d have problems. In fact, the main reason I never switched to another manufacturer was because of the lens.Focus is light years better than my DSLR D500. The subject detection is a game changer. It makes focus and composition so much faster and easier. No more manually moving my focus point (but you still can if you want)! I get so many more keepers and shots I wouldn’t have got otherwise. The camera also allows for super helpful customizations for different focus situations-wide, narrow, custom, 3D, single point, etc. One can customize the buttons to accommodate a number of scenarios to sufficiently take advantage of the camera’s capabilities. These combinations have come in handy a number of times already. Including the ability to “hand-off” one focus mode to another. Love this.The EVF, as sorry as it is, does give real time feedback on exposure. This is incredibly helpful for shooting birds that are always moving into different backgrounds - bright to dark. I can quickly and easily change my exposure compensation and see the difference in real time. I also set up the EVF to show me the histogram which is extremely helpful for exposure as well.The number of pictures the Z8 takes a second is off the charts with a CFE card. This makes it so much easier to get that one pose or glance that you would have otherwise missed…especially for BIF flights. It also allows you to use slower shutter speeds and still insure you are going to get a sharp capture.I love the silent feature. It takes a while to get used to, though. However, I’ve experienced first hand that DSLR mechanical shutter noise has affected a birds comfortability level with me. In my case, I love the room I get with an FX format camera. I was worried about this. But it is so easy to switch from FX to DX and back. The freedom to compose this offers is refreshing for me, frankly. I’ve also found that if subject detecting is having trouble, all one need do is quickly switch to DX mode and you get much better results.Shooting videos is so simple. I love that I can look through the EVF and shoot video. This wasn’t possible on my D500. The auto focus/subject detection works just as well with videos.The Z8 does much better than my D500 in low light high ISO situations…especially in FX mode.I’ve found that my 1.4x TC gets sharper pics with the Z8 as well. This was a pleasant surprise. I have much more confidence in using it now.

The autofocus of the Z8 is astonishingly fast. Importantly, it is very accurate and the eye tracking seems to lock on quickly most of the time. It works best with contrasty backgrounds.

It is the best camera I ever work with, noting lost compared to Z9 but batteries life

The Z8 has become my 2nd Body / Backup Body to my Z9 and also my go to camera when I don't want to carry the heavier Z9. I use the Z9 and the Z8 together for events.

Solid performer with good ergonomics. The power of a Z 9 in a travel friendly package. Very happy with autofocus performance and customizability. I use it as my second body next to my Z 9 and both are programmed identically. This makes switching effortless and lets me focus on the job at hand.

I am loving my Z8 all the bang of my Z9 in a lighter smaller package!!

I've had this Z8 for about 2 weeks now and have put it through the paces with multiple Z and F-mount lenses with the FTZII adapter. I swear the shots with my 500mm pf and FTZII are sharper than they were with the Z9! I do miss that third programmable button on the front, and the battery life is definitely shorter. With constant use, I get around 350 shots of battery life. However, if I shoot mainly 20fps bursts, I can get up to 1,000 shots per battery life! That is an okay downside compared to the weight and size reduction upside for me! Also, I wasn't sure that I liked the left control buttons over the knobs that the Z9 has. But I've found it is easier to switch shooting modes now without having to push lock buttons and taking my eye away from the viewfinder. All in all, I am very impressed and it is indeed the mirrorless reincarnation of my beloved D850. Well done Nikon!