New Camera, Nikon Z9

I was struggling with this making purchase. Did I really need the new flagship Nikon mirrorless camera or did I just “want” one? Could I justify the substantial purchase? I already had three other Nikon mirrorless cameras that I used daily. I carry two Nikon Z7 at every wedding and had a Z6 to hand to a second shooter and use for video.

The Nikon Z9 had been on backorder since it came out in November 2021. Everything I’ve seen online showed if I ordered one now that I’d probably get it in January of 2023. I decided to go ahead and order one and see how long it took. I also remembered that I was a Nikon Professional Services member and they offer expedited shipping on a variety of new (and out of stock) products. I filled out their form and 4 days later, there was a shipping notice and my camera was on its way.

I wanted this new body mostly because of the autofocus system. Everything I saw indicated that it found faces, cars, animals and focused fast. It also (and most importantly) tracked the subject and kept focus on it. I needed this in my life. I missed so many shots with my Z7 because the autofocus system couldn’t keep up with moving subjects. It shot fantastic portraits and macro shots but I’d miss about one out of every 4 or 5 shots when subjects were moving towards me.

Now that I’ve had this body for a c couple of weeks and shot a wedding with it, I can’t imagine going back… kind of like I am not going back to the mirrored DSLR. The new Nikon lenses are just so much sharper than the older Nikon F mount lenses. I’m loving this new camera and all of the new mirrorless Nikon S lenses.