DiscussionZ9 II no-show again. Buy a Z8 now or keep waiting?

frank_delgado said:

they'll take the Z7 II in trade

keep the z7 ii. you'll want a second body at the field.

5amJim said:

keep the z7 ii

Now my wife says trade it. Told you she wasn't impartial.

Trade the Z7 II, keep the D850. Never sell a D850, my mate sold his and he moans about it every single week down the pub. Says the Z body is better in every way and he still misses the bloody thing. Something about the optical finder

davey1892 said:

Never sell a D850

No, I don't agree. All three are 45MP. You don't need three 45MP cameras. Keep one small body for hiking and the Z8, sell the D850 while it still has good price.

Every one of you has told me to sell a different camera. Most helpful thread I've ever started.

That's the forum working as intended... Cheers

frank_delgado said:

Every one of you has told me to sell a different camera

Sell the lot and buy an A7 III. I'm joking. Mostly.

Frank, for what it's worth, I kept my D850 when I got the Z8 and it's been out of the bag maybe four times since. Sentimental value mostly, and a backup body that takes the F glass natively without the adapter. I keep telling myself I'll sell it and then I pick it up and that shutter sound talks me out of it.

If the shop's giving you fair money for the Z7 II, I'd let that one go before the D850, just because the D850's the one you'll regret. But I'm an old man who gets attached to cameras, so weigh my advice accordingly.

• Walt

Final update. Went to the shop Saturday, held the Z8, it's a beautiful thing and the AF is everything you all said. Tracked a kid on a scooter across the parking lot like it was nothing.

Then on the drive there my daughter texted that the team's moved to the early Saturday league. 8am starts, good light, and if I'm honest with myself the kids stand still about half the time. Stood at the counter for ten minutes doing the math in my head and walked out with nothing. The Z7 II stays and I'll learn to time the slide.

Honestly the bigger thing I learned is the Z7 II was never the problem. I'd been shooting him from behind the fence at f/8 out of landscape habit. Opened up to f/2.8, bumped the shutter to 1/2000, put it on wide area AF and the keeper rate this weekend was twice what it was. Cheapest upgrade I ever made.

I'll be back in this thread when the Z9 II finally shows up.

frank_delgado said:

walked out with nothing

The willpower. I have never once walked out of a camera shop with nothing. Respect honestly

Well I'll be. Good on you Frank. The Z7 II will do just fine at 8am, and you just proved the point a lot of us forget, technique before gear. I've been at this forty years and I still need reminding.

• Walt

Old-ish thread but how's the Z7 II holding up at the ballpark, Frank? Rumor mill has gone quiet on the Z9 II again so you might be in for a wait!

Also, if you haven't tried it yet, 3D tracking with the subject set to people has worked pretty well for me at my nephew's games on the Z6 III. Not Z8 good I'm sure, but good enough that I stopped worrying about it.