"Nikon is pleased to announce the release...which is scheduled for release soon."
I can only guess that Nikon jumped the gun on the Z8 firmware 3.0 announcement, probably because word was already leaking on the major feature addition.
So let me re-write Nikon's press release: "Today Nikon is pleased to announce that firmware version 3.00 for the Z8 will be made available shortly, with two major and many minor additions that will continue to make the Z8 one of the most compelling full frame cameras available."
The two major features are these:
- Pixel shift shooting can now be combined with both Focus shift shooting and Auto bracketing (AE bracketing only). When these sequences are processed in NX Studio, you get up to 180mp focus stacked or ready-for-dynamic range expansion results. This was a long asked for feature and one of the top contenders you suggested for the firmware wish list. "Auto" white balances can also now be locked to the first image in the shift sequence.
- Flexible Picture Controls can now be installed on the Z8. This will let Pre-Release Capture users have more control over their finished images, as I illustrated at my Thanksgiving talk in LA last year.
The minor features include a camera-based focus limiter ability, subject detection in manual focus mode, maximum aperture focusing, new Wide-area AF (C#) patterns, the addition of C15 to Pre-Release Capture, the ability to use JPEG Fine in Pre-Release Capture, and the ability to use an external microphone when recording voice memos. Oh, and Profoto A1 users will be happy to know that the white LED on that flash can now be used for AF assist.
Obviously, this is great news, and as I've been trying to point out, Nikon is becoming much more responsive to user requests and putting those into firmware updates to keep (most) cameras competitive.
Here's the problem: Z9 users are still out in the cold. Pixel shift shooting (and several other key items, including HEIF) is still not available on the Z9, despite the fact we're on firmware 5.20 for that camera. Indeed, all of the things announced for the Z8 would appeal to Z9 users. I can't help but think that Nikon is saving those for a Z9II announcement, which functionally would amount to abusing its best customers.
Since I know I'll get pushback from Nikon on that last sentence, let me explain. I expect the camera I and others paid the most money for would be maintained as the best camera in the lineup. I and others would still buy a Z9II if there were significant hardware changes: higher resolution EVF, faster CFe card slots, an articulating and tilting Rear LCD, and a hot shoe electronic extension to support microphones/mixers/et.al.. Throw in a couple of new firmware features not seen before in Nikon models, such as named settings files, and I'm upgrading, STAT.
