Camera woes
For many years, I have exclusively used photos from my Nikon cameras in my designs. The Nikon D750 remains a great camera. I got mine not long after it was introduced in 2014, I am just now selling it on eBay.
As much as I loved my D750, I knew I would eventually move into the new world of mirrorless cameras. I got my mirrorless Nikon z7 in 2021. It instantly became my new favorite camera. Its 45mp sensor provides an immense amount of detail which I find valuable in my work. Even though the sensor is more powerful than the one in the D750, the z7 is smaller than the D750.
As much as I love the z7, there are problems with it. My hands are large and the z7’s smaller size does not fit comfortably in my hand. The z7’s autofocus speed is not as fast as I’d wish. I am not a professional photographer so the autofocus speed does not bother me too much. But as I began my amusement park painting cycle, I longed for Nikon’s flagship camera, the very expensive z9. As much as I wanted the z9, I could not justify its $6000 price tag.
Then Nikon released the z8. The z8 has nearly all the features of the more expensive z9 and the few features it lacks, like a built-in battery grip and a second full card slot, are unimportant to me. I bought the z8 earlier this year.
The z8 with its quick autofocus became my new favorite camera. It’s larger than the z7 and fits perfectly in my hand. In the first half of this year, I took nearly 10,000 photos with it.
I was looking forward to taking it on our vacation. I got a larger memory card and configured my Thinkpad to back up the thousands of photographs I anticipate taking during the trip.
Then I updated the camera’s firmware. I had already updated the z8’s firmware once before, from version 1.0 to 2.0. This update from version 2.0 to 2.01 was minor and should have taken a few minutes. The upgrade process stalled half-way but I left the camera alone until it finished updating. When I returned 2 hours later I discovered that the updates had not progressed. I knew something was wrong.
The z8 was dead. It wouldn’t turn on or respond to a battery.
Camera users are expected to take defective cameras to certified repair shops. I sent my z8 to a Nikon shop in New York on July 31st. The good news is that Nikon agreed to fix the camera for free because it is under warranty. The bad news is that I still haven’t received my camera or any status update from Nikon. I have no idea when I can expect to get the camera back.
My two takeaways from this experience are:
- Professional photographers need a backup camera. I don’t sell my photographs (yet) but the camera is integral to my work. I had planned to sell the z7 but now I’m glad I didn’t. The z7 saved my vacation photo experience. I need to keep the z7 as a backup.
- Using the z7 this month reminds me what a good camera it is. I’m contemplating selling the z8 and buying a z7ii. The z7ii is not as good as the z8 but the z7ii has better autofocus than the z7. With the money I save, I could buy another lens.
Photo from my recent vacation taken with my Nikon z7:
Related
Archives
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
Categories
- aesthetics
- Amusement Park series
- anecdotes
- art boards
- Art history
- Art Museums
- Artists
- Bio
- Books
- cameras
- Cleveland
- computers
- Culture
- current affairs
- Drawings
- etching
- Fiction
- Galleries
- games
- Grumpy review
- How to
- Main Street
- materials
- Movies
- Paintings
- pen and ink
- Photography
- podcast
- Politics
- Reviews
- Shop Talk
- Studio Corner
- thomasparkerhudson.com
- Thumbs-Up-Down
- Tips and Studies
- Turpentine diaries
- Uncategorized
- Vermilion, OH
- video
- war
- writing
- YouTube
Leave a Reply