My Nikon Z Mirrorless Rant to Nikon R&D and Corporate Marketing


Dear Nikon R&D and Corporate Marketing
As a Nikon Pro user for 25+ years, shooting for the likes of ELLE, VOGUE, Harper’s BAZAAR, GRAZIA , STYLE, etc… with 4 x FF NIKON bodies and 12+ lenses, I was aghast at the obvious oversight and flagrant ignorance in not providing a 2nd card slot. As a fashion photographer, I can afford a card failure, as I often tether and when shooting 10 + clothing changes in a day, I can re-shoot the image if need be. But the horror of losing that special image at a wedding,  a special event, a journalist asking that the ceremony be re-done or can that robber re-do his take for that lucky capture when robbing the 7/11, or can you ask the CEO of “That Huge Corporation” to re-do his opening speech, is something that makes me cringe just thinking about it.

I have 2 systems…Nikon and Fuji for now…NIKON, GOOGLE my name…I am in the Fashion Biz and have a rather high profile. I take this stuff very seriously….What were you thinking??? Oh and that battery, insignificant lens selection and poor lens adaption using the lens adapter and sub-par performance in AF speed and accuracy, lets not even go there for now. Hopefully those problems can be addressed in future firmware updates. The above comments were simple things to consider. Any real pro you consulted with would have told you that one card slot is a huge NO, NO! Who did you consult with??? Really! A few wannabe photographers who like tech stuff and specs, or real working professionals? Nikon, you know how many fashion photographers use your stuff! Why didn’t you ask us? You know, the ones on the front line that know the gear better than many of you do. Get it together before more of your loyal users migrate to another system altogether
Benjamin Kanarek.
Photo Below shot for Harper’s BAZAAR using a Nikon D800e and Nikon 85mm f/1.8 at f/1.8

Here is a rather lengthy but pertinent (to me at least) comment made by Myalo Koukoutsi on DP Reviews:

Reading all those posts of people who are ok with one slot, many self-titled “wildlife” and “action” shooters calling the OP a troll or telling him his image as a pro will lose value because he is annoyed with the one card issue I have to ask. What are you when all of you admit this is not a wildlife camera, not an action camera, you will not buy one and keep talking about how one slot is fine for YOUR use? Why will his image lose value, because he did not praise your beloved company? Because your new shiny toy is useless for him and he will not admire your new purchase? How insecure and idiotic must someone be to attack the feedback from a well-known photographer who is disappointed that the company he is heavily invested in and likes to use let him down? Does it register with you how oxymoron is that as you admit, the camera is not for wildlife and action photographers, as you point out to the OP it is not for him and other fashion photographers because of the one card, the price makes it unreachable for many hobbyists and yet your declare it will sell well? To who? How much more brand blindness before you seek help?
To all the brand trolls: you do a disservice to your beloved brand that you so blindly, faithfully and childishly try to protect. You do a disservice to your brand when not only you do not give honest feedback but you attack personally people who do give creative feedback. You damage yourselves and others when you are trying to silence different opinions. You do yourselves and others injustice when you are defending, in this case, Nikon which expects people to spend 2 or 3 or 4k USD, euros etc for a camera that has missing features or subpar performance or technology by today’s standards for whatever reason. You should look into yourselves before you call people trolls just because they have a different opinion or different wishes. Go in threads that praise the cameras and join others who agree with you, let people who have issues with the cameras discuss that without getting insulted and flamed.
To the OP: I admire your work, great pictures, amazing work. As for your frustration, it’s interesting to see what a professional and highly achieved photographer thinks about the new cameras and how they fit or not to his world of photography. I share your frustration, I waited a long time for Nikon to give me the opportunity to use a mirrorless camera without having to replace all my lenses before I added a Sony A7R3 to my bag, superb camera. I think Nikon should have offered the Z7 with dual cards, even if it meant sd cards. The camera as so many wildlife and action photographers point out is not for them, they rather use D850, so the maximum speed in emptying the buffer is not really needed, Nikon should have offered redundancy and target professionals like you since they did not manage to add options and performance that would appeal to action photographers . They managed somehow to exclude so many important categories of photographers as potential buyers in one way or another that makes one wonder who do they think they will sell the Z7 to?
 
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