Thom Hogan Took a Nikon Z9 to Africa and On-Line Presentation

Hogan received a pre-production Z9 from Nikon USA and took it to Botswana earlier this month, from December 6 to 20. I guess it is barely pre-production since Nikon started shipping the production version around December 23 or so; perhaps the firmware was further refined.

 

Hogan will give an on-line presentation sponsored by Paul's Photo in the Los Angeles area on Monday, December 27, 2021 from 5 to 7pm Pacific Standard Time, i.e. from 8pm US Eastern. If that time in inconvenient for you, most likely Paul's Photo will put it on YouTube afterwards.

• Thom's web site: The Z9 in Africa | Thom Hogan
  
• Event registration: Nikon Z9 in Africa
  

This presentation is delayed by a week to still Monday, January 3, 2022, 8pm EST/5pm PST.

Edited December 27, 2021 by ShunCheung

Hogan's work in Africa included safaris and a wedding shot, and he notes that his tally included "12 different leopards, 18 different lions, 15 wild dogs, 6 brides maids".

Thanks Shun, I registered and will try to make it.

Thanks Shun, I registered and will try to make it.

You are welcome. Don't blame me if you get interested and end up buying a Z9. :cool:

 

BTW, recall that Nikon announced the Z9 on October 28, 2021. A few days after that, on November 3,Thom Hogan did an earlier session with Paul's Photo to go over the Z9's features. At the time Hogan had only played with a pre-production model for a short while. If you are interested, you can watch the November 3 session on YouTube. Please keep in mind that session was 2 hours and 43 minutes long, and of course Paul's Photo was trying to get people to pre-order:

 

Edited December 25, 2021 by ShunCheung

Sounds interesting. Registered. Gotta set alarm as reminder. ;)

Thom Hogan's perspective of the Z9 should be interesting. Please keep in mind that he is there to help Paul's Photo to sell cameras, and perhaps to help himself sell more Nikon eBooks. I expect Thom to be quite positive towards the Z9, which apparently is excellent from all the reports I have seen.

 

Speaking of Paul's Photo, their current owner seems to be Mark Comon. I assume the original founder was Paul. They are in Torrance, south of the Los Angeles International Airport, not far from where Tiger Woods had his car accident early this year. Even though I used to live in the Los Angeles area for over a decade, I had never heard of Paul's Photo until Thom's video from last month. I guess the store was founded after I had moved to the East Coast. Most of the camera stores I was familiar with in Los Angeles have since gone out of business.

 

Not surprisingly, Mark Comon is a sales guy. If you haven't seen enough Z9 "unboxing" videos, here is one from him :rolleyes:

 

Sounds interesting. Registered. Gotta set alarm as reminder. ;)

 

Me too, except it works out at 1am GMT for me.

 

Good job I've got a late start tomorrow. :)

Not surprisingly, Mark Comon is a sales guy.

Yes indeed! The Z9 looks big. :eek:

Yes indeed! The Z9 looks big. :eek:

The Z9 is smaller than my D5. I am not sure Ilkka remembers my wife; he has been to our house once, almost 20 years ago. My wife is 5'1"/155cm and usually complains about the weight of my camera gear. Way back in 1990 she once picked up my F4 and immediately complained. She has handled our local Nikon rep's Z9 and thinks it is ok. The Z9 is thinner than the pro SLRs and DSLRs due to the lack of the mirror.

 

I would imagine Paul's Photo will put the recording on YouTube. Again, they are in the Los Angles area while Thom Hogan lives in Pennsylvania (US East Coast, 3 time zones ahead). It is going to be all remote anyway.

I would imagine Paul's Photo will put the recording on YouTube.

I would hope so - because of the timing I may not be able to watch the entire thing live. Thom wrote on his site "Pre-register anyway, and you'll get access to the recording for a week after the presentation".

Dieter, you can either watch it live and listen to Paul's Photo's sales pitch or watch it later on YouTube, where you can skip over those sales pitch, but you'll be watching commercials on YouTube. For me, those are usually from B&H. ;)

Just got this:

 

THOM HOGAN’S Nikon Z9 in Africa is being rescheduled for Monday, January 3rd 5pm PST

 

Thom has had a power outage and is unable to present tonight

He is not sure when electrical service will be restored

Just got this:

THOM HOGAN’S Nikon Z9 in Africa is being rescheduled for Monday, January 3rd 5pm PST

 

Thom has had a power outage and is unable to present tonight

He is not sure when electrical service will be restored

Bummer. Too bad he doesn't have backup power.

Quick reminder: Thom's presentation is rescheduled to this evening, January 3, 2022 at 8pm EST, 5pm PST

Quick reminder: Thom's presentation is rescheduled to this evening, January 3, 2022 at 8pm EST, 5pm PST

Missed the first hour. Did he compare focus tracking with other cameras?

Missed the first hour. Did he compare focus tracking with other cameras?

Thom mentioned the Sony A1. He did show the speed of fast and slow CF Express as well as XQD.

 

I am sure the recording will be on YouTube.

It seems one would have had to pre-register to be able to see the video for one week after the initial presentation. :-/ It was at 3 am (?) my time so rather uncomfortable. :-)

I don't see the recording yet. Typically Paul's Photo/Mark Comon would put the recording on YouTube so that anybody can watch without any expiration date. The Zoom session was of mediocre video quality, 720p, and people thought Thom's images were all on the soft side. I think you need at least 1080p to look sharp.

BTW, Thom had a 24-120/4 S lens on his Z9. That seems to be a very big lens, much larger than the 24-70/4 S and looks more like the f2.8 S.

The Z 24-120/4 does appear a bit bulky but the weight is 630 g which is lower than the F-mount version (708 g) and the 24-70/2.8 Z is 805 g. Edited January 4, 2022 by ilkka_nissila

It was quite a pleasant presentation (with a questionable shirt), though I didn't get to bed until 2.30 GMT.

Very informative, though most of the information had already been mentioned on his Z9 blog.

I missed the first 10 minutes of the presentation. Regarding cameras and lenses, he also used a Nikon Z 50 and a 18-xxx lens. I missed the full name of the lens. I know the Z 50 is DX; not sure about the lens being DX or FX and or S. That seemed to be a neat small sized travel option. Thom said he used it for sky shots and other uses. Does anybody have info or thoughts on that lens?

I missed the first 10 minutes of the presentation. Regarding cameras and lenses, he also used a Nikon Z 50 and a 18-xxx lens. I missed the full name of the lens. I know the Z 50 is DX; not sure about the lens being DX or FX and or S. That seemed to be a neat small sized travel option. Thom said he used it for sky shots and other uses. Does anybody have info or thoughts on that lens?

Thom Hogan had a DX 18-140mm lens on his Z50. That is roughly the equivalent of the Z 24-200mm lens for FX.

 

NIKKOR Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR | Interchangeable lens for Nikon mirrorless cameras

 

So far Nikon only have three DX lenses in the Z mount: 16-50, 50-250, and the 18-140. There is 12-28 on the roadmap but not yet officially announced.

 

Edited January 4, 2022 by ShunCheung

The Zoom recording is now available, for only one week until January 11:

Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing

Edited January 4, 2022 by ShunCheung

Nikon Z9 in Africa

 

Meeting Recording

 

Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing

 

Recording expires January 11th