A pretty substantial leak is making the rounds for the upcoming Nikon Z8 mirrorless camera, revealing much of its specifications. From the looks of it, the new model is slated to be a miniature version of the Nikon Z9, a camera that we believe is the best for professional photographers.
This information comes from a recent report by Nikon Rumors (opens in new tab), and if you compare the two devices, you’ll see a lot of similarities. The new model will have the same 45.7MP stacked sensor for high-resolution images. When burst shooting, the Z8 will apparently be capable of taking RAW photos at 20 FPS (frames per second) with a maximum of 120 FPS when in JPEG mode. Shutter speed is, it seems, the same at 1/32,000 of a second. The Z9’s native 64-25,600 ISO range is being carried over to the Z8 as well, according to the leak, as its ability to shoot 8K video at 60 FPS. Other notable features like the electronic shutter and electronic viewfinder are migrating too, it seems.
From here, the specs deviate into what’s unique about the Z8. The upcoming camera is said to weigh less than a kilogram, making it around two pounds, with its dimensions measuring 144 x 118 x 83 mm or 5.6 x 4.6 x 3.2 inches. There aren’t pictures of the Z8 in the original post, however on April 21, Nikon Rumors did publish a leaked image of what it may look like. Do take it with a grain of salt as it’s possibly “just a placeholder.”
On the back will likely be a 3.2-inch LCD screen (the leaks imply multiple screens, but this is probably a typo). Interestingly enough, the Z8 is said to have better resistance against dust and (presumably) moisture than the Z9. The leaks state it’ll be just like the Nikon D850, which has “extensive weather and dust sealing to its joint parts and seams”, according to its product page (opens in new tab).
Unknown factors
There are a lot of questions remaining that we would love answered, as you can probably imagine. For example, the Nikon Z9 is capable of extending its ISO range up to 102,400 by manually tweaking the settings. The leaks don’t say whether or not the Z8 can do this, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it could given the similarities between the two cameras. We should mention the built-in 5-axis has six stops. The Z9 has this feature too but only for certain lenses. We’d love to know if the six stops affect all or just a few lenses.
A launch date for the Nikon Z8 is still pending although Nikon Rumors (opens in new tab) does speculate a release either in early May or sometime in August. Hopefully, when it comes out, we’ll be able to mark off everything on TechRadar’s list of the five things we want to see on the Z8.
Speaking of lists, be sure to check out our picks for the best DSLR cameras for 2023. We cover a wide range of budget options to fit your needs.
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Margarete Howe