Will You Need the Nikon Z7 Mark III?

Masterpiece? I'm back from my little break. Catching up with TOP again: When I suggested looking back into the archives while I was gone, Michel Hardy-Vallée said he would wait till post No. 10,001, because that would be my first masterpiece. Actually, we've passed that already—there were 1,548 posts on Blogger before I switched to TypePad. I had to take those posts offline because of a misunderstanding with Amazon (they objected to some of the ways I had linked to products), but in reality, TOP is on post No. 10,604 (this one). I'm too lazy to count back to see what No. 10,001 actually was, but it probably wasn't a masterpiece—it was probably just a short workmanlike blurt alerting you to the latest Nikon to go on closeout.

The next Nikon: My friend Izzy at B&H wrote to tell me that the Nikon Z7II is on sale for a stout $1,000 off. The sale will last for seven more days. It probably means that a Z7III is in the pipeline and nearing the launch pad (whoops, block those metaphors, Mike!). But, are you really going to need the III? I haven't even looked into it and I can tell you I wouldn't need it. I don't know how the III is going to improve on the II, but I just take still pictures, mostly one at a time. I'm pretty sure I could make the II work for me if I had to.

The last guy who...(OT): I'm going to wedge one OT blip in here. Have to point out that today, Taylor Fritz is playing the northern Italian Jannik Sinner (whose native language is German) in the men's finals of the U.S. Open tennis tournament. Americans dominated men's tennis during the era of Connors, McEnroe, and Agassi, but it's been a long drought since then. Taylor Fritz's appearance today is remarkable in that it's the first time an American man has played in the final of our national tournament since 2006, when Andy Roddick made his last Open final. And it's the first time an American man has played in the final of any major tennis championship since 2009, when Roddick was beaten by Roger Federer in an epic five-set match, 14–16(!) in the fifth, at Wimbledon. And if Fritz wins (he is not favored), it will be the first time an American man won a major since 2003, when Roddick won the U.S. Open. Andy Roddick, who now broadcasts a very entertaining podcast with Jon Wertheimer called Served, says he is thoroughly sick of being "the last guy who..." and he can't wait for it to be over. He quips that the only guy who knows how he feels would be Fred Perry, who for many decades was the last British man to win Wimbledon. I'm a big Sinner fan, and I don't know who to root for.

Trillion: A factoid on a video went winging past my brain-pan the other day—the claim was that "studies show" that humanity now creates 1 trillion photos a year. That means that all you would have to do to see all of the photographs made in one year would be to look at 500 pictures per second for your entire lifetime, as long as you used every single second in every single day, no sleeping. You know what I always say: Editors needed everywhere! At the same time that these is far more raw material being created, I get the sense that photographers are being less purposeful and deliberate about their projects, and that even photographs meant as art for public consumption are being less well observed, noted, and curated, and placed before the public. But perhaps those things were always an illusion anyway. I can tell you that there are people out there doing very good work who aren't getting the slightest notice.

Suspicion: Speaking of curated work placed before the public, I saw an article in The Atlantic about Wildlife Photographer of the Year (I don't know if you need a subscription to see the link), and I must say I don't quite believe some of the pictures. A couple of them look too much like fantasy Photoshopped creations to me. Even if they aren't, they look like too much like they are. In a few cases, there's not enough of the "slap of truth" for me to believe they're accurate photographic records. Could be I'm just jaded, and that I now approach photographs with more suspicion than I did in more innocent days. Have to say I love the little stoat, though.

Brilliant and hilarious, and short: Finally, I'll pass along a recommendation for "Fredrik Backman on Creative Anxiety and Procrastination." Backman is the author of A Man Called Ove. (And if you think anxiety and procrastination is off-topic, I congratulate you.) My friend and art school classmate Jay, who sent this to me and the rest of our class of '85 (most of us are still in touch), comments, "brilliant and hilarious (and short)." It is that. I've watched it four times. Enjoy.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2024 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

Sean: "To be funny, self-deprecating and supportive with such brevity proves Fredrik is a soul with wit."

Patrick Dodds: "Backman's talk is delightful; thank you and Jay for the link. A Man Called Ove is equally worth the time."

GKFroelich: "The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is a prestigious and long-standing event conducted by the Natural History Museum (in the U.K.), which imposes strict standards for submission. Take a look here—in particular, read the sections on ETHICAL REQUIREMENTS and PHOTOGRAPH REQUIREMENTS (especially subsection 7 under the latter). Of course, some viewers will ignore the above and impose their own judgements."

Chris Kern: "Stuart A. Thompson of The New York Times, a reporter whose beat includes 'covering how false and misleading information spreads online,' has a piece in today’s edition that challenges readers to identify real and AI-generated videos. (I only managed to get six out of ten.)"

Mike adds: The piece is called "A.I. Can Now Create Lifelike Videos. Can You Tell What’s Real?" The piece reinforces the idea that our default should now be to assume something is fake, until convinced otherwise.

Comments

[robert e]

I had no problem viewing the Atlantic piece. Unreal looking? The first few pictures, maybe, but I attribute that to unbelievability of the resolution, focus, shutter speed, dynamic range, sharpening, etc. In other words, it's not that they don't look like natural scenes, but that they don't look like natural photographs! At least to people our age.

Yesterday, I watched a recent movie called The Fall Guy, which was shot in 4K, on a 4K TV with Dolby Vision (an HDR video format) and I believe the TV was adding frames to increase the frame rate. Well, the image was so crisp and smooth that it didn't look like a "natural" movie at all to me. It looked like a cheap soap opera, albeit one with spectacular color and lighting and a massive budget.

As for the movie, it is an intentionally very silly though clever movie that is dead serious about practical movie stunts. Approached in that spirit, it's a highly entertaining, even mind-blowing showcase of and homage to that venerable Hollywood craft. One particular stunt done for the movie-within-the-movie broke a world record, which is noted in the movie. It was directed by former stuntman turned top action director David Leitch. There are many, many movie references. It has many similarities to Richard Rush's The Stunt Man from 1980, but it's far lighter, less cerebral and more visceral--almost a parody of that great film.

[Joseph Kashi]

I have to assume that the selections of the 2023 Grand Prize winners are an inside curatorial joke, unless the entry rules specified that parody of traditional genres was the 2023 theme or otherwise encouraged.

There are at least 4 obvious indicators on the "crab" that it is an old dented piece of anodized metal. Evident as well are three separate lighting sources shining from different directions.

Unless one is referring to bad drivers, there is no "wildlife" at all in the trashed-out building, While this may well be an acceptable "art" photo in some other context, a traditional wildlife contest is rather self-evidently not the correct context, regardless of how one tries to spin the curatorial decision.

Living in an area where wary lynx are common (Alaska), I am potentially dubious about the factual reliability of the daylight lynx image. Although it is certainly possible, it does not seem probable. Let's see the RAW file from the original memory card.

[Tom Burke]

£800 off the RRP of the Nikon Z7ii at my local dealers - down from £3100. The nearest Canon equivalent is the R5 (I think) which has just been reissued in a ‘ii’ version. The new version is only available at full RRP, £4500. But if that’s a bit much then the Mk 1 is still available for £3600, marked down from £4300.

Crazy money; I don’t need and certainly can’t justify any of them, even to myself. I’m still happy with my APS-C R7, except for a niggling feeling that the iPhone is catching up fast. But the truth is that, whatever camera I’m using, the limiting factor is me and not the equipment!

[Jeff]

And the first all-American Grand Slam men’s singles semifinal since 2005. Tiafoe admitted to a case of nerves while leading and seemingly headed for victory against Fritz. I’d like to see him break through one of these days.

[Keith B]

The cat pictures (lions and the solitary cat) look like fake blur has been applied to the background. Disappointing.

[robert e]

Backman's talk is indeed hilarious and brilliant! Thanks! I haven't read any of his books, but I enjoyed the movie adaptation of A Man Called Ove (the Swedish movie; I haven't watched the American version, A Man Called Otto).

P.S. I confirmed that the visual qualities I most disliked about The Fall Guy were imposed on it by the TV set, via default settings that are buried in an "Advanced Settings" submenu. An atrocious practice. Wondering now whether I need to rewatch several movies in order to give them a fairer shake...

[GKFroehlich]

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is a prestigious and long-standing event conducted by the Natural History Museum (in the U.K.), which imposes strict standards for submission. Take a look here (https://www.nhm.ac.uk/competition/rules)—in particular, read the sections on ETHICAL REQUIREMENTS and PHOTOGRAPH REQUIREMENTS (especially subsection 7 under the latter).

Of course, some viewers will ignore the above and impose their own judgements.

[GKFroehlich]

Regarding that link to Wildlife Photographer of the year, and a subsequent comment: I didn’t see any photo of a trashed building. I didn’t see any blur in a photo with cats (though a Lion’s wind-blown mane was visible). I also didn’t see any photo of a Lynx—in daylight or otherwise. Makes me wonder what link the commenter visited. Perhaps expanding the captions under each photo, and actually reading about the photos and how they were taken, would help enlighten some viewers. Just a suggestion.

[Kye Wood]

Welcome back!

RE Trillion - the amount of duck faced selfies and cafe food pictures I'd absorb would be enough to melt my soul.

Which begs the question, given that you couldn't 'see' germs or things in the infrared spectrum (among others) until recently, is it not inconceivable that something passing for a 'soul' may one day be able to be photographed as an actual physical thing that we simply don't have the current technical ability to see? Hmm and suchlike.

[Jayanand Govindaraj]

I presume the Nikon Z7III will come with a 60+ MP sensor. This is always going to be a niche product targeted at a very specific market. I do not expect production volumes to be high, and they will probably sell all that they manufacture. It will also round off their line of cameras quite nicely. I have no need for a 60 MP body, but I do have a real use for the Nikon Z8 and Z9, both of which I own, and are probably useless for you as well. Live and let live!

[You are lucky indeed! Wonderful. --Mike]

[Speed]

And if you think anxiety and procrastination is off-topic, I congratulate you.

Can't speak to "anxiety" but I am cleaning the basement after a period of procrastination measured in decades. Or maybe it was anxiety over the size of the job that led to the procrastination.

[ASW]

There is a part of me always looking for a deal, so when I see "$1000 off!" I rush to take a look.

There is a bigger part of me that has no money not allocated to living expenses and the mortgage, so when I see the remaining price of $1996.95 I nervously swallow, close my browser window, and back away cautiously.

I don't do as much photography as I used to, so I'll have to force myself to keep on keeping on with the $500 used Nikon D700 that I bought in 2018. It came with a bunch of batteries and memory cards along with some random Nikon lens that I sold six months later for $250. Even with the limited shooting I do, I think it's fully paid off by now.

[Nigel]

I am still happily using the Nikon Z7 Mk1. It does everything I want a camera to do and it will be difficult to see what a Mk 3 will bring to the table.

The Mk1 was dissed for having just one card slot, and was quickly replaced by the very similar Mk2.

The Z7 is a great all-round camera, lightweight for travel with a 24-200 and with high resolution for my Architectural photography, using shift lenses.

[Doug Vaughn]

Thanks for the video clip. I'm a lifelong procrastinator but luckily work very well under pressure and deadlines (which were constant). I'm retired now but had a good career and excelled in my profession. Who knows what I might have accomplished if I'd jumped head first into every project from the start.

I loved the book "A Man Called Ove". Haven't watched the movie.

[Ronny Nilsen]

The images in the article Wildlife Photographer of the Year is sort of what you can get today with state-of-the-art cameras and lenses. It's like robert e said, so sharp that it look unreal. But even with a Nikon Z7 or Canon R5 you will have to put in real time and work to get images like those.

[Rich Jacobson]

A long drought since Agassi? Did you sleep through the 90’s while Pete Sampras was the dominant player in men’s tennis, winning 14 Grand Slam titles? Nevertheless, it was nice to see some new faces in the finals of the US Open on both the men’s and women’s side.

[John Bates]

Hey! Long time no read, no comment. And by long time, I mean at least a decade, I think.

I just popped in as I was procrastinating, appreciated the video, and then came to the footnotes.

You know what’s weird? Part of the reason I’ve been gone so long (there’s no reason to remember me, btw, as I posted only a few times) was that I was able to effect a career change: from enterprise infrastructure to a new focus on image and video authenticity.

So when I saw your note, I had to be excited — my company has just released a product that I am very proud of: it is a deepfake detector that I’ve spent about eight months on. I don’t like to be seen as a shill, so I won’t put the url in the post, but I’ll add it to that little URL field in the comment registration.

Anyways, when I try to explain what I do, it goes something like this: hey, remember when people used film? It was pretty easy for folks who knew what they were doing to make a guess at the brand and type that was used. You’re all photographers: when you shot with film did you have a favorite?

So deepfakes and photoshopped images: turns out that even in this digital age, there’s still film grain. Oh, sure, we call it noise, and we try to get rid of it, and it’s super small and nobody really can even tell it’s there any more. But it is! And every camera and every generative AI agent and every scanner and all of those sorts of things make their very own distinctive grain. Noise. Whatever.

I don’t have a Times subscription so I can’t check the quiz against my app. Even with my super-duper advanced grain detector, it’s a moving target and I know that I’ve got a model waiting for qualification that’s needed to handle a couple new generators, so I’d be happy to get an eight out of ten. But I dunno.

Anyways, I thought it was an odd coincidence that I dropped by out of the blue and found this post.

[David Cope]

Leaving aside the 999 000 000 000 photos of cats, dogs and one's kids, how many of the remaining 1 Billion are meaningful enough for generations in the far future to piece together a truthful visual history If they survive that long (the images I mean)?

Are there any serious archiving projects out there? I'd like to think there is someone or an organisation locking both digital and analog work into time capsules alongside the technology and knowledge needed to view and preserve them many centuries from now.

[Dave]

"I can tell you that there are people out there doing very good work who aren't getting the slightest notice."

Please do show some examples in a future post, if possible! :>)