Chrysta does a furniture ad.
Here it is: Tony Northrup will be recommending that professional photographers NOT purchase the Z6 or Z7 because......wait for it......the camera does not feature dual card slots. This is his position having not yet used either camera and I will be interested to see if his position changes once he is delivered to New York City, feted and entertained by Nikon's PR agency who will, no doubt, provide a rational and defensible argument as to why, going forward, it's okay for their two cameras to only have one card slot...and a QXD at that. That happens, I think, this weekend so I'm sure we'll know more after checking Tony's YouTube channel on Monday.
I'm neutral on the whole "dual card slot imbroglio." I understand the only good rationale and that is to have a duplicate copy of important, once in a life time, photographs from non-repeating events or imaging opportunities. Got it. If a card goes bad you've still got one in the second slot with which to save your bacon. But I have to say that I have either been incredibly lucky over the years or the incidence of card failures (among authentic cards from well known makers) is wildly over-reported.
It's been a while since I experienced any sort of photographic equipment failure other than just wearing out lenses or something occurring from drop damage. But I do get the point; a second card slot is a relatively cheap and easy way to get a redundant back-up.
This is, of course, why every photographer worth his government issued, official professional photographer licensing card here in the U.S.A. (not a real thing) carries back-up equipment for everything. When I go on location to shoot a non-repeatable corporate executive head shot I always take along duplicates of all mission critical equipment: A camera and a back up camera. A range of lenses and an exact duplicate of the first range of lenses. Back up batteries for each camera. A back up camera strap for each in case my strap frays or unexpectedly snaps into pieces from overuse. A set of studio flashes, and a second set of back up studio flashes. Enough memory cards to back up the back up cards in the main and back up cameras. I generally bring along a second set of prescription glasses and a second set of prescription sunglasses.
But that's just the core gear. I bring an assistant, and also a back up assistant in case the first assistant eats some bad mayonnaise at lunch and becomes incapacitated. I bring along a second set of clothes for myself and also for my assistants in case we fall in mud or some fiber eating microbes begin to disintegrate our original clothes. I pack a lunch, and then a second lunch in case the first lunch is lost or destroyed. I bring along empty Pelican cases just in case our primary cases are somehow destroyed during the shoot.
I carry plenty of back up tripods because you never know when one will short circuit or become humidity damaged. We bring duplicate light stands just in case someone runs over our primary collection of light stands with a forklift or other warehouse vehicle. And soft boxes! Dozens and dozens in all sizes. Many duplicates in case the fiber glass rods snap...
Finally, we bring along a second car in case the first car breaks down, either on the way to or the way from, our client's chosen location. All of this duplication is cost intensive but I don't see how else one could call oneself a "professional photographer" unless you are willing to dive onto the top of a live grenade of equipment spending and required portage costs in order to give your client unmatched service and piece of mind. The cheap bastards deserve nothing less...
At times though I look at this endless imagined need for back up and duplication in different ways. I've never acquired a back up spouse and so far I've experienced no job stopping corruption, or total spouse failure. I only have the one house and that's been working well since about 1995. And I've actually flown in planes with single engines and if there was ever a perceived need for redundant back up that would be it.
I would be interested to know if you've recently experienced any card failures from modern (post 2010) memory cards. If you routinely save money by buying the Russian surplus or Chinese counterfeit cards from the Amazing "marketplace" you are on your own. But if you are using current "big brand" cards that came from a trusted source I would be most interested in being proven wrong and saying a big mea culpa to Tony Northrup (whose videos I actually very much enjoy --- even when I don't always agree).
Let me know if the single card slot on the Nikon Z's is really the big "deal killer" for you. And why.
Thanks. KT
56 comments:
I do remember that my old Kodak Professional DCS 760 did have two slots for PCMCIA cards. And that was back in 2002. I can't find the second slot in my D700s though. I'll keep looking.
It's a total deal killer. I shoot tethered with backup to a hd or dual slots 100% of the time because I can. Because in 2018 it's not a burden to do so, so why risk it? I've had cards go bad, I've had most things break, and have duplicates of almost everything (except for that digital back!) because I think that's the responsible thing to do for my clients. This especially...why take the chance?
I've got an Olympus E-420 and an E-520, which have dual card slots - one for CF and another for the Olympus-specific (and maybe Fuji?) XD. I'll trade him both for the new "Z" he doesn't like...
I am not a professional, but occasionally shoot events which are not re-shootable.
I have had two SD cards fail on me since 2010, one SanDisk and the other Eye-Fi. In one case the housing split apart as I removed it gently from the camera, and I was able to hold it together while inserting it into the card reader. So no images lost, but close. in the other, the card developed a read error and I fortunately had the backup card from my D7000. No failures in the last three years or so.
I now shoot my E-M1.2 with raw on card 1 and jpeg on card 2, giving me partial backup but more flexibility to edit and post from my iPad while traveling.
Been shooting Nikon DSLRs since 2007. One card failure (SDHC) in all that time, replaced by the manufacturer. Earlier cameras used CF, now SDHC. Only purchase major brands (brands S & L) from reliable source (B&H).
My only reservation (aside from a shallow wallet) is that I think it's risky to get version one of any software or hardware,.
Never had a single card failure since 2003 and a few of those years were in military enviroments.
One thing I've notice is no one seems to realize that the two cameras are for the hobbyist not "professionals." The MSRPs are the same or a little more than when the D600/610 and D750 came out.
I'm what one could call "careless" in handling those things: I routinely pick them up by whatever end is nearer and that means my fingers go over the contacts. Some folks are horrified at the thought, but if the card is of good quality the contacts will be gold-plated, which makes them almost impossible to oxidize!
As for the chips themselves I still have to see one fail, in well over 10 years of using them in all sorts of cameras!
Maybe I've been lucky. But a single card slot in a camera would never be a "no-no" for me.
Kirk,
I shoot about 15-20 weddings a year. I've been using two D750's for 3 years now. In those 3 years, I have had "1" issue with a bad card and I caught it within about 5-6 frames. Something happened that caused those 5 frames to disappear after one of the images was cut in half? I'm guessing it was a shutter issue or something? I quickly switched to the other card and kept working for the rest of the night. All the images previous to that glitch were still there, so not much was lost. I downloaded the card and threw it away. That, in 18 years of wedding and portrait photography, has been my one and only card issue. (knocks on wood...)
Never experienced a card failure or a battery failure. I always have spares with me and I'm just a rank amateur. I have had a lens fail me. It was one of those collapsible power zooms, a Sony. It became possessed and starting zooming in and out all by itself until it died. I've spilled water on a camera before, bricking it within an hour after water got into all the important circuits. There are very, very few photography sites I pay attention to these days and his certainly isn't one of them. I stay the hell away from that other big site, except to watch Chris and Jordan, who are always thorough and fair and produce good content. Buying a camera is like buying a car or a good suit. You have to get into it and take it for a spin before you know for sure.
In 12 years of shooting digital I've only had two cards malfunction, both SanDisks. But both times I was able to retrieve the files via recovery software. I've used Delkin and Lexar CF/SD cards for years with no problems. And I only use the single SD card slot in my D500 because I'm too cheap to buy an XQD card & reader.
It has been many years since I lost images to anything other than human error -- and one feline error when the cat yanked the USB cord out of the reader while the card was in use.
I had a few problems with CF cards in the early days, I suspect caused by pulling the card out of he camera before it finished writing images.
I would feel safer with dual slots, but have not had them in many years. I do carry backup for camera and lenses in the form of a Panasonic FZ1000. And an extra flash.
In the olden days I carried a spare set of eyeglasses in my bag -- the one thing without which I could not function. Couldn't even drive home without them. After cataract surgery I no longer need glasses, so that's one problem solved.
2 years ago, I had a Lexar SDHC 16GB card fail in a Fuji X-E1. Lost five frames completely, a few more corrupted. Formatted the card in camera and it continued to corrupt shots, so it went straight in the garbage. Switched cards and had no more issues.
Made me glad I chimped early. It was a family wedding, not for hire. But it would have sucked to lose more frames.
I never could find the secondary roll film holder in my Mamiya 645! Single slot won't bother me much ;-)
I came into photography in the late 1970s. I guess that makes me old, but not so old that I don't remember how things were back then. We had backups where we needed to, and accepted the small amount of risk from everything else. Somehow, we survived and served our clients.
From where I sit, today's cameras and SD cards are *at least* as reliable as film cameras and processing ever were. Having that perspective frees me from worrying about how many slots my cameras have.
Sigh, the techno-dweebs (I am trying to be polite) on Dpreview have already gone ballistic about this dual card slot business. Yes, they all do such mission-critical photography.... For decades, I traveled with only a single Leica M or a TLR Rolleiflex. There was one shutter failure in the Rolleiflex in Greece, I missed some pictures, life went on, the sun rose.
None of my film cameras ever had a second roll capacity.
I lived.
Card failures refer to CF or SD cards, XQD card failures are very rare.
The one card failure I experienced was in the SD card slot of a Canon 1d mark II when I was photographing my daughters wedding. So, it can happen.
I have had images corrupt on a SanDisk Extreme Pro. The rest of the images were ok. Reformatted the card and hasn't reocurred. I think he's right on this one at this price point though...unless Nikon have some rock solid data on SQD reliability that we haven't sseen.Put two slots in. Noone is forcing you to use both.
I laughed hard while reading this, it has resonated so much with the conversations I've been having the since the announcement. Every poster is now a professional photographer for sports illustrated or a wedding photographer for the Royals.
Every major camera release ...ever... has had the internet go into meltdown for one reason or the other. While I would "prefer" they had 2 slots , (more so to do with queiting the internet noise) this is very much low on the list of needs, wants and must haves. I've shot with the D300/D700 combo for 10 years, and have backed up regularly during shoots. Manage your workflow.
4:2:2: video, a 16mm flange/55mm mount throat which has the potential to have ANY lens ever made be used on it, 4:2:2: 10 bit , 4K over-sampled video (z^) is absolutely intriguing. Given we will write to a single external SSD unit, amazing how we will survive.
Also, I find it hysterical how people who have no intention of buying the Z cameras will get onto every youtube channel and forum and tell people how it's a deal breaker for them. haha. It's like some kind of weird fetish.
Keep up the great posts Kirk.
Piff. Its a lot of fuss about nothing.
I do not know if Nikon have sorted out wifi connectivity ( Snapbridge has been rubbish, frankly ) but if the wifi on the new Zee cameras works well enough, then in theory you can back up JPEGS to an external drive in your pocket on the fly.
Problem solved.
Not a professional, just one card failure in 6 years, and just a corrupted file - right after the card works fine until today.
But...for some people (as stated in other comments) dual cards are a must have - event shooters, sports coverage, everything that could not be repeated.
For most people, it is not necessary, but for these people 45mp of resolution is not necessary to make images to post in Instagram also, and...
The problem is that other manufacturers implemented them, with a lot of press coverage, and since Nikon don't...bang. I think, as you, that it is not vital in this camera tier (more about it below), but spec bragging never ends. Nikon should take the pill and implemented them.
The biggest mistake that I'm seeing in this coverage is comparing the Z7 with the D850. Z6 and Z7 are not intended to be "professional" cameras; it is, even in Nikon lingo, an "enthusiast" camera (in Nikon site, their DSLR are divided in 3 tiers, entry-level, enthusiast and professional). Z7 is more a D610/D750 with a 45mp sensor, not a D850 replacement - just look at the controls of these cameras. Both the Z6 and Z7 aimed at the Sony's A7RIII and A7III, the D850 surely will appear down the road.
I have never experienced an engine failure in a single engine plane. I have however heard that, if one engine fails in a twin, the other will allow you to fly all the way to the scene of the crash.
I guess if one card fails in a dual slot camera, you can keep shooting until the other one fails too. Because either there is something wrong with the camera, you have a bad batch of cards, you left them - both, of course - in too hot/cold/humid environment, or your computer corrupted or damaged them (both). Memory cards don't just die, there is a good chance that whatever killed the first card will kill the other.
So many people made so much money shooting so many weddings for so many years with Mamiya C330 or Rolleiflex cameras, with at best only 12 or 24 shots before having to wind, seal, remove, store, move take up spool, tear wrapping off the next film, reload, rethread, wind to first shot.
All without autofocus or autoexposure and only a hand held meter with readings transferred manually.
For once in a lifetime events!
I've been shooting digital since 2001. Never seen a memory card go bad, never had a battery or lens or camera suddenly fail. Never bothered to use the second card slot even when I had one. I lost more pictures due to mechanical problems in film cameras (e.g. film not advancing correctly) than I ever have with digital cameras.
Never had a card failure ever. Screwed up a film or two in processing though!
Been through smart media cards in a Fuji back in 1998, CF cards in my old Nikons, and now SD cards in everything else.
No card failures I can not take the blame for by my own use (misuse). All name brand cards purchased at reputable establishments.
I would not mind a second slot but it would not in any way be a reason not to buy a camera.
I had a fast 16GB Lexar CF card that failed miserably with my D800 some years ago. Totally crushed my images. Didn't dare to use it again even though it was quite new and was supposed to be extremely fast (for that time).
Before that, around 2002-2003, I had a CF card that failed with my Nikon Coolpix 950 (can't remember the brand).
These days I use Sandisk only and they have never failed. Hope my only Sony 64 GB XQD card will be as stable as the Sandisk cards in the long run.
I have had lenses fail, I have had cameras fail, but I have never had a memory card fail. That said, I do replace cards every five years or so.
Photo gear's probability of failure doesn't seem to be influenced by the availability of back-ups, but I've heard of spouses developing unexpected erratic behavioral patterns once a backup spouse has been detected. This isn't changing even if you never took the lens cap off with the backup spouse. To make matters worse, frequently the backup spouse isn't doing as great as before once the main spouse isn't anymore, leaving the photographer a messy heap.
Since my early days with a Kodak digi cam I have only had one card go south on me. During that same period I have had probably 10 HDD's pack it in.
I'm a serious amateur and don't rely on my photography to put food on the table. But I would be sorely disappointed to loose that wonderful photograph at sunrise with a moose in the river (never seen such a thing but it would fun.) I have over 100,000 images in my files from just about every generation of Nikon digital camera. I have also had Sony's and tried a Leica once. The only out and out failure was on the Leica. Had a couple of corrupted files over the years - camera or card or compatibility? I currently have the Nikon D850 and D500 with dual slots XQD/SD. I only use the XQD slot and don't loose a minute of sleep. I really hate SD cards - I have a whole batch that I've knocked off the write protect slider - repairing them per WWW instructions is not really successful. Bring on the single XQD slot any day - bye, bye SD.
Obviously, having a single slot is not a problem for me. Maybe the wait list will stay short enough that I can get a Z before my birthday in May. By then the benefits of the Z's will be evident (or not) and the "Pro's" can get in line behind me.
In my (much) younger days I flew by single engine helicopter over the sea, rode a motorbike on a race track, and used a bicycle in the city. Now in my later years I always use a single SD card. My wife says I'm still the same "devil may care" thrill seeker she fell in love with!
Peter Wright.
I agree that the hysteria over the single card slot is a bit crazy. I did have a card failure last year while shooting a football match but in general, memory cards are pretty reliable. BUT the reality is that the cost of adding a second card slot on the new Z cameras would probably have been minimal. They must have known that having a single card slot would generate exactly the reaction it has - Nikon tech people are not dumb - so the obvious question is 'why'? I'm sure it had more to do with marketing than technical or financial constraints. But for around £2,000 UK price for the lower end model - about twice the cost of a lightly used D750 (with 2 card slots) - I think we have a right to ask for a feature which is common to all the competitor products. Why do Nikon continue to shoot themselves in the foot?
Hmmm.... These are not necessarily sold as the top professional cameras, which may explain the lack of a second slot. As for the second slot:
1. My photos get transferred to my phone every so often, when I’m out and about with a camera.
2. They’re already uploaded to Lightroom by the time I get home (or to my hotel room).
Good job I have 4G and a good data plan 8-D. Incidentally, I’ve never the one slot I do have fail on me (yet).
It would be interesting to know why no dual slot. When that appears to be the trend. Pana, Sony, you direct Competitors have them ? JUST WHY NOT ?
I bought a "latest and greatest" Sony SF-G64/T1 High Performance 64GB SDXC UHS-II Class 10 U3 Memory Card to use with my A7r3 and Olympus EM-1 MK3. I had a shoot (using just one card slot) in which I filled up the card with Raw +JPG images. I managed to download about half the images when the card went south. Couldn't even get it to read, so recovery was not an option. Then I looked at the Amazon reviews. 6% one star, total failure, 3% two stars, serious issues. Sony replaced the card, no questions asked, but my confidence is shaken.
Prior to this experience, I'd only had one other card failure, and the recovery software bailed me out. I may just go to SanDisk, and order directly from the company. The one and two star reviews on Amazon are very informative for a wide variety of cards. Card failure is a lot more common than I realized. Counterfeits abound.
I have two AIS Nikkor lenses that I use on my Sony A7r3 and 6300, a 50mm 2.8 micro, and the classic 105mm f/2.5. I don't think they'd work any better on the "Z" cameras.
Love the women on the couch. Who's Tony Northrop???? Who cares. Yes had two cards fail, but no damage done as I had back up to my back up. Did some one post that "professionals" don't care more and one set up/camera??
One slot is fine. Doesn't matter to me as I'm retired and don't have the need for a Z6 or Z7. Shoot one digital one film. Never missed a shot.
Roger
I have not had a card failure. I have mistakenly failed to copy from one card, deleted the images, and fortunately I was saved by the 2nd card. My mistake saved by the redundant 2nd card - Which is missing from the new Nikon mirrorless system.
My response to both the new Nikon body and to the wailing about what it has and doesn't have, and can and can't do is...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
I'll awaken only after 10,000 cameras are in the hands of the hordes who've taken millions of images, thereby providing real-life data to determine the camera's merit.
Until then it is all conjecture.
Cheers
Jack
PS I agree with what was said about wedding photographers in the days of film. I shot sports and news events with 36 frames on each roll and had no ability to chimp. The spoiled digital crowd have ii so easy they need spoon feding.
While the absolute "need" for a second card slot is debatable, what I believe is not debatable is that Nikon's decision to provide only one was a dreadful marketing decision. The Z7 is targeting the Sony A7RIII is it not? Days after the launch, it seems that 90% of the I'net chatter about the new Nikons concerns their lack of a second slot (and eye-AF), not their mostly positive attributes.
Thank you Kirk, I had never really thought about a backup wife but it sounds intriguing. The primary wife hasn't failed me in 45 years but she's getting older and a responsible person should always be prepared. I love reading your stuff. Lots of great information. Again, thanks.
I once dropped a card on the floor after taking it out of the camera and then rolled over it with the desk chair. Does that count?
Hi Kurt,
Love your website; keep up the great work.
I just watched the Tony & Chelsea Northrup video about pre-propduction Nikon z7 and there was more than the dual card slot that caused them not to recommend the camera. They felt the autofocus was seriously deficient as was the exposure metering. Me thinks we all need to wait til the production camera is tested before we pass too much judgment.
I've never had a card go bad on me.
OK, so It sounds that you are very keen on backup solutions and aware risk of possible failure of equipment. But you don't mind only only one card slot
I have had a problem but I caused it. Apparently you never, ever modify the contents of a card using anything other than the camera, and then continue shooting. I didn't know. And I am not sure that some reported card failures are actually the card and not something like my mistake.
I have no idea who this Tony Northrup guy is - never heard of him and he doesn't sound like someone I'd care much for.
I once had an SD card failure way back in 2006, though there is a 50-50 chance it could've been due to user error. But none since, and none with newer cards - not even while shooting many thousands of wildlife pictures in two trips to Africa. Besides, I don't think I've ever used the second card slot (on the cameras that had a second slot) for backing up files. I always use it as an "overflow" card so that I don't have to change cards in the middle of photographing something irreplaceable. Then I download all the photos to a laptop or external drive at the end of the day.
Ken
I personally hope that this “one card slot mania” causes a big pause in pre-orders so that I might get mine sooner!... Then again, I don’t earn my living in photography so that’s that... The handling/haptics and high quality EVF WILL be relevant for every outting... The Z’s also have selectable aspect ratios, the highly desirable 1:1 plus 16:9 in addition to standrad 3:2, haven’t seen anyone mentio this yet but it’s unique among FF mirrorless...
I just cannot understand why a company would give an unfinished product to the very people they think will influence the rest of us buy this camera.
I've gotten a card error a couple of times in the 16 years that I've been shooting with digital cameras. Most recently, I had one image that was corrupted with my E-m10 mark II on a Delkin card last month, so it does happen. Most of my errors affect a single image, and not all images on the card. I could imagine it happening however.
In the era of compact flash cards, I did have cards and card readers fail due to pins getting bent. But that isn't an issue with SD cards. I don't know if it is an issue with XQD cards, but I assume it isn't.
Similarly, I have a 2 megapixel camera (Olympus C-2100UZ, bought in 2002) that I bring out for a few shots each year for sentimental reasons, and in the last few times I shot with it, I had problems reading the smart media cards. So like batteries, you probably need to change media cards every couple of years.
For somebody like me, that is firmly rooted in another system (micro 4/3rds), having to buy a bunch of XQD cards just adds to the cost if I were to add the Nikon Z system ($90 for 32GB).
I can understand the attraction of XQD cards for high end video, where the record speed is currently 400 MB/s (current SandDisk SD-XC UHS-II is something like 260 MB/s), but as an amateur who shoots some 1080p video, but primarily stills, I don't need the speed. Sure there are people (like yourself) that need the speed, but for me, it just makes it more out of my reach.
I am somewhat amused by all of the flailings.
As I view the specs, the Z7/Z6 are not a high end replacement product, it is a product in the middle of the performance bubble. But it is meant to shake out all of the bugs in the system, and in 2019/2020 Nikon will come out with the D850 replacement, and likely they will also come out with cheaper models also.
Olympus and Panasonic did similar things with the E-P1 (Olympus) and the G1 (Panasonic) when they introduced them 9 and 10 years ago. The first cameras were under-whelming compared to the existing classic 4/3rds cameras. But it was a toe-hold, and both O/P came out with successive modificatons, including higher end cameras. I'm sure Nikon will also bring out the high end gear (as some point out, they probably need to do it by the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo).
My understanding is that the Northrops have had cards fail on them. If you had cards fail on you, how would you feel about dual card slots then? We map the world based upon our experiences.
I spent many years in Quality Control. Everything fails sooner or later, and a certain percentage will fail sooner, no matter how good the brand is.
How much damage would your client or your reputation suffer if you lost the work due to a memory card error? The answer to that will determine the "deal breakerness" of dual card slots.
I have had more film ruined by developers than shots lost on a CF or SD card.
DavidB
From Adrian VL in Toronto:
Since 2004 and 6 MP cameras like Nikon D100 and later 5D original cameras did not have a dual slot for many many years as CF cards were very robust and still are but manufacturers are only including in some cameras now. Reminder to format the CF after each download of files and they were good to go. I have only had problems in one CF card after 15 years of dozens bought for wedding photography on my D700 from 2009, and it was a very small card that I did not remember to format, and these photos were still rescued at that. All other cards no issue. Fast forward to what photographers said that SD cards were better than CF cards (due to lack of pins), however they needed a second one in case it failed (odd?). I have had issues with some SD cards (almost never CF cards, never a bent pin either) as with SD cards the filmsy plastic can fall apart after repeated use, as did some of mine and from people I knew. So QX cards are a welcome relief and I see not much need for duplicate card. Just buy the smaller GB ones to spread out your photos on more than one card (kind of like they did in film days, in case of losing of a single roll of film, or card now.) I doubt XQ will fail that easily though.
Adrian Van L from Toronto.
My only card failures as of late have been SD cards breaking. Not in terms of failure to record info or scrambling it, as in the flimsy plastic housing BREAKING APART under normal professional use. Kudos to Nikon for having the guts to walk away from SD cards, which I hate with the burning white-hot passion of a thousand suns.
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