Nikon Gooses Z Series Firmware

Instead of releasing firmware Version 1.10 today as expected, Nikon announced firmware it will be released next week on the 25th at 3 p.m. (presumably Japan time). Current updates are found here. It did include the release notes, though, which mostly amount to some video improvements. A demonstration of the improvements will be shown at CP+ 2021 via a virtual presentation to be shown on the 25th at 10:30 a.m. (again, probably Japan time) at the link here.

The primary improvement relevant to photographers is a reportedly improved eye tracking that works when faces are further away.

Recent reports suggested there would be additional CFexpress card support, but that appears not to be mentioned in the release. While Nikon had announced compatibility with Sony CFexpress cards, all seven brands that Camnostic tested with the Z7 appeared to work fine – if consistently slower than the Canon R5.

In a review to be published by Camnostic shortly, the Nikon Z7 with the CFexpress-enabling firmware was able to exploit the format to increase memory input by about 30 percent – which was much better than Panasonic’s firmware-borne 14 percent improvement on its S1 series.

The upcoming CFexpress card review will show that Sony performs decently with 146 frames taken in 30 seconds, but the Angelbird XT card exceeds that already (173 frames on average in half a minute) without additional firmware tinkering.