Nikon are said to be working on a professional Z series full frame camera, based around a similar stacked CMOS sensor to the Sony A1.
In fact in recent interviews Nikon have said as much:
“A flagship Nikon Z-series mirrorless camera can be expected within the year, and is being developed with the goal of surpassing the D6. It will respond to the advanced needs of professionals. The upcoming model will debut a newly developed high-resolution stacked CMOS sensor. While this camera will be a major technological leap for still photographers of a wide variety of genres, our engineers are considering powerful video features such as 8K that respond to the needs of all kinds of content creators and professionals.”
“We consider 8K to be an important feature, in that the high resolution and high definition required in still photography is also important for video. It is likely that demand for high resolution and high definition will continue to expand, and especially considering that many of Nikon’s users are hybrid creators, it’s of utmost importance that the needs of videographers are met by offering attractive video features that push the boundary of what is possible.” – Keiji Oishi (source)
Nikon are working hard on video features, and one at least some of their features do stand out from the crowd. The Nikon Z6 II shoots Blackmagic RAW via HDMI to an external recorder. It is one of the very few cameras to do that, along with the Sigma Fp.
However more broadly, at the moment I think Nikon is playing ‘follow my leader’ to Sony. They have scaled back their manufacturing and seem to be reliant on off the shelf technology. The new camera is expected to be made in Thailand. Recent data suggests Nikon has fallen to about 8% of the full frame mirrorless market compared to Sony on over 35%.
In order to win back more market share and reverse from the cliff edge of Olympus-land, we need to see even more innovation and unique features from Nikon that sets their Z series apart from the crowd in a busy saturated full frame mirrorless market post COVID.
