I get a lot of questions about if / when I’m going to add the Z series to my book, Secrets To The Nikon Autofocus System.

In short, I’m not.

However… I am planning to create a dedicated book just for the Z series. The thing is, the DSLRs share enough similarities that it’s easy to put them all in the same book. However adding the Z cameras would make it all incredibly confusing.

So, the plan is to create a version of the book just for the Z series cameras. There will be some content overlap, but it will be far less confusing than just adding the Zs to the current publication.

The reason I haven’t started it yet? I have a few:

First, there has to be a large enough market for the book. Even creating a new version of a book based off the current one is going to take months. It’s not worth all the effort for just a handful of sales – however – now that there are more and more Z cameras in the hands of users, this is changing.

Also, keep in mind that the current AF book was based on over a decade of experience with the Nikon AF system. While I don’t need a decade to really learn the Z series, I do need field time with it – and sometimes that’s tough to do.

The problem is, the Z series – as they are now – simply are not up to the same speed and AF capabilities of my DSLRs. So, as a consequence, I don’t tend to use them as much. When you miss once-in-a-lifetime shots that you 100% know your DSLRs would have nailed, it’s tough to keep using the Z7 as your primary camera! (Thankfully, the new 3.0 update may have helped with this little.)

Finally, Nikon keeps changing the AF system – and this is the big one. Each time a new firmware update comes out, it seems like Nikon tweaks the AF system. This would require a rewrite / addition to the book that may either be small scale or large scale. It can also change the functionality of certain features – as we saw with the tracking on the new 3.0 firmware update.

The problem is, I am just one person and I don’t always have time to drop everything I’m doing to test / address / and update the book. The additional issue is that, depending on the update, this could also put me into a situation after a firmware update where I’m selling books that are no longer accurate. Not a good way to make new customers happy – and a really good way to get them to demand I fix it immediately – which I often can’t, due to travel.

So, the bottom line is I’m still waiting for Nikon to more or less finalize the AF system in the Z cameras. I think it’s close and I am planning to start work on the book later this year.