When Nikon launched is mirrorless Z-series cameras, the company-approved way to write the camera names was Nikon Z 7 and Nikon Z 6 — with a space. PetaPixel, and most of the industry, ignored this but as of the Z6 III, Nikon’s official style also finally changed.
A couple of weeks ago during the launch of the Z50 II, Nikon mentioned that the space between the “Z” and the model number had been officially removed according to its internal style guide — a fact that was noticed by several websites and blogs. However, the Z50 II was not the origin of this shift — it actually started with the Z6 III.
While some of the company’s localized websites have shifted to removing the space, it isn’t consistent yet. Nikon USA will probably slowly update its online store to reflect the new internal style guide, but at the time of publication it has only removed the space on new camera models. While a bit odd to look at when browsing the company’s camera offerings, it does serve as an excellent timetable for when the internal policy of how to write the product name changed over and the Z6 III is the first camera on the list that appears without the space.
Nikon confirmed to PetaPixel that the Z6 III was the first time it stopped using a space. This practice continued with the Z50 II.
Of note, Nikon never had a space between the model number and the version number (Nikon always wrote it Z 6II before and now will write it Z6II, for example) and that remains the case. That means that the industry-accepted way of writing the camera name is still different from how Nikon prefers it be written.
It’s good to know that Nikon is not only capable but willing to change how it writes its product names if what it has been doing makes less sense than how the rest of the industry does it. That said, its new “correct” method is still not in line with how media and dealers write it.
PetaPixel (and B&H, for example) will continue to write the product name as it always has (Nikon Z8, Nikon Z6 III, Nikon Z50 II) even though Nikon would probably prefer that everyone follow its written conventions (Nikon Z8, Nikon Z6III, Nikon Z50II).
Image credits: Nikon USA
