I've been with Nikon since 1970. I've had Nikkormat, FM, F2, D80, D7200, D750, D850 and now, after swearing I wouldn't, a Z8! I said, "I don't want to look at a screen," and a lot of other dumb stuff 'til I finally succumbed. Nikon sent me an offer I couldn't refuse and I went for it. I've had it for about a month and 2000 activations and it constantly amazes me. I won't recap all the technicals because you can look them up for yourself. I want to talk about my Z8 experience so far.It's been a pretty tough learning curve for me coming from the D750-850 tradition. I've watched hours of YouTube videos to get half-way competent. I like that I can set custom banks. I've set banks for landscape, action/sports, and nighttime/astro photography so far. I can switch between them in a matter of seconds using the i-menu which will probably open up new kinds of shooting for me. Like when I'm shooting a landscape and a bird opportunity flies by. Between the amazing focusing and 15 to 20 frames per second I'm going to score more shots on purpose than by accident.The sensor? Holy cow! Don't let anyone tell you it's the same as the D850. Maybe it is megapixel-wise but the dynamic range is so so huge I can underexpose 3 or 4 stops and still get a good print. In fact I purposefully underexpose 1 to 2 stops most of the time now to avoid burning out highlights. I almost never need HDR except in the most extreme lighting circumstances. It's definitely changing the way I shoot. One example: I shot this night sky at (ready for it?) 24mm/ f4/15 seconds/ISO 500 with very few PS adjustments. I've always had to start at ISO 1600 or higher with my D's and adjust like crazy in PS.The glass? Amazing! I bought the 24-120mm and 17-28mm Nikon lenses with the camera. They are so clear and sharp I almost didn't like them at first I was so used to the obviously softer F lenses. I've always loved how Nikons see color. The Z8 continues that and something more that I can't quite explain. But it might have to do with how much less fiddling I have to do in post to get what I "see."The focusing screen? After all my excuses ... I love it. They were right: seeing what you're going to get as you adjust your exposure prevents a lot of bad shots. There is no blackout during continuous shooting so I'm less likely to lose a moving object.Battery life? Not as good as my D850 but I can still get a 800+ exposures on a battery charge. To save battery life I can turn the camera off and then back on when I need it since it's essentially instant-on.I really like the sensor curtain! I've always carried two bodies shooting landscapes so I didn't have to change lenses in the field for fear of getting dust on the sensor. Now I'm trying out just carrying one and changing in the field since I can set the sensor curtain to fall at turn-off. At my age it's much easier to get up the mountain with one less camera.In conclusion, I'm glad I did it. It's changing the way I shoot and will probably lead me into new photographic genres. With the expansive dynamic range I'm spending less time making Lightroom and Photoshop adjustments because ... it's already there! I'm glad I decided to dump all the crusty old DSLR excuses and buy probably the best all-around camera out there. Just quit grumbling, you old F-ers, and do it!