Anyone looking to update the Nikon Z8 to v3.0 firmware is advised to use caution as there seems to be a problem involving third-party lenses.
The v3.0 firmware update for the Nikon Z 8 is undoubtedly a major one, but it also seems to have run into some fairly major problems as well.
A newly published warning on the Nikon Z 8 firmware download page reads, "Do not update the camera firmware with lenses other than Z-mount NIKKOR lenses or mount adapters other than FTZ II/FTZ attached; failure to observe this precaution could result in camera malfunction."
This seems to have been put up following reports from Tamron and Viltrox lens owners that their autofocus is not working following installation. Both companies have issued statements in turn. Viltrox's echoes the Nikon sentiment, while Tamron's hints that problems may occur following the upgrade, not while it's underway, and is currently trying to dig into what the issue might be.
Given the length of time devoted to releasing the update and the close relationship between the companies involved, the issues are slightly surprising. Cameras are increasingly complex beasts, however, and the ecosystems they operate in are becoming even more so.
Perhaps it's time to do what savvy computer users have done for years and let the early adopters find all the bugs that didn't get squashed before release. Only after what we can refer to as 'a crowd-sourced period of critical bug testing' do they then let new software anywhere near anything they need to have working without downtime.