Well played, Nikon: if you can't beat the camera leakers… join 'em!

Nikon just did something pretty much unheard of: it leaked the Nikon Z6 III itself. 

On Monday, it released a teaser video showing the camera being used by photographers and videographers, with a few tantalizing quotes, the Z6 III logo and the announcement date of June 17. 

Not only is this move unheard of, it's actually pretty inspired. 

Camera launches are almost always plagued by leaks. Specs and features spill out, official product images find their way online, phone snaps from preview events are shared on social… heck, accessories from third parties get listed on Amazon before they're supposed to. 

Then, when launch day comes, everything is already out there in the wild. Take the two most recent launches, the Fujifilm X-T50 and Panasonic Lumix S9 – virtually everything was known about those cameras weeks before they were "revealed". 

So Nikon decided to beat the leakers at their own game. Rather than letting the internet spill the beans about the Nikon Z6 III, it took matters into its own hands and spilled its own damned beans.

Which isn't to say that there wasn't any information about the camera beforehand; there were plenty of Nikon rumors about the Z6 III going back months. But as far as confirmed specs or images of the final product – nada. That's because this is the time when such details would start leaking online, in the build-up to launch. 

My hat is off to Nikon for a masterful bit of gamesmanship. Rather than doing what camera companies usually do, it got ahead of the leaks and rumors instead of getting mad at people reporting on them. 

Will this mark a change in the way camera launches are handled? Maybe. Maybe not. But as someone who reports on camera rumors and writes camera news for a living, it's certainly a refreshing change of pace. 

Take a look at the best Nikon cameras available right now, along with the best Nikon Z lenses for mirrorless bodies and the best Nikon lenses for all formats.