Nikon Z 6 & Z 7 Comments and Issues

[armand]

A great video highlighting how important firmware 3.0 is for the Z6 and Z7 in terms of AF performance and UI:

https://youtu.be/SxXvNBZLLYU

This UI is really great and probably superior to the Sony solution since there is no need to jump to a dedicated tracking mode to access it.

Comparing the Z6/Z7 today to where it initially was AF wise is very impressive. I think that the gap is significantly larger than what we used to see between generations of high end DSLRs. The AF of the Zs was never as poor as some reported, but it’s still a huge improvement.

I am not able to compare my Zs to the D850 since I don’t have one anymore, but I feel that it’s close to a draw overall, if not a win for the mirrorless bodies.

I am looking forward to the Z9, with faster dedicated hardware Nikon should be able to come up something very very special AF wise.

Cheers,
Bernard

From what I’ve been reading the focus still doesn’t compare well with the D500/D850 for fast moving things, such as BIF, particularly against a similar background.

Now, most of my photographic life I used AF-S. These days I do try more AF-C but often I revert to AF-S. With eye-focus/face focus life is easier though, when it works.

[BernardLanguillier]

From what I’ve been reading the focus still doesn’t compare well with the D500/D850 for fast moving things, such as BIF, particularly against a similar background.

Now, most of my photographic life I used AF-S. These days I do try more AF-C but often I revert to AF-S. With eye-focus/face focus life is easier though, when it works.

I haven’t tried BIF. The D500/D850/D5 have been the reference for BIF since their release. They pushed the bar very significantly relative to competition. It’s certainly a very tough benchmark to meet. But it’s also a bit of a niche.

I believe that Nikon was right to focus on the generic tracking and eye AF improvement that deliver value for the general market.

I am getting more keepers from my preferred Nikon lens, the 105mm f1.4, with the Z7 than I used to with the D850.

Cheers,
Bernard

[jeremyrh]

The AF seems significantly improved across the board.

My initial tests with the 85mm f1.8 seem to indicate that the Z6 is now probably superior to the a7rIV, but still a bit behind the a9II.

I played with the A9II in a store recently and I have to say it left me sick with jealousy, but now the 3.0 FW is out I feel a bit better!

[BernardLanguillier]

Breaking news: with firmware 3.0 the Z6 is now able to detect the eyes of people wearing face masks! 

Cheers,
Bernard

[D Fuller]

I played with the A9II in a store recently and I have to say it left me sick with jealousy, but now the 3.0 FW is out I feel a bit better!

LOL! Whatever was moving fast enough in the store to make that much of a difference?

[kers]

LOL! Whatever was moving fast enough in the store to make that much of a difference?

Must have been the amount of eyes detected

[Rob C]

Breaking news: with firmware 3.0 the Z6 is now able to detect the eyes of people wearing face masks! 

Cheers,
Bernard

And why not? A face mask isn't a blindfold. Would a beard and moustache also defeat it?

;-)

[BernardLanguillier]

And why not? A face mask isn't a blindfold. Would a beard and moustache also defeat it?

;-)

I believe it starts by detecting a face and that must be harder without a mouth and a nose.

Cheers,
Bernard

[jeremyrh]

At a photo shoot last weekend one Sony user had a problem with his A9 focusing on the eyes of a person in a poster behind the model :-)

[Martin Kristiansen]

At a photo shoot last weekend one Sony user had a problem with his A9 focusing on the eyes of a person in a poster behind the model :-)

Yes that happens. There are ways around it but it happens.

[Rob C]

Yes that happens. There are ways around it but it happens.

The best one, of course, is manual focus with a beautiful, split-image screen...

Sony has probably never heard of one of those.

;-)

Rob

[Martin Kristiansen]

The best one, of course, is manual focus with a beautiful, split-image screen...

Sony has probably never heard of one of those.

;-)

Rob

Yes that will work at f1.8 with a person walking towards you. Kidding Rob. And Sony came out of Minolta. I still have a SRT303 with a wonderful split image focusing screen screen. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.

[kers]

Yes that will work at f1.8 with a person walking towards you. Kidding Rob. And Sony came out of Minolta. I still have a SRT303 with a wonderful split image focusing screen screen. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.

Never liked the split screen or any other focus instrument but the matglass. I found it irritating to have something in the way of what you want to see.
Prefer a clean sight. For the same reason my AF marking does not glow red.

[KLaban]

Yes that will work at f1.8 with a person walking towards you. Kidding Rob. And Sony came out of Minolta. I still have a SRT303 with a wonderful split image focusing screen screen. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.

Hell, in my day I could do that blindfold.

;-)

[Martin Kristiansen]

Hell, in my day I could do that blindfold.

;-)

The older I get the better I was.

[KLaban]

The older I get the better I was.

:-)

[Rob C]

The older I get the better I was.

The older that I get, the more I realise how much I took for granted and how little practical problems impacted what I did.

If something went wrong it seldom had a lot to do with my cameras. Today, cameras are blamed more than ever, making the old "goodness, your camera makes wonderful photos!" not the surprised remark of the uninitiated, but almost the credo of the photographer. Responsibility seems to be shifted further and further away from us and put upon the gadgets instead. Convenient face-saver, though.

[armand]

I wish Nikon would change its steps for specific shooting scenarios. The ones that really annoys me it's the bracketing, AE and focus.
My Fuji X-T2 it's much easier to use, I just change the shooting mode to bracketing and it uses the settings that I have set before. For Nikon I have to go in the bracketing mode, change to how many shots I want and then change the shooting mode to take all the shots with one shutter button press. You want to stop bracketing? Go back and change the shooting to 0.
For the focus it's again annoying that you don't see the image; it makes it difficult to shoot them handheld while keeping the initial framing.

[kers]

I wish Nikon would change its steps for specific shooting scenarios. The ones that really annoys me it's the bracketing, AE and focus.
My Fuji X-T2 it's much easier to use, I just change the shooting mode to bracketing and it uses the settings that I have set before. For Nikon I have to go in the bracketing mode, change to how many shots I want and then change the shooting mode to take all the shots with one shutter button press. You want to stop bracketing? Go back and change the shooting to 0.
For the focus it's again annoying that you don't see the image; it makes it difficult to shoot them handheld while keeping the initial framing.

I never had any problems with Bracketing on a Nikon and use it all the time...
put it on or off - it remembers the last bracketing method (nr of shots and exposure jumps) and uses the current shooting mode ( A, M etc)
In the menu you have to say how the bracketing is done - usually you take one method ( different shutter speeds is my most used one)

some thing else about the version II
I read that you are now able to have the lcd screen uncluttered and it can remeber the last focus distance when you put the camera off.

[armand]

I never had any problems with Bracketing on a Nikon and use it all the time...
put it on or off - it remembers the last bracketing method (nr of shots and exposure jumps) and uses the current shooting mode ( A, M etc)
In the menu you have to say how the bracketing is done - usually you take one method ( different shutter speeds is my most used one)
...

I must do something wrong then. I did change it to the record button so it's easier to access, but I have to change how many shots I want to actually have it on, and I have to set the nr of shots to 0 to be off.

PS. I also have to change the shooting mode to High so it can take all the shots with one shutter button press