Nikon’s new mirrorless system, coming in ... late September 2018

[armand]

I finally went through all the menus on the Z7 and for the first time I decided to play with the U1-3 settings.

I set U1 - landscape on a tripod, U2 - portraits, U3 - action, with all the settings I think would use. When I switch between them the shooting image area doesn't change. For the fun of it I changed to 5:4 for portraits, the others are FX. Is there a special setting to transfer this or I need to change it every time?

PS. Initially I also had issues getting the exposure delay mode to change but now it's working, I'm not sure what I did.

[Telecaster]

I am really at a loss as to why Nikon and Canon are considered similarly on this front.

The differences between the two brands' initial mirrorless offerings just tell you the different states of development both were in when the decisions came down to release something now. Nikon was further along in bodies. I think the cameras that come next will be better indicators of where the two companies really plan to go with mirrorless.

-Dave-

[kers]

What would make the Z7 even more attractive, is a tilt/shift adapter for F-mount.
I am sure it is just a matter of time for it will arrive ; it would be very useful for a large number of lenses.

[Dan Wells]

A T/S adapter is optically tricky, due to coverage limitations on existing Nikkors. Most wider lenses probably barely cover 24x36mm without taking shift into account. Most telephotos have some extra coverage, but many probably have baffles limiting them to 24x36mm, to prevent reflections inside the camera body.

Dan

[davidgp]

I am really at a loss as to why Nikon and Canon are considered similarly on this front.

I agree with Telecaster comment... Canon and Nikon move is, between several reasons, to make people to stop switching to Sony and make Sony not continue to take users from their camp... probably primary from Canon...

It is not about which camera it is better or worst, it is about, hey!!! Do you want a mirrorless fullframe? Here you have one from your actual brand...



http://dgpfotografia.com

[faberryman]

The differences between the two brands' initial mirrorless offerings just tell you the different states of development both were in when the decisions came down to release something now. Nikon was further along in bodies. I think the cameras that come next will be better indicators of where the two companies really plan to go with mirrorless.

So wait two or three years for a better indication? It's not like the competition is going to be standing still.

[BernardLanguillier]

The differences between the two brands' initial mirrorless offerings just tell you the different states of development both were in when the decisions came down to release something now. Nikon was further along in bodies. I think the cameras that come next will be better indicators of where the two companies really plan to go with mirrorless.

Yes, that may be the case, but as far as I am concerned their initial release tells me that Nikon is dead serious while Canon for now still looks like the Canon we’ve kown the past 10 years. Some appealing lenses but no worthwhile bodies to mount them on. Something akin to an expensive version of Sigma.

Cheers,
Bernard

[John Camp]

Yes, that may be the case, but as far as I am concerned their initial release tells me that Nikon is dead serious while Canon for now still looks like the Canon we’ve kown the past 10 years. Some appealing lenses but no worthwhile bodies to mount them on. Something akin to an expensive version of Sigma.

Cheers,
Bernard

Maybe there are some advantages to having only one thing you can do well. 

[DP]

I advise you to try both cameras side to side. The resolution is similar but the experience is quite different.

Don’t take my word for it, please see for yourself.

Cheers,
Bernard

I see... 2x2 = 5 when a dear Nikon gear is involved...

[Telecaster]

So wait two or three years for a better indication? It's not like the competition is going to be standing still.

I bet the next bodies will show up sooner rather than later. The current cameras are in the category of "stanch the bleeding so we can treat the injury." 

-Dave-

[D Fuller]

I'm not sure that the level of build and sealing in the Z7 is "normal" even at the Z7's price. It's certainly not unheard of (D850, 5DmkIV is at least close, D5 and 1D series). and it's occasionally found even on cheaper cameras (OM-D E-M1 mkII, Pentax K1, maybe top Fujis) - but no 5D before the latest was even close, no Leica except perhaps for the medium format S is close on the sealing (gem-like build but limited or no seals), and no Sony is close...

Once you get above about $1500-$2000, comprehensive weather sealing starts to show up, but it's not a given...

I’m not so sure this is trie. The Leica SL is reported to have superb weather sealing.

[BernardLanguillier]

I see... 2x2 = 5 when a dear Nikon gear is involved...

Your words.

There are objective reasons why it should be better (starting with the optics) and the experience confirms it.

Again, just try it out yourself if you don’t believe my judgement is objective.

Cheers,
Bernard

[HSakols]

Instead of Self-Timer, you can uses d4: Exposure Delay Mode. At least with 1.0.1, Exposure Delay Mode does not get reset when turning camera off/on.

Thank you! 

[BernardLanguillier]

Z7 + 35mm f1.8 S

Cheers,
Bernard

[Martin Kristiansen]

What is the video capability of the Z7? Not much being said about it on this forum. Easy to use? Quality? I am being pushed into doing video for some clients and have to pay more attention to this than I did in the past. Enjoying it actually.

[Michael Erlewine]

What is the video capability of the Z7? Not much being said about it on this forum. Easy to use? Quality? I am being pushed into doing video for some clients and have to pay more attention to this than I did in the past. Enjoying it actually.

the Z7 has the best video to date from Nikon. It has the ablility through HDM port to send 4K 10-bit 4:2:2 video to an external recorder like the Atomos Ninja or Shogan recorders. It is worth reading more about than I am remarking here. I might sell my fs5 Sony camcorder and just use the Z7 for the small amount of video I am doing these days.

[BernardLanguillier]

The Z7 is pretty good, the Z6 will be even better sidewise.

Cheers,
Bernard

[D Fuller]

What is the video capability of the Z7? Not much being said about it on this forum. Easy to use? Quality? I am being pushed into doing video for some clients and have to pay more attention to this than I did in the past. Enjoying it actually.

The video quality is very good for a camera in its class. It’s generally as food as the Sony a7r3, but better in that it’s autofocus seems to be more controllable in terms of speed, so focus shifts can look better, and it seems to be better at choosing the right thing to focus on if you’re not shooting faces. It also has 10-bit external recording capability, which makes the video more gradeable than the Sony’s. On the negative side, N-log seems to be Nikon’s own idea of what Log should be, (like Sony’s S-log2) whereas Sony’s S-log3 conforms to Cineon spec. So Nikon’s log takes more custom work, but with 10 bits, it has the headroom to withstand much more custom grading work than the Sony.

The native lenses are quite good for video, as long as you don’t want to focus manually. They don’t breathe, and they’re quiet when they focus. F-mount lenses are a mixed bag in that regard. As always, I recommend testing.

My gimbal kit is now the Z7 with the native 24-70 f/4 and a Sony a7r3 with the Zeiss 16-35 f/4, and the Z7 with the 35 f/1.8 in low light.

[Martin Kristiansen]

Thanks for the reply’s regarding video. I think I may wait to see what the rumoured new A7s looks like before deciding.

[Dan Wells]

Or, if you're video-centered, it may be wise to see what the new L-mount Panasonics offer... I've written that I can't see where they fit in the picture for stills (much bigger than a Z or a Sony with a sensor that is (at best) as good, probably slower AF (CDAF only), and a brand-new lens line with no obvious adaptability).

On the other hand, I CAN see how they fit for video, and it's potentially really exciting. Panasonic has historically had the best video capability of any make, and they could really leverage that here. The S1r sensor should have enough resolution for 8K, although that would be very hard to record or display, so I suspect it'll be used for oversampled 4K instead. The XQD card has enough bandwidth to record 4K raw, and that seems likely, as well as some very good compression ratios. 4K slo-mo with a lot of options seems likely as well.