My Nikon Z7 arrived and a hefty little thing it is. No, it is not as large as my D850, but it is heavy enough with a lens on it. Of course, the first thing I discovered is that there are no L-Plates that fit the Z7 yet available. There are many for preorder, but when I called Really Right Stuff and ordered one, it seemed from talking with them that they have not yet even figured out how they are going to approach the FTZ adapter in relation to L-plates. So, for now I have to use a large and heavy (giant) L-Plate adapter from Novoflex for portrait mode. Either that or swing my Arca-Swiss Cube geared-head 90 degrees, which is a real pain and hardly worth doing..
In fact, it dawned on me that if the only reason I am getting a mirrorless Nikon is to save space and weight, the savings are not that great. As mentioned, the Z7 is still a weighty thing. So, what’s left? For me, there is the new mount and the promise of faster lenses wide open, which I would like a lot. But that is down the road.
As for the FTZ adapter, it seems great. In fact, once attached, the camera feels like any DSLR all over again, so tightly does it fit in. I also look forward to mounting the Z7 on my view camera with a Z7 bayonet and gaining a little added focus range there. I have mounts for that on order.
As for the EVF, yes! It does feel like an OVF or at least I am not conscious of it being electronic as I have been with other mirrorless cameras I have owned (Sony, Hasselblad, GFX, etc.). It is really nice AND YOU CAN MAGNIFY IT! As for the rear LCD? It’s about what I am used to with the D850, so no problem there.
My pocketbook groaned when I played with the 24-70 f/4 lens because it is obvious that it fits the camera like a glove and if the new mount ups the APO-quotient for native lenses to come, I can see myself wanting a few more of these natural Z7 lenses IF they are ever produced. Perhaps it’s time for me to off-load some of my many legacy F-mount lenses! We will see how many APO-quality native lenses for the Z7 appear.
As for menus and buttons, well, what’s new? Every camera-iteration has some of that and while the Z7 is a lot like my D850, it’s different too. The little OLED (or whatever it is) on the top of the camera is very handy and easy to READ.
I can see that I will probably do a lot more point-and-shoot with the Z7, since it is so “handy.” As many have said, this is not simply a replacement for the D850, but something in itself. I imagine a smaller kit to travel with that contains the native 24-70 Z7 lens, the FTZ adapter and one or two legacy F-mount lenses. And since the video in the Z7 is a step-up, I can see using it (with an XLR-add-on) and ported to my Atomos Shogun Inferno as 10-bit 4K 4:2:2 FF video (and log gamma modes too!) to do interviews or whatever. I won’t have to carry a larger dedicated video camera, etc. like my Sony FS-5, etc.
I have yet to see for myself (or hear from others) if anything else about the Z7 is problematical, especially if the image quality is as good as the D850 and if the banding-issue that some document affects my work. My guess is that it won’t.
[LATER: Having shot a bunch, for my work, I don’t see any problems with shadows and blacks. Perhaps for astronomy work, there are considerations, but for my work, not that I can tell so far.]
So, I am just getting familiar with the Z7. Next for me, is to try a lot of non-native lenses via the adapter and see if everything is equal.
UPDATE: on the Nikon Z7 for my particular use.
I like the Nikon Z7, but like all things, using it for a while brings with it some realizations, which I want to comment on here.
I have the Nikon Z7, the FTZ adapter, and the 24-70 f/4 native lens. Please note that the kind of work that I do (close-up, focus stacking) requires a lot of precision and great lenses.
Using the Nikon Z7 with its own 24-70 f/4 lens is fine for general snapshots and perhaps even for some more semi-serious work. However, I find, while the 24-70 is sharp-ish, it is not sharp like the lenses I am used to (Otus, APO, etc.). I am sure it was not intended to be that sharp. It seems well-enough corrected IMO, but the sharpness is not quite what I require. It is a little weak in that area, IMO. This, of course, is disappointing, but I pretty-much knew this coming in. Of course, I hoped for a miracle. LOL.
On the other hand, using the FTZ adapter I have access to many APO lenses that I have collected over the years, including the set of Otus lenses plus the Otus-like 135 Zeiss that presaged the series. They work great on the Z7 as they always did!
I am hurting for lack of a proper L-Bracket and have had to use the Arca C1 Cube for vertical/profile shots, which means leaning it 90-degrees from horizontal, which works but is not what I like to use. So, I might as well use my D850 for which I have a great RSS L-Bracket.
[Note: I have since found an L-Bracket that works that is available now.]
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011JKE28U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1This L-Bracket will work with the FTZ adapter. If you want the vertical element to fit closely to the left side of the camera, you may want to cut off the very far end of one of the stainless steel rods, which is easy to do and then it fits snug. The tip of this rod stops the 1/4-20 screw from going to the far edge so that we can cope with the FTZ adapter. Inexpensive too, relatively ($89).
Things I especially like about the Z7 are the EVF, which I find myself using more and more. With the D810 and D850, I never used the OVF (not ever), preferring to work on the back-LCD in LiveView. But the Z7 EVF is really amazing and you can magnify it, which of course the older OVF cameras could not do. I am using it much of the time, especially outdoors and with landscape shots. To me this is a HUGE feature.
So, I am keeping the Nikon Z7. However, and this is a big “however,” unless Nikon releases APO/Otus level lenses for the Nikon Z7, I will be using the Z7 with the FTZ adapter for most of my work, which makes it essentially a mirrorless DSLR, which is OK too.
For family photos, casual walk-around work, and perhaps for semi-serious work, I could use the Z7 with the native 24-70 f/4 lens. But, when I ask myself, I might just as well use the better lenses I have any time I do serious photography. They are just so much better.
You get the idea. The Z7 for not-so-sharp work with native lenses, but I do use the Z7 + FTZ adapter for my regular work. And, to repeat, if I am mounting the huge Zeiss Otus lenses, I might just as well use the Nikon D850 for the added support. And so it goes.
However, I find that I will definitely be using the Z7 on my view camera, the Cambo Actus-Mini. It is perfect there and when I get a Z7-Bayonet for the Actus (on order), I will be able to get even more focus range from my exotic lenses, which I very much need.
In summary, I love the Z7, but without the FTZ adapter I am limited in what I can do with it. As Otus-level lenses come along native to the Z7, this should be much different. I would love an APO lens for this mirrorless camera, especially a macro!
The Z7 with FTZ and the APO El Nikkor f/5.6