Nikon Z* mirrorless

The "Golden Horizon" is the largest sailing cruise ship in the world. Here it is crossing the Solent between the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth. NIKON Z6 + NIKON NIKKOR 180MM ED AIS MF


THE GOLDEN HORIZON by Vintage Photography, on Flickr
 
Been finding the Z6 particularly limited when it comes to Face and Eye AF unless the subject is completely still, and you have time to wait for the camera to figure out what's what. Is it any better with the Z6II - and will the new firmware later this year likely bring up the AF performance when using face & eye on par with Canon & Sony? I just love Nikon's rendition so much, but it's definitely harder to nail action and candid photos when having to fight with the joystick to get the AF group in the right place on the frame. Canon currently beats AF hands down and I've been able to capture 'the moment' much more readily!!
 
gilbouk said:
Been finding the Z6 particularly limited when it comes to Face and Eye AF unless the subject is completely still, and you have time to wait for the camera to figure out what's what. Is it any better with the Z6II - and will the new firmware later this year likely bring up the AF performance when using face & eye on parthe weekend and was very pleasantly surprised by the way it worked and the hit rate was excellent. with Canon & Sony? I just love Nikon's rendition so much, but it's definitely harder to nail action and candid photos when having to fight with the joystick to get the AF group in the right place on the frame. Canon currently beats AF hands down and I've been able to capture 'the moment' much more readily!!
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I've the Z7II and the face/eye is definitely better than my Z6. I even used it on a studio paid shoot at the weekend and was pleasantly surprised by the way it worked and the hit rate. I think the September update is for the MKII cameras.
 
gilbouk said:
Been finding the Z6 particularly limited when it comes to Face and Eye AF unless the subject is completely still, and you have time to wait for the camera to figure out what's what. Is it any better with the Z6II - and will the new firmware later this year likely bring up the AF performance when using face & eye on par with Canon & Sony? I just love Nikon's rendition so much, but it's definitely harder to nail action and candid photos when having to fight with the joystick to get the AF group in the right place on the frame. Canon currently beats AF hands down and I've been able to capture 'the moment' much more readily!!
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The mark II cameras are noticeably better than the mark I cameras for Eye AF. I shot a Z7ii recently and it was very, very good.
 
Last year i dipped my toe back in to m43 for my travel camera with just a 12-32. Then of course we went no where :tumbleweed: Since then, i've added a 17mm f1.8, 20mm f1.7, 7.5mm FE and a45mm f1.8 all of which fit in a little bag..

I was out last night around 8.30 and took my m43 gear. As my camera is a quite old em10 mk2, its not fantastic when the light drops and noise sets in pretty early.

So this set me thinking - should I sell my m43 gear and my d600 and get a Z6 ? I don't think i can justify the z6ii..

Is the z6 markedly better than the d600 ? or am i better staying put ?

EDIT - to add, this would be for static shots
 
damianmkv said:
Last year i dipped my toe back in to m43 for my travel camera with just a 12-32. Then of course we went no where :tumbleweed: Since then, i've added a 17mm f1.8, 20mm f1.7, 7.5mm FE and a45mm f1.8 all of which fit in a little bag..

I was out last night around 8.30 and took my m43 gear. As my camera is a quite old em10 mk2, its not fantastic when the light drops and noise sets in pretty early.

So this set me thinking - should I sell my m43 gear and my d600 and get a Z6 ? I don't think i can justify the z6ii..

Is the z6 markedly better than the d600 ? or am i better staying put ?

EDIT - to add, this would be for static shots
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Personally I wouldn't buy into any DSLR'S. The Z6 is a perfectly capable camera for what you are looking to shoot.
 
damianmkv said:
Last year i dipped my toe back in to m43 for my travel camera with just a 12-32. Then of course we went no where :tumbleweed: Since then, i've added a 17mm f1.8, 20mm f1.7, 7.5mm FE and a45mm f1.8 all of which fit in a little bag..

I was out last night around 8.30 and took my m43 gear. As my camera is a quite old em10 mk2, its not fantastic when the light drops and noise sets in pretty early.

So this set me thinking - should I sell my m43 gear and my d600 and get a Z6 ? I don't think i can justify the z6ii..

Is the z6 markedly better than the d600 ? or am i better staying put ?

EDIT - to add, this would be for static shots
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Yes, the Z6 will be far superior to the D600
 
Worth considering the Z5 are current prices ? I picked up a Z5 and 24-50 for £1200 recently.
 
damianmkv said:
Last year i dipped my toe back in to m43 for my travel camera with just a 12-32. Then of course we went no where :tumbleweed: Since then, i've added a 17mm f1.8, 20mm f1.7, 7.5mm FE and a45mm f1.8 all of which fit in a little bag..

I was out last night around 8.30 and took my m43 gear. As my camera is a quite old em10 mk2, its not fantastic when the light drops and noise sets in pretty early.

So this set me thinking - should I sell my m43 gear and my d600 and get a Z6 ? I don't think i can justify the z6ii..

Is the z6 markedly better than the d600 ? or am i better staying put ?

EDIT - to add, this would be for static shots
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Damian, I had a D610 and I also own a Z6. It is like night and day. the 200+ extra focus points for a start, better image processing, higher speed, lighter, Evf, better screen. I loved my D610 and the colours it produced. However, the Z6 or Z6ii are massive jumps ahead.
 
gremlin16 said:
Damian, I had a D610 and I also own a Z6. It is like night and day. the 200+ extra focus points for a start, better image processing, higher speed, lighter, Evf, better screen. I loved my D610 and the colours it produced. However, the Z6 or Z6ii are massive jumps ahead.
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that’s my theory, glad to see someone with some experience of the old d6*0s
 
JasonPC said:
The Z5 will save you some money on memory cards as well.
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That‘s a good point. I don’t have xqd cards or a reader so that’ll save £120+

on the other hand, I see the z6 + ftz adapter is only £40 more ( grey ) than the z5. And whilst I know I said static subjects only I would if 4.5fps would annoy me on occasions when I shoot other things..
 
damianmkv said:
That‘s a good point. I don’t have xqd cards or a reader so that’ll save £120+

on the other hand, I see the z6 + ftz adapter is only £40 more ( grey ) than the z5. And whilst I know I said static subjects only I would if 4.5fps would annoy me on occasions when I shoot other things..
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I use the LCD display on the Z6 a lot. The Z5 doesn't have it.
 
Another good point. Am trudging through youtube videos or the z5 and z6 as well as comparisons..

always difficult to get to the “truth”
 
I've thrown pretty much everything at the Z5 and have no significant complaints, battery life is miles better than quoted, handling is excellent and despite shooting a lot of motorsport the fps hasn't bothered me at all. I've shot several weddings, a trip to Skye and the Festival of Speed in the past month with a couple of Z5s. I adore the Z 35mm 1.8S.

I'm not sold on the Eye AF yet but that's because I haven't explored it enough. I had a Sony a7III before and I'd shoot a wedding with that enabled and never worry about it, seriously impressive. I need to be brave and try it out in a low risk situation at some point.

I should say, for me, dual cards was a critical requirement, so the Z5 was by far the most affordable option.
 
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THIRTYFIVEMILL said:
I use the LCD display on the Z6 a lot. The Z5 doesn't have it.
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I use the LCD top display quite a bit too.. reason why I went Z6 and not Z5. Especially useful on a tripod as a quick glance as to where your settings are at.
damianmkv said:
Another good point. Am trudging through youtube videos or the z5 and z6 as well as comparisons..

always difficult to get to the “truth”
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I picked up a used Z6 from LCE. Less than 4K shots for under £1k. There’s some good used examples out there at present.
 
I've just bought myself a Z5 and 24-70f4, I'm getting all my DSLR's ready for sale, I'm hoping the Z5 is everything I've read about, I did consider the Z6, but I really don't need the extra FPS or the better video, which I've never used on any of my other cameras, plus I've got a good supply of SD cards, I'll be adding a 14-30 shortly and possibly the 105 MC,
 
THIRTYFIVEMILL said:
I use the LCD display on the Z6 a lot. The Z5 doesn't have it.
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Interesting. Obviously matters to some and not to others:

I had a conversation on another forum - someone unsure, moving from a dslr, about the lack of a top lcd on the Z5. I had to check my Z6 because I wasn’t sure if it had one !
I have never used that panel on my Z6 - on the D500 I use it all the time

richard
 
greyowl said:
Interesting. Obviously matters to some and not to others:

I had a conversation on another forum - someone unsure, moving from a dslr, about the lack of a top lcd on the Z5. I had to check my Z6 because I wasn’t sure if it had one !
I have never used that panel on my Z6 - on the D500 I use it all the time

richard
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Yep I’m the same, I never used the top screen on the Z6 - to me a lot of the things the Z5 had missing appealed to me - I.e the top screen, the lack of video features (if I could buy a camera without video features for less I would) and 4.5 fps is more than enough for me.

The single slot compact express card in the Z6 was however, a major issue.
 
I just flip the screen out and use that when the camera is on a tripod. I have my evf set up with the spirit level display so I frame the shot through the evf and then use the flippy screen with the histogram display to keep an eye on the exposure. It annoys me that you can't have the level and histogram on the same screen, at the same time, especially when shooting handheld. (Unless I'm missing something, settings-wise.)

Otherwise the Z5 and I get along just fine.
 
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justa1972 said:
......... (if I could buy a camera without video features for less I would) .........................
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Me too.
I recently went for the Z6II after over 13 years with a D300 - (No video until the D300s was released)
I put my D300 up for sale and was asked how good the video was because he wanted to use it for video presentations :rolleyes:
You'd think these people would do a tiny bit of research first wouldn't you.
 
Skypilot said:
Me too.
I recently went for the Z6II after over 13 years with a D300 - (No video until the D300s was released)
I put my D300 up for sale and was asked how good the video was because he wanted to use it for video presentations :rolleyes:
You'd think these people would do a tiny bit of research first wouldn't you.
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I've never shot a video on any DSLR. I shot one on a Fuji X30 once and that's it. I'd happily forego any video features for a cheaper, pure stills camera.
 
I've only started trying out the video features since I moved from DSLR.
I'm not overly interested in video but glad it's there, for the few times I've used it.
4K60 looks fantastic slowed down to 30fps with a shallow depth of field on the subject. I done this on cygnets at a local park and with them dipping down under the water and up again, turned out really well.
 
Thought it was time to actually buy a telephoto (I tend to hire one when I have an event), picked up a Sigma 100-400mm C to attach to my Z5 with the FTZ. A little apprehensive going in with a third-party lens attached to the Z5 via the adaptor, but I'd read that it worked. Boy does it...

Castle Combe Summer Action Day 2021 by Chris Harrison, on Flickr

Castle Combe Summer Action Day 2021 by Chris Harrison, on Flickr

Actually had more confidence in it than I did the Nikkor 200-500mm f5.6 which I hired a couple of weeks ago, which seemed a little hesitant at times.
 
I picked up the Z 24-200 and have to say it seems the animal eye detect works much better than any other lens I have used with FTZ so there is hope for even better AF tracking when the 100–400 and 20–600 is released (hopefully)
 
greyowl said:
Interesting. Obviously matters to some and not to others:

I had a conversation on another forum - someone unsure, moving from a dslr, about the lack of a top lcd on the Z5. I had to check my Z6 because I wasn’t sure if it had one !
I have never used that panel on my Z6 - on the D500 I use it all the time

richard
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I shoot 90% manual focus lenses and for that reason the LCD display is a deal-breaker for me. I may be also stuck in my ways as I've never even used the LCD display for focusing nor any of the touch screen capabilities.
 
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JasonPC said:
More wandering around the mountains of Wales. The 24-200 really is ace for days out, especially when it's as hot as it has been recently.

Z5 + 24-200


Llyn Lluncaws by Jason, on Flickr
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That’s nice, very nice. I’m still on the fence about the 24-200. I’d really like to see Nikon release the 24-105 f4 that’s on the roadmap and possibly a 70-200 f4.

For most of what I shoot the 24-105 would be the ideal focal length for me.

But your photo (and others) make a compelling case for the 24-200.
 
Anyone here use the 14-30 ? I’ve read mixed reports about it.

Would really like something wider than 24mm but there aren’t many options !
 
justa1972 said:
Anyone here use the 14-30 ? I’ve read mixed reports about it.

Would really like something wider than 24mm but there aren’t many options !
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I like mine. Seems really sharp to me, I'm no pixel peeper though. Makes a great two lens setup along with the 24-200, covers my landscape needs perfectly.

If you are thinking of getting one, keep a watch on Amazon UK as they have them on sale occasionally. A few of us here got one for a really good price.
 
justa1972 said:
Anyone here use the 14-30 ? I’ve read mixed reports about it.

Would really like something wider than 24mm but there aren’t many options !
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Same thoughts as @JasonPC, I picked one up earlier in the year when Amazon were selling them at a mad price.... really impressed with it.
 
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