Nikon Z* mirrorless

I bit the bullet today and traded in my Tamron 70-200 G2 for the Nikon Z version. Really excited to give it a quick trial this weekend as we're off to Tanzania on Safari on Tuesday (all being well).
 
Just a few general thoughts on my experience with my Z6 - ( NOT with a Z9 or any other Z )

I have had my Z6 since early 2019 and I got it to replace an A7 and a D750 for 'general' photography and specifically for using with manual focus lenses - mainly Contax. Also now have the 14-30, 24-70/4 and 50/1.8s. These, with an af-p 70-300 fx work well for me as a lightish weight travel kit for the occasional touristy type snaps and landscapes, townscapes etc. I would have got the Z6 ( or maybe a Z7 if I had had the money ) almost soley for that 14-30 as well as being able to use my Contax lenses on other than my film SLR's.

Didn't buy it as a sports or macro camera ( and I don't think anyone suggested it was ) and though I sometimes try it out as such ( usually after each F/W upgrade ), it does get better but I do find it a struggle compared to a DSLR. ( NB I don't use either face or eye detect - animal or human )

In that context, I just got my Tamron sp90 ( F017 ) back from Fixation where they fitted the board mod from Tamron to allow it to work properly with a Z. It seems OK although I don't see the lightning fast AF-C that is typical of that lens in close-ups. Just had a go with it on the Z6 and its OK but I hit a brick wall trying to use it in MF and focus pullling during a burst for stacking - even with mechanical shutter. I usually use a small sensor camera ( Nikon V2/3 or m43 ) for this - the sensor readout time is faster.

OK the Z6 remains, for me, a great camera and does what I expect it to do but putting the SP90 back on my D500 and snapping a few things today around the garden has reminded me why I still keep that DSLR - for long lenses and macro - it just works for me effortlessly.

Soon, Nikon will release something like the MILC equivalent of the D500 or D850 ( ie a fast sensor/AF in a more compact form factor and cheaper than the Z9 ) and maybe when my D500 turns up its toes and I can't get another good used one, I might be interested but I am in in no hurry to switch.
 
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After being frustrated when I got my Z6 with focusing/hit rate/blackout/shutter delay and lose of resolution compared to my D850, I bought a Z7II to replace it, only to find one of those fixed.
I do almost all types of photography and have found the Z series a step back from the prosumer DSLR's.
I've just got word that a Z9 has came in and have been given the opportunity to purchase one. I know it'll certainly be right up there and even surpass the top end DSLR's and feel this is the only current camera in the Z series that will actually have me confident when shooting all that I shoot.
The major downside is the weight, I suffer from arthritis and moved from a gripped D850 to try and lighten the load.
I'm missing too many shots that I simply wouldn't have missed back in the DSLR days and this is pushing me towards Nikons only viable option.
I had sort of hoped that Nikon would have given a Z7III/Z8 development announcement before I got to the end of the Z9 waiting que, but alas they haven't.
 
wilt said:
After being frustrated when I got my Z6 with focusing/hit rate/blackout/shutter delay and lose of resolution compared to my D850, I bought a Z7II to replace it, only to find one of those fixed.
I do almost all types of photography and have found the Z series a step back from the prosumer DSLR's.
I've just got word that a Z9 has came in and have been given the opportunity to purchase one. I know it'll certainly be right up there and even surpass the top end DSLR's and feel this is the only current camera in the Z series that will actually have me confident when shooting all that I shoot.
The major downside is the weight, I suffer from arthritis and moved from a gripped D850 to try and lighten the load.
I'm missing too many shots that I simply wouldn't have missed back in the DSLR days and this is pushing me towards Nikons only viable option.
I had sort of hoped that Nikon would have given a Z7III/Z8 development announcement before I got to the end of the Z9 waiting que, but alas they haven't.
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I hope you enjoy your Z9. Everything that I have read suggests that it will do all that your D850 will.

It is a shame about the timing but even when Nikon announce the new beast, you would still be on a long waiting list I imagine.

As I said above, I like my Z6 a lot but the converse is that I need the D500 as well to do what these Z6/7's just cannot manage.

From my layman's grasp of the architecture of the Z6/7 marks 1 and 2 ( or the Sony A7's ), I am not sure that these will ever reach the AF-C speed of a D500/D850 - the data bus speed from the ( non-stacked sensor ) is just too slow - no matter how powerful the processors are in the Mark ii's - without cross type on-sensor pdaf's or Canon's formula, the camera has to gather and process a lot more information from the sensor than, say, an olympus OM-D em1.2 with its cross type sensors does or, in fact, a D500/D850/D5-6 needs to from the separate DSLR PDAF sensor stack. This entails reading a huge amount of data from the sensor as well as from just the line type pdaf pixels to get the focus "nailed".
 
wilt said:
...........I've just got word that a Z9 has came in and have been given the opportunity to purchase one...............
...........The major downside is the weight, I suffer from arthritis and moved from a gripped D850 to try and lighten the load.
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I'd be tempted to hang on a bit longer rather than jump to the Z9.
I think most anticipate something coming later this year that will probably have a lot of Z9 features but without the weight/ grip.
Most likely be a bit cheaper to.
That's what I'm hoping for.
 
Skypilot said:
I'd be tempted to hang on a bit longer rather than jump to the Z9.
I think most anticipate something coming later this year that will probably have a lot of Z9 features but without the weight/ grip.
Most likely be a bit cheaper to.
That's what I'm hoping for.
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That's what I was hoping for, but I suspect it'll fall short of a Z9 minus grip. They're saying a Z6III is most likely.
 
inkiboo said:
All the rumours are suggesting that the Z8 (ie the D850 to the D6) is coming very soon.
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I would bet the house on it that it gets announced the day after picking up a Z9.
I just shot 800+ images at a comic con with my Z7II and I've yet to commit to the Z9 purchase. Heart says get it, head and arms are saying wait.
 
inkiboo said:
All the rumours are suggesting that the Z8 (ie the D850 to the D6) is coming very soon.
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Can't imagine Nikon doing that to themselves this early, Im lucky enough to have a Z9 and potentially another on the way that I preordered back in nov, but if Nikon announce a Z8 similar to the D700 and D3 then loads of people (myself included) still waiting on the Z9 will jump on the Z8.

But Nikon, if you want to let me keep a few grand in my pocket then brilliant, just make sure I get mine earlier this time ......... ;)

My money is on if Z8 is announced to not be a cut down Z9, but more tailored to the fine art/landscapers with bigger sensor and losing the speed of the Z9 but suspect the 6III will be announced first regardless.
 
My bet is a Z8 and a Z6iii.
Z9 is a Z replacement for D5, 6 etc.
Different use case for a Z8.

A Z90 (D500 replacement) would take sales away from Z9 IMO.

On Saturday I attended a wedding (as a guest) and the main shooter had a D4s. What a noisy contraption.
All the way through the service it was loud click, click, click.
His assistant had something else, nearly as noisy though.
For the price I would have expected them to embrace silent shooting technology, but of course most couples know nothing of this.
 
Peter123 said:
My bet is a Z8 and a Z6iii.
Z9 is a Z replacement for D5, 6 etc.
Different use case for a Z8.

A Z90 (D500 replacement) would take sales away from Z9 IMO.

On Saturday I attended a wedding (as a guest) and the main shooter had a D4s. What a noisy contraption.
All the way through the service it was loud click, click, click.
His assistant had something else, nearly as noisy though.
For the price I would have expected them to embrace silent shooting technology, but of course most couples know nothing of this.
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Wedding photographers can't afford to upgrade to Z9's, the truth of the matter is most people can't, and the other Z cameras will just let you down in an environment like that. The Z9 is the only reliable Z camera for events and general use IMO. I've had my Z9 for 7 months and I've not had a problem with it that wasn't me, save for the 3d tracking which wasn't sticky so you had to do af-on gymnastics to keep it on subject until fw2.1 Every other Z camera I've owned has been a frustration.

Once the z6iii comes out, assuming it has Z9 AF, you might find more Wedding photographers making the switch. If not you might find them making the switch to Canon. I know 3 that already have.
 
Peter123 said:
The fee for the shoot was £1500 (for both shooters).
His assistant said they were very busy and had one the following day.

Wait 2 weeks for the images.
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£1500 for 2 shooters? That's proper budget and really not going to pay enough to be able to afford £22k in camera bodies
 
inkiboo said:
All the rumours are suggesting that the Z8 (ie the D850 to the D6) is coming very soon.
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A lot of rumours.

Some say it will be 61mp - in that case that puts it in the running for me - particularly if it can match the 45mp files for cleaness, dynamic range and colour depth.
Others say it will be 45mp - in that case I see 0 reason to move a D850 on for it. What would I gain? I shoot fairly stopped down as a landscape tog so the real world differences between the latest greatest F mount zooms and Z mount stuff is quite marginal.
 
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Has anyone bought (or played with) a 28-75 f/2.8 yet? I know it’s effectively a rebadged tamron for more money, but something keeps drawing me to it - not as a replacement for my 24-200 (that’s my go-to all purpose walkabout lens and will be for the foreseeable future), but if I know I’m going to be working with less light and at shorter distances, then it feels like an appealing option?
 
chris321 said:
Has anyone bought (or played with) a 28-75 f/2.8 yet? I know it’s effectively a rebadged tamron for more money, but something keeps drawing me to it - not as a replacement for my 24-200 (that’s my go-to all purpose walkabout lens and will be for the foreseeable future), but if I know I’m going to be working with less light and at shorter distances, then it feels like an appealing option?
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I had it on my Sony. Really good lens. Plenty sharp enough. Well worth the price.
 
chris321 said:
Has anyone bought (or played with) a 28-75 f/2.8 yet? I know it’s effectively a rebadged tamron for more money, but something keeps drawing me to it - not as a replacement for my 24-200 (that’s my go-to all purpose walkabout lens and will be for the foreseeable future), but if I know I’m going to be working with less light and at shorter distances, then it feels like an appealing option?
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Grays of Westminster did a review of this lens a couple of months ago. It's on their YouTube channel. It might be helpful.
 
chris321 said:
I know it’s effectively a rebadged tamron for more money,
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It's not a rebadged Tamron; it's not even the same optical design, Nikon has 15 elements in 12 groups vs 17 elements in 15 groups. And Tamron's MTF charts look much better than Nikon's do (not that I would put a lot of weight on those).
 
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DerekD said:
Grays of Westminster did a review of this lens a couple of months ago.
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I'd be very cautious about taking their reviews seriously.
They are a Nikon only dealer, so not likely to be totally unbiased.

Thom Hogan's reviews are very respected though .

Nikon 28-75mm f/2.8 Lens Review | Thom Hogan

Review of the Nikon 28-75mm f/2.8 lens for the Z-mount cameras
www.zsystemuser.com
 
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sk66 said:
It's not a rebadged Tamron; it's not even the same optical design, Nikon has 15 elements in 12 groups vs 17 elements in 15 groups.
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That's not what Thom Hogan says. Or are you comparing it with the G2 Tamron?
 
sk66 said:
It's not a rebadged Tamron; it's not even the same optical design, Nikon has 15 elements in 12 groups vs 17 elements in 15 groups. And Tamron's MTF charts look much better than Nikon's do (not that I would put a lot of weight on those).
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Its said to be a port of the original version not the G2 which is current for Sony FE.
 
Has anyone had any experience of using the 300 2.8 VRII on a Z body with the adaptor (ideally a Z6)?

I’m interested to know about AF speed/accuracy mainly.
Just wrapping up a safari trip where I used the 70-200 Z almost exclusively. Some occasions where more reach would have been ideal.
 
sk66 said:
It's not a rebadged Tamron; it's not even the same optical design, Nikon has 15 elements in 12 groups vs 17 elements in 15 groups. And Tamron's MTF charts look much better than Nikon's do (not that I would put a lot of weight on those).
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Have a quandary, ordered my z9 back in November last year, ordered an MB N11 battery grip for my Z6II in January. Whilst none where available I came across a second hand Z9 on MBP that I jumped at and am delighted with, by far the best overall camera I have used. My quandary however is my Z9 I initially ordered has finally came in, as has my MB N11,I shoot sport and the speed of the 9’s AF is amazing, my initial plan was one 9 and a gripped 6II as second camera but should I bite the bullet and take the 9 and leave the 6II grip. Can’t really justify the cost of a second Z9 but know I will regret not having it for the upcoming ToB in September. First world problem but thoughts?
 
I think once you have used a Z9 it's so very hard returning to any of the other Z cameras.
Can you not make do with just the one? Maybe get a lens that'll cover the focal range you need that the two bodies would have covered.
I'd try and stick it out with just the one Z9,
 
I have recently seen and read good things about the new megadap etz21 adapter.
Does anyone here have any experience with this adapter?
 
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inView said:
Have a quandary, ordered my z9 back in November last year, ordered an MB N11 battery grip for my Z6II in January. Whilst none where available I came across a second hand Z9 on MBP that I jumped at and am delighted with, by far the best overall camera I have used. My quandary however is my Z9 I initially ordered has finally came in, as has my MB N11,I shoot sport and the speed of the 9’s AF is amazing, my initial plan was one 9 and a gripped 6II as second camera but should I bite the bullet and take the 9 and leave the 6II grip. Can’t really justify the cost of a second Z9 but know I will regret not having it for the upcoming ToB in September. First world problem but thoughts?
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I had the MB N11 on my Z7ii (you may have had mine as it went to MPB) and the difference between ANY Z camera and a Z9 is night and day and if your doing sport then the Z9 is the camera to have. I decided get rid of my Z7ii as using it at the same time as the Z9 was depressing as it just could not compete. I now use just the Z9 and when they introduce a D500 version in mirrorless form I'll get that but I get by with one camera no problem at all, even swapping glass over. I've only got a 400mm f/28FL, 300mm f/2.8G VR and 500mm PF in F mount now as the rest of my glass is Z mount so that's fine with me.
 
Out of interest (and I don't' know why I've never asked this before), anyone know why the Z models (including the Z9) doesn't have the 1.2x crop mode in addition to the 1.5x, 16:9 and 1:1 modes. I used to use the 1.2x crop mode all the time on the D850,, which gave me a 20% crop (so my 500mm became an effective 600mm) and yet still net me a 30mp image (usually more than enough). I'd use that mode a lot on my Z7 II.

Yes I know it's just cropping and I could do that in post, but sometimes it's nice to have the final image in the viewfinder (as well as the smaller file sizes).
 
inView said:
Have a quandary, ordered my z9 back in November last year, ordered an MB N11 battery grip for my Z6II in January. Whilst none where available I came across a second hand Z9 on MBP that I jumped at and am delighted with, by far the best overall camera I have used. My quandary however is my Z9 I initially ordered has finally came in, as has my MB N11,I shoot sport and the speed of the 9’s AF is amazing, my initial plan was one 9 and a gripped 6II as second camera but should I bite the bullet and take the 9 and leave the 6II grip. Can’t really justify the cost of a second Z9 but know I will regret not having it for the upcoming ToB in September. First world problem but thoughts?
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Decision made…… oh dear, just wait for Z8 announcement tomorrow now ;)
 
Sootchucker said:
Out of interest (and I don't' know why I've never asked this before), anyone know why the Z models (including the Z9) doesn't have the 1.2x crop mode in addition to the 1.5x, 16:9 and 1:1 modes. I used to use the 1.2x crop mode all the time on the D850,, which gave me a 20% crop (so my 500mm became an effective 600mm) and yet still net me a 30mp image (usually more than enough). I'd use that mode a lot on my Z7 II.

Yes I know it's just cropping and I could do that in post, but sometimes it's nice to have the final image in the viewfinder (as well as the smaller file sizes).
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I must admit I never used the crop modes on my D850 but last weekend I tried it on my Z9 using my 400mm f/2.8FL and also the 1.4iii converter and I was amazed at the images taken with that set up. They were really very sharp and considering I was shooting at effectively 840mm it opened my eyes to new possibilities. I wonder if the 1.2x crop can be added as an update.
 
woof woof said:
IMO the Nikon mirrorless cameras are possibly best suited to those who must have a Nikon because they simply must or maybe because they have Nikon DSLR/SLR lenses and therefore the Nikon mirrorless is the best mirrorless option or perhaps it's possible they've fallen in love with one of the new mirrorless lenses and therefore need the mirrorless body to use it on. IMO these are the instances in which Nikon mirrorless cameras make the most sense. Other than those I think that the Sony mirrorless options are perhaps the better options and at a lower price point today. Give it a few more years and the situation may change.
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I had no idea that I could use my DSLR lenses with the Z body... thanks for the info! :)
Peter123 said:
Well I’ve got quite a few Nikon lenses so it made sense for me.
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That would be me too :)
 
Hadge said:
I must admit I never used the crop modes on my D850 but last weekend I tried it on my Z9 using my 400mm f/2.8FL and also the 1.4iii converter and I was amazed at the images taken with that set up. They were really very sharp and considering I was shooting at effectively 840mm it opened my eyes to new possibilities. I wonder if the 1.2x crop can be added as an update.
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Crop mode helps with the AI tracking and contrast detect autofocus as those are working with the output video feed... doesn't help with phase detect AF (initial acquisition or a DSLR)
 
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Hi guys, I'm considering upgrading my Z kit to include a Z9. Obviously it's still shown as out of stock absolutely everywhere, but for anyone that has received one recently, what are the typical lead times, and is this through the big shops like WEX, Park, Greys etc, or are there some smaller shops that might carry it ?
 
I attended the new Wex store in Glasgow earlier this week. I have to say the knowledge and professionalism in this store was top level.

I got to try the Z7ii but alas no Z9 - the Wex colleague was very forthright and honest regarding obtaining these cameras.

I tried the Z7ii, A7R4 and R5. Build and size wise I'd give the nod to sony, but the Z7ii had the best layout and clearest EVF shooting in the store. AF performance, well it's all over the camera but the D850 is quicker. I am unconvinced on the EVF but I'd use the rear screen and you can operate this just like live view on a D850 - for a tripod user this would be fine. AF is slower, but you can zoom to 100% on the rear screen and focus manually. AF was accurate, but slower than the D850.

That said, bar the newer lenses I don't see what it offers over a D850 and the store colleague felt the same. My big concern with the Z7 chassis is it's too small, and the buttons too close together. Cold fingers, early morning landscapes, that would be a chore.

Rumour has a Z8 coming, but there was chat about a D880 (ie a 60mp DSLR but he thinks thats died the death).
 
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Sootchucker said:
Hi guys, I'm considering upgrading my Z kit to include a Z9. Obviously it's still shown as out of stock absolutely everywhere, but for anyone that has received one recently, what are the typical lead times, and is this through the big shops like WEX, Park, Greys etc, or are there some smaller shops that might carry it ?
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They are coming through but it will likely be next year, I ordered mine through WEX in November last year and it arrived last week to give you an idea. Bear in mind the initial few weeks orders were huge, things have calmed down since.
 
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