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Nikon Z6 Photos and Discussions

k-hawinkler

Well-known member
No guys, it is just sarcasm and fun :) ( the Zony part)

I do not care about brands. It is all about photography and gear is only the tool. But I'm tired by internet since some weeks, on many forums and YouTube channels, seeing ppl really trashing the Z cameras. Dpreview forum and comments are just a troll fest, out of control.

You see ppl asking a bunch of questions they can answer themselve if they just read the instruction manual. Internet just gone crazy and I bet it is hard for some brands to "tell the truth" without being accused of marketing strategy.

I always look at a gear like a beginner, for example someone who want to go full frame. The guy see the Z offering, is interested and then gather infos there and there … it is a mess. Behind this mess there is no conspiracy theory but the truth that some brand deploy more "ressources" to harvest market shares, pure uggly business. Paid "Reviewers" not trustworthy anymore, or reviewers you need to pay to always see the same landscape shoots or unrelated contents.

Since I tested the 3 brands, Canon R, Sony A7xx and the Z before any buying decisions, I came to the conclusion that the Z's (proper handled) are the best bang for the buck on the long run. I shoot Nikon and Nikon isn't flawless. The Z is more a tank than the D600, D610, DF, D750. In the hands it is almost like a D700/ D850 and this is something important. It is a "tank sans mirror". And when you do everything with your camera this is one big of a key factor.

The Sony A9 come close but the price is falcon heavy league (and I continue to have hard time with Sony menus). For this price one can be tempted to wait a little bit more and jump Medium Format with the fuji.


A lot of my friends are sony users and no, I do not bash their choice (but they lurk at the Z) ;)

Thanks Hulyss, interesting thought process.

I am looking forward to the firmware updates 5.0 and 6.0 to my Sony A9 this spring and summer. That updated A9 will be hard to beat IMHO for action photography.

Meanwhile last October I surprised myself and bought the Fuji GFX 50S and a bunch of their stellar lenses. WOW! Such a fabulous tool set for what it was designed for. I think I am slowly getting ready for the 100S.

Good luck to you and your friends with the Nikon Z cameras. :salute:
I gave most of my Nikon gear to my oldest son and have moved on.
 

Darin Marcus

Well-known member
Darin,
Is the auto WB and metering accurate for your use? I would be very interested in metering for portraits without exposure comp. and the ability to have accurate auto WB.
Hello jd,

I am not that much into portrait photography, except for the occasional fair, festival or parade :D These are later in the year, so I have not yet had the chance to try the Z6 on people. Hulyss and others are more qualified than me to comment on using the Z6/7 for portraits.

When it comes to exposure I've mostly been using Center-weighted Metering for quite some time with my Nikon cameras. Nikon's Matrix Metering system has become more and more complex in recent years, which makes it less predictable for me. For example, it is slightly biased toward the active focus point, it fights/ignores you when you try to use exposure compensation, and it is not recommended if you use a circular polarizer (this is actually specified in the camera manual). Center-weighted is predictable and I don't mind dialing exposure compensation as needed for many of my photos. With the Z6 I find CW metering at least as accurate as with the D810.

When it comes to AWB, when outdoors (with natural light) I am setting the Z6 to "Natural light auto" WB and I am getting the most accurate WB of all my Nikons (D810, Df, J5). This was introduced by Nikon after the D810, so it is my first time using it. Not sure if Nikon further improved if after the D850, but in combination with the "Neutral" picture control I am quite happy with the results. As I said in the past, I am converting NEFs with Capture NX-D and my experience with Adobe products stopped at Lightroom 6.14 (which I am still using for the finishing touches), so I am not sure how well does other software deal with Nikon's WB settings. For the few portraits I took with the D810, the "Portrait" picture control selected in Capture NX-D gave me pretty nice skin tones...

Indoors, with artificial light, I am setting the Z6 to A0 WB, but it is not very accurate, so I am changing it in post to incandescent/fluorescent/sodium vapor/etc. as appropriate, and fine tune it from there.
 

jdphoto

Well-known member
Darin,
Thanks for the reply. All good points. I think you were right about the focus point and AWB, as the slight shift in color was probably from camera movement using AF-S.
 

Hulyss Bowman

Active member
Hulyss,
I love your descriptions. Nicely done. Did you go with the Z6 or Z7? If you could share the reasons behind your choice that would be appreciated too. Also, here's a new review on the 50mm 1.8 S, which is incredible! Much like the Sony/Zeiss 55mm 1.8, which was one of my favorite lenses of all!

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/ni...tm_medium=marquee&utm_campaign=traffic_source
Hy JD,

I went with the Z6 for two reasons, the first being the price and second the file size.
The kit price with FTZ and 24-70 is very attractive and you do not feel neutered when you leave the store.
The file size is optimal for my use and I remembrer some Leica engineers saying that 24mpx is the best compromise in 24x36 and that they won't go after more pixel in the M system.


Also, the Z6 sensor is the same tech as the Z7 (BSI cmos sensor) and it is just very very good. Less pixels is also less error in action and, in the case of the Z6, much better video. ISO are close to D5 level ; it is a true adventurer camera. The fact that the two Z are exactelly the same build made me jump (I would never have bought the Z6 if it was less rugged than the Z7). So, except if you want to print large walls,ISO 64 and massive cropping, the Z6 is as efficient IQ wize than the Z7.


I just seen the 50f1.8S review and yea, this one might join dady this summer.


An another review from a respectable man: https://blog.kasson.com/nikon-z6-7/nikon-50-1-8-s-otus-55-on-z7-zony-55-on-a7riii/

As for WB and portrait, I never really trust cameras. I always build a custom WB on the spot or place a grey card somewhere in the frame that I clone out in post. That being said the only tricky situation might be mixed lightings, for example day light from a windows and incandescent. In this case, custom WB is mandatory imho. If you are not familiar with custom WB you might start to train. With time it became a reflex and you'll be confident with almost all scenarios.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Hulyss,
I love your descriptions. Nicely done. Did you go with the Z6 or Z7? If you could share the reasons behind your choice that would be appreciated too. Also, here's a new review on the 50mm 1.8 S, which is incredible! Much like the Sony/Zeiss 55mm 1.8, which was one of my favorite lenses of all!

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/ni...tm_medium=marquee&utm_campaign=traffic_source
If this is the quality and price level that Nikon is planning to be at, they will be very hard to compete with. The Z6 and 50mm f/1.8 is the pragmatic choice, just like other Nikon cameras and lenses have been in the past.
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
No guys, it is just sarcasm and fun :) ( the Zony part)

I do not care about brands. It is all about photography and gear is only the tool. But I'm tired by internet since some weeks, on many forums and YouTube channels, seeing ppl really trashing the Z cameras. Dpreview forum and comments are just a troll fest, out of control.

You see ppl asking a bunch of questions they can answer themselve if they just read the instruction manual. Internet just gone crazy and I bet it is hard for some brands to "tell the truth" without being accused of marketing strategy.

I always look at a gear like a beginner, for example someone who want to go full frame. The guy see the Z offering, is interested and then gather infos there and there … it is a mess. Behind this mess there is no conspiracy theory but the truth that some brand deploy more "ressources" to harvest market shares, pure uggly business. Paid "Reviewers" not trustworthy anymore, or reviewers you need to pay to always see the same landscape shoots or unrelated contents.

Since I tested the 3 brands, Canon R, Sony A7xx and the Z before any buying decisions, I came to the conclusion that the Z's (proper handled) are the best bang for the buck on the long run. I shoot Nikon and Nikon isn't flawless. The Z is more a tank than the D600, D610, DF, D750. In the hands it is almost like a D700/ D850 and this is something important. It is a "tank sans mirror". And when you do everything with your camera this is one big of a key factor.

The Sony A9 come close but the price is falcon heavy league (and I continue to have hard time with Sony menus). For this price one can be tempted to wait a little bit more and jump Medium Format with the fuji.


A lot of my friends are sony users and no, I do not bash their choice (but they lurk at the Z) ;)
The Sony A9 becomes really interesting with the FW updates to be expected over the next months. It's price though is still too high IMO for a 24MP camera although with all its technology built in it seems to be (and will stay to be) the best what can be bought today. My main issue with Sony is that I moved away from them a few years ago since I was burned by their DSLR strategy - I have been one of the first adaptors of the Sony A900! So my trust in their overall strategy is still no longer existent.

On the other side I shot Nikon throughout most parts of my photography life and while it was not only a love relationship whenever I came back it was like coming home - if you know what I mean. I am now completely out of any Nikon cameras and lenses (except a AA conditioned F3 and FM2 bodies and some manual lenses) but am seriously looking of getting back into this system.

I have been watching the Z7 but frankly was a bit turned off by its price. The Z6 seems to be of much more value for the buck and while I am currently "only" shooting Olympus 20MP m43 the 24MP of the Z6 would already be a significant upgrade that also offers incredible low light capabilities which m43 will never be able to offer IMHO. So I am very satisfied by your findings about the Z6 and it gets very high on my radar, especially also in the light where Olympus is going with their new flagship EM1X both price but also features and mainly size. Especially when Nikon will come out with their new FW they should offer also decent Eye AF and generally improved AF over the already great capabilities of their Z-cameras, so this makes it even more interesting.
 

pegelli

Well-known member
No guys, it is just sarcasm and fun :) ( the Zony part)

I do not care about brands. It is all about photography and gear is only the tool. But I'm tired by internet since some weeks, on many forums and YouTube channels, seeing ppl really trashing the Z cameras. Dpreview forum and comments are just a troll fest, out of control.
So you're tired of the trolling at DPreview and other fora so you decide to take your "sarcasm and fun" here?

That really makes sense and shows a lot of courage :thumbs:
 

Hulyss Bowman

Active member
The Sony A9 becomes really interesting with the FW updates to be expected over the next months. It's price though is still too high IMO for a 24MP camera although with all its technology built in it seems to be (and will stay to be) the best what can be bought today. My main issue with Sony is that I moved away from them a few years ago since I was burned by their DSLR strategy - I have been one of the first adaptors of the Sony A900! So my trust in their overall strategy is still no longer existent.

On the other side I shot Nikon throughout most parts of my photography life and while it was not only a love relationship whenever I came back it was like coming home - if you know what I mean. I am now completely out of any Nikon cameras and lenses (except a AA conditioned F3 and FM2 bodies and some manual lenses) but am seriously looking of getting back into this system.

I have been watching the Z7 but frankly was a bit turned off by its price. The Z6 seems to be of much more value for the buck and while I am currently "only" shooting Olympus 20MP m43 the 24MP of the Z6 would already be a significant upgrade that also offers incredible low light capabilities which m43 will never be able to offer IMHO. So I am very satisfied by your findings about the Z6 and it gets very high on my radar, especially also in the light where Olympus is going with their new flagship EM1X both price but also features and mainly size. Especially when Nikon will come out with their new FW they should offer also decent Eye AF and generally improved AF over the already great capabilities of their Z-cameras, so this makes it even more interesting.
I understand what you say about Sony Dslr. I was too, years ago, about to jump on the A850 because it was a real tank and A lenses was kind of good. But when they started to """inovate""" with the semi translucent mirror or watever, I closed the door and do not regret it.

"...It was like coming home..." I know what you mean. It is valid for nikonists as well as Canonists. I do not know if you already tried it but you should take your hands on a Z6. As Jorgen said, the Z6 is the pragmatic choice. The Z7 is expensive but it is a mini D850 so it is justified.

But my "findings" on the Z6 are just the surface. I'll go deeper, and might join some videos (how to reverse the lens Hood !).

@pegelli

My posts here are probably my first posts since almost 2 years on any forum over internet, because I'm a buzzy guy and have poor interest for "forums" now I'm aging. I also never post on Dpreview.

I'm not a consumer; buying a camera and lenses is not an easy decision. I just find the Z's far more secure than the Axx's, that my point of view and I won't change my mind about it because I see it as a fact, not a phantasm, and not because I want to cherish my new precious …


And since we are on a Nikon forum, I aim Nikon users or ppl who are interested in Nikon gear, not the "others" ;)
 

pegelli

Well-known member
@pegelli

My posts here are probably my first posts since almost 2 years on any forum over internet, because I'm a buzzy guy and have poor interest for "forums" now I'm aging. I also never post on Dpreview.

I'm not a consumer; buying a camera and lenses is not an easy decision. I just find the Z's far more secure than the Axx's, that my point of view and I won't change my mind about it because I see it as a fact, not a phantasm, and not because I want to cherish my new precious …


And since we are on a Nikon forum, I aim Nikon users or ppl who are interested in Nikon gear, not the "others" ;)
Since you aim Nikon users why take a dig at Sony, there's no need for that, they started this whole FF mirrorless revolution and without them the Z cameras and this thread wouldn't even exist.

If you don't post on DPreview why get upset at people trolling the Z camera's there, move on and don't worry, certainly if you're as busy as you say you are. Don't do the reverse here, certainly not for "sarcasm and fun" because it's just as bad as what's happening on DPreview.

My advice to you: "Don't do to others what you don't like that others do to you",
 

Hulyss Bowman

Active member
Well, I didn't went on the Sony section to speak about nor take crusade over any forum member. You are just a bit sensitive about this.

"Is that thing feel like a toy Sony camera ? Do you feel the lens catches the mechanical float when you use the focus ring ?

No. It is a Nikon camera. From a D700 user point of view I am just very happy by the solidity of this camera. Complet faith in it.
"

This make me laugh but not that much… because it is my experience with the A7R3 and 24-70 f2.8, in the store. Faulty unit ? For the price I just looked elsewhere.

If a photographer come here and hesitate between a Sony and the Z, trust me I will push the Z. If you do not like it or can't cope my style feel free to ignore me. You'll never see me interacting on the Sony forum section. This why there is brand section and different phylosophy behind it.


Hope you'll have a nice day and this pseudo bikering is off (otherwise you'll continue to speak but alone).
 

pegelli

Well-known member
I'm a Sony shooter. Is it sane to jump on Nikon mirrorless System ?

What is insane is actually asking this kind of question. Don' t think ! DO ! But first you'll need to burn your clunky jack of all trade with his fancy coloured bayonette. Make it public on YouTube please ! Then your heart and vision will open and expend beyond what you can imagine; you will experiment a mystical rebirth.
You forgot this one. So much for honesty and full disclosure.

If that's the best you can do so be it. It's not the brand wars, I couldn't care less what people buy or like, I'm brand agnostic and have shot Olympus, Leica, Nikon, Sony and probably a few others.

I just don't like it when people try to make fun at the expense of others, that's all.
 

pegelli

Well-known member
Do you truly believe that without Sony Nikon would have never released a FF mirrorless camera?
Yes, spec-wise the Z6 looks like an A7ii w/o eye-AF, the Z7 like a A7rii w/o eye AF. That tells me enough (especially since they now promised eye-AF in their firmware update)
Don't get me wrong, I really like the Nikon Z and Canon R launch, and they are both very capable cameras and more choices is good for everybody since it's been made clear many times by many people that Sony is not for them (cynical and serious). But also realise the same is true for Nikon and Canon.

But I truly believe it's Sony who gave us these options in the first place by starting with the A7 in 2013.
 
V

Vivek

Guest
Also lacking in the Zs are the second card slot and even a single SD card slot.

XQD card, though it is Sony technology, is expensive for what it does especially in the Zs.

Nikon will eventually move to a better AF and SD cards and such. The next generation Zs will be much better for sure. :)

Yes, spec-wise the Z6 looks like an A7ii w/o eye-AF, the Z7 like a A7rii w/o eye AF. That tells me enough (especially since they now promised eye-AF in their firmware update)
Don't get me wrong, I really like the Nikon Z and Canon R launch, more choices is good for everybody but I truly believe it's Sony who gave us these options in the first place.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Let's forget about Sony for a moment. Many photographers, even some Nikon users, have claimed for years that Nikon is way behind, more or less on the edge of the grave. When it became clear that a full frame mirrorless was on its way, predictions stated that it would take years before they would be competitive with (ok then)... Sony. So, when the cameras appeared, much focus was placed on what they could not do, and the "banding problem" in images underexposed by... 6 stops?

When I focus on what the Z6 can do, I see a camera that is perfectly suited for my, and probably very many other photographers', use. Size is good, ergonomics likewise, lenses seem way better than the average, price is reasonable and it comes from a manufacturer that I have learned to trust through many years of use and abuse. It's the D300 and D700 and D750 all over again, only better. It's a winner, and I'd be surprised if it isn't the most sold FF mirrorless before the end of the year, although one should never count out Canon. Canon has a 49% market share for a reason.

It's so good that it's almost boring. It is boring actually. When I look at it, I feel like a Volvo owner who, in spite of the new XCsomething, has been looking at Range Rover and Porsche Cayenne and... before realising that the new Volvo is actually more suitable for his needs. And the Thule rack with the ski box that he bought for the previous model will fit on the new one too.

Nikon doesn't focus on bleeding edge technology and they don't sell by spec sheets. They focus on solutions that work and they sell by references and satisfied customers. Am I a Nikon fanboy? Not really, and at the moment I use Panasonic, but I have a lot of respect for Nikon's approach to business.
 

pegelli

Well-known member
Also lacking in the Zs are the second card slot and even a single SD card slot.

XQD card, though it is Sony technology, is expensive for what it does especially in the Zs.

Nikon will eventually move to a better AF and SD cards and such. The next generation Zs will be much better for sure. :)
Well the A7ii and A7rii also have only one card slot so there my comparison holds, it's not until the iii versions that they got two slots.

And yes, the next generation Z6/7 will be better but so will all the other FF mirrorless brands. Exciting times :clap:
 
V

Vivek

Guest
Nikon doesn't focus on bleeding edge technology and they don't sell by spec sheets. They focus on solutions that work and they sell by references and satisfied customers.
I hope that is not the official Nikon thinking. Camera business is a tech business.

It is imperative that it should stay at the forefront.

XQD is bleeding edge tech. Only it is not warranted on the Zs
 
V

Vivek

Guest
A7iii vs Z6

A7rii vs Z7

All use BSI CMOS sensors.

A7ii is no match for the Z6.

Well the A7ii and A7rii also have only one card slot so there my comparison holds, it's not until the iii versions that they got two slots.

And yes, the next generation Z6/7 will be better but so will all the other FF mirrorless brands. Exciting times :clap:
 
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