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Very early impressions...Z6

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Well I have played with the Z6 for some
time now.

Right now, I have just finished packing.

The Z6, 24-70 F4 S, the 50/1.8S and
the venerable 70-300 af-p.. with the
FTZ adapter. Leaving the 18-35 behind.

I have taken hundreds of shots of windows
trees, anything around the house and it’s
inhabitants.

I was originally heading to Batangas, Philippines
but the Taal lake volacanic eruption n earthquakes
I changed my destination to Negros Oriental in the
Same country. The next few days I shall fly to
Cebu. And rent car to drive around the island.

The only thing reserved is the flight to Manila.
The rest, I shall see.

p.s Ayesha is heading off to Mt. Kenya and then
Visit Ethiopia. The XT3 goes with her.
We will almost meet. I was heading to the Philippines myself a few days ago, but there was no plane, so trying again in a few days. I'm going to Mindanao though, but via Manila and flying over Batangas and Cebu on the way. Have you been to Mindanao? It's a fascinating island, particularly the southern part where I am going, General Santos and Maasim. Zamboanga is a very beautiful city where the local language is in reality Spanish. Probably safer for you than for me, but I go there anyway.
 

rayyan

Well-known member
Thanks Jack and John.

Jorgen, small world. Manila has always been a transit
for me. Too crowded, smoky and noisy.

When will you be in Manila? Who knows our paths
might cross. Coffee and something stronger for you.

I have never been to Mindanao. And have no desire
to go there. Safer for me or not! I don’t believe it
for one second!

There are so many unbelievably beautiful islands
in the Philippines. I prefer them..thank you sir.

I am dropping the 70-300mm. Hassle for me.

Let’s see how it pans out for me.

But would love to meet you.
I expect to travel with Ayesha to Lombok in
March. If u are there or near about...

Visiting Thailand is restricted for us except for
business, medical reasons. This is due to the
murder of our diplomats there and a big time
theft in my country by some Thai people.
We have visited most of Thailand before this
incident.

Anyway safe travels to you and let me know
your plans.

Best.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
I am dropping the 70-300mm. Hassle for me.
Understood. The more I travel, the less encumbered I prefer being... And you can do an awful lot of great imaging with just the 24-70. Or even a lone 35 or 50...
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Thanks Jack and John.

Jorgen, small world. Manila has always been a transit
for me. Too crowded, smoky and noisy.

When will you be in Manila? Who knows our paths
might cross. Coffee and something stronger for you.

I have never been to Mindanao. And have no desire
to go there. Safer for me or not! I don’t believe it
for one second!

There are so many unbelievably beautiful islands
in the Philippines. I prefer them..thank you sir.

I am dropping the 70-300mm. Hassle for me.

Let’s see how it pans out for me.

But would love to meet you.
I expect to travel with Ayesha to Lombok in
March. If u are there or near about...

Visiting Thailand is restricted for us except for
business, medical reasons. This is due to the
murder of our diplomats there and a big time
theft in my country by some Thai people.
We have visited most of Thailand before this
incident.

Anyway safe travels to you and let me know
your plans.

Best.
I will be in Manila between 03:15 and 06:30 on Tuesday morning. You'll find me sleeping in a chair at the Domestic Lounge, Terminal 2 :ROTFL:

Same routine on Friday, only the International Lounge and in the afternoon. Unfortunately, this is what my travels look like at the moment. I will stop at my favourite fishing village in Maasim though :)
 

Dustbak

Member
I am falling more and more for this neat system. The lenses are simply great, even the 24-70/4 which you might consider a standard kit lens is great.

Just a snapshot of what I woke up to this morning. Great to be moving to longer days again!
 

Attachments

rayyan

Well-known member
I have not had the chance to try out my z6
kit.
what with flights via Clark n the H1N1 virus
i have not had time to settle

Then it is the Chinese New Year. And i am
unable to get continuous stay in any one
hotel for > 2 days at exhorbitant cost.

The Z6 n kit lens begins to feel heavy
just lugging it!

Hopefully, i might get some lion dance
images tonight or tomorrow.
 

rayyan

Well-known member
After having used the z6 and the 24-70/4s n 50/1.8s setup here is an update.

Obviously this opinion reflects my lack of knowledge and/or my shooting experience.

Overall, I couldn’t be more satisfied with this setup.
Performed as and when I wanted it.
Weight n bulk never an issue on international or domestic flights.
Tripod in hold. All else with me as carry on. Plus medicines, cc, passport, few filters, IPhone, batteries, chargers and 4x64gb xqd cards. And a pair of jeans shirt.

I took 2 batteries for the z6. Never needed a second one after a full days shooting.

Caught up in tropical torrential downpour. Just wiped with soft cloth n good to go.

A/C, humidity..I took a little care to avoid moisture condensation. Noting special.

Want list.

Blinkies.
Horizontal level indicator along with histogram. Missed this.
Shutter T mode needs to go over 30 seconds. And a count down on screen timer.

Honestly, that’s it.

I realize I crop. Shall wait for 2nd gen Z7.

Good job Nikon!
 

Thorkil

Well-known member
After having used the z6 and the 24-70/4s n 50/1.8s setup here is an update.

Obviously this opinion reflects my lack of knowledge and/or my shooting experience.

Overall, I couldn’t be more satisfied with this setup.
Performed as and when I wanted it.
Weight n bulk never an issue on international or domestic flights.
Tripod in hold. All else with me as carry on. Plus medicines, cc, passport, few filters, IPhone, batteries, chargers and 4x64gb xqd cards. And a pair of jeans shirt.

I took 2 batteries for the z6. Never needed a second one after a full days shooting.

Caught up in tropical torrential downpour. Just wiped with soft cloth n good to go.

A/C, humidity..I took a little care to avoid moisture condensation. Noting special.

Want list.

Blinkies.
Horizontal level indicator along with histogram. Missed this.
Shutter T mode needs to go over 30 seconds. And a count down on screen timer.

Honestly, that’s it.

I realize I crop. Shall wait for 2nd gen Z7.

Good job Nikon!
I knew it, before you did, that you would love it Rayyan...now you like it, but when you later will be slowly aware of the fact that your mind is a Nikon-mind that don't leave you, you will realize that you love it (because its utterly faithfull to you)...congrats...KR thorkil
 

rayyan

Well-known member
Thanks Thorkil.
And thanks, Jack, Swissblad.

I was not so sure before I put it to use in a limited field test on this trip.
But I guess, Nikon habits die hard!!

Take care you all.


I knew it, before you did, that you would love it Rayyan...now you like it, but when you later will be slowly aware of the fact that your mind is a Nikon-mind that don't leave you, you will realize that you love it (because its utterly faithfull to you)...congrats...KR thorkil
 

nostatic

New member
After having used the z6 and the 24-70/4s n 50/1.8s setup here is an update.

Obviously this opinion reflects my lack of knowledge and/or my shooting experience.

Overall, I couldn’t be more satisfied with this setup.
Performed as and when I wanted it.
Weight n bulk never an issue on international or domestic flights.
Tripod in hold. All else with me as carry on. Plus medicines, cc, passport, few filters, IPhone, batteries, chargers and 4x64gb xqd cards. And a pair of jeans shirt.

I took 2 batteries for the z6. Never needed a second one after a full days shooting.

Caught up in tropical torrential downpour. Just wiped with soft cloth n good to go.

A/C, humidity..I took a little care to avoid moisture condensation. Noting special.

Want list.

Blinkies.
Horizontal level indicator along with histogram. Missed this.
Shutter T mode needs to go over 30 seconds. And a count down on screen timer.

Honestly, that’s it.

I realize I crop. Shall wait for 2nd gen Z7.

Good job Nikon!
After a long hiatus (on my part), nice to see some of the usual suspects.

Curious how you compare the Z6 to your X-T3. A few months back I sold an A7ii and some glass to move to the X-T3 (still have an A7iii that I use at work). I've actually been quite happy with the Fuji setup and gestalt, but I also shoot a lot of low-light handheld and a FF/IBIS combination can help a lot. The X-T4 might solve part of that equation, but given my first digital camera was a Nikon way back when, the Z6 has my curiosity up, especially given the recent FW update.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
After having used the z6 and the 24-70/4s n 50/1.8s setup here is an update.

Want list.

Blinkies.
Horizontal level indicator along with histogram. Missed this.
Shutter T mode needs to go over 30 seconds. And a count down on screen timer.

Honestly, that’s it.

I realize I crop. Shall wait for 2nd gen Z7.
Ray, I had missed this initially -- you can get highlight warning blinkies, but NOT with manual focus peaking turned on. So, you first turn off focus peaking in the menu, then scroll down to the "movie" menu and turn highlight warning on! (I bet you never even opened that one up LOL!) Anyway, it will be grayed out until you turn off focus peaking in the upper menu. (And WHY the F&^% Nikon chose to bury the exposure warning blinkies in the movie menu is beyond me, and why it cannot be had at the same time as focus peaking indicator is beyond me too, but that's a different gripe LOL!) So now you will have exposure blinkies show at whatever level you set them to. You can now now go back and turn focus peaking back on and now focus peaking will work normally, however exposure blinkies will only show on playback, not during exposure. I know, it's a stupid design and hopefully they fix it for us in a future FW. On the upside, I have yet to get any truly blown RAW file --in my Z7 anyway-- using multi-matrix and a Z lens. However with jpegs, yes I've gotten a few edged out channels, but they are mostly in specular highlight/heavy reflection areas and not overly critical to the overall image.

Hope this helps a little ;)
 

rayyan

Well-known member
You are right Jack. I never scrolled through the video menus!!

Thanks for the insights.

Best.
 

Jan Brittenson

Senior Subscriber Member
Here's a neat trick I just discovered, for easy switching of colored filters (not really spectral cut filters, but still) when set to a B&W view.

I set Fn2 to "Set Picture Control". By default there is only a "Monochrome" view, but under "Manage Picture Control" custom picture controls can be created with filters enabled. (Note: custom white balance using K temp doesn't affect the monochrome conversion at all, otherwise this would have been a good tool as well.)

Under the Photo Shooting Menu:
- Manage Picture Control (click OK)
- Save/Edit (click Right)
- MC Monochrome (click *Right* to adjust)
- Scroll down to Filter Effects
- Right click to pick a filter, for example Y
- Press OK
- Select a C- custom slot to save it to
- For example, C-1, press OK
- Name the slot, for example "BW Y" if you chose the Y filter
- Press the magnifying glass to save

It's sorely lacking a blue filter though. What was Nikon thinking? Replace the Y (minus-blue) with B if there's insufficient space; the last thing this camera needs is to further light up reds!!! And the color temp setting should permit easy R-B sensitivity balancing! Or even better, get rid of the "filters" and just give me three controls for R, G, B and let me set them to whatever factor I want.

Repeat for the other filters, saving custom Picture Control entries.
I also saved a plain monochrome as just BW so it's right next to the others in the rotation. Otherwise there's a gazillion gimmicky settings.
Saved it to U2, so now I have U1 - regular, U2 - B&W, U3 - P&S mode for non-photographers.

With one of the front Fn buttons set to Set Custom Picture I can now press it and use the rear dial to switch between the custom B&W settings.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Yes for sure Jan! You can also assign "the first item in your 'My Menu'" to a custom button. I chose the red "movie" button since it continues to work as movie on-off in video mode. I also have the picture control in my "i" menu for ready access. I find I am using sepia more frequently than filters (not mutually exclusive!), but I agree with you that the sensor is overly sensitive to the Red channel, boosting most reds to low-mid grays, so a minus red would be welcome -- and I agree that getting rid of yellow (or Orange) since we have Red and Orange and giving us a Blue makes sense. But here's a tip -- use Green --- It does almost perfect for Reds and doesn't kill the sky, AND gives really nice skintones ;)
 
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