p.4 #1 · Official Z Series Camera and Lens Discussion
MikeInPa wrote:
I’m sure I read somewhere that early purchasers would get a free XQD card thrown in with the Z series camera.
Can anybody confirm this?
It may be that it was only going to apply to the US as I watched an Indian unboxing and there was no mention of an XQD card.
This is also true in Thailand. Several local stores here already advertized free 64GB XQD card with every Z7 body. I am trying to lobby my local store and told them that since there is only 1 card slot, I really need
128GB as 64GB is not enough
p.4 #5 · Official Z Series Camera and Lens Discussion
Just got back from an event where Nikon Belgium gave an introduction to the Z cameras.
Yes, convinced that I made the right choice by ordering my Z7 and have the again the confirmation that I have my Z gear next week Thursday including the 64GB XQD.
This is the most impressive and depressing comparison in the report:
LOW LIGHT
Sony a7R III: metering to -3EV, focusing to -3EV
Nikon Z7: metering to -3EV, focusing to -1EV
Canon EOS R: metering to -3EV, focusing to -6EV
That Z7 lowlight focus is pretty pathetic by comparison to the other two. A -1 EV rating goes back several generations of dSLR bodies. Personally, for shooting weddings I would not want anything less than a -3 these days.
p.4 #8 · Official Z Series Camera and Lens Discussion
MRomine wrote:
This is the most impressive and depressing comparison in the report:
LOW LIGHT
Sony a7R III: metering to -3EV, focusing to -3EV
Nikon Z7: metering to -3EV, focusing to -1EV
Canon EOS R: metering to -3EV, focusing to -6EV
That Z7 lowlight focus is pretty pathetic by comparison to the other two. A -1 EV rating goes back several generations of dSLR bodies. Personally, for shooting weddings I would not want anything less than a -3 these days.
Well, Nikon just updated all their DSLR's and they are awesome too. I think it's better for them to get their really nice mirrorless system out and on the market even if they don't have everything polished and honed to refinement. There's clearly a ton of people out there willing to buy one for other purposes than light light shooting at weddings. There's been a demand for them for a while. People have been saying they couldn't or wouldn't make one and I think hurt. Clearly they can and did.
In reading about other companies that managed (or didn't) their way through technological change the one thing that sticks out is that the incumbent management team didn't think the new tech was going take over fast, thought they a lot of time. Other camps within the companies thought change would come much faster, when the latter camp was put in charge the companies started doing better. The arrival of these mirrorless systems likely indicates some internal changes.
p.4 #9 · Official Z Series Camera and Lens Discussion
rbf_ wrote:
I think it's better for them to get their really nice mirrorless system out and on the market even if they don't have everything polished and honed to refinement. There's clearly a ton of people out there willing to buy one for other purposes than light light shooting at weddings.
Of course, I'm just saying that if you demand extremely fast and accurate AF to pay your bills then this may not be the route that you want to go. Likely you will get better results elsewhere.
p.4 #10 · Official Z Series Camera and Lens Discussion
MRomine wrote:
Of course, I'm just saying that if you demand extremely fast and accurate AF to pay your bills then this may not be the route that you want to go. Likely you will get better results elsewhere.
Yeah, if I had those requirements and was shooting Nikon I'd be leaning on their DSLR's as the workhorses for now. I think the Z6/Z7 could be used in a lot of other ways though. Get to know them and see what software updates improve. I will say I've shot CDAF cameras and low light, it's slower, I thought the Z had CDAF down to -3 or -4. Easy to misread specs given all the announcements.
p.4 #12 · Official Z Series Camera and Lens Discussion
DapperedGator wrote:
You're correct. I paid a visit to the Nikon site because I've never heard of the PDN site.
Nikon claims: "-1 to +19 EV (-4 to +19 EV with low-light AF)", which my guess is -1 is PDAF and "low-light AF" is CDAF
Yeah, that's what I thought that meant too. CDAF can work in lower light and it's a bit slower but very accurate. An XT2 has PDAF down to -1 and CDAF down to -3 so Z's are a bit better there. Would be very cheap to pick up a used mirrorless body + lens and check out what CDAF is like if you've never used it. It's got strengths and weaknesses and I find it gets confused in predictable circumstances. Saying AF only goes down to -1 if it's got CDAF to -4 is just wrong though.
p.4 #13 · Official Z Series Camera and Lens Discussion
rbf_ wrote:
Yeah, that's what I thought that meant too. CDAF can work in lower light and it's a bit slower but very accurate. An XT2 has PDAF down to -1 and CDAF down to -3 so Z's are a bit better there. Would be very cheap to pick up a used mirrorless body + lens and check out what CDAF is like if you've never used it. It's got strengths and weaknesses and I find it gets confused in predictable circumstances. Saying AF only goes down to -1 if it's got CDAF to -4 is just wrong though.
That is indeed the whole correct explanation on the numbers, well done.
p.4 #14 · Official Z Series Camera and Lens Discussion
I played with Z7 at a local launch event today and I definitely wont cancel my order
EVF is really good. In term of image quality on EVF, Leica SL is by far the best that I have seen. A7r iii is a major improvement over A7r ii but Z7 reminded me more of SL rather than A7r iii. I also have GFX and tried X1D for a few days but dont have any experience with A9 though. AF in AFS mode is very fast with 35/1.8 under relatively bright indoor artificial light in a big shopping mall with no window where the launch is.
Auto AF works similarly to AF wide on A7r iii and I think equally effective under artificial light. Tracking with AF-c under auto AF mode is similar to 3D focusing except that you need to press ok once when in auto AF mode to bring on a square box in the center. Point the square box at a subject and press AF on or half press shutter and the camera will start tracking. I wish Nikon just assign this mode as a separate focus mode instead of bunching this with auto AF so there is none of this ok button non sense. Tracking is fairly good and it wont lose tracking even if something block the view of the subject briefly. However if i pan camera quickly tracking may lose the subject briefly and it takes a second or two to regain focus. 3D tracking on D850 is definitely better. Bad news, fn 1 and 2 location in front is not all that convenient a location and it can only be assigned very limited function. I could not find a way to assign it to change focus mode for example. Nikon rep that i asked also could not figure out if there is a way to assign various focus mode on fn button or switch afs afc quickly. All in all, it is not perfect first try but better than Sony first 2 tries and match or exceed mk iii in certain things but not as good for certain things. Now that Nikon has ibis, why doesn’t it do pixel shift i love this tool on A7r iii when conditions allow it.
p.4 #15 · Official Z Series Camera and Lens Discussion
suteetat wrote:
I played with Z7 at a local launch event today and I definitely wont cancel my order
EVF is really good. In term of image quality on EVF, Leica SL is by far the best that I have seen. A7r iii is a major improvement over A7r ii but Z7 reminded me more of SL rather than A7r iii. I also have GFX and tried X1D for a few days but dont have any experience with A9 though. AF in AFS mode is very fast with 35/1.8 under relatively bright indoor artificial light in a big shopping mall with no window where the launch is.
Auto AF works similarly to AF wide on A7r iii and I think equally effective under artificial light. Tracking with AF-c under auto AF mode is similar to 3D focusing except that you need to press ok once when in auto AF mode to bring on a square box in the center. Point the square box at a subject and press AF on or half press shutter and the camera will start tracking. I wish Nikon just assign this mode as a separate focus mode instead of bunching this with auto AF so there is none of this ok button non sense. Tracking is fairly good and it wont lose tracking even if something block the view of the subject briefly. However if i pan camera quickly tracking may lose the subject briefly and it takes a second or two to regain focus. 3D tracking on D850 is definitely better. Bad news, fn 1 and 2 location in front is not all that conveniennt a location and it can only be assigned very limited function. I could not find a way to assign it to change focus mode for example. Nikon rep that i asked also could not figure out if there is a way to assign various focus mode on fn button or switch afs afc quickly. All in all, it is not perfect first try but better than Sony first 2 tries and match or exceed mk iii in certain things but not as good for certain things. Now that Nikon has ibis, why doesn’t it do pixel shift i love this tool on A7r iii when conditions allow it. ...Show more →
It was reported in dpreview hands on that you coudn't assign different af mode to preview of function button. I always use this function on my d850. There is deffinitively room for lots of improvement for there 2nd gen camera.
p.4 #16 · Official Z Series Camera and Lens Discussion
rick2906 wrote:
It was reported in dpreview hands on that you coudn't assign different af mode to preview of function button. I always use this function on my d850. There is deffinitively room for lots of improvement for there 2nd gen camera.
Yes, I saw that on dpreview but I was hoping that the current fw in the camera should be the update one already considering that next Thursday is supposed to be released date over here so I was hoping that there may be some changes but I guess not. Actually I forgot to check what fw the camera that I tested today had.
PS just found out that the camera that I tried still has pre production FW.
p.4 #17 · Official Z Series Camera and Lens Discussion
By default the Fn2 button is set for changing AF functions. You press the button and then can rotate front and rear dials to change all the AF functions. Works much better than the system on Sony or Fujifilm I think.
p.4 #18 · Official Z Series Camera and Lens Discussion
bcaslis wrote:
By default the Fn2 button is set for changing AF functions. You press the button and then can rotate front and rear dials to change all the AF functions. Works much better than the system on Sony or Fujifilm I think.
Opps, I missed this one when I tried the camera today. This should be better than the
usual button on the front left position on all the Nikon dslr too. However, I did find that it was a bit difficult to reach fn1, fn2, at least for me but still better than the location on dslr for af mode, I think.
p.4 #19 · Official Z Series Camera and Lens Discussion
I currently shoot with the 850 as main camera and a D4s as backup (not great, would prefer bodies share batteries) I shoot the 850 silent for some of my jobs. I was thinking about picking up another 850 as a backup but now I'm wondering about picking up a Z6, actually I did pre order it through NPS
I shoot in low light and I think the Z6 is appears to have better low light capability.
Anyone else considering this?
p.4 #20 · Official Z Series Camera and Lens Discussion
I'll encourage a friend who posts regularly on the Manual Focus Nikon Glass thread to drop in here to share his experience with the Z7 he played with at a Raleigh, North Carolina camera shop. Needless to say, from the perspective of those of us shooting with legacy Nikon lenses, we are very interested in how this new camera will perform with our favorite lenses. George brought four of his favorites to the shops... the 8 f/2.8 AI-s, 15 f/3.5 AI-s, 58 f/1.2 AI-s and 200 f/2 AI-s. Check this link for his comments and photos of each of those lenses mounted on the camera with the FTZ adapter...
This looks like a winner from our perspective. We love the fact there are now 20 slots in the non-CPU register rather than the 9 we've been living with for so many years. Quite a few folks on the thread have pre-ordered the Z6. I'm thinking of taking the plunge as well.
i love this tool on A7r iii when conditions allow it.