The one thing I found interesting is he clarified with a Nikon engineer why there is an AF-Fine Tune option. As you will read in the blog post, it is not required in normal use. It is only there for people wanting to force their shots into some amount of front focus or back focus situation. Some BIF photographers have done this in the past where the force a slight front focus to make up for the inherent lag of the AF system for a head on BIF so that even if the AF on a perfectly tuned lens would be focused on the body it can sometimes allow it to be on the head.
kwe67 wrote:
I understand from everything I have read that the Nikon autofocus lenses work well or really well with the Z7. What about the Zeiss Milvus lenses? I own the 35mm and the 85mm 1.4 and would love to hear from you with real world experience. Thank you so much!
Milvus lenses work fine with Z7. I have 35/1.4 Milvis, 28/1.4 Otus and 85/1.5 Otus and have no complain.
In comparison to A7r iii, I prefer EVF on Z7. FTZ adapter, as Lloyde Chamber noticed, is much more solid than even Novoflex F to E mount adapter with virtually no movement at all. FTZ adapter feels much more snugged while not being too tight and with bigger, more comfortable grip, it is easier to use bigger, heavier lens with Z7. Being able to mount tripod via adapter with heavy lens is also a nice touch but eventually I hope somebody will sort out the mounting plate option for the body. I have a small mounting plate on the adapter right now but I don't want to take mounting plate off the body when I stick the adapter on the camera either.
quick snap shot at a restaurant entrace with 35/1.8s.
1/40, f1.8, iso 2200. RAW file from camera, I just rotated the picture a little bit and resize only.
I have Kipon and Gabale. Kipon has nicer finish and feel a bit more snugged.
In comparison to original Novoflex adapter for M to E mount, I think they are at similar level. Fotodiox in general is ok and the one that I have ( M to GFX), works fine but finish is not quite as nice, I would say.
My Fotodiox Leica M-M43 is as nice as my much more expensive Voigtlander one (which is looser but admittedly has more miles on it). That's why I think there is a point where one is no longer paying for functionality but for finish.
I only ordered the super cheapo one as that was the only one available at the time. So I consider it disposable!
Z7 + 500 f5.6 PF, 1/400s f/5.6 at 500.0mm iso1400.
Cropped about 50% as this little guy was a little nervous about me getting too close and kept flying off if I approached just that little too close. Even though this guy was a little nervous about me getting too close, they are generally not that concerned about photographers taking photos. If I was using my D850, the shutter would get him to look at me and thus make eye contact, they generally don't fly away even with the noise of the shutter but will look at you and wonder what the noise was all about. Some talk of silent shutter being an advantage and I have always maintained it depends on the bird. This guy just wouldn't look at me because the Z7 was too quiet!
The other thing is that the Z7 AF is ACCURATE. With any DSLR I have ever used and I put the AF spot on the eye, I may get a few slightly missed shots, out of a burst/set, slightly in front of or slightly behind the bird's eye. This is whay I always took a burst or set of shots to make sure I would get at least one that was "on the money". Generally, most would be spot on but there would always be 1 or more that was just not perfect. And no it is not AF fine tuning it is just the nature of the beast of a DSLR . The reason I say this is because I studiously check AF fine tune and with shots like this it would be sometimes just in front or sometimes just behind where I wanted the focus - you just would never know what you may get in a group of photos you took. There is just no such issue with the Z7 if you put it on the eye, it is always perfect focus. This is obviously the advantage of on sensor AF, whereas AF via the AF module in a DSLR can be a little hit and miss at (very few) times.
There has been a discussion over on DPR led by Jim Kasson where he has tested this and he also believes that the accuracy of the Z7 is basically better than a DSLR. There are just not the anomalies that can afflict a DSLR from time to time. I tend to agree with him, my Z7 birding shots where I know I have hit the eye have always had perfect focus. I cannot always say this with the D850 or any other DSLR I have used. Most are, but every few are not.
Whilst I would be more certain to get an "in focus" shot with the D850 due to its phenomenal AF speed and general accuracy, I would be more certain about perfect focus with the Z7.
Wow, the shots in here are fantastic! I just got back from a long holiday in Australia and gave my new Z7 a thorough trial run. I'll just say that I have ZERO regrets switching from Sony!
Lance - looks like my time in Sydney, Bronte and the Blue Mountains overlapped with your shots; I kept looking for myself in your photos! lol. Sculptures by the Sea was absolutely mobbed when I went, though--I didn't even bother taking photos but it's a very cool exhibit
I ended up meeting up with the girl in the first photo a second time during the day. Back to the states tomorrow morning and excited to have a soy vanilla latte
Second photo here was with the 58 f1.4G, the rest are all still with the 28 f1.4E
DapperedGator wrote:
Wow, the shots in here are fantastic! I just got back from a long holiday in Australia and gave my new Z7 a thorough trial run. I'll just say that I have ZERO regrets switching from Sony!
Lance - looks like my time in Sydney, Bronte and the Blue Mountains overlapped with your shots; I kept looking for myself in your photos! lol. Sculptures by the Sea was absolutely mobbed when I went, though--I didn't even bother taking photos but it's a very cool exhibit
I'm very disappointed.....that you didn't look me up when you cam to Sydney.
All jokes aside, I hope you had a great time here in Sydney but if you did look me up, I would have gladly shown you round.
