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 p.63 #18 · Official Nikon Z6 image & resource hub thread | |
I won't bore people with another Z6 review, so random observations and musings follow.
First, kudos to B&H. They sold out of kits that include the freebie 64GB XQD. Two hours after I ordered the bare kit and it shipped, the accessory kit reappeared in stock. B&H has kindly shipped the freebies and refunded the $6 diff. Okay, I'm reliable regular but there's a class act.
Personal backstory: I have tons of photo crap and a studio. 'Nuf said.
Based on my exhaustive research and Nikon familiarity, the camera presented no curveballs but did reinforce my strong desire for a single-digit Z, so to speak. Despite the surprising emergence of E-M1X, I only have confidence in Nikon and Canon to operate at this level.
Focus is accurate and shows the superiority of on-sensor phase detect. I'm a big fan of Panasonic but they are really on the boat to nowheresville. There's going to be a trick to getting cross-type sensors on the sensor, although I can survive with linear sensors (plenty of those on Nikon DSLRs).
CDAF as employed by pin-point AF mode gets a thumbs down from me, mostly. Performance decays progressively off axis and, worse, gives a green box while completely missing focus. In this focus mode, the kit 55-200 AF-S can be driven to beyond infinity and stays out there, buzzing. The FTZ may be to blame but it still spells Big Fail. Z6 CDAF is modestly better than DSLR LiveView—which is not a compliment.
Custom color preset for color balance is not the pro-grade implementation of Nikon DSLR. I'm used to having the option to shoot a frame on-the-fly to sample the color cast rather than be forced to cough up a stored image. Sony Alpha 7 has the best implementation: on-the-fly, spot.
Silent shutter is awesome! I was moving throughout the auditorium to gain vantage points, and shooting during any orchestral passage: dead silent. AF-S @ 5 FPS with electronic shutter is pretty freaky.
With noise reduction set to Low, I find ISO 5000 to deliver excellent results (may even outperform the D4).
As expected, this body leaves my pinky finger dangling. With the similarly-sized A7ii, I solved the problem with their battery grip. Sony also offers a grip extender. Either accessory would be a great help for Z6. No idea what Nikon was thinking by offering nothing: it's not like them to overlook a cash cow.
Battery life is shorter on Z6 than a DSLR, even the energy-hungry D500 that uses the same EN-EL15 series (I own all the flavors). As with any MILC, just being able to see and frame the subject requires juice. Am not giving up DSLRs for travel any time soon.
I use the blinkies for critical exposure setting, especially in the studio. The Z6 lacks selectable R/G/B channels for this purpose. Weak.
I don't like the rear wheel design, so there! May have to do with the small body that also necessitates fewer buttons and the cramped control layout. We know how to fix all that. 
I don't like the top OLED with it being too small, too glowy, and too completely off when camera is turned off. D500 is my ideal: daylight readable with no battery drain, optional backlighting, shows info during image review.
Lenses used so far includes the 18-55 AF-P DX, 70-300 AF-P DX, and the archaic 300/2.8 AF-I. All performance very nicely. The DX lenses cannot be used as FX which is a pointless limitation; they are otherwise quite handy because the EVF expands the view. AF-P is silent and super snappy—great technology. The big 300 gets ample power from the Z6 and the focus recoil is just as impressive as that from the D500 or D4. I haven't attached the kit 24-70S yet.
Powerup time is fine, as is switching between image review and shooting. In comparision, the A7ii is horribly letharthic and, beyond that, has no conception of "shooting priority". The Z6 really feels like a Nikon DSLR in haptics, response, and menu structure. For a v.1 effort, I am very pleased and look forward to v.2 with, I hope, big-body options.
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