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Lens Resolving Power on the Z7 sensor

dpart
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Lens Resolving Power on the Z7 sensor

Hi folks,

Old timer here - still shooting with a D800 from day 1 of its release. I'm looking at making a move to my first Z body this year and could use some advice. I'm a "buy once cry once" type of person who will use this new camera for more than a decade, and so I'm considering spending a pretty penny on either the Z7II or another forthcoming small-ish high-end body yet to be released this year.

I intend to initially use my older lenses with the FTZ adapter, while I will slowly add new S lenses as I am able. But I have questions about how they will perform on the higher resolution sensor and I can't find a local camera shop that will let me try any body/lens setup with the FTZ adapter. As such, any first-hand advice from my fellow FMers would be greatly appreciated.

Currently, my bread and butter lens that I shoot with 90% of the time is the Nikon 24mm 1.4G lens - while the other two lenses that I reach for in certain situations are the longer zooms (the 70-200mm f4 and 200-500mm f5.6). Will my 24mm prime perform okay on the 45 megapixel sensor? I just can't find much information on this combination (or its use on the D850 which also uses the same sensor). I expect the AF will be much more reliable in the mirrorless world (yay!), but am uncertain about the rendering to the raw file.

If anyone has used a similar combination and has some opinions on it's utility, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks in advance!

Mar 08, 2023 at 09:13 AM

ilkka_nissila
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Lens Resolving Power on the Z7 sensor

Higher resolution sensors improve image quality with all lenses. The 24/1.4 G certainly can benefit from 45 MP use over lower pixel counts.

Mar 08, 2023 at 09:25 AM

CanadaMark
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Lens Resolving Power on the Z7 sensor

Long story short you don't have to worry too much about sensor resolution and lenses.

The best lenses produce the best results regardless of resolution. For example if you had a 12MP D700 and wanted the best possible image quality, you would still want to use the best lens available to you. On the flip side, a high resolution sensor behind a "bad" lens will never be worse than it would be with a lower resolution sensor, all else equal - in fact it will be better once you downsample to normalize the resolution.

If you want to get the *most* out of your high resolution sensor, better glass obviously will help you do that though it's only one part of the equation.

All the lenses you have listed will perform wonderfully on a 45MP sensor including that 200-500 - no issues there at all. As you transition, all Nikon's Z lenses are significantly better than their closest F mount equivalent, so you will have nothing to worry about there either.

Higher resolution is always better, all else equal. Even if you use a horrible lens, you still end up with a 45MP file. If you were to downsample that file to do a proper comparison, it will be better than if it was taken with a native resolution equivalent to whatever you downsample it to. For example, a 45MP image downsampled to 24MP will look better than if it were taken with a 24MP sensor, even if the lens is poor, all else equal. It's a similar principle behind oversampled video - oversampled video requires more processing power but it looks much better than video shot at native resolution - this is why the Nikon Z9's 4K video looks better than pretty much everyone else's, because it can be oversampled from 8K.

Mar 08, 2023 at 10:22 AM

dpart
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Lens Resolving Power on the Z7 sensor

Thanks for the detailed and useful reply Mark. You answered all my questions (even the ones that remained unasked!).

I had wondered whether there would be a performance difference between shooting 24 megapixels and downsampling from 45 megapixels to 24 megapixels, and it's interesting to hear that even for less performative lenses the latter will still produce better results (with the only side effect being more storage space required 😆

.

My thinking is that it makes sense to go with a higher resolution sensor then. With no downside (and potential upside), it will be money well spent over the long period I will use the camera and dip my toes into the new system around it.

Mar 08, 2023 at 11:15 AM

Kent_Photo
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Lens Resolving Power on the Z7 sensor

Also, if you go with a 45mpx body you can shoot in DX mode and have about the same pixel count as the DX Z bodies.

A Z6 body in DX resolution is about 13.6mpx.

Mar 09, 2023 at 09:53 AM

runamuck
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Lens Resolving Power on the Z7 sensor

I found this on thed Nikon site.
FX, the full-frame default mode, is a 45.7-megapixel image for the Z 7, 24.5 megapixels for the Z 6. The image is roughly 36x24mm, the size of a 35mm film frame.

DX crop mode, at a 1.5 magnification factor, produces a 19.5-megapixel Z 7 image, a 10.3-megapixel Z 6 photo.

In 5:4 mode the Z 7 image is 37.9 megapixels, Z6 doesn’t have a 5:4 mode.

1:1 produces a square image at 30.3 megapixels for the Z 7, 16.1 megapixels for the Z 6.

16:9 mode—38.3 megapixels for the Z 7, 20.5 megapixels for the Z 6—is the common aspect ratio for TVs and computer monitors.

Mar 12, 2023 at 01:11 PM

Steve201
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Lens Resolving Power on the Z7 sensor

It could be just me but I use a d850 and purchased a z711 .
before you jump go to flick and look at z711 images then your d8100 images. I find the z711 to look very flat.
my d850 is just better.
my opinion only

Dec 04, 2023 at 11:45 AM

1bwana1
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Lens Resolving Power on the Z7 sensor

I suggest you wait for both the Z6III and the Z7III to buy your replacement camera. The current generation of these cameras are dated at this point, and due for replacement next year. They are already old technology.

What is coming will be a huge upgrade from the current generation. Along with much better AF performance I am expecting the Z6III to be around 33mpx, and the Z7III to be around 60mpx. Since you say you keep you cameras a long time buying an already aged technology will be magnified by a significant amount during your ownership.

As others have pointed out, most of your glass will be fine on the new cameras. You can take your time upgrading the lenses.

Dec 04, 2023 at 11:58 AM

Bernie
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Lens Resolving Power on the Z7 sensor

I upgraded to a Z7II from a D750 this past summer. For past travel trips, I had rented a D850 primarily for landscapes, with the D750 (with F 24-120mm) as the walk-around option. I decided to get the Z 24-120 for my walk around lens which I do not regret. It is faster focusing and quieter than the F-mount, better for street photography. I've kept my other lenses, using the FTZII. The only problematic one is the F 70-300 which does a lot of quick back-and-forth focus hunting, even after it acquires initial focus (AF-C). On a recent trip, I rented the Z100-400 and found it was overkill for my needs. Also it's a large lens that just fit into my backpack.

With the investment you're about to make, you may want to rent a Z7II and FTZII adapter to try out your lenses.

I had the Z8 on backorder for a month, but decided to go with the Z7II because of the flexibility of the User Modes that my D750 had (plus a U3). For a person who usually uses my camera in travel, I like the ability to switch quickly from U1 (landscapes) to U2 (street Photography & macro--anytime there's the possibility of camera or subject movement) and U3 (tripod).

Edited on Dec 06, 2023 at 10:44 AM · View previous versions

Dec 04, 2023 at 12:15 PM

AcuteShadows
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Lens Resolving Power on the Z7 sensor

Yes, if you have a lens made, say, for a 6 µm pixel pitch sensor, and you use them on a 3 µm pixel pitch sensor, you will still see an improvent. Generally, the image quality is roughly proportional to the inverse of the geometric mean of the resolution of the lens and the pixel pitch of the sensor, i.e. IQ = 1/(AC^2 + PP^2)^(1/2).

Dec 04, 2023 at 05:10 PM

runamuck
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Lens Resolving Power on the Z7 sensor

Poor poor pitiful me and my z7.

Dec 04, 2023 at 05:12 PM

molson
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Lens Resolving Power on the Z7 sensor

Pedantically, the lens resolution does not change - but the sensor resolution is determined by the number of photosites on the sensor. Two completely different things...

Dec 06, 2023 at 09:38 AM


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