Been shooting the Nikon Z7II for more than a year at this point. Generally happy with it other than the AF, which is frustrating at times. I've been debating replacing the Z7II with a Z5II primarily for the improved AF capabilities. I mostly shoot street with manual focus lenses (about 60%) where AF does not matter. The remaining 40% is with the 24-120mm Z and adapted 200-500mm with FTZ. The Z7II with the 24-120mm is perfectly fine for my use, but the 200-500mm is not. The tele is slow, but most importantly takes time to catch focus, and tracking is bad.
Would I be better off replacing the 200-500mm with the 180-600mm and keeping the Z7II or keep the lens and replace the body? I know, ideally, the best choice is to buy a Z8 but that's a little beyond my budget at this point. Would love to hear what the group thinks is the best direction to go
The Z5 II will definitely have better AF, and is a closer size tot eh Z7 II than if you were to wait and save and go for the Z8, which is a much larger and heavier body.
I’ve owned the Z7 II, the Z8, the Zf (a Z5 II in different form) and a Z6 IIi (basically same body and ergo as the Z5 II). I sold my Z8 for the Z6 III because I realized I didn’t generally need the resolution and I preferred the smaller size of the Z6 III.
In any case, the Z5 II AF will be a big step up and the sensor is fantastic. If you’re ok with 24 MP, it’ll be a very nice camera to use. I haven’t used the 200-500 though so I don’t know how much that lens has in the AF equation for you.
However, the one time I missed resolution is when shooting wildlife, because that often involves some cropping. What I eventually did is sell my Zf and pick up a Z50 II as my second body, and I honestly like using that instead of my Z6 III for birds, because the smaller sensor negates the resolution loss from the Z8, and it too has the Expeed 7 and all the latest AF algorithms. So for wildlife work that also might be an option to look into. That’s a seriously underrated little camera. (Got a few small APSC lenses too to make it a tiny kit travel option too)
The Z6III used is only a few dollars more than a new Z5II. It gets you much closer to the Z8 than the Z5II does. I think the viewfinder is such an improvement that I often grab my Z6III over my Z8 just because I like the viewfinder.
Pay attention to @Jman13 and his suggestion of the Z50II. Since you are happy with the Z7II for both the MF lenses and the 24-120/4S that only leaves the 200-500 which I presume would benefit from the higher pixel density APS-C sensor compared with the Z5II. Might be a really good choice to keep the Z7II and add the Z50II if you can.
However, do some research on the 200-500 on any of the most recent Z bodies. I don't expect it will be up to the 180-600 as far as AF goes, but presumably there are a lot of Z users out there still using the 200-500 on things like the Z8/Z9/Z6III who might have reported on their AF experience. If they are complaining then I'm not sure the Z5II or Z50II will necessarily help you and maybe the 180-600 would be the choice.
Apologies I don't have direct experience with those two lenses to report myself!
EDIT: And two people have already posted that the 200-500 is just a slow lens period. So skip the Z5II or the Z50II and get the 180-600 instead while sticking with your Z7II seems the best answer.
stompyq wrote:
Been shooting the Nikon Z7II for more than a year at this point. Generally happy with it other than the AF, which is frustrating at times. I've been debating replacing the Z7II with a Z5II primarily for the improved AF capabilities. I mostly shoot street with manual focus lenses (about 60%) where AF does not matter. The remaining 40% is with the 24-120mm Z and adapted 200-500mm with FTZ. The Z7II with the 24-120mm is perfectly fine for my use, but the 200-500mm is not. The tele is slow, but most importantly takes time to catch focus, and tracking is bad.
Would I be better off replacing the 200-500mm with the 180-600mm and keeping the Z7II or keep the lens and replace the body? I know, ideally, the best choice is to buy a Z8 but that's a little beyond my budget at this point. Would love to hear what the group thinks is the best direction to go...Show more →
I personally wouldn't make that switch. The Z7II is a perfectly usable body for anything but the fastest wildlife subjects. The autofocus should be more than adequate for street photography, especially if you are shooting at f/8. I use a Leica Rangefinder for street, and rarely spend energy focusing... f/8 and be there with my mf lenses.
If you are frustrated with AF for wildlife, I would suggest putting money into a different lens. The 200-500 was slow to focus on fast bodies like the D500/D850/D5, it makes sense that it would be even slower with an adapted body. The 180-600 will focus faster and more accurately with the Z7II, but at f6.3, it too will not be a speed demon.
If you feel like you are financially stuck to the 200-500, I suggest that you consider a Z6III over the Z7II, but if you like to crop, you will miss the additional pixels.
The 200-500 is not a quick AF lens. I never used it on a Z body, just on a D850, but I would be shocked if it sped up significantly on Z. The 500pf has much snappier AF, that's the long lens I ended up with. If you're seeking snappy long lens AF on your Z body, I would think either a native lens or a later F-mount prime would be an upgrade.
i have Zf and not Z5ii but close enough. I also have Z8, Z7 ii. Basically, with Z5 ii, you will get much better subject recognition than Z7 ii. However, both have non stacked sensor so dont expect significant improvement in term of tracking and focus speed. Also 200-500 is a pretty slow lens, focus wise anyhow. I took out Zf to try bird in flight once. Basically focus box will pick up blurry bird very quickly but it took longer to achieve focus and tracking is not nearly as sticky as Z8.
If you use 200-500 for more static animal/birds, subject recognition in Z5 ii will be very handy but if you plan to shoot bird in flight, it is may be slightly better but not a big improvement over z7 ii.
I’ve been through a similar crossroads. Honestly, since you’re already happy with the Z7II for most of your work , especially with manual focus, I’d lean toward keeping the body and upgrading the lens. The 180-600mm Z is way better optimized for the Z bodies, and you’ll notice a big jump in AF performance and tracking just from that switch alone. The 200-500mm on FTZ has always been a bit of a bottleneck on the Z system.
If AF is your main gripe, especially for long telephoto work, the native lens is probably going to give you more day-to-day benefit than swapping the Z7II for a Z5II, which isn’t that much of an upgrade in AF compared to the Z7II anyway. The jump to Z8 would be a different story, but like you said, it’s not in the cards right now.
So yeah, swap the lens, keep the body. That 180-600 is no joke.
FotoMayron wrote:
If AF is your main gripe, especially for long telephoto work, the native lens is probably going to give you more day-to-day benefit than swapping the Z7II for a Z5II, which isn’t that much of an upgrade in AF compared to the Z7II anyway. The jump to Z8 would be a different story, but like you said, it’s not in the cards right now.
So yeah, swap the lens, keep the body. That 180-600 is no joke.
The lens might be a bigger bottleneck, as you mention, but the difference in AF, especially when considering animal/bird/subject detection algorithms, is FAR greater going from Z7 II to Z5 II than from Z5 II to Z8.
Thank you all for the fantastic insights. I hadn't considered the Z50II and will give it a serious thought and look-see. For now, I think I will stick with the Z7II and upgrade to the 180-600mm before making a call on the body. My next trip is in December, when I will need long lens gear. It's street shooting in NYC until then, and I don't use AF for that. So, I have plenty of time to make the switch and test things out.
Since nobody in this thread has had the Z5II, I will comment. I have the Z8 and Z5II and have had the Z7 and Z7 II in the past. For most subjects the Z5II focus and tracking will be indistinguishable from the Z8. For birds it will not be as fast, but not noticeably different the Z6III.
The Z 180-600 is a good lens but with the Z7 II I don't think you will see a huge difference in performance. With the bigger lenses the Z7 II just doesn't do great. If AF is your main concern the Z5II is the way to go.
As a side comment. I have had Z cameras since the original Z7. I really liked the original form factor. I like the Z8 functionality but really hate the size and weight (I had the Z9 before the Z8 and bought the Z8 to get a smaller form factor). The Z6III is smaller the Z8 but bigger than the original form factor. The Z5II is the closest to the Z7 size, it's the same except for thickness (it's thicker). If you want similar in feel to the Z7 II, the Z5II is the closest of the new generation of Z cameras.
The Z5 II is an excellent well rounded camera, offering that stellar IMX410 sensor with great dynamic range and good video. The Z6 III, slight hit to DR vs a Z5 II but far superior video. But I anticipate some good things with firmware updates on the Z6 III.
stompyq wrote:
Thank you all for the fantastic insights. I hadn't considered the Z50II and will give it a serious thought and look-see. For now, I think I will stick with the Z7II and upgrade to the 180-600mm before making a call on the body. My next trip is in December, when I will need long lens gear. It's street shooting in NYC until then, and I don't use AF for that. So, I have plenty of time to make the switch and test things out.
I have a Z8 and had the Z50ii which traded for the Z6iii. The Z50ii is an excellent camera but is a crop sensor, uses a smaller battery and you can easily go through several of them in a shoot. The max shutter speed is also limited to 1/4000 when using electronic shutter and it has a few less buttons. It is also a 20mp sensor. The camera may also be a bit smaller than the Z7ii. Focus is very good on it but I would suggest also checking out the Z6iii which has a partially stacked sensor, and excellent AF and slightly larger body which may be better with larger lenses.
Hmmm, You are getting faster and more accurate focus but you are trading 46mp for 24mp. The Z8 will give you the improved focusing while retaining 46mp and adding several more features. So, it all depends on your wants and needs of which only you and your pocket book can answer. I personally would go for a Z8 but that's me.
