Nikon Z6 - what do you think?

I understand thanks for your response.

Yea I agree with you regarding helping the ambient improvement too. Come to think of it, I think direct flash might be good in situations where you need to use it as fill flash to fill in shadows under eyes in harsh lighting conditions. Also the dance floor shuter drags as previously mentioned.

Yea I think I will test the dual illuminant profile on my D750 soon to see how it does, I can then expect a similar performance on the Sony.

 

Didn't have a chance to read every single reply but I'll take a second to chime in on the actual Z-range since a lot of the comments are trying to convert you to Sony

I shoot weddings (photo and video) and noticed that you mentioning that as well so I might be able to give some input.

The main bodies we use are D850's but we got our feet wet in the mirrorless market with the Z7. When it first was released I would have told you to run away as fast as you can. But now that they updated the firmware, it's a different story. The initial firmware had the worst possible lowlight AF you could imagine. It was impossible to get anything focused in a reception hall using the native Z lenses and even worse with the adapter and an F-mount lens. After the update, the focusing is relatively on par with that of the D850 and since it pretty much has the same sensor as the D850, to me it's basically a miniature version of it, and the camera I'll grab first for a lot of different situations. Live view on the DSLR's are so bad, focusing is unusable in an event setting, so having the ability to get high overhead shots with the Z7 using the tilting screen and live-view is actually something I appreciated a lot more than I thought I would.

I'm not big on the new features like eye-AF and all that jazz, I just like a simple single or dynamic point focus that I'll move around with my d-pad and as long as that focuses fast, I'm good. I want a durable, capable camera with great low light since a lot of the times churches and receptions will be dark. Nikon fits that bill for me, switching batteries very few times in a day (1-2 batteries a day for D850, 2-3 for Z7 generally) and I just like working with Nikon colors for photo. So all in all, I love the camera since like I said it's a small D850.

However..

The Z series is very new. The bodies I will say I like way more than the first iteration of Canon's mirrorless offerings. But the lenses are lacking and Canon has a huge advantage on their mirrorless series when it comes to build quality of lenses. I've already had to ship my 35mm 1.8 Z lens to get fixed because half the lens started wobbling loose. The 35mm 1.8 cost me the same as the 35mm 1.4 Sigma Art and the build quality of the Z lens feels plasticy and cheap compared to the Sigma Art. That aspect to me was really disappointing. Also, the XQD cards are stupid expensive, and I personally don't think they will be catching on as a more popular card type as Nikon seems to think they will be. So any Z-series camera will unfortunately require a serious investment in those as well.

So if you have the $ to spend to basically help Nikon test the waters on their mirrorless journey, then go for it, you won't be disappointed if you are looking at it as investing in Nikon mirrorless long-term. I love the Z7 regardless of the fact that the lens options kind of suck at the moment. But I know with time that will change and the build quality will improve, as will the bodies even though I think they're pretty great so far. But, if you are moving to mirrorless 100% and want to invest in something that's ready to go now, obviously Sony has a lot of glass and many iterations of their camera bodies so you know that it's been improved on. At that point it's just comparing systems and what is right for you and your preferences.

And then when it comes to video, I'd have to say that you shouldn't be trying to find a photo camera that does it all and is also the camera you shoot video with. Obviously in the times we live in, you can get great video out of a lot of different cameras for very affordable prices. But for a professional offering services for something like a wedding, good enough isn't great and the quality speaks for itself. Most of these cameras will be doing 8bit video in a lower bitrate. Unless you are using an external recorder and can at least get a decent 10bit signal out of it, IMO you shouldn't be filming a wedding with it. Especially since in a practical sense switching uses of the camera and having to throw it on a rig to use the external recorder means wasting time and in a fast moving environment like a wedding, you're just creating headaches. Just get a dedicated video camera and keep the 2 worlds separate.

If you don't want to invest in proper video then there's no problem in perfecting your craft and only offering photo services for the time being. But if you buy a photo camera to use it as a video camera as well (obviously speaking for professional situations, not for hobby / personal use) then to me it's a big red flag and I wouldn't look at that person / company as professional. Obviously just personal opinion, and many people will likely disagree, but wedding services aren't cheap and if you want to charge the price, you can't cut corners on the tools used.

 

I agree with you regarding nikon vs canon first camera and how it has improved in terms of low light af with the new firmware. However, the still lacks 2nd card slot which can be a life saver in a wedding no matter what the odds of xqd going corrupt/lost. Furthermore, it looks like both canon and sony is ahead in terms of af and glass. Nikon looks promising but i dont think i have the patience with their mirrorless adventures. They promised 12 bit pro res raw and look how long it has been, i feel sorry for the initial wave of customers who purchased at full price, now the bodies are heavily discounted.

 

Sorry for the late response. Got my hands on the new Tamron primes to test. @s_the_ghost. Thank you for sharing your experiences with the Z system. It's sad to see Nikon that Nikon still has issues with their products. My own D750 dodged 3 recalls they did and within the first year the entire top plate had to be replaced. The camera wouldn't shut off and had some issues with the memory card.

None the less the D750 has served me well for the 3 years I had it and I only shifted to Sony due to it being the only option at the time. The Z/EOS R series were just announced/released and there was no option to buy them anyway. That again being said I have enjoyed shooting with them when ever I've been given the opportunity, especially after the firmware updates. IMHO the biggest change that MILC has brought to the table was new and improved optics.

With regards to the XQD cards, it looks like most brands with ditch them in some if not all models. The Panasonic S1/R has one SD/XQD where as the S1H, which you'd think would have an XQD, has to SDXC II slots instead. There are supposed to be some future benefits for the XQD system, but that's assuming there's some form of a price drop and that SD cards don't offer the same/similar for lower cost.

Today one of my colleagues sold his 1yo Nikon Z7 along with 3 Zeiss Classic lenses plus and addition 300mm f/4 PF lens. He got himself the S1H instead.

With regards to lenses there are two aspects, unique lenses and number of options. Sony has mostly standard glass but its third party options such as the Sigma 35mm f/1.2 that are more unique. Canon has some interesting lenses but not as many options as Sony/Panasonic. Panasonic has hit the ground running when it comes to number of lens options thanks tot he L mount partnership but again nothing particularly unique in their offerings. I was told to expect most of the holy trinity in the coming months.

 

Panasonic seems to be a solid body, you may as well call it mirrorless tech in dslr body. The only thing pushing me away from the panasonic s1 is expensive glass and subpar autofocus system for both video and photo.

On a side note I heard sigma filing patents for 50mm f1.2 for sony and l mount. We will soon have 50mm f1.2 and 70-200 f2.8 sigma on the sony along woth tamron 70-180 f2.8.

 

TBH I wouldn't really bother with Panasonic but for S1H. The S1R was incredible with how much detail it rendered when shot with strobes but it was let down by the AF. The lens costs are an issue but I guess they may have to divide the lens options between the three brands, IDK what the clauses would be since all of them have a vested interest in lens manufacturing.

Hoping to get the 17-28 in the start of the coming month for trials and the 70-180 in Jan. Hope they come up with some portrait primes which isn't a f/2.8. As things stand I am not happy with the current 2.8 primes.

 

For wide zoom, I would get 16-35 f2.8 GM if I needed something tighter but right now the sigma 14-24 f2.8 dg dn is the best value option, I think its sharper than the sony GM. In fact you could buy the 14-24 and the sony 35 1.8 instead of the gm and that is impressive.

For 70-180, I will wait till sigma releases their version and compare, here the weight, size, value and optimal performance will need to be looked at to make a decision. I am not a fan of the sony 24-70 and 70-200, they are weaken than their nikon and canon counterparts, especially in corner sharpness. I think the 70-200 tends to struggle in backlit situations too.

 

What about Sigma fp @Kocaman ?

 

Don't know too much about it and wouldnt use it as a main professional system.

 

It is also L-mount but the only compact lens choice from what I saw is the 45mm 2.8.
The concept was interesting but from what I saw the colors aren't exceptional and in the end you also need an SSD to record 10 bit raw. I'm a bit disappointed because it could have been so much more (an incredible stills camera & a power cinema tool).
I'm want to invest soon in a new system for mainly photography but also films. Thinking about S1H which is solid but also not incredible with the different crop modes and 3:2 video formats for spherical video and auto-focus for stills is far from Sony/Canon/Nikon standards.
Maybe Sony will hit hard with the A7S Mark 3 a lot of people are waiting for.
I'm also thinking about getting a Nikon D750 or Canon 6D2. What do you think ? Too old technology ?

 

I have a D750, great for stills but it is getting old and for films its not what you want especially for AF. The 6D mark 2 is not a great stills camera from what I remember, some even said the 6D mark 2 was a downgrade to the mark 1 in some aspects but I am no canon expert so I will let the canon users comment on that. I think if you are looking for a good hybrid camera right now, get the Sony A7 III, its mature, reliable and tested. Any other common brand system is an investment into development of the system. Panasonic S1 still needs major firmware updates for its AF, particularly for video.

 

Yes I need something hybrid. Maybe I should split the apple in two : have a hybrid camera for video (S1H/BMDPCC4K) and one for stills ?

 

Feasible if you have the budget for it. A lot of investment into lenses from different mounts. Not the most efficienct way unless you are a full time professional and have the budget and the need for two different systems.

 

I'm running with Panasonic GH line for 8 years now and I have a lot of M43 lenses & the famous EF sigma art Zoom. Pretty happy with the system but since I get more and more photography requests I'm seriously thinking about upgrading to full frame ..
I have some savings but not a lot haha
I guess the best would be to have like a Sony A7S3 with 24Mpix Sensor (incredible AF, incredible low light performance for both stills & video, and incredible video specs)
Yes Sony A73 is decent but I'm not 100% convinced, don't know why.

 

Buy a A7 III on the grey market, It could be had for 1300 pounds, wait for ebay coupon and its 1200 pounds. Not sure where you live but that is a good saving. After A7S III is released wait 9-12 months for some discounts on the grey, spend the savings on lenses. Never buy a camera at release at full retail price. Buy grey for cheaper at least in the UK, and most likely in the EU. I heard US manufacturers refusing to repair grey, don't know too much about it there.

 

Ideal option is to have a dedicated video/photo system. What ever way you choose to slice it, there will be some compromise. Whether Sony with 8-bit recording but very good AF or Panasonic with their good video feature set but poor AF.

Even if you go with Sony along with an external recorder that is a compromise since it will not be a setup where you can switch from photography to film and vice versa.

The bigger question is do you really need RAW video? You'd be using up a lot of storage and require quite a lot of processing power. If you can rent the S1H that would be best since you can record some test footage.

Sigma's camera this time round is rather interesting. They have ditched the foveon sensor this time and IDK if they've made any improvements on their AF.

With regards to the A7S3, I'd not hold my breath on this. I was told 2 years ago that they were doing some internal testing but it hasn't moved forward since.

Most camera brands have seen a massive drop is sales over the course of the past couple of years. This includes Sony as of this year. This will most likely see brands hesitate to make multiple models. Nikon for example has ditched the D600 series making the D700 series the entry to full frame. Canon isn't likely to make another 5Ds/R style body for DSLRs. Fujifilm ditched the X-H1 series only keeping the X-T series at the higher end.

Apart from the shrinking market is the fact that they can't screw over their ProAV dept, this will require them to do a balancing act with the feature set for their cameras. Canon also had the same issue with their 1DC, since which there hasn't been a 'video' model for their MILCs.

Panasonic didn't have this issue since the EVA-1 wasn't as big of a hit as they expected. It offered good IQ but somewhat poor build quality. From what I have learned they were fine with the S1H offering very competitive features for a lower cost.

The cost of going to FF will be significant for the newer systems for the coming couple of years. Once third party brands start supporting the cameras that should change.

 

For mirrorless, the value lenses are currently on Sony and Nikon. Panasonic lenses are very expensive, but I guess they will stabilise somewhat when sigma starts releasing some of their own glass. We talk about glass prices and what not but if you are doing video/photo something like 28-70 f2 canon will be an all round great lens too, you wouldn't need to invest into 50 f1.2 and 85 1.2.

I have heard Sony is currently working on the A7S III and it will have 4k 60 fps, maybe 6k too now that panasonic has released a competitor. I think the main concern is ocerheating in the body, panasonic s1h is a bigger and better cooled body, sony needs to more work as their bodies tend be smaller. This is probably the main reason in the delays.

 

Only time can tell with regards to the A7S3 at this point. People have talked about it for so long and Sony has kept mum. They even released the A7RIV wasn't something people even needed.

The 28-70 for video will have it's own share of difficulties. I shot using that on the EOS R and it was front heavy while also having a barrel that protrudes from the bottom of the camera. I think it'd be hard to balance on gimbals/steady cams.

As a stills lens though its quiet fun. You'd think it would be slow with all that glass but its snappy and responsive. The focal length leaves a bit to be desired since at 70mm you cant really go tight without distortion coming into the picture. This was why I kept reaching back to the kit lens over the course of the days I had the system.

 

Yea the A7R IV was not really needed in my opinion too. I think they should have solely put their efforts into the A7S III. I guess Sony wanted to make the world aware that they are still the number 1 mirrorless camera manufacturer after seeing Nikon, canon and Panasonic make their way into the market.

With regards to the A7S III, I hope when they do release it, its polished and works well. We had in the past where Sony pushed out tech very quickly but it was not very reliable, such as overheating issues, freezing, lack of battery capacity. Perhaps they are they taking the more "canon" approach, where they release the technology when they are fully confident that it will work well.

You may be right about the 28-70, it is a heavy lens, especially on a mirrorless body. I guess the 24-70 and 70-200 f2.8 is still the way to go, the new 15-35 f2.8 lens looks good too. I wished these quality lenses were on the sony body, that would be almost perfect.