Nikon Z6 features 4K N-LOG, 10bit HDMI output and 120fps 1080p

[sandro]

do we know already if the ztf adapter will work even for third party lenses like Tamrons for vr, aperture and focus?

[docmoore]

Some of the Sigma and Tamron lenses need firmware updates ...

 

https://www.sansmirror.com/cameras/camera-database/nikon-z-mirrorless-cameras/nikon-z6z7-blog/

 

 

[BasiliskFilm]

1 hour ago, sandro said:

do we know already if the ztf adapter will work even for third party lenses like Tamrons for vr, aperture and focus?

I think it would be unwise to rely on third party lenses to be up to the performance of recent Nikon G series lenses when adapted, as they were reverse engineered to work with Nikon DSLRs in the first place, and there have certainly been some problems. Older lenses may not even have updatable firmware. 

[thebrothersthre3]

8 hours ago, BasiliskFilm said:

It may not just be the speed but whether the focus snaps or eases in - imagine pulling focus over a distance - you don't turn at constant speed, you start slow, turn fast in the middle then, slow to a stop. The Nikon moves look to me like they have that "natural" ease-in, which is probably more difficult to achieve than snapping in. It is also less prone to over-shooting, which is another visual annoyance.

over shooting?

[jjj]

6 hours ago, sandro said:

do we know already if the ztf adapter will work even for third party lenses like Tamrons for vr, aperture and focus?

Hi.  I rented a Z6 for this weekend.  It just arrived so I can't say much about it, but, I can speak to the performance of two Tamron lenses using the FTZ adapter.

1.  Tamron 15-30/2.8 (version 1) works fine in both stills and video.  AF works as expected.

2a.  Tamron 35/1.8 (version 1).  No AF in stills.  MF works fine, and the Z6 has a nice zoom button and peaking to allow precise manual focusing.

2b.  Tamron 35/1.8 (version 1).  Does not work in Video Mode, neither MF or AF.  The Z6 loses its mind in video mode.  The aperture jumps around willy/nilly and sometimes error messages pop up.  Pretty weird, since the 35/1.8 is fine using MF in stills.

[Danyyyel]

Just now, jjj said:

Hi.  I rented a Z6 for this weekend.  It just arrived so I can't say much about it, but, I can speak to the performance of two Tamron lenses using the FTZ adapter.

1.  Tamron 15-30/2.8 (version 1) works fine in both stills and video.  AF works as expected.

2a.  Tamron 35/1.8 (version 1).  No AF in stills.  MF works fine, and the Z6 has a nice zoom button and peaking to allow precise manual focusing.

2b.  Tamron 35/1.8 (version 1).  Does not work in Video Mode, neither MF or AF.  The Z6 loses its mind in video mode.  The aperture jumps around willy/nilly and sometimes error messages pop up.  Pretty weird, since the 35/1.8 is fine using MF in stills.

If I am not mistaken, Tamron has issued firmware update for about 5-6 lens and from user report they work well as with other Nikon bodies. Now , these were for the more recent lens with some kind of system to update firmware. I think they have been quite reactive and can be a hint that reverse engineering the S mount is not that complicated. Now people are questioning what will happen to the older lens.

[jjj]

Yes, it is great that Tamron is being so responsive.  Alas, my 35/1.8 G1 is not compatible with their "Tap In Console" that allows firmware updating, so, it will probably never AF with the Z6.

[sandro]

2 hours ago, jjj said:

Hi.  I rented a Z6 for this weekend.  It just arrived so I can't say much about it, but, I can speak to the performance of two Tamron lenses using the FTZ adapter.

1.  Tamron 15-30/2.8 (version 1) works fine in both stills and video.  AF works as expected.

2a.  Tamron 35/1.8 (version 1).  No AF in stills.  MF works fine, and the Z6 has a nice zoom button and peaking to allow precise manual focusing.

2b.  Tamron 35/1.8 (version 1).  Does not work in Video Mode, neither MF or AF.  The Z6 loses its mind in video mode.  The aperture jumps around willy/nilly and sometimes error messages pop up.  Pretty weird, since the 35/1.8 is fine using MF in stills.

 Thanks, just curious how much is the renting per day?

[jjj]

You can see the pricing here:  https://www.lensrentals.com/rent/nikon-z6  It is a pretty expensive rental, but, that's because it is brand new.

I usually don't splurge and rent the 'latest & greatest', and I always buy used or refurbished equipment, but, I was hoping that the Z6 might be the hybrid camera that does a great job at both stills and video, so, I was anxious to handle one.  Reviews are useful, but, the best way to know if a camera will work for you is to have it in your hands.  

I have a D750 that I use for my daughter's swim meets.  I need a FF sensor since some of the pools are not very well lit, and I need a minimum SS of 1/800 to freeze the swimmer's motion.  Before I got the (used) D750, I tried using my u43 gear for swim meets, but, it was just too noisy.  I could get some OK shots if I slowed the shutter speeds down to 1/200 - 1/320, but then the swimmer's arms and legs were always blurred (but sometimes the swim caps were sharp).  A couple years ago I rented a d750 and 70-200/f4 for a league champs swim meet, and was amazed at how mu ch better the results were than with my GH3.  Almost every shot was fine.    BUT....it is impossible to take useful video with the D750.  So, at the next championship meet, I rented a Sony a7r2 and Sony's 70-200/f4.  It was nice to be able to take good video with the a7r2, but, what a let down as far as performance!  It was SLOW AS MOLASSES!  I missed way too many action shots because the camera was buffering and not ready to shoot.  This especially happened if I took a video clip and then wanted to take some stills.  So, after that experience renting the D750 and then the a7r2, I watched e-bay for months till I got a great deal on a D750.  Since then, I have slowly acquired some nice (used) Nikkor glass.  I now own the 70-200/2.8 G VR II, and the 300/f4 PF and they work really well for swim meets.

I was hoping that the Z6 would be able to do as well as the D750 in stills, and also give me great video, in one camera.  I've not done a lot of testing with it yet, just one day.  The video looks quite good, BUT, the AF-C for stills is a huge letdown.  In my opinion, based on some testing I did today, the Z6 will not satisfy my use case of action photography (swimming).  The AF-C is just very poor.  Hopefully, in a year or two Nikon will release a mirrorless camera with great AF-C, or at least one that is as good as the D750, but, right now...   

Sorry to ramble on, but, those are my first impressions.  I'm quite disappointed by the continuous AF on the Z6. 

For a simple AF-C test using [dynamic  area AF], I tried to take a sequence of shots of license plates on passing cars on a residential 25 mph road.  I got very poor results from the Z6.  With my D750, I get almost 100% in focus (except for when the cars are VERY close).  With the Z6, the in focus rate was more like 15-25%.  I tried different AF-C modes like [Wide Area S] and [Wide Area L] and got similar results as with [dynamic area AF].  Very poor rate of shots in focus.  So,  I don't think I would trust the Z6 for action photography?

Apparently that is the same reaction from Gordon at Camerlabs (but his review was of the z7, I was hoping the z6 would have better AF-C)

https://www.cameralabs.com/nikon-z7-review/

As an aside, for AF-S the Z6 did fine, but NOT AF-C.

[Geoff_L]

Hi all,

Very long time lurker, first time poster.  I’ve got my z6 in hands since the beginning of the week, and thought I could share some first impressions. Bought it in kit with 24-70s + ftz + a free XQD card, and a 50 1.8G. There was a good sale in a big French store, and I managed to buy it with almost a 550€ saving (regular price was 3099€ ; xqd reg price = around 180€ ; sale was a lense + a mirrorless = non negligible discount % ; 50€ cashback for the 50 1.8G).

Here are some first impressions, after a couple of short hands on tests:

        PROS:

• Handling is great, especially the grip. Its feels like a “mirrorless dslr”. It’s build like a tank, and I’ll certainly feel more confident with it in the field, compared to my former fujis
• Button layout is OK: I can operate with only the right hand (“i” button, menu, iso etc.)
• The viewfinder is gorgeous, big and bright. Same for the rear lcd screen
• Touchscreen function seems well implemented, but I need to use it more
• The AF seems OK for my use, which implies landscape/nature and documentary photography.
• Manual focusing is really great, both in photo and video
• Video AF is great with the native 24-70s, but I did not explore it much, so I can’t tell more. It seems less effective with the 50 1.8G adapted with FTZ
• The dedicated video and photo modes that keep the settings in memory is just perfect !
• The 24-70s kit lens is really a bargain! Very sharp, small form factor, convenient etc. For longer lenses, I believe the 300PF, the new 500 and zooms like the sigma 100-400 will pair wonderfully with Z serie cameras.
• Image quality in video surprised me in a good way. I quickly tweaked the picture profiles, and it appeared to be wonderful, even at high iso. I’m used to fuji gorgeous output right out of the camera, in video mode, but I think this one will be a step above. Really.
• The IBIS is quite effective, in fact more than I hoped for. With the 50 1.8G adapted, which is supposed to lead to only 3 axis, I manage to obtain a really steady image. Impressive in fact. I watched videos on youtube, with awful funky stuffs, like wobbles, kind of warp effects etc. and people in the comments moaning about how bad the ibis is compared to the sony a7iii. I've tried to replicate this... with success :  with the Electronic VR turned on ! With IBIS alone, it's perfect. And I don't know why, but in those videos I saw, they said the Electronic VR was turned off. I don't think so...

        CONS:

• The FTZ design is… questionable! The bottom with the tripod screw attachment is longer than the camera body. Thus, making the use of arca swiss plate on the camera with the FTZ attached complicated. A turn around seems to use a Peak Design “micro” plate, which appears to be just well sized. Anyway, I’ll attach my arca plate to the FTZ, and won’t bother much.
• In video mode, you can’t have both the histogram and the horizon level at the same time. I have to press the “disp” button to bring on the histogram, set my exposure, and press again until the level appears. I hope for a firmware update politic à la fuji ; a dpreview forum member explained that he talked with a Nikon Z development team member, during and event, and they are aware of the fuji successful firmware politic, and will try to offer the same. Fingers crossed!
• Another firmware-able fix problem (i hope): zebras only work in autofocus mode. If I switch the lens on manual focus, zebras disappear… I need to read the manual more, to check if it is setting relative or not.
• A lot of people are complaining about hot or white pixels on the sensor on brand new Z cameras. I got that too. An easy fix is to launch the sensor cleaning via the menu, two times in a row. It seems to trigger the pixels mapping stuff. Worked for me!
• Others are complaining (see the photographylife’s review of the Z7 and dpreview forum) about the coating of the grip peeling where the fingers are, close to the 2 function buttons. From what I understand, it affects people with large hands and long nails. Personally, my fingers don’t even reach this area… so, I hope it’ll be OK !
• Video AF with the 50 1.8G attached, as I said before, is not really good. But, it’s a right out of the box test that I did, so maybe if I dive into the menu and the manual, I’ll find a way to make it better. Anyway, as a result, the 50 1.8G is always trying to focus, and seems to fail a lot, which leads to a lot of loud “buzzing” noises.

That’s all! Before I choose the Z6, I was shooting with only a fuji X-T2. And, before that, with an X-T1 + a GH4 (and before that… only photography with a Nikon D610). I’ve been shooting  with my backup LX100 since the beginning of 2018. Not enough time and a will to spend my energy to learn more about editing, grading etc. leads me to be cameraless for months. I ditched my X-T2 because I was unhappy with the photo output (as a landscape photographer), not very fond of fuji colors (except for video… don’t know why, but love the colours of the video output, but hate the photo files). More important, I ruined a lot of video shots, because of crappy bug at that time (wobbles and “warp” effects due to the image distortion correction etc.). So, as I started again to think of buying a camera, helped a lot with all of your great contributions here, my choices were: a7iii, gh5, bmpcc4k and Z6. Gh5 and bmpcc4k were ruled out as a first “hybrid” camera (maybe next year, as a second cam), as photo is equally important as video to me (for the moment!). Then I choose Z over a7, because I operate mostly in the mountains (I live in the French Alps and spend a lot of time in northern Scandinavia), with cold, snow, bad weather, and I knew, because of my previous Nikon cameras, that  Nikon do not disappoints on the “toughness” side.  I’ve read too much stories of dead Sony A7’s during trip with similar conditions as what I operate in (and, to be fair, I've read the same with big 5dmiii and Nikon d810). I know, weather sealing is not such a big deal, but, still… a wide bottom opens on the sony would really scare me! And I’m no Chris Burckard, I do not have 200 sony a7 waiting to replace the ones you ruin during an arctic trip!

So, here I am with this little Z. Next step is to buy and Atomos ninka V, and some lenses. I’ll read posts from @Geoff CB and @IronFilm, I think I’ll find some great Nikkor lenses ideas

Sorry for this long and first post. Hope it’ll help some of you. I’ll be happy to answer questions or try things on the camera if you want. I’ll also share footages. But, for now, I’m taking the camera outside, because it’s sunny and the snow has arrived.

 

[Aussie Ash]

Nasim Mansrov's Z7 review includes a comparison of the new ZS lenses compared to the 24-70mm f2.8E VR and 35mm f1.8G

 

https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-z7/4

[Geoff_L]

DPReview TV's review is out :

 

 

[DBounce]

3 hours ago, Geoff_L said:

DPReview TV's review is out :

 

 

I think he misses the point at the end. Neither of the cameras he mentions are FF with 10 bit output. Iirc only the Nikon Z can currently do FF 10 bit out? 

Personally, I’m liking the output from the Z more than the competition right now. That might change. The new Panasonic and Fuji offerings look compelling. I wonder if Sony will sit this one out? I don’t think they’ll have a choice but to answer.

[Aussie Ash]

Jordan's conclusion sure is feeble as audio can be directly recorded to a Ninja V or use a preamp

like the  US $100 Saramonic Smartrig+ .

[DBounce]

17 hours ago, Aussie Ash said:

Jordan's conclusion sure is feeble as audio can be directly recorded to a Ninja V or use a preamp

like the  US $100 Saramonic Smartrig+ .

There are definitely workarounds for this issue. One might be use a mic without a poor signal. 

[Geoff_L]

A quick follow-up on my previous first impressions, + issues found on the web :

- As mentioned everywhere, the AF starts to really struggles as the available light decreases. Absolutely not a deal-breaker for my type of stills shooting (maybe with wildlife though), but surely for sport shooters.

- Ibis during video recording with the adapted 50 1.8G impresses me.

- Ibis with the native 24-70 s is really good at the wide and normal focals, but clearly less effective near 70mm. I've tried to shoot handheld in DX mode, so at around 105mm ; it was cold, windy and, despite trying my best to stay steady and avoid shakiness, the result is just OK. At full screen on my monitor, you clearly see the micro-jitters. I've repeated the same test, but with my gorilla pod as a stabilizer, and it's working a lot better. I will try with a Tamron 150-600 and other lenses, to understand what work better, between ibis, lense VR etc. I also think that it's related to me and my previous video experience : shooting APSC fuji with the stabilized 50-140 f2.8 was really great (even more with the 50-230 OIS), while full-frame is a lot less forgiving with long focal lengths.

- The 24-70 is a lot more silent than my 50 1.8G. I've read somewhere that they have design the new motorisation with this goal in mind

- Did not try the audio pre-amps, but the first reviews show that they really suck. I will use my zoom H5 or the Ninja V.

- Image quality straight out of the camera with the tweaked standard profile (noise reduc disabled, sharpness dialled down etc.) is lovely ; I've shoot a  cloudy sunset until dusk, so not an extreme dynamic range, and this profile was sufficient. Next time I will use the flat one.

- I'm really happy to work again with Nikon's colours (and the Jpgs SOOC are great)

- I want to buy some Samyang lenses (135 f2, 24 f1.4...), and it seems that there is an issue with the Nikon version : they include an electronic chip, and it appears to "bug" with FTZ. A guy successfully "masked" with tape the involved contact of a similar manual lens (Voigtlander if I remember), and it worked. I think I will try the VDSLR versions of those lenses, as it seems they are not equipped with electronic.

Sorry, I'm limited in my tests latitude, but it's already night when I come back home... Can't wait for the week-end.

[Jordan Drake]

On 12/1/2018 at 1:18 PM, Aussie Ash said:

Jordan's conclusion sure is feeble as audio can be directly recorded to a Ninja V or use a preamp

like the  US $100 Saramonic Smartrig+ .

Yeah, I'm really unhappy with how I delivered that conclusion. The point I was trying to make is that if you only want to carry the camera, the GH5 and X-T3 are much more full featured. If you add an external recorder, however the Z6 and to a lesser extent the Z7 become extremely compelling. The audio issues can certainly be worked around as well, but I remember shooting with Canon DSLRs and occasionally being forced to use an underpowered mic. 

I do think the main purchasers for video will almost exclusively be people with a large selection of Nikkor AF glass.

[Geoff_L]

2 hours ago, Jordan Drake said:

Yeah, I'm really unhappy with how I delivered that conclusion. The point I was trying to make is that if you only want to carry the camera, the GH5 and X-T3 are much more full featured. If you add an external recorder, however the Z6 and to a lesser extent the Z7 become extremely compelling. The audio issues can certainly be worked around as well, but I remember shooting with Canon DSLRs and occasionally being forced to use an underpowered mic. 

I do think the main purchasers for video will almost exclusively be people with a large selection of Nikkor AF glass. 

Yes, and I know some photographers that are asked by clients to dive into video, so the Z line might be attractive, instead of switching to Sony. It also could sparks an interest among a larger audience ; I'm reading more and more comments on forums (video oriented, or photo specialized with a dedicated video section), from video shooters that are really intrigued by 10bit/FF/ibis/robust construction.

Personally, despite having no Nikkor lenses, I've chosen the z6 over the a7iii, primarily for build quality and handling. Better evf, lcd and touchscreen, great ibis, desirable Nikkor G line-up and lovely colors are a plus. I will also attach a lot of non AF lenses, as I would've done with Sony. Won't be a problem to share it later with a bmpcc4k or a gh5s. But, if it had not been for the Z line, I would not be back to Nikon today (or only for stills).

[IronFilm]

20 hours ago, Jordan Drake said:

I do think the main purchasers for video will almost exclusively be people with a large selection of Nikkor AF glass.

I reckon the Nikon Z6 will still appeal to shooters who really really want to shoot FF 10bit 4K (which is the only way to do it! Short of stumping up the money for a Kinefinity MAVO LF, or even more for a C700 FF etc)

[webrunner5]

1 hour ago, IronFilm said:

I reckon the Nikon Z6 will still appeal to shooters who really really want to shoot FF 10bit 4K (which is the only way to do it! Short of stumping up the money for a Kinefinity MAVO LF, or even more for a C700 FF etc)

Somehow I can't visualize too many Nikon shooters having an External recorder hanging off one to be honest. ?