Nikon Z* mirrorless

Another from my new favourite combination.

Brody on alert.jpg by Trevor, on Flickr
That’s nice. Is that full-frame? How do you find the handling? I’d love one, but it will be a good while (or Ernie tips up) before I can chop in the 17-35 for it.
 
That’s nice. Is that full-frame? How do you find the handling? I’d love one, but it will be a good while (or Ernie tips up) before I can chop in the 17-35 for it.

Thanks. Yep full frame. Handles really well. Feels very light. Super smooth zoom action. Although I’ve only used it at 14mm.
Doesn’t feel at all front heavy.
Keep saving..
Dog was just a couple feet from me.
 
Well the 14-30 Turned up today as promised. Think that might be me done for now - that's the 24-70 F4 Z, 50mm F1.8 Z, 14-30 F4 Z and the 70-300 AF-P FX (with the FTZ adaptor).

Also, a momentous day as all my Fuji kit was sold off. So now just have my Olympus Micro Four Thirds system and my Nikon Z6 FX system. As I said, the Fuji kit is great but I just wasn't using it in favour of the other two systems. Feel much better for it too.
 
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The lens should be here tomorrow. We’re planning on a quick drive out to Malham after tea on Thursday, so that’ll be a good chance to sample it.
The lens turned up this morning as promised, but I’ve decided to return it. Nothing wrong, in fact it seems in as-new condition, but fitted to the camera it just doesn’t fulfil my expectations. It’s bulkier than expected, and I don’t like the fact that the manual focus ring is permanently active. Just doesn’t do anything for me.
 
The lens turned up this morning as promised, but I’ve decided to return it. Nothing wrong, in fact it seems in as-new condition, but fitted to the camera it just doesn’t fulfil my expectations. It’s bulkier than expected, and I don’t like the fact that the manual focus ring is permanently active. Just doesn’t do anything for me.

That’s a shame. Will you put the cash to a native 35 or the 14-30 ?
 
The lens turned up this morning as promised, but I’ve decided to return it. Nothing wrong, in fact it seems in as-new condition, but fitted to the camera it just doesn’t fulfil my expectations. It’s bulkier than expected, and I don’t like the fact that the manual focus ring is permanently active. Just doesn’t do anything for me.

I’ve used the Siggy Art adapted. Big bugger but great results.
Too heavy for me, that’s why I went native.
 
That’s a shame. Will you put the cash to a native 35 or the 14-30 ?
Long-term to the 14-30. But it won’t be this week! Incidentally, Park Cameras told me they had a refurb 35mm Z in stock for, I think, just over £500.
Although I didn’t venture outside with the lens, I was surprised at how “clunky” it felt. Focus was on the slow side, and noisy compared to native lenses. Even the F mount 70-300 feels smoother and quicker.
 
The lens turned up this morning as promised, but I’ve decided to return it. Nothing wrong, in fact it seems in as-new condition, but fitted to the camera it just doesn’t fulfil my expectations. It’s bulkier than expected, and I don’t like the fact that the manual focus ring is permanently active. Just doesn’t do anything for me.
Which lens is that? Isn't there an option in menus to deactivate the focus ring?
 
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It’s the 35mm f1.8. I couldn’t find a deactivation option which worked, and on the lens was only MF and AF/MF.
Page 254 of the menu guide says that in custom settings a13 it can be disabled. My camera only goes up to a12 but I haven’t done the firmware upgrade yet.
 
Page 254 of the menu guide says that in custom settings a13 it can be disabled. My camera only goes up to a12 but I haven’t done the firmware upgrade yet.
Ah well. It’s academic now. :) I took a scunner to the lens almost as soon as I mounted it. The reality is, I was expecting a compact lens even on the FTZ, but you can’t argue with the laws of physics. Wide aperture plus FX sensor = large lens.
 
Ah well. It’s academic now. :) I took a scunner to the lens almost as soon as I mounted it. The reality is, I was expecting a compact lens even on the FTZ, but you can’t argue with the laws of physics. Wide aperture plus FX sensor = large lens.
I’ve never understood why 35mm’s are bigger than 50mm’s and some 85mm’s too o_O
 
Panamoz are making me scratch my head a bit at the moment. The 50mm f1.8S has just dropped to around £400 in the UK, but Panamoz are selling it at over £600 :eek:o_O

I wish Nikon would hurry up and announce the 85mm f1.8 and 70-200mm f2.8 so I know how much I need to save, and how many years that will take me to do ;)
 
Well the 14-30 Turned up today as promised. Think that might be me done for now - that's the 24-70 F4 Z, 50mm F1.8 Z, 14-30 F4 Z and the 70-300 AF-P FX (with the FTZ adaptor).

Also, a momentous day as all my Fuji kit was sold off. So now just have my Olympus Micro Four Thirds system and my Nikon Z6 FX system. As I said, the Fuji kit is great but I just wasn't using it in favour of the other two systems. Feel much better for it too.

my last Fuji lens went a couple of weeks ago. Before Fuji I had an E-M5. If you want two systems, the FF +m43 seems the obvious way to go, though I'm not convinced that the expensive and relatively heavy top Pro m43 lenses make that much sense. Anyway, your line-up looks suspiciously similar to my direction. I have the 24-70 and 70-300 AF-P and lust after the 14-30 when it becomes affordable. If I'd known the 50mm Z would be so cheap now (£90 cheaper in the eurozone becuase of a bigger cashback), then I might have paused over getting an old MF 50mm f1.2 though that lens has surpassed all my expectations. Missing is a fast AF prime though I'll have plenty of chances to see how the 24-70 does at a wedding and baptism this weekend.
 
David, whilst i'm not doubting that the Z6 returns much higher quality files than my OMD system, there's just something about using my Olympus cameras that makes me want to use them - much more than my Fuji gear ever did (I think in hindsight, that was an itch I just wanted to scratch after hearing all the magical things about the Fuji sensors and lenses). For me though the great advantage of the "pro" lenses is that in terms of focal length equivalency, they are still generally much smaller. Indeed, in my day pack today (which goes everywhere with me), is my OMD-EM1 MK II, M.Zuiko 12-100 F4, M.Zuiko 12-40 F2.8, M.Zuiko 17mm F1.8, Leica 8-18 F2.8-4 and my Panasonic 100-300 F4-5.6 II. So in a bag that barely weighs 4 kg I have a pro body, 5 lenses with FL's from 16-600mm equivalent and all my other "day" stuff (chargers, keys, mobiles, power bank, batteries etc.)

Try doing that with FF - even the Z6 which I absolutely love. It get's even greater when I'm shooting wildlife. I can take the same day pack (just re-arranged internally) with the EM1 MK II or the EM1X and either the 300mm F4 IS (with 1.4x Tele) - so 600mm (or 840mm with converter) or the same body with the Panasonic 100-400 (200-800 equiv). When I recently had my D500 with grip and the 200-500 (so 300-750 Equiv), whilst the ultimate high ISO performance was a little better than the Olympus, it was a beast of a combination and weighed a ton. So much so that I hardy took it out which is why I sold it - and that was APS-C - not even FF).

So whilst the FF bodies have reduced dramatically in size (the Z6 is almost identical to my EM1 MK II, and much smaller than the Panasonic G9 I used to have), the lenses (as a result of pure physics) just haven't' (yet). Interestingly Nikon appears to be a bit of a leader in the field of getting FF lenses smaller with the collapsible 24-70 and 14-30 units and the use of Phase Fresnel elements in some of their tele lenses reducing the size of them down considerably.

For the time being then, having Nikon mirrorless FF and Micro Four thirds makes total sense to me.
 
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David, whilst i'm not doubting that the Z6 returns much higher quality files than my OMD system, there's just something about using my Olympus cameras that makes me want to use them - much more than my Fuji gear ever did (I think in hindsight, that was an itch I just wanted to scratch after hearing all the magical things about the Fuji sensors and lenses). For me though the great advantage of the "pro" lenses is that in terms of focal length equivalency, they are still generally much smaller. Indeed, in my day pack today (which goes everywhere with me), is my OMD-EM1 MK II, M.Zuiko 12-100 F4, M.Zuiko 12-40 F2.8, M.Zuiko 17mm F1.8, Leica 8-18 F2.8-4 and my Panasonic 100-300 F4-5.6 II. So in a bag that barely weighs 4 kg I have a pro body, 5 lenses with FL's from 16-600mm equivalent and all my other "day" stuff (chargers, keys, mobiles, power bank, batteries etc.)

Try doing that with FF - even the Z6 which I absolutely love. It get's even greater when I'm shooting wildlife. I can take the same day pack (just re-arranged internally) with the EM1 MK II or the EM1X and either the 300mm F4 IS (with 1.4x Tele) - so 600mm (or 840mm with converter) or the same body with the Panasonic 100-400 (200-800 equiv). When I recently had my D500 with grip and the 200-500 (so 300-750 Equiv), whilst the ultimate high ISO performance was a little better than the Olympus, it was a beast of a combination and weighed a ton. So much so that I hardy took it out which is why I sold it - and that was APS-C - not even FF).

So whilst the FF bodies have reduced dramatically in size (the Z6 is almost identical to my EM1 MK II, and much smaller than the Panasonic G9 I used to have), the lenses (as a result of pure physics) just haven't' (yet). Interestingly Nikon appears to be a bit of a leader in the field of getting FF lenses smaller with the collapsible 24-70 and 14-30 units and the use of Phase Fresnel elements in some of their tele lenses reducing the size of them down considerably.

For the time being then, having Nikon mirrorless FF and Micro Four thirds makes total sense to me.
I confess to oversimplifying things a bit with the Olympus system. I think that a 12-100 makes a lot of sense as a travel system as I'm not aware of any other superzoom of that quality. And of course for wildlife, aircraft and so on which requires a really long lens -- subjects which don't really interest me personally -- m43 is the only quality option which won't break your back, never mind your bank balance. Fuji is also heavy and expensive in this department. In fact, I still have a tiny E-PM2 which I hardly use (because I can't stand not having an EVF as I eventually realised) and wouldn't completely rule out at some point reaquiring something like the EM-5 nice and cheap which was undoubtedly a beautiful camera. I think what I was more sceptical about was a typical standard+ telezoom combination in m43 which obviously works for you!
 
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I’ll have to examine my technique. Found the faces but really struggled to lock on any eyes.
I found in brief testing so far that you have to be rather close to the subject before it locks onto the eye with the 24-70 but I suspect it might be different with a fast prime. The Sony (A7iii) certainly acquires eye focus earlier but whether that makes much difference to overall usability I really don't know.
 
A few pics from the BTCC this weekend,more on Flickr and also a thread in the photo section.

1.
0193B8F2-1C91-46EC-89EC-99C90E9C9361 by TDG-77, on Flickr

2.
A87C227B-6CAD-467A-897A-320C053CEEFB by TDG-77, on Flickr

3.
2F833B6D-AC45-45AE-8AA5-357791550407 by TDG-77, on Flickr

4.
383393BF-48D1-42E2-AE16-F3D22E6C7AFB by TDG-77, on Flickr

5.
8367BF2B-C58E-4DD3-9F53-685489FAD9E2 by TDG-77, on Flickr

6.
826BC7F8-6E80-4195-858C-245AD2338ECC by TDG-77, on Flickr

7.
2A50F868-4478-4FC6-98F2-918BE1189C00 by TDG-77, on Flickr

8.
4A58C9B9-9768-4569-AB76-3686126EC0B2 by TDG-77, on Flickr

Do these images look OK to other folk as they look worse than usual to me? My Mac went down yesterday so had to upload from my iPad so wondering if that has anything to do with it?

David, whilst i'm not doubting that the Z6 returns much higher quality files than my OMD system, there's just something about using my Olympus cameras that makes me want to use them - much more than my Fuji gear ever did (I think in hindsight, that was an itch I just wanted to scratch after hearing all the magical things about the Fuji sensors and lenses). For me though the great advantage of the "pro" lenses is that in terms of focal length equivalency, they are still generally much smaller. Indeed, in my day pack today (which goes everywhere with me), is my OMD-EM1 MK II, M.Zuiko 12-100 F4, M.Zuiko 12-40 F2.8, M.Zuiko 17mm F1.8, Leica 8-18 F2.8-4 and my Panasonic 100-300 F4-5.6 II. So in a bag that barely weighs 4 kg I have a pro body, 5 lenses with FL's from 16-600mm equivalent and all my other "day" stuff (chargers, keys, mobiles, power bank, batteries etc.)

Try doing that with FF - even the Z6 which I absolutely love. It get's even greater when I'm shooting wildlife. I can take the same day pack (just re-arranged internally) with the EM1 MK II or the EM1X and either the 300mm F4 IS (with 1.4x Tele) - so 600mm (or 840mm with converter) or the same body with the Panasonic 100-400 (200-800 equiv). When I recently had my D500 with grip and the 200-500 (so 300-750 Equiv), whilst the ultimate high ISO performance was a little better than the Olympus, it was a beast of a combination and weighed a ton. So much so that I hardy took it out which is why I sold it - and that was APS-C - not even FF).

So whilst the FF bodies have reduced dramatically in size (the Z6 is almost identical to my EM1 MK II, and much smaller than the Panasonic G9 I used to have), the lenses (as a result of pure physics) just haven't' (yet). Interestingly Nikon appears to be a bit of a leader in the field of getting FF lenses smaller with the collapsible 24-70 and 14-30 units and the use of Phase Fresnel elements in some of their tele lenses reducing the size of them down considerably.

For the time being then, having Nikon mirrorless FF and Micro Four thirds makes total sense to me.
I'm with you, I just really enjoy using the Olympus system.
 
Panamoz are making me scratch my head a bit at the moment. The 50mm f1.8S has just dropped to around £400 in the UK, but Panamoz are selling it at over £600 :eek:o_O

I wish Nikon would hurry up and announce the 85mm f1.8 and 70-200mm f2.8 so I know how much I need to save, and how many years that will take me to do ;)

70-200 2.8 - I reckon around £2800 on release.
 
70-200 2.8 - I reckon around £2800 on release.

If they do a 50% discount after 3 months I'm ok with that :)
I think it'll be the same price as the FL was when it came out, which I think was around 2500 GBP
 
70-200 2.8 - I reckon around £2800 on release.
If they do a 50% discount after 3 months I'm ok with that :)
I think it'll be the same price as the FL was when it came out, which I think was around 2500 GBP
My guess is £2800-3000 :eek:
 
Buy from UK if going Z6 but the other sites mentioned are far better on Z7's for some reason, ive seen Z6 bundles within £100 on camerarpricebuster compared with grey, but Z7's are more like £500 plus more than grey at moment ?
 
Ahh I was comparing to Panamoz (y)

Panamoz seem to be more expensive overall than efin, some say they're more trust-worthy? I've never used either, kind of afraid to! Been stung in the past for small packages but from the likes of Gearbest and Fasttech. The guys who came to buy my G80 recently were hailing efinity, they said they got most of their gear on there. They only bought my G80 really as a back up and because it came with a Viltrox adapter, they were running a couple of GH5 and adapting some nice Canon glass [wedding videographers] - they swore by Efinity, said they have never had any customs issues .... but, then I'm me! I am that odd one that would get stung :/
 
Panamoz seem to be more expensive overall than efin, some say they're more trust-worthy? I've never used either, kind of afraid to! Been stung in the past for small packages but from the likes of Gearbest and Fasttech. The guys who came to buy my G80 recently were hailing efinity, they said they got most of their gear on there. They only bought my G80 really as a back up and because it came with a Viltrox adapter, they were running a couple of GH5 and adapting some nice Canon glass [wedding videographers] - they swore by Efinity, said they have never had any customs issues .... but, then I'm me! I am that odd one that would get stung :/
Panama offer 3 years warranty vs 1 year from e-infin, depends how much that is worth to you. Panamoz do tend to offer discount if you ask ;)
 
Panamoz seem to be more expensive overall than efin, some say they're more trust-worthy? I've never used either, kind of afraid to! Been stung in the past for small packages but from the likes of Gearbest and Fasttech. The guys who came to buy my G80 recently were hailing efinity, they said they got most of their gear on there. They only bought my G80 really as a back up and because it came with a Viltrox adapter, they were running a couple of GH5 and adapting some nice Canon glass [wedding videographers] - they swore by Efinity, said they have never had any customs issues .... but, then I'm me! I am that odd one that would get stung :/

I have always used efin. You have to watch their prices though because they change them all the time.
I remember they had the D500 for £939 at one point about 15 months ago, it was hundreds more with Panamonz.
 
Panama offer 3 years warranty vs 1 year from e-infin, depends how much that is worth to you. Panamoz do tend to offer discount if you ask ;)


They would want to, in some cases their lenses are considerably more expensive than Efin, Fuji lenses for example - I'm seeing a pretty significant hike! more expensive than Amazon even, which makes no sense
 
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