Nikon Z* mirrorless

I’d say the Z6 is still a good choice for video as long as you don’t want eye-af in video or 4K60. There might not be many Z6’s on the used market other than in retailers for the rest of the year though as those looking to move to the Z6ii are getting the bonus trade in which makes it more attractive to trade in than sell. I pre-ordered a Z6ii and was going to sell my Z6 until I got a trade in price and then factored in the trade-in bonus.
 
Any real world experience of the 20mm 1.8?

Doing some more photography for a fitness comp in mid Nov and tempted to try renting this to see what it's like.
 
For Video, the Z6 is brilliant, but just make sure you move the picture profile to Flat rather than standard or landscape, as it will crush the shadows. Whilst it bests (just) the 4k footage in normal ISO's (say 100-1600) vs my Olympus OM-D cameras, when walking and shooting at the same time, I don't find the VR that useful and it does jerk quite a bit, so a gimble might be required. Think I'm just so spoilt with the amazing IBIS of the Olympus cameras meaning you can shoot moving 4k footage that's almost perfectly stabilised (almost like you are using a gimbal).
 
A lockdown walk with my dog in the neighbourly woods :) Curious how much of an improvement the Z6 II would be for these kind of shots...bigger buffer would definitely help, but I'll wait to see how AF stacks up...if it's a significant improvement I might get it.

I heard her coming up behind me for these two shots...luckily the focus was quick enough to grab it...it's the first big airborne photo of her
All engines go by luftwalk, on Flickr

The photo just after the first one...
Prepare for landing by luftwalk, on Flickr

A bit further up I had her run towards me since the scenery was great...
Fall with Ajka by luftwalk, on Flickr

And at the end a portrait of her being "done" :)
Moment of rest by luftwalk, on Flickr


The two things I'd like to see improved in the Z6 II would be initial focus and lock-on and better subject tracking...although I am asking the camera to keep up with a brown dog amidst brown leaves :)
 
There was a chap on YouTube who created his own J-Log which is actually really good. Free to download too. I love shooting video on the Z6, I have turned off eVR though as when panning the first turn In each direction has a really weird wobble.

Edit: here is a link to his jlog video

View: https://youtu.be/NVHDZ9-FMvA
So, has anyone here loader this to their camera?
Looks like a good one to me, on my D750 I have 9 various ones, works well so I'm interested in this one.
 
Recently joined the Z-club with a Z5, hope I’m welcome here! [emoji14] Really enjoying using the camera and the 24-70f4, they just balance so well to me.

A piccie from a recent wander in my local hills.


Shropshire Hills
by Jason, on Flickr
Welcome and that's a great shot.
 
yes, i have and it works a treat.
Maybe I`m a bit thick, This is just for Video then ? or will it work for photos as I don`t see it in the photos profile bit.
 
Some from last weekend IMG_20201027_175206_753.jpg2020-10-27_05-42-03.jpg2020-10-27_05-42-41.jpg
 
Very tempted, but like you, I'm going to wait on further "real world" reviews to see if the changes between the two models are appreciable. Must admit, the fully functioning vertical grip would be nice for my current Z6 and Z7 rather than my current Nikon battery packs.
 
Not for me, i`ll stick with my current Z6 although this is a replacement one as the 1st one had a problem with the on/off button.
Seems like I get all the duff ones though, this one only gives me sharp shots with the Sigma 00 DG macro lens, all the other (F) lens are s***e with good focus, I even ordered Reikan foCal last night, oh what a nightmare that is, it states that 2 lens that I have tried are not using the AF but it is turned on and the VR should be turned off and it is on both camera and lens.
So, this morning a email to Panamoz and voila, 5 mins later they said to send it into Nikon for a test/calibrate or whatever they do. I can cope without the camera for 2-3 weeks I guess.
 
I received my Z6ii this morning, I decided to go for it and swap out my Z6. I've not had much chance to do anything with it yet but initial feel is exactly the same ergonomics wise so spot on. I'm going to be boxing up my Z6 and 70-200vrii to send back and trade in as I don't need another body and I've now got the 70-200s lens too.

As I've not posted in a while I thought I'd add a photo with the Z6 and 70-200s that I took of a stray kitten in the garden the other day.

_DSC1669.jpg
 
If you don’t mind me asking who did you trade in with, and being very cheeky, how much did they offer in p/x please ?
 
I deal with Grays of Westminster so they will be going there, they haven't given me a price yet but I did get one from WEX at £839, obviously with the current trade in deal you get £180 over that
 
Just a heads up for anyone picking up a Z6ii or Z7ii. 3rd party and fake batteries do not work with the new cameras. Only Genuine Nikon batteries will function, anything else shows a message saying the battery is not compatible,
 
I’ve had the original z6 from nearly release date.

I was torn between the a7iii which was slightly older at the time than the newly released z6. Prior to z6 I’ve been a Nikon DSLR owner, which is probably why I went for that over the Sony.

what do I make of it after a couple of years?

It’s a great bit of kit which works well as a camera but even better for video. I like that they’ve tried to upgrade the system using software updates. It’s now had 2 major updates since release. Both updates have made this camera better than it was when I bought it.

the only downside has been the lens collection. It’s gotten better recently but they are priced dearly and there aren’t many floating about in the second hand market unlike Sony ecosystem where you can find second hand items much more easily.

just jotted this down happy to post something more in-depth if you need.
 
Any Z6 owners use the Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS Macro lens and if so how has it performed? I find it very sharp on my D850 and so hoe it will work well with the FTZ adaptor. I only own two Sigma lenses, this and the ART 24mm f/1.4 and I’m hoping they are still good with Z6.
 
I don’t own that lens but I have used it on my Z6 and it worked as you’d expect. Tbh every lens I’ve tried on it has worked perfectly well. The Z S line lenses are faster, but nothing that I’d say would cause issues.
 
I am considering upgrading my D7000 to a z6ii with a 24-70 f2.8. It has been a looong wait.

1) Will my 2x sb700 and sb 900 flashes work with the Z6ii?
2) I suspect my yongnuo YB 622N wireless triggers won’t work will they?
3) my d lenses 50mm f1.8D and 85mm 1.8D won’t work ok without buying an ftz adaptor. Will they autofocus with an adaptor or is the fact that they are D screw focus lenses mean no way hose.
 
Can anyone with the Z6ii comment on Eye AF accuracy/hit rate close up with shallow dof. Human or animal. Maybe @PeteStewardson or anyone else who has one.

About to send off my Z6 for trade in and wondering, should I trade in or just buy the 14-30 instead.

Not much about on YouTube, just an afro bobbing around like a lunatic.
 
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Can anyone with the Z6ii comment on Eye AF accuracy/hit rate close up with shallow dof. Human or animal. Maybe @PeteStewardson or anyone else who has one.

About to send off my Z6 for trade in and wondering, should I trade in or just buy the 14-30 instead.

Not much about on YouTube, just an afro bobbing around like a lunatic.

Have a look here

View: https://youtu.be/Aa1LuBUEsQU
 
Can anyone with the Z6ii comment on Eye AF accuracy/hit rate close up with shallow dof. Human or animal. Maybe @PeteStewardson or anyone else who has one.

About to send off my Z6 for trade in and wondering, should I trade in or just buy the 14-30 instead.

Not much about on YouTube, just an afro bobbing around like a lunatic.

I need to do more testing. I have found animal eye-af doesn't work 95% of the time with my Black Labrador puppy, I don't have anything else to test it with at the minute as we found a home for the stray kitten we had living in the garden.

I've only had chance to try human eye-af briefly on my daughter ( who wears glasses as well ) and I can say that the eye-lash-af effect is greatly reduced, but possibly not completely eliminated. I haven't had the chance to try this outing better light though as with the short days and awful weather over the weekend my usage has been significantly restricted. From my use so far I'd say yes it's better than the Z6, but how much better I haven't determined. So far it feels as good to me as the Z6 was with D8 turned off. I never really used eye-af or wide area on the Z6 anyway honestly.

In my personal opinion right now, I'd probably think about waiting until the next FW release for the Z6ii to pick one up if you already have a Z6, yes I think it's better, but maybe not enough to justify the upgrade cost. But I reserve the right to change that opinion once I've actually managed to get out with it more :D
 
I have two jet black high speed cocker spaniels, and I've tried animal eye AF using Olympus (EM1 MK III EM1X), Panasonic (G9), My Nikons (Z6 & Z7) and even tried a Sony A7III, and all of them struggle to lock focus on the eyes, most likely due to the very low contrast of a completely black dog and dark eyes.

I would imagine on a lighter coloured animal it would work much better.
 
Yes a black dog with near black eyes is always going to be a huge challenge. It's a shame I don't have another animal it will work with as it doesn't pick up fish or cockatiel eyes :D
 
I need to do more testing. I have found animal eye-af doesn't work 95% of the time with my Black Labrador puppy,

Steve Perry had problems with eyes and black bears with the Sony A9II. where it worked fine with the Nikon D6, so maybe this is just an area where mirrorless lags behind for now. I


"How does the D6 AF compare to the Sony a9ii AF?

A:
From what I can tell, they are neck and neck. The trick is, in some circumstances, the D6 is a bit better, in others, I prefer the a9ii.

For example, when photographing black bears, the Sony struggles sometimes with the dark eyes and does a bit more hunting than I like – however, the D6 usually latches right on.

On the other hand, Sony’s tracking is far better than what the D6 offers (3D). Only the fastest of subjects get away from that a9ii! I caught swallows taking off with the a9ii’s flexible spot tracking that were total misses with Nikon’s 3D and Auto AF (the D6 lost the lock instantly).

There are also differences with the AF areas. In some cases, the D6 AF areas are better suited for a subject, in others, I prefer the Sony. I also like that the D6 single point AF area are relatively smaller in the viewfinder than the Sony single point area.

The truth is, both are outstanding and in 98% of the situations, I can get the shot with either AF system."
 

Although I like his videos, I find him overly positive. He has done another video after receiving a “pre-production” unit but hasn’t shown the full sequences. Which could just be cherry picking the good and in focus images. Everyone hates Jared Polin for his unnecessary bashing which I find annoying as well. But I think his evaluation of FW 3.0 is fairly accurate. There is also a BIF guy where his results are the Z6/Z7 is 2nd to the A9/A9II for accuracy and hit rate. I think the Z6 is fine as is but everybody always want more.


I need to do more testing. I have found animal eye-af doesn't work 95% of the time with my Black Labrador puppy, I don't have anything else to test it with at the minute as we found a home for the stray kitten we had living in the garden.

I've only had chance to try human eye-af briefly on my daughter ( who wears glasses as well ) and I can say that the eye-lash-af effect is greatly reduced, but possibly not completely eliminated. I haven't had the chance to try this outing better light though as with the short days and awful weather over the weekend my usage has been significantly restricted. From my use so far I'd say yes it's better than the Z6, but how much better I haven't determined. So far it feels as good to me as the Z6 was with D8 turned off. I never really used eye-af or wide area on the Z6 anyway honestly.

In my personal opinion right now, I'd probably think about waiting until the next FW release for the Z6ii to pick one up if you already have a Z6, yes I think it's better, but maybe not enough to justify the upgrade cost. But I reserve the right to change that opinion once I've actually managed to get out with it more :D

That’s understandable with black coat and eyes, and wouldn’t really fault it for that.

Yeah the eyelash thing is what I’d more like to know has been improved. I don’t think actual tracking hit rate is worse than anything else. My gf should be getting a dog early next year, so being able to hand it to her with eye af enabled and a higher hit rate without the front/back focus is what I want, I’m sure she’ll want lots of pictures. I had fairly good results with her kitten at the time.

That’s the thing, I don’t really mind waiting. But the trade in at £1100 with the bonus is quite good. I’ve got another week before I have to send to WEX. I was planning on sending today but thought I’d try and get more info first. The bonus is only till end of Jan and I’m sure their offer will go down by then for the Z6, so that’s why I’m thinking now.
 
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I notice that WEX have already reduced the part ex price on Z6's. I enquired with them last week over my mint (less than 5k releases) Z6, and according to the website at the time, it said a Z6 in condition 9 would fetch £879, however when I got the actual quote back the following day, it said only £818 (exclusive of the additional £180 promotional extra from Nikon). When I challenged it, I got the following reply:

"Thank you for getting in touch, I am sorry to hear that you were disappointed by our offer. The prices listed on the trade-in bonus web page were indicative of the offers for the Z6/Z7 at the time the page was published. Unfortunately, since this time the offer for the Z6 has fallen as the level of demand is too low to keep up with the large supply of these bodies that are being traded in. I have informed management so that we can update the page to the most up to date offer. A valid quote is the only confirmation of an offer (subject to inspection). Please accept my apologies for any disappointment that this may cause you."
 
I notice that WEX have already reduced the part ex price on Z6's. I enquired with them last week over my mint (less than 5k releases) Z6, and according to the website at the time, it said a Z6 in condition 9 would fetch £879, however when I got the actual quote back the following day, it said only £818 (exclusive of the additional £180 promotional extra from Nikon). When I challenged it, I got the following reply:

"Thank you for getting in touch, I am sorry to hear that you were disappointed by our offer. The prices listed on the trade-in bonus web page were indicative of the offers for the Z6/Z7 at the time the page was published. Unfortunately, since this time the offer for the Z6 has fallen as the level of demand is too low to keep up with the large supply of these bodies that are being traded in. I have informed management so that we can update the page to the most up to date offer. A valid quote is the only confirmation of an offer (subject to inspection). Please accept my apologies for any disappointment that this may cause you."

Hmm I wonder if they’d cut the quote down then on this basis after sending it in. The other thing holding me back is availability, I don’t want to wait months for it. Especially when newly released Nikon stuff is hard to get hold of.

They’ve just gone on e-infin today for £1700, I’d personally prefer to buy from Panamoz for the warranty than UK. I don’t really use my cameras much so the 3 years gives me more confidence with my low usage. My Z6 is on 860 shutter after 18 months.
 
Not sure really, just seems to make more sense putting a smaller amount of cash towards it now instead of the value decreasing further and then having to put more cash down at a later date.

It’s what I normally do with iPhones, buy and sell yearly to upgrade, and I’m skipping the iPhone this year soooo..... you know. Maybe I’m just wanting to spend money after a rubbish year. Retail therapy haha
 
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