A week in with my new Zf

[BF Hammer]

I cannot possibly have an in-depth review after so little time, but here are my early impressions and observations.

Last weekend was a "Cash 4 Cameras" event locally. A buyer for an Indianapolis-based used camera dealer usually tours through my town and partners-up with the local camera shop to do this about 2 or 3 times a year. I got advance emails about it. I also took note that Nikon had instant rebate promotions, and also important was another incentive where Nikon covers the sales tax. I had been eyeing the Zf again recently. My next targeted purchase was supposed to be a new lens, but there was no instant rebates offered now. So I put together a tote-bin-full of camera gear. The buyer was only interested in my digital gear, so D750, Z5, CoolPix S4000, 24-120mm f/4, Zeiss 15mm Distagon (F-mount), Sigma dock, and a Nikon IR remote release were traded in. The store kicked in an extra 10% for taking as store credit, all the discounts by Nikon, +$61 out of pocket had me buying this Zf. That included the $29 screen protector I had applied. I only feel sad about the Zeiss lens.

The Zf is heavy compared to past cameras. More metal, less plastic. That is personal preference if that is good or bad. Ergonomically it is a throwback to the 1970's with the mostly flat body, except the body weighs more than most film cameras from then. Way more electronics and stuff in there and film weighs nothing. This means the old-time practice of holding the body with left hand cradling under the lens applies as best practice with this camera. I have the Smallrig grip incoming as well as the Smallrig leather half-cover that also has extra grip molded in. I want the grip as much for the Arca-Swiss dovetail base as the ergonomics. I want the leather cover mostly because I wanted a brown-black version of the camera and could not get that with discounts. I expect to be trading between them frequently.

I like that it uses the same EN-EL15 battery I have been using since I had a D7000. Same as my D600 IR conversion, but I cannot use old aftermarket cells in the Zf. As a bonus I kept my battery that came with the Z5 and sold that with an old EN-EL15a from D7000/D750 years. Now I have 2 EN-EL15c battery packs to use with this camera. However there is no battery charger included with the camera. You either charge directly in camera using a USB-C power source (and it must be a USB-C source, the typical USB-A source will not work) or pick up a charger separately. I kept 1 Nikon charger. I also bought an aftermarket 2-battery charger that seems to work. But it also needs a higher-power USB-C power source if you want fast-charging. Using an old phone charger with USB-A is only trickle-charging and it takes hours to fully charge. New USB-C power charger is incoming in a few days.

The memory card situation is a compromise and not ideal to me. I like having 2 card slots and saving RAW to slot 1 and JPG to slot 2. I tend not to use JPG files much, but I like the option and this is an easier post-processing workflow to me. We do have a Micro-SD card slot, but it is much more difficult to insert/remove than the SD card. So treat that as a card that must stay in camera. I have switched to saving all files to Slot 1 and Slot 2 as a backup. I only have a 32GB Micro-SD card to use now, I will be buying a couple of new 128GB cards on a future Amazon order. I just format both cards in camera after successfully transfering what I will keep from the SD card in Slot 1.

The control dials on top, I love them. I'm not really using the ISO dial, but set to the "C" position I can have Auto-ISO active, which I prefer. I also live more in Aperture-priority mode than others, so I am having to use the front command wheel for that. The f-stop is displayed in the tiny LCD screen on top. But in Shutter-Priority mode I cheerfully use the dial for that. And I especially have taken to actually using exposure compensation now that I can just turn a dial for it and see the change happen in the viewfinder screen. The shutter release button is elevated above the compensation dial, which is a necessary thing to reach it. Not as good as the large-grip bodies. I will also try out a soft-touch shutter button on there. That is incoming with the USB-C charger. The camera would be better with a 2nd function button in front. I mildly miss the User Mode settings of the Z5 and others. I did not use them much on the Z5, but with the extra stuff you may be activating for specific needs that you did not have with the older cameras, some form of User Mode memory would be welcome. Even if it was buried in the menu system.

The is a lever located under the Shutter speed dial for selecting video-photo-B/W. I am liking the rapid swich to B/W color profile mode a lot. Custom color profiles have been a thing in Nikon since at least my D7000. But it got much easier to access in Z-bodies. It only applies the profile to JPG's but that kind of works when dealing with B/W photos. With seeing the scene in monochrome in the live-view, it is easy to dial in the photo in camera at capture.

The reviews I have followed all mention the EVF is not the best one Nikon has, but trading-up from the Z5 it is a significant improvement. There are more and better display options to use. I now have the artifical-horizon level and histogram graph displayed full-time. God knows how many photos I had to rotate to straight in post because I cannot hold the body level. I want to be better. The flip-out screen I am kind of neutral on. I do like the older rotating up-down screens of older bodies, but now I must flip the screen out to do that. I'm usually on tripod when doing that, so not huge, just more to do.

I'm not in love with the placement of the tripod threaded mount. It is very far forward and pretty close to the battery/card hatch hinge. A normal Arca dovetail plate interferes with the battery hatch and extends forward beyond the body by a significant amount. This is why I am buying the Smallrig grip, it gives a neat dovetail for an Arca tripod clamp and allows use of the battery hatch. I can only find 1 proper fitted L-bracket out there to buy for a Zf. It may be something I consider yet.

No wired remote shutter release port on this. That is something I have used regularly since my D80 days. Now I must use a Bluetooth remote control or just use the SnapBridge app. I am doing the SnapBridge option. Bluetooth paired with a small amount of drama, Wi-Fi refused to connect until I sorted out the Wi-Fi security method. I think it is optimized for iPhone, I use a Motorola Android phone. Set to WPA-PSK encryption for less drama. There are advantages to using SnapBridge which include full live-view in the app for remote operation (wi-fi mode only) and the time/date syncs to the phone when connected in Bluetooth. You can embed geolocation in the photos also if you choose to since the phone can provide that.

On the inside of the camera it is mostly a Z6-II with some features that went in to the Z6-III. There are some unique things to the Zf, but I don't want to write an entire book here about that.

Some early photos using a couple of different lenses.

The robin was using an F-mount Sigma 150-600mm C lens. I still pulled eye focus hand-holding this setup without a grip attached. 3D tracking is a welcome addition since I have to go back to the my old D750 since I had that option. I was also using 15 exposures-per-second mode but not the pre-release capture. I will work my way in to that test when I get outiside of my own backyard. Manual focus is working great, and I have 2 full-manual lenses stored in the non-CPU lens data menu. The autofocus tools are there to assist with focus, locking on to an eye or object, pressing the OK button to zoom to 1:1 in the viewfinder at the focus point and you can dial in from there.

Another point of consideration for RAW files: there are 3 formats you can save as. "Lossless" is same as what has come before, then 2 lossy compressed RAW formats which are sort of new. In RAWTherapee and likely most free options for editing Nikon .NEF files, you will need to use the Lossless format. Even though the files are half the size, the software pukes trying to load.

So this turned into many more words than I envisioned. I have more to learn, I will continue to fine-tune my customization. This story will continue.

 

[BF Hammer]

It's now 2 weeks in and new accessories have arrived.

The Camera Company did not have a SmallRig Zf grip in store when I bought the camera. I decided to shop online and consider more options. Nearly did the wooden grip options, but ultimately just bought the standard SmallRig silicone(?) grip. More than having the help with telephoto lenses, I wanted a good dovetail base for mounting to my tripods/monopod. Leofoto has one with a minuscule portrait mode dovetail, but it looks very questionable using that way. But really I mostly will be using this as a way to use with a tripod and still have good access to the battery and SD card.

(apologies for not using a Nikon camera to take these photos - only Nikon options would have been infrared photos)

Something you don't see normally mentioned is the strap slot machined in the bottom plate. I likely won't be using that, but something to know.

 

[BF Hammer]

In the same order from SmallRig, I also bought leather half-case. Well, it's polyurethane fake leather with a metal base.

It comes as a kit with a rope-style neck strap. I will likely eventually deposit that strap in landfill, it looks so uncomfortably bad. But I wanted to try a half-case in brown as a way to compensate for the fact I landed with a black camera instead of a brown/black version. It was only a matter of discounts and incentives that made the all-black cost more than $550 less to me.

This version has one thing that appeals to me above other options: a rear thumb grip. It also has a front padded grip extension that I have seen on other leather covers.

Due to attachment limits, continued next post.

 

[BF Hammer]

The metal base is fairly light and gives mostly unobstructed access to the battery hatch. I was surprised by how helpful the thumbrest is. And the front padding added to the grip makes it a good option for heavy lenses. But there is no dovetail for mounting to tripods. This is the same problem with any leather half-cover I have found.

I really like the grip this gives. I just wish for real leather and it should be cut around the front buttons in a more form-following way.

I hate to admit it, but I'm still looking at a real leather option that has front grip padding.

 

[BF Hammer]

A true L-bracket option for Zf with the portrait-mode dovetail is very difficult to find. So I took to looking around for universal style L-brackets, inspired by something Hudson Henry showed in a video that he uses for his Zf. What happened is that I rediscovered this Z5 bracket I bought and rejected quickly. It has some adjustment for the attachment which is needed to fit to the Zf. But as expected it completely blocks the battery hatch from opening. So this is to be attached only as required to use. At least I can get some benefit for it 4 years later for a new camera. But the Z5 L-bracket I replaced this with was awesome and worth it.

And the bonus if you had not noticed it yet: A black-red soft shutter-release button and the bubble-level hot-shoe cover. The bubble-level is a transplant from the old Z5.

I also bought some battery charging related items since it appears that Nikon is not including a charger with newer model camera bodies. That I will show in a more generic sense in a different post since I think that can benefit more than Zf owners.

 

[Needa]

Thanks for the update. Looks like you getting outfitted the way you want.It is really too bad the half case doesn't have a mount for a tripod might save a bit of remove and reinstall. Certainly a interesting strap choice the company made. Is the level more decorative or do you find you actually use it. Have one in a drawer somewhere but just use the built in indicators when I remember.

 

[BF Hammer]

The bubble level was a bonus included with a replacement viewfinder cushion I bought a couple of years ago. Turning on a level display in the D750 and also Z5 was not convenient and did not stick. I do have the level display turned on for the ZF so it's mostly there because I have the thing.

 

[BF Hammer]

Oh boy, Spring Amazon Days happened. I bought more stuff.

What I will not bother reviewing much is the mostly-matched spec Lexar SD card and Micro-SD card. I bought Lexar Silver Series+ 128GB cards, SD card can write up to 160MB/sec and the Micro-SD card should write up to 150MB/sec. Now writing Raw+JPG to both cards (duplicated) should not be limited by a slow Micro-SD card, and capacity is identical. My test of a shooting burst of Raw+JPG 200 images at 15-per-second rate did not experience a slow down at the end. Same with a 30-per-second rate which is limited to JPG only by the camera. That is squared-away now.

Viltrox Z 28mm f/4.5 AF pancake lens was marked down to $79, and I had to get it. The idea being that I have been using a 7Artisans Z 35mm f/5.6 full-manual lens as an expensive body cap, and that has been successful in my full-kit bag. I'm excited by the idea of doing that with a little better lens. That will be reviewed in the Z-mount lens section after I get some images out of the home.

But a real leather half-cover I had been looking at was down to about $50 now. (DBZZ is seller, no brand) I do like a couple of unique features of the Smallrig cover but I am less in love overall of the fake leather and it needs to cover the body a bit better. Compare this new one to the Smallrig photos in the earlier post.

I went with the coffee colored version, it could stand to be just a bit lighter shade of brown. I retain the front padded grip built in, but lose the rear thumbrest. The textured real leather (and it even has real leather smell) just grips in the fingers better. It covers the front better. The base is a rectangle instead of angling-in at the rear screen to be narrower. Leather covers the bottom, with a flexible battery access hatch. The base frame is an undetermined material. Not any metal, I don't believe it is 3D printed. It seems to be milled out of some kind of plasticized pressboard.

The attachment screw is loose and can be lost, so care in removal is needed. The cutout of the screw hole is a little too tight to the screw and makes it difficult to get a fingernail in there to pull up the "handle" to remove. The hatch secures well, but the cutout of the hole is basically vertical where the Smallrig has a beveled edge of that opening in the metal frame. That gives a couple more millimeters of space for sticking in fingers.

The rear edge of the leather where the thumb sits gives a place to grip. It's not as great as the Smallrig, but it does work better than no leather cover at all. One of the 2 Amazon reviews complained about the leather is too tight to the control wheels in front and rear. I see that reviewers point, but I can operate the rear wheel no issue, and minor obstruction in front. Ideally the leather would be cut down 1.5mm shorter for that. But this is the half-case I should have bought first. At least the Smallrig case was even less expensive than this.

 

[BF Hammer]

I did edit/create my own B/W Picture Control recipe on camera. I just modified the existing "Monochrome" and gave it a red digital filter and increased contrast. Then I downloaded a couple of recipes to the camera from Nikon Cloud and gave "Vintage Film" a try.

First the standard color profile to compare the scene.

My customized B/W picture control.

And the Vintage Film picture control. Does look like a print from 1970's film.

 

[Burt]

I just read the entire thread, and I got a question... I originally bought the Zfc mainly because of the look of the camera, (I think a lot of people did), but then the Z f comes along and while retaining the same look it is a completely different camera spec wise...

Question is: Would you sell the Zfc and get the Zf instead, considering that perhaps this is the last camera Nikon will make based on the old style?

I only have two DX lenses, so it wouldn't be so bad losing the smaller format...

 

[BF Hammer]

I have a story from 2022 about the Zfc. I had a D750 and a D7000 then and was looking to trade the D7000 for something else. Maybe something fun as I was using the D750 as the primary camera and I liked it. I had mixed feelings about the state of Nikon in general then. I actually started to consider a Fuji X series. But prices even used were off-putting. Researching I found the Zfc, and also the old Df. Used Df models were still kind of hard to find and expensive. Their owners did not give them up. But I went to the local camera store to investigate the Zfc and this new mirrorless format.

I was kind of hooked on the retro style. I kept having a nagging misgiving about buying another DX format camera. Also the package felt kind of plastic to me. The whole style-substance balance did not feel right. I was looking at different lenses for the format, a different kind of battery, and it was just not adding up for me. But next to that Zfc was the then-new Z5. I went home to dig into the specs and reviews. Really, it was mostly the specs of the D750 in a mirrorless form, minus some stuff. With instant rebates, it was similar pricing to the Zfc, and I would then finally be fully in full-frame format and I could ditch all of the DX lenses also in the trade-in, That was my commitment to full-frame bodies and the beginning of transitioning slowly to using mirrorless.

I'm not sure the Zf is going to be the "last" retro style. The Zfc still sells well in Japan where the retro style designs are really the hottest market. but I don't believe the Zfc or Zf will get updated as often as the other bodies. They may not produce another updated Zfc until later in the design process of the Z50-III and just test the new features in the retro body for the market. Not dissimilar to how the Zf preceded the Z6-III.

My personal decision was based on sensor format and getting updated features. I still stand by my statement way at the beginning of this thread in that I am destined to buy a next generation Z8 body in the future after I get my Z lens kit updated to the pro-level glass. I want this Zf to be a more fun alternative backup body. But that is perhaps 4 years in the future, in the meantime it is my only camera.

The Zf is heavy from the extra brass and magnesium used in the construction. I remember your comment a while ago complaining about extra weight of lenses while walking. You are trading off weight for features going to the Zf. It's up to you to decide if that is right.

 

[Burt]

Thanks BF for that... You just took me out of buying another camera, as I don't really need it and yes the weight it is always a concern..

I will definitely wait to see if the Z7III appears on the market while enjoying the Z7II...

 

[BF Hammer]

I bought new bling-bling for the Zf. Off with the bubble level on the hotshoe and a different soft-shutter button. Now I match.

This matched brass set came from a seller on Etsy. There are a few other Nikon-specific options including different metals. But the Fuji and Leica owners have dozens of different designs to customize with. I'm a bit jealous.

 

[Burt]

Very nice button...

PS I thought I was having dust problems...