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Mirrorless Z
Z8
9 months with the Z8
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<blockquote data-quote="Clovishound" data-source="post: 840890" data-attributes="member: 50197"><p>It's been 9 months since I, rather unexpectedly, ended up with a Z8. I thought it might be time to give an update on my experience with it.</p><p></p><p>Despite having to carefully budget my hobby money for most of my life, I have been fortunate enough to have used a few exceptional cameras. My dad's Rollei 3.5F and Mamiya M645 come to mind. IMO, the Z8 surpasses them in everything except long term dependability. I would give a lot to have an afternoon with my dad showing him what this tech marvel can do. </p><p></p><p>I have little, if anything bad to say about it.</p><p></p><p>The AF is the main reason I bought this camera and, while not perfect, it has met my expectations, and often exceeded them. I cannot say the same for my Z7ii, which is an otherwise very good camera. I occasionally have trouble locking on to a moving subject, but when it does lock, it normally tracks very well, only rarely locking onto something in the foreground or background, and frequently locking back on the initial subject. The bird object detection is very good and usually locks on the eye of the bird and stays there. When not shooting macro, I mostly use my 200-500 with an FTZ, so I am hoping the Z 180-600 that is sitting under the Christmas tree will improve the speed and accuracy of tracking.</p><p></p><p>I find the array of features to be almost mind boggling. There are a few that I have found useful to extremely useful. The pre-release capture is something I use sparingly, but when needed, it allows me to do things I cannot do otherwise. I am glad to see that other models are starting to incorporate this feature. Even my daughter's new Z50ii has it. Focus peaking is available on most, if not all, Z cameras and this is another great tool for macro, or difficult focusing situations with static subjects. The EVF and backscreen are both very sharp and bright. Battery life is acceptable, the large files do eat up battery power. Most outings I am able to get through without a battery change. On a few occasions during exceptionally heavy shooting, I have had the CF Express card overheat, and give me a "Hot Card" warning in the display. It usually cools down within a few minutes without use.</p><p></p><p>Other things I like are the 20fps continuous mode, which can be increased up to a mind boggling 120fps in JPEG format. The control layout is very good, although I do have issues with the playback button being in a different location than my 7ii. I often leave my 7ii setup up for macro and at my age it's tough to compartmentalize between the two. I find that I am using my Z8 more often for macro after discovering that the AF works pretty well for a lot of macro subjects. Of course, the 46 MP stacked sensor makes for images with tons of resolution that can be "cropped without fear".</p><p></p><p>I am not one who believes that the camera makes the photographer, but I have found that the size and weight of this camera instill a confidence in me that makes me want to go out and use it more, and may even push me to push harder to improve my images.</p><p></p><p>I know that this is an expensive camera, that not everyone can afford or justify the expense. Nonetheless, I believe it will allow you to do things that are difficult to impossible to do with many other cameras in Nikon's line, and I am proud to own one.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Clovishound, post: 840890, member: 50197"] It's been 9 months since I, rather unexpectedly, ended up with a Z8. I thought it might be time to give an update on my experience with it. Despite having to carefully budget my hobby money for most of my life, I have been fortunate enough to have used a few exceptional cameras. My dad's Rollei 3.5F and Mamiya M645 come to mind. IMO, the Z8 surpasses them in everything except long term dependability. I would give a lot to have an afternoon with my dad showing him what this tech marvel can do. I have little, if anything bad to say about it. The AF is the main reason I bought this camera and, while not perfect, it has met my expectations, and often exceeded them. I cannot say the same for my Z7ii, which is an otherwise very good camera. I occasionally have trouble locking on to a moving subject, but when it does lock, it normally tracks very well, only rarely locking onto something in the foreground or background, and frequently locking back on the initial subject. The bird object detection is very good and usually locks on the eye of the bird and stays there. When not shooting macro, I mostly use my 200-500 with an FTZ, so I am hoping the Z 180-600 that is sitting under the Christmas tree will improve the speed and accuracy of tracking. I find the array of features to be almost mind boggling. There are a few that I have found useful to extremely useful. The pre-release capture is something I use sparingly, but when needed, it allows me to do things I cannot do otherwise. I am glad to see that other models are starting to incorporate this feature. Even my daughter's new Z50ii has it. Focus peaking is available on most, if not all, Z cameras and this is another great tool for macro, or difficult focusing situations with static subjects. The EVF and backscreen are both very sharp and bright. Battery life is acceptable, the large files do eat up battery power. Most outings I am able to get through without a battery change. On a few occasions during exceptionally heavy shooting, I have had the CF Express card overheat, and give me a "Hot Card" warning in the display. It usually cools down within a few minutes without use. Other things I like are the 20fps continuous mode, which can be increased up to a mind boggling 120fps in JPEG format. The control layout is very good, although I do have issues with the playback button being in a different location than my 7ii. I often leave my 7ii setup up for macro and at my age it's tough to compartmentalize between the two. I find that I am using my Z8 more often for macro after discovering that the AF works pretty well for a lot of macro subjects. Of course, the 46 MP stacked sensor makes for images with tons of resolution that can be "cropped without fear". I am not one who believes that the camera makes the photographer, but I have found that the size and weight of this camera instill a confidence in me that makes me want to go out and use it more, and may even push me to push harder to improve my images. I know that this is an expensive camera, that not everyone can afford or justify the expense. Nonetheless, I believe it will allow you to do things that are difficult to impossible to do with many other cameras in Nikon's line, and I am proud to own one. [/QUOTE]
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Mirrorless Z
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9 months with the Z8
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