Hello :)

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Sabrina Burns

New member
Hello, I’m new here!

I started my photography journey with a D3400, Nikon 18-55mm kit lens and a Nikon 70-300mm zoom about 6-7 years ago….. and I was hooked straight away! I’m very into wildlife photography but also love aviation :) it wasn’t long before I wanted more reach, and not long after, an upgraded camera body.

So for the last 5 years, I’ve been using a D500 with a Sigma 150-600mm contemporary lens (unfortunately I just don’t have the disposable income for a Nikkor telephoto!!). All equipment has been bought used, but all in like new condition. An amazing friend bought me a Nikkor 10-20mm landscape lens, and a work colleague sold me very cheaply her Nikkor 105mm macro that she never used! I have loved this set up and haven’t had any desire to go mirrorless, but just longed for silent photography for some of my subjects!

The very same amazing friend then decided to surprise me with a second hand, like new, Z6 in February …. He’s a canon user so has no clue when it comes to Nikon, so was researching which body might be a good starting point for Nikon mirrorless. He also bought me the FTZ ii mount adapter so I could still use all my f mount lenses.
It’s taken me a while to get used to the focus when using the Sigma lens, which I’m finding slower than the D500. But I LOVE that it’s silent! I love photographing hares and it really helps if they don’t know you’re there! I’ll attach one I took recently :)

I’m currently having some trouble which has started in the last couple of weeks though, so I’ll make a separate post for that :) hoping someone will be able to help as I’m a bit baffled!
 

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hark

hark

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Hello and welcome! If I'm not mistaken, your 70-300mm lens is probably f/5.6 at its widest when zoomed out while the Sigma I *think* is f/6.3 That means the Sigma shouldn't focus quite as fast due to being a slightly slower aperture.

Not sure if the Sigma can connect to the Sigma dock for firmware updates, but it's possible that lens might need a firmware update to be fully compatible with the Z6.
 
BF Hammer

BF Hammer

Senior Member
hark said:
Hello and welcome! If I'm not mistaken, your 70-300mm lens is probably f/5.6 at its widest when zoomed out while the Sigma I *think* is f/6.3 That means the Sigma shouldn't focus quite as fast due to being a slightly slower aperture.

Not sure if the Sigma can connect to the Sigma dock for firmware updates, but it's possible that lens might need a firmware update to be fully compatible with the Z6.
Click to expand...
That does dock, but the latest Nikon version firmware is very old now, before Z-series. The Canon mount versions have had several firmware updates. Apparently more trouble with those.
 
Clovishound

Clovishound

Senior Member
Actually, the Z6 may autofocus slower than the D500. I was not happy with the performance of the AF of either the Z5 or Z7ii for moving wildlife, such as birds in flight. Full disclosure, I have no experience with the D500, so I am going by experiences I hear from other users. The D500 has long been regarded as one of Nikon's best wildlife cameras, although the newest higher end Z cameras are likely an upgrade. Of course, you are also losing some reach with the full frame Z6 over the crop frame d500, although the 6 probably has less noise in low light, and many other useful features.

I can say that the AF of the newer Z cameras using the Expeed 7 processor is excellent. Even my daughter's Z50ii has great AF capabilities, especially in a relatively inexpensive camera body. The AF in the higher end Zs is phenomenal IMO.
 
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Sabrina Burns

New member
hark said:
Hello and welcome! If I'm not mistaken, your 70-300mm lens is probably f/5.6 at its widest when zoomed out while the Sigma I *think* is f/6.3 That means the Sigma shouldn't focus quite as fast due to being a slightly slower aperture.

Not sure if the Sigma can connect to the Sigma dock for firmware updates, but it's possible that lens might need a firmware update to be fully compatible with the Z6.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the welcome!

I attached the sigma lens to the dock as I was certain that was the issue, but they haven’t released any updates since 2019…. I did an update when I first got the ones so it’s still fully up to date!
 
S

Sabrina Burns

New member
Clovishound said:
Actually, the Z6 may autofocus slower than the D500. I was not happy with the performance of the AF of either the Z5 or Z7ii for moving wildlife, such as birds in flight. Full disclosure, I have no experience with the D500, so I am going by experiences I hear from other users. The D500 has long been regarded as one of Nikon's best wildlife cameras, although the newest higher end Z cameras are likely an upgrade. Of course, you are also losing some reach with the full frame Z6 over the crop frame d500, although the 6 probably has less noise in low light, and many other useful features.

I can say that the AF of the newer Z cameras using the Expeed 7 processor is excellent. Even my daughter's Z50ii has great AF capabilities, especially in a relatively inexpensive camera body. The AF in the higher end Zs is phenomenal IMO.
Click to expand...
The D500 is an incredible camera, and the Z6 definitely focuses slower like you say. I find I miss more shots than I did with the D500, but I’m often happier with the ones I do get 🤷🏻‍♀️ so swings and roundabouts!

I’ve seriously considered going back to a D500, but I’d feel terrible for my friend who bought me the Z6 in the first place….. and I now don’t want to give up the silent photography!! 😂
 
Clovishound

Clovishound

Senior Member
I made the move to mirrorless a couple years ago from a D3400. There were no regrets. I did become a little frustrated with the autofocus when I started taking a lot of wildlife photos. I ended up replacing my Z5 with a Z7ii last year when it went on sale with a huge discount. I still was unhappy with the AF when I had a windfall earlier this year and bought a Z8. It wasn't cheap, but I have been extremely happy with it. Initial impressions of my daughter's new Z50ii is that it has very good AF capabilities.

Besides AF, the mirrorless line has lots of great features that I would not want to live without. You mentioned having a 105 micro lens. I shot a lot of macro and find that the focus peaking feature of the mirrorless is extremely helpful in manual focusing. Autofocus, with any camera, on very close up macro work is very frustrating, unless you have a rock solid subject, and are shooting with a tripod. Other features can be very helpful, such as IBIS (available on all the full frame Zs), histograms and pre-release capture.

One of the big draws for me is the quality of the Z mount lenses. I have been extremely happy with the Z lenses I have purchased. Between advances in optics over the last several years, and the flexibility the designers have with the larger Z mount, the mirrorless lenses are definitely a cut above.

I realize not everyone has the ability to run out and buy all the latest, greatest equipment, but when making future purchases, keep in mind that Nikon, as well as all the other manufacturers, have stopped development of DSLR cameras and lenses. They keep dropping more and more of them from their line of new equipment, and before long the only way to get anything in the DSLR world is gong to be on the used market.
 
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