Z6ii FX vs DX ??

Do any of you use DX mode much or have you just been sticking with FX? Would be a rare occasion for me to do enlargements; and then I don't think it would be very big. Have been more likely in the past to do some cropping to eliminate un-needed/distracting portions of shots and go from there. Photos typically for my use/fun; and stored on my computer; rarely actually print one. I am looking forward to the low light benefits of FX. Thanks.

I have a Z5 with a nearly identical sensor. OK, it doesn't have the backlit feature, but that only makes a difference in low light conditions.

Anyway, I have tried mine in DX mode. The only reasons I could see for using it is, number one, to use a DX lens. Actually, you don't have a choice here, I believe it automatically switches to DX mode with a DX lens installed, and won't let you choose. The number two reason would be to take advantage of the 1.5 crop factor. What I ended up discovering was that there was no real difference in quality between using the DX mode and cropping the FX image in post processing to match magnification. I did find the DX mode images had more detail than I expected.

There did seem to be an increase in using the same FX lens on a crop frame camera of the same MP rating.

I compared some 500mm images using my 200-500mm F mount lens on the Z5 with FTZ adapter and cropping them to match an effective 750mm image. I then took pictures of the same subject using the same lens on my D3400 (24 MP crop sensor). Comparing the two, the D3400 seemed to have a slight edge in resolution.

Bottom line, I don't see any need for me to use DX mode. I am open to differing opinions.

Its probably a much more powerful feature on the pixel heavy Z7, but I find it a very useful feature even on the Z6. Recently went on vacation, 24-200 lens mostly lived on the Z6. When I needed more reach for a shot I knew I'd be cropping into anyways, the dx mode came in very useful. But its very frustrating to get a bunch of shots only to realize the camera is still set to DX mode. I find it's best to switch to DX for the photo its needed for and then switch right back to FX, especially if planning on printing larger than 8x10. If the photos are to stay on the computer or even printed small, I don't see much difference. It's probably most useful shooting video though. There is quite the range available with my favorite video lens, the 14-30 f4S using both FX and DX modes. I'll typically shoot video with this lens in the reverse, that is in DX video mode and then switch to FX if wider is needed and I don't notice any difference in video mode.

Camera Fun said:

Do any of you use DX mode much or have you just been sticking with FX? Would be a rare occasion for me to do enlargements; and then I don't think it would be very big. Have been more likely in the past to do some cropping to eliminate un-needed/distracting portions of shots and go from there. Photos typically for my use/fun; and stored on my computer; rarely actually print one. I am looking forward to the low light benefits of FX. Thanks.

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Do you do post processing at all? I simply crop as needed since changing from DX only to FX only. I had a DX body for a couple of years as backup, but really I saw no great benefit. I tried putting a DX lens on my D750, but I did not like the limitation. Last of my DX lenses were traded in at the same time as my D7000.

Basically, unless it is an extreme too-wide photo, cropping is mostly an option for any photo.

BF Hammer said:

Do you do post processing at all? I simply crop as needed since changing from DX only to FX only. I had a DX body for a couple of years as backup, but really I saw no great benefit. I tried putting a DX lens on my D750, but I did not like the limitation. Last of my DX lenses were traded in at the same time as my D7000.

Basically, unless it is an extreme too-wide photo, cropping is mostly an option for any photo.

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I will do some post-processing in LightRoom. Nothing too advanced though. I had started shooting Raw to card 1 and jpeg to card 2 with my old D7000.

Using an FX lens on a DX camera works great. I love my FX Sigma 150-600 Lens on my D7200 camera. However, using a DX lens on a FX camera is not really impressive at all.

Bikerbrent said:

Using an FX lens on a DX camera works great. I love my FX Sigma 150-600 Lens on my D7200 camera. However, using a DX lens on a FX camera is not really impressive at all.

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I had different experience: when using AF-P 70-300mm DX with z6ii, almost all kinds of shot, especially moon, the result is much better than with DX body D3500. I believe it counts much heavily on body side, not DX or FX.

OK! Apparently, good FX lens work well on all Nikon Cameras

I'm looking at a shelf with 7 camera bodies and probably 50 lenses... None are DX

I will only use FX lenses on my Z6ii. From the answers and other research, it doesn't seem that DX mode with an FX lens will really make a difference for my needs given the quality of the new camera; other than maybe the crop mode view for some situations. However, I would be the guy to forget that I had changed modes.

With my Z6 I have only FX lenses but occasionally I switch to DX mode, when I'm taking a photo of a small object, that is small in the viewfinder. In DX mode the view gets bigger in the viewfinder so I can see the object better. Otherwise I only use FX and crop in post.

Good to know, Paliswe.