Two Months With The Z6

Danno

Senior Member
I realized today that I have had my Z6 for about two months, and I have to say I have been more than pleased with this camera. It has been nothing sort of amazing to me. I came into the year planning to upgrade my full frame camera, and I was torn between the 750 and the 850.

The 750 made sense from the low light performance I had seen demonstrate here but the 850 had some new tech that I was interested in. There was also the concern about the shutter problems with the 750 so I was in a quandary just saving my pennies trying to decide. When the Z6 I did look at it briefly because it looked like it should have the low light performance of the 750 and the tech that the 850 had, but after all the influencers got done trashing it I decided to save my pennies until I could afford an 850 or they came up with an upgrade to the 750.

Everyone talked about how bad the Z6 was and how poor the focus was and how bad the white balance was and on and on. But then a buddy of mine bought the Z7 and it turned out that it was not as much bad as it was different. In fact it was really a great camera. The white balance has a mess of presets in the Auto mode and if you read the manual you can pick one that best meet the location. The focus does have some issues, but it is nothing like some described. The face tracking works in low light like an event. My friend showed me his Z7 and I looked in the view finder and I was sold.

I admit that I do not really do birds in flight like some folks where the bird is fly straight at you or anything like that, but I did have good success tracking Jersey Girl, our Boarder Terrier, running straight at me. Most of my photos are landscapes, sunrises, moons, old barns flowers and buildings with some birds and animals. But I have to say I have really enjoyed the Z 6. So much so that if someone asked me about upgrading to full frame I would not hesitate to recommend the Z6 or Z7. They are amazing.

The IBIS blows my mind. I can take hand held shots down to 1/10 and have a sharp photo. Low light with the Z6 is so good that I have no issue setting Auto ISO max to 8000. I am also exited about the focus stacking, although I have not had a chance to play with that. The other thing that excites me is that they will be able to make improvements to this anytime they like with firmware updates. The first big one comes May 16. I will tell you the face tracking is pretty cool. I think if the Eye tracking is better I will be amazed.

I apologize for this long post but I really like this camera. There are only to last points. If you are thinking about upgrading to full frame or just to mirrorless you should look at the Z systems. The other thing... If you are and you you allow the naysayers to get into your head rent one of the Z camer bodies before you decide. Most of the naysayers have back peddled a bit the only ones that have not are the ones filled with to much pride to acknowledge that they didn't even check out the manual before they tried it out or made their video recommending the best settings for the Z 6 and 7.
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Glade you are happy with your new Z6. It seems like a fantastic camera for general photography. Unfortunately it is not all that I would look for in an upgrade. I will wait for a little better battery life, a little better focusing, particularly with some of my existing lenses and frankly a better memory card option than the a single XQD card (I have been spoiled with the dual card option and am scared of the future availability of the XQD cards).
 

Roy1961

Senior Member
Contributor
i am glad its a good fit you you Danno, it will be interesting to see what the upgrades do?

I have a friend in work sold all his Nikon gear and bought a Mirrorless, Sony i believe?? he loves it.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
A lot of the knocking of the Z series was from DSLR owners who feel the misguided need to protect their own position,you see these people all the time on forums, mirrorless any make is still short of DSLRs ability to catch things like BIF,i get the feeling though its not the end of the world.
The reasons the Z series dont form my current system are, price,availability of long lenses and the fact that it would still be too big and heavy for me with a long lens on, rumors keep popping up that Nikon may resurrect the 1 series, that i would be on to.
 

Danno

Senior Member
A lot of the knocking of the Z series was from DSLR owners who feel the misguided need to protect their own position,you see these people all the time on forums, mirrorless any make is still short of DSLRs ability to catch things like BIF,i get the feeling though its not the end of the world.
The reasons the Z series dont form my current system are, price,availability of long lenses and the fact that it would still be too big and heavy for me with a long lens on, rumors keep popping up that Nikon may resurrect the 1 series, that i would be on to.

I can surely see that Mike. It is lighter, but until they get some longer reach native lenses it would be tough to justify the price. You would still have to use the FTZ adapter and you would give up a lot of reach coming from a micro four thirds to a full frame.
 

Needa

Senior Member
Challenge Team
I too am considering upgrading. Currently shooting a d7100. Have been also considering the 750 and Z6. The 850 is off the table just don't want the file size. The shutter problems are a consideration here also. For me tracking is not an issue , nor is the single card. Low light is an important consideration here. Guess the biggest concerns for are the Z6 is cost and long term reliability. Maybe I'll just take up whittling. :)
 

nikonpup

Senior Member
I have not had a problem with my D750 shutter (2 years old). I have not seem new recalls on the shutter, I think it is no longer a problem.
 

Danno

Senior Member
I too am considering upgrading. Currently shooting a d7100. Have been also considering the 750 and Z6. The 850 is off the table just don't want the file size. The shutter problems are a consideration here also. For me tracking is not an issue , nor is the single card. Low light is an important consideration here. Guess the biggest concerns for are the Z6 is cost and long term reliability. Maybe I'll just take up whittling. :)

Needa, I would suggest you give the Z6 a try. I was shocked by how much I like it. It took some getting used to it, and I had to spend some time in the manual to get used to the focus, but it was time well spent. It sounds like you are in the same boat as I was. The 750 made me a little uneasy as well. I thought about waiting until they replaced the 750, but than I tried the Z 6 and it was all over at that point. The first try with the WYSIWYG EVF and the histogram in the viewfinder and I was hooked. That was before I even tried to understand the focus system.

I think you would like it The price is a bear because in addition to the camera you have to get the FTZ adapter, a reader and the XQD card. I will say this... If you get the kit with the 24-70 f4 it is not like a typical kit lens. It is a very sharp lens. I am at this point to start selling DSLR stuff and start replacing it with Z glass and such. Not quite there yet, but getting closer.
 

spb_stan

Senior Member
From reports by the techs who have taken apart the Z6/7 to check sealing and construction the consensus has been been that it was the best built of the current corp of cameras..It sure feels solid and confidence inspiring. I originally bought a Z7 after the first of the year but traded it for a Z6 when they first became available here. I felt I had more need of a high gain camera with smaller files as a general purpose camera for walking around and travel. I have really enjoyed it so much my D850 and D800 sit on the shelf and even commercial shoots I have been doing with the Z6. For one thing, in AF-S mode is focuses more accurately than DSLRs even such good ones as the D850 because of the variability of lens fine tuning. If I place the focus point on an eye, the Z6 nails it every time.
The bad reviews at first caused a number of youtube "gurus" to lose a lot of credibility. Very few of them are actually knowledgeable or even decent photographers. There are very few who's opinion I would rank about the average guy on the street.The false hysteria over the single XQD just shows how ill-informed they are about the significantly higher Mean Time Between Failure for the whole card system, preferring two very unreliable non-error correcting failure prone SD card. The difference between the data protocol of the PCIe+ bus of the Nikon Z cameras is like preferring 2 5.25in floppy disks than 1 PCIe+ SSD.
This last Monday I did a session in a home with a bunch of speedlights, sort of a glamour session and I took the D850 and D800. The 800 might be old in digital years but I still really like the color and it is a sweet spot in the resolution range. The client liked them but when I pixel peeped it was obvious there were a lot of frames with weak eye focus that would not have happened with the Z6. I called a friend who was envious of my D850 and offered it to him as fair price and he accepted it. I figured I should sell it before a new model comes out and crashes the used market. The plan is to get another Z7 for the studio and environmental portraits and catalog shooting so I can justify investing in the new pro glass coming out now in Z mount. The future of Nikon is definitely the Z mount, every lens out so far, despite the modest prices, it the sharpest len available at that FL. The 50 1.8 S and 24-70 f/4 are just too good to replace any time soon. I have the 35 1.8 which is also class leading but it is not a FL I use much. Maybe next week I will get a body only, I don't need two FTZ adaptor. I am not sure there will be any rush for long lenses on the Z mount because the distinct optical advantage of the Zmount mid and wide angle shines through. The D850 is the best and only camera I ever sold.
The AF upgrade this month has been separated from the upgrade of the CF Express that might happen next month after the first CFExpress cards are out on the market. Maybe I will get a used D850 after a new one is released when the price drops. It is a very good camera but for what I do, a Z6 paired with a Z7 and Z mount lenses are the future proofing that Nikon claimed before they were released. The plain fact is, after using the lower cost Z mount lenses it is obvious the F mount is go going to be phased out. For long glass however the advantages of the Z are less, but still present. The mid and wide range is where the advantages are dramatic.
 

Nero

Senior Member
I'm glad you have enjoyed your Z6 so much. After spending some time thinking about it, I've decided to upgrade to the Z6 instead of a new DSLR. I've heard so many good things about this camera.
 

Danno

Senior Member
I'm glad you have enjoyed your Z6 so much. After spending some time thinking about it, I've decided to upgrade to the Z6 instead of a new DSLR. I've heard so many good things about this camera.

I really think you will like it @Nero. It is a nice system. I went with the kit that included the ZTF adapter and the 24-70 f4 lens. I followed that pretty quickly with the purchase of the 50mm f1.8 S lens. I have not been disappointed.

This camera has some different focus modes and some buttons on the side of the viewfinder and for the display that you should play with. The EVF will blow you away and so will low light performance.

Congratulations on your decisson
 

Nero

Senior Member
I really think you will like it @Nero. It is a nice system. I went with the kit that included the ZTF adapter and the 24-70 f4 lens. I followed that pretty quickly with the purchase of the 50mm f1.8 S lens. I have not been disappointed.

This camera has some different focus modes and some buttons on the side of the viewfinder and for the display that you should play with. The EVF will blow you away and so will low light performance.

Congratulations on your decisson
I'm thinking about getting the camera+kit lens bundle and then saving up for the adapter after. The fact that it's full frame plus the lens's focal range means i can shoot most of what I usually shoot with that alone until I can get the adapter. The 50mm f/1.8 looks amazing but it's expensive for what it is.
 

Danno

Senior Member
I'm thinking about getting the camera+kit lens bundle and then saving up for the adapter after. The fact that it's full frame plus the lens's focal range means i can shoot most of what I usually shoot with that alone until I can get the adapter. The 50mm f/1.8 looks amazing but it's expensive for what it is.

That ts not a bad approach. The 24-70 f4 stays on my Z6 most of the time. I use te adapter quite a bit but it still is less than the Z lenses.
 

Danno

Senior Member
Yeah. I'd love to get the f/2.8 version but it's way too expensive.

I think if I get a 2.8 lens it will be the 70-200 lens. My Tamron G2 sees a lot of use on my Z6 too but it is heavy. I know the Z version will not be significantly lighter, but i would expect a slight reduction.
 

Nero

Senior Member
Financially speaking, I'd rather get the adapter and use my f-mount lenses until I can slowly transfer to all Z-mount lenses.
 

Danno

Senior Member
Financially speaking, I'd rather get the adapter and use my f-mount lenses until I can slowly transfer to all Z-mount lenses.
I bought the 24-70 f4 and FTZ adapter kit with my Z6. I bought the 50 f1.8 a week later.

I use the adapter for the 70-200 f2.8 Tamron G2 and Nikon 14-24 f 2.8. But I am thinking about selling the 14-24 to buy the 14-30 f4. I really like the S lenses.

I really enjoy this camera.
 
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