DP Review of Z7II

[DavidT]

I found this to be a fairly honest review.

one take away is they focused on the camera as a whole and not one singular feature such as eye tracking. Most you tubers like to focus on one thing such as eye AF and pick and choose good and bad cameras on the one feature. They fail to look at the camera as a whole and what the entire experience is such as dynamic range etc. I think Nikon is headed in the right direction.

 

[FB101]

I agree, those guys usually strike a good balance in their reviews. Neither being a sport or wildlife photographer I take the comments on action photography with a bit of caution until we hear from real experts in that field, but I am a real fan of Chris’ street and portrait photography and I am sure his assessment is spot on for those genres.

I’ve also been watching Ray Hennesy’s real time videos he does with the z6ii as he records a live feed from the camera as he is shooting birds. It’s very interesting because you can see the camera “misses” on AF acquisition but they aren’t that frequent. But he doesn’t shoot BIF... his style is far more deliberate; who knows what the hit rate would be on a swallow in flight. He also never moves the AF sensor from center in those videos - I wonder if he’s had issues with side sensors.

Anyway, looking forward to Steve’s findings.

 

[Anjin San]

Anyway, looking forward to Steve’s findings.

Me too...but as I saw on a review yesterday by Steve Mattheis as he reminded us that all styles are different as are reviews, requirements, and opinions...he specifically recommended watching and reading multiple reviews by different respected people to get a broader opinion...what we used to call the fleet average back in my Navy days. Like all of us here...I like Steve’s work but it should not be the only opinion we use for decision making...and I suspect he would agree with that completely. BIF are important but only a small fraction of my bird photos are in flight so optimizing solely for that might not be the best idea...hence my other thread on the Z6II. S the 7II.

 

[Strodav]

Thanks for sharing. I trust DPReview and, as you, believe they did a well balanced, reasonably thorough, review. Personally, I have come to the conclusion that there is no compelling reason to move from my D850 to a Z7ii. I am also concerned for Nikon missing the boat on the viewfinder display resolution and speed as well as still being behind in (animal) eye detection and tracking. I am pleased that DPReview recognizes the industry leading dynamic range and depth of color that Nikon builds into it's cameras.

 

[Niels.hr.Hansen]

As for all other subject it will be of value to listen to several independent sources. They all tend to have blind spots and favorite issues.
I know I have a blind spot when looking for a new camera. How can I reuse the stock of lenses I have? To me it would be awfully expensive to buy a SoCan body

 

[Steve]

As for all other subject it will be of value to listen to several independent sources. They all tend to have blind spots and favorite issues.
I know I have a blind spot when looking for a new camera. How can I reuse the stock of lenses I have? To me it would be awfully expensive to buy a SoCan body

My thought on that is we're all going to end up with new lenses anyway. Even though I have a ton of Nikon glass, I find myself replacing it with the Z mount glass as I go along. When the big guns come out, I may replace those as well. The F mount glass just isn't as fast on the Z cameras with the adapter as it is on the F-mount bodies (1/2 speed in general). So, the way I look at it, if I'm going to replace all my glass anyway, I might as well look at all the options Heck, I'm thinking of renting a Canon soon!

 

[Otto]

Originally I obtained the z6ii for it's ability to shoot at least 100 images in one burst. 10-12 per second I think. That's nice, except the focus tracking for BIF is not that good (could be that I'm using the 200-500mm F5.6 with it) I use it more for video now and some macro work. I was going to give my D850 for a Z7ii, I'm glad now I stopped myself. To be honest I fell 'victim' to the marketing hype. I'm quite happy with the results I'm getting from my D850. I don't even have the speed boosting battery grip, maybe I'll get a third party grip that does the same thing for less.

In any case I've resolved to really get the most of what I have for at least a year more. Committed to shooting three to four times a week and really improve my photographic technique. Breathing and slowing down being one of them. In order to get my exercise (crawling and walking) and to keep myself accountable to this goal I will create a thread where I will post failures and successes from this three day a week sonata.

I have to earn the right to a new lens and new camera. This is just a decision for me, everyone else proceed at your own pace

 

[RockvilleBob]

My thought on that is we're all going to end up with new lenses anyway. Even though I have a ton of Nikon glass, I find myself replacing it with the Z mount glass as I go along. When the big guns come out, I may replace those as well. The F mount glass just isn't as fast on the Z cameras with the adapter as it is on the F-mount bodies (1/2 speed in general). So, the way I look at it, if I'm going to replace all my glass anyway, I might as well look at all the options Heck, I'm thinking of renting a Canon soon!

Excellent point Steve. I am hoping Nikon addresses this FTZ adapter fault when the Z9 is introduced by introducing a new adapter. A new adapter makes sense if Nikon wants to encourage their users to stay with Nikon.

 

[Venkatesh VT]

My thought on that is we're all going to end up with new lenses anyway. Even though I have a ton of Nikon glass, I find myself replacing it with the Z mount glass as I go along. When the big guns come out, I may replace those as well. The F mount glass just isn't as fast on the Z cameras with the adapter as it is on the F-mount bodies (1/2 speed in general). So, the way I look at it, if I'm going to replace all my glass anyway, I might as well look at all the options Heck, I'm thinking of renting a Canon soon!

Excellent point Steve. I am hoping Nikon addresses this FTZ adapter fault when the Z9 is introduced by introducing a new adapter. A new adapter makes sense if Nikon wants to encourage their users to stay with Nikon.

Very true Steve.I echo your thoughts 100 % .We need to buy gear which suits our requirement.
Before Z series came out I had D 500 and Tamrom 150 600 G2.
When I saw the reviews of Z7 I dropped the idea of Z 7 and bought D 850
Then 500 PF came along and waited for an year to get it.
I again found Z 6 ii &Z7 ll were not in the same league as D 500 & D 850.
I toyed with the idea of buying A9 ll and Sony 200 600 mm for my wife.
Good sense prevailed and I went and bought another 500 PF for my wife.
We just spent the past week birding & wild life photography ( with one day still to go) and got some very good shots.
Hence we plan to stay with Nikon DSLRs for some more time and wait and see how the mirrorless lenses and cameras evolve from various brands .

The only think that I plan to buy with out thinking is 600 PF and if Sony brings it out first I will go for it along with Sony A 9 ii.

 

[Otto]

This settles it, no lens for at least a year till I see what actually comes down the pipeline. Meanwhile I've started my lens earning venture.

 

[JANuser]

These guys also did a mirrorless shootout, comparing all the high resolution full frame mirrorless cameras. Order was 1. Sony A7r IV, 2. Canon R5, 3. Nikon Z7II, 4. Panasonic SR-1. Nikon Z7II was low on the list in just about every category, not a good sign.

 

[Pistnbroke]

Quote " Heck, I'm thinking of renting a Canon soon! "

Steve ....stand at the end where the cannonball comes out

 

[Anjin San]

Excellent point Steve. I am hoping Nikon addresses this FTZ adapter fault when the Z9 is introduced by introducing a new adapter. A new adapter makes sense if Nikon wants to encourage their users to stay with Nikon.

What would a new adapter do for us...it still needs an F mount on one end and Z on the other...and obviously it has some translation firmware inside it... it unless the engineers were dumb there should be extra space on the firmware board to install better and bigger firmware. OTOH...the firmware is doing some sort of processing...so perhaps a faster processor would make it perform better.

 

[RockvilleBob]

What would a new adapter do for us...it still needs an F mount on one end and Z on the other...and obviously it has some translation firmware inside it... it unless the engineers were dumb there should be extra space on the firmware board to install better and bigger firmware. OTOH...the firmware is doing some sort of processing...so perhaps a faster processor would make it perform better.

My understanding is the Canon equivalent of the FTZ adapter does not degrade autofocus performance but the Nikon adapter degrades autofocus performance. Why did Nikon do this? If it was just firmware I would hope Nikon, after more than two years, would have already updated the firmware to correct this issue. Perhaps it is that Nikon opted for a very minimal processor in the adapter that just takes to long to get the job done. Be it firmware , processor or something else I feel a Nikon adapter change is needed that lets F mount lenses perform at full capability. As things exist now my Nikon 500 f4 G lens will not perform up to capability on a Nikon mirrorless camera using the existing FTZ adapter. Without a new/modified adapter going to a Nikon mirrorless solution means buying new glass and under these conditions getting a SONY camera makes more sense to me given Nikon's current offerings.

 

[FB101]

3 kids through college or switching to Canon... my wife won the argument, I am staying F mount for now, but I got a D850 to get me through my “bridge years” I love my first-world problems.

 

[Steve]

My understanding is the Canon equivalent of the FTZ adapter does not degrade autofocus performance but the Nikon adapter degrades autofocus performance. Why did Nikon do this? If it was just firmware I would hope Nikon, after more than two years, would have already updated the firmware to correct this issue. Perhaps it is that Nikon opted for a very minimal processor in the adapter that just takes to long to get the job done. Be it firmware , processor or something else I feel a Nikon adapter change is needed that lets F mount lenses perform at full capability. As things exist now my Nikon 500 f4 G lens will not perform up to capability on a Nikon mirrorless camera using the existing FTZ adapter. Without a new/modified adapter going to a Nikon mirrorless solution means buying new glass and under these conditions getting a SONY camera makes more sense to me given Nikon's current offerings.

Bingo.

And I do believe it's the little processor in the FTZ that's the issue. A faster one makes a lot of sense.

 

[FB101]

My understanding is the Canon equivalent of the FTZ adapter does not degrade autofocus performance but the Nikon adapter degrades autofocus performance. Why did Nikon do this? If it was just firmware I would hope Nikon, after more than two years, would have already updated the firmware to correct this issue. Perhaps it is that Nikon opted for a very minimal processor in the adapter that just takes to long to get the job done. Be it firmware , processor or something else I feel a Nikon adapter change is needed that lets F mount lenses perform at full capability. As things exist now my Nikon 500 f4 G lens will not perform up to capability on a Nikon mirrorless camera using the existing FTZ adapter. Without a new/modified adapter going to a Nikon mirrorless solution means buying new glass and under these conditions getting a SONY camera makes more sense to me given Nikon's current offerings.

You nailed it and it’s concerning on a number of fronts. As Steve pointed out, for most canon and Nikon users, the next 5+ years means making a choice on a new mount. If Nikon AF is inferior for people and pet tracking (as it stands today), long glass doesn’t convert well because FTZ is flawed (firmware or hardware or both), ergonomics are a step down versus pro F bodies (seems mostly addressed with II versions but they are still closer to a D750 than a D850) and Nikon is giving warranty programs a serious haircut around the world, they are not giving people a compelling reason to go to Z mount. Which means that when F users want to go mirrorless, Sony or Canon will be very appealing. Nikon’s saving grace is that F mount is very competitive still, but how long will F mount users wait for Nikon to get it right?

 

[Otto]

I also have a Z to Canon adapter (Fringer EF-NZ). It produces connection errors every time I turn on the Z6ii. It takes at least three resets before it settles. After that it's OK. I've been using the Canon EF 16-35mm 2.8 L II with the combination. Mostly for video, the locking up in the beginning of use is really annoying.

 

[JANuser]

Why did Nikon do this? If it was just firmware I would hope Nikon, after more than two years, would have already updated the firmware to correct this issue.

It is called a business decision, Nikon did it on purpose. Nikon needs the revenue from sales to keep them afloat. They could have done what Canon did, but chose not to. Why? They want people to buy Z-mount lenses, not keep f-mount. People using old glass doesn’t drive profits, simple as that.

 

[FB101]

It is called a business decision, Nikon did it on purpose. Nikon needs the revenue from sales to keep them afloat. They could have done what Canon did, but chose not to. Why? They want people to buy Z-mount lenses, not keep f-mount. People using old glass doesn’t drive profits, simple as that.

Very dangerous move. By doing that they made the option of looking at Canon or Sony more enticing. People changing brands drives even less profits than folks transitioning progressively from F to Z. Worse, overwhelming the used market with used F lenses will devalue Nikon as a whole and make staying in the F mount even more enticing until it becomes unsustainable anymore. Time will tell if it is a good gamble but just reading this forum where Nikon shooters are the majority, nobody is screaming to go to Z mount and if considering mirrorless Sony is getting a much better share of mind. Now wildlife shooters are a small group, but the fact that people and pet tracking AF is not top notch either will certainly hit Nikon hard with a less specialized crowd. They may have overestimated the loyalty to the Nikon name, when the loyalty is actually to Nikon F glass, so undermining F glass with a flawed FTZ adapter may be the ultimate wrong move. Or they are financially that desperate and it doesn't matter - if it works they survive, if it doesn't, they are not worse off.
You add the pseudo cost saving measures like slashing warranty and you have to wonder what signal they want to send to loyal Nikon users?
Those Z8/9 and Z PF primes can't come soon enough to quiet the "wondering" (or put a nail in the coffin if disappointing).

 

[Steve]

It is called a business decision, Nikon did it on purpose. Nikon needs the revenue from sales to keep them afloat. They could have done what Canon did, but chose not to. Why? They want people to buy Z-mount lenses, not keep f-mount. People using old glass doesn’t drive profits, simple as that.

Sadly, I tend to think this may be true. I like to think that it's "just the way it is" with the hardware available, but it's impossible to dismiss the notion that it's a deliberate move. I agree with FB101 - if Nikon did throttle it down on purpose, they are playing a dangerous game.

 

[RockvilleBob]

Perhaps Nikon has decided to be the best value supplier instead of a leading edge technology supplier. Perhaps by selecting less than leading edge computer technology and investing less in computer software technology to address the needs of users demanding high performance in terms of bandwidth/throughput, autofocus speed and tracking, Nikon has deliberately backed off in those areas. Perhaps by doing this Nikon can address a large segment of camera users by offering the best price within a certain performance window with the goal of being the top provider in certain sectors of photography; providing the best bang for the buck in various photography segments but not all segments. I live in Delaware so wildlife equals birds. I have enough (actually far too many) pictures of birds sitting and wading so I try to focus on birds in flight. That is what led me to Nikon when the D500 was introduced. I can only surmise that photographers like me may no longer be of interest to Nikon based on the mirrorless cameras Nikon introduced todate. At this point I will switch to mirrorless at some point, I had hoped to do so two years ago when Nikon introduced their initial Z cameras. I will not purchase any additional Nikon gear until I make a decision about what mirrorless camera I will use in the future. There is nothing wrong about being the leading value supplier across many but not all areas of photography, it just may not be right for me.

 

[Otto]

In the end all of our conjectures may be true or not, time will tell, not on the board of directors of Nikon so who knows what really is happening. I found these two links that reframe the whole Nikon 'dilemma'.

Since I already have what I have I'll have to make do. I even saw one article that predicts that Nikon will be out of business this year. Really? May or may not be true. When you don't have inside information it's 50/50 is it not? Meanwhile I'll work on my photographic technique and knowledge and apply it to whatever I end up with.

Let's all go get some great images!

 

[Anjin San]

My understanding is the Canon equivalent of the FTZ adapter does not degrade autofocus performance but the Nikon adapter degrades autofocus performance. Why did Nikon do this? If it was just firmware I would hope Nikon, after more than two years, would have already updated the firmware to correct this issue. Perhaps it is that Nikon opted for a very minimal processor in the adapter that just takes to long to get the job done. Be it firmware , processor or something else I feel a Nikon adapter change is needed that lets F mount lenses perform at full capability. As things exist now my Nikon 500 f4 G lens will not perform up to capability on a Nikon mirrorless camera using the existing FTZ adapter. Without a new/modified adapter going to a Nikon mirrorless solution means buying new glass and under these conditions getting a SONY camera makes more sense to me given Nikon's current offerings.

There’s something to be said for that...but then you need all new glass unless these an adapter for Sony mount that takes F mount and doesn’t have the AF speed issues...that might very well exist but not following the Sony market I have no idea. If such a creature does exist...then perhaps I should be looking at Sony bodies as well and then slowly get Sony mount glass. Anybody know if an F to Sony mount with no loss in AF exists? Although looking at their body lineup there’s a lot more to pick from and it would need a lot of research to figure out what best meets the price to needs to wants to quality matrix...and then there’s the whole completely different men7 structure thing.

On second thought...switching just isn’t in the cards I don’t think...too much history and familiarity for a hobby shooter to try and manage two systems with all that entails. If I was starting fresh...there’s a lot to like about a potential Sony system...but like most of us this isn’t my job but my hobby and spending that kind of money doesn’t make sense for me. Steve talked in another thread about buying a second 500PF for his bride...and I would never consider that as she isn’t as into the hobby as I am.

 

[Whiskeyman]

... but just reading this forum where Nikon shooters are the majority, nobody is screaming to go to Z mount and if considering mirrorless Sony is getting a much better share of mind...

I see nothing that I need in Z-mount, nor in any other mirrorless system, that I need that doesn't exist in the DSLRs that I own. It would be nice to be able to switch just to try a new system, but I have neither that kind of disposable income, nor the inclination to do so.

One point that many seem to miss, and certainly the casual viewer will, is that these are all excellent platforms. For most people purchasing these, any one of them will most likely eclipse the user's talents and abilities.

W