Nikon Zf

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John Navitsky said:
as an aside, Ricci said (on the Gray's video) the Zf is about a stop better in low light than the Z6ii(!?!), which is in turn about a stop better than the Z9. he said this was due to the Expeed7. very interesting imo
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If that's true, it would be awesome as the Z6II is only about a half a stop behind the D5 for low light performance. If the Zf is actually a stop better than the Z6 II (a bit hard to believe) then it would be a better low light camera than the D5 which is still about as good as it gets.
 
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John Navitsky said:
as an aside, Ricci said (on the Gray's video) the Zf is about a stop better in low light than the Z6ii(!?!), which is in turn about a stop better than the Z9. he said this was due to the Expeed7. very interesting imo
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Makes sense with pixel pitch 2x the Z9 sensor. Great news. I asked, have not heard back whether it has the LO settings for Nlog which with that extra stop would make an ND unnecessary in many situations.
 
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DRwyoming said:
If that's true, it would be awesome as the Z6II is only about a half a stop behind the D5 for low light performance. If the Zf is actually a stop better than the Z6 II (a bit hard to believe) then it would be a better low light camera than the D5 which is still about as good as it gets.
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i think it’s more like a stop, but yah, that would make it as good as the d5 which would be awesome. makes me really excited about the z6iii. of course the z6iii will probably be 33mp or similar but it should still be close to the d5 which is an exciting possibility
 
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Nimi said:
Makes sense with pixel pitch 2x the Z9 sensor. Great news. I asked, have not heard back whether it has the LO settings for Nlog which with that extra stop would make an ND unnecessary in many situations.
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right, it’s not surprising the z9 is a stop behind the z6ii, but i was pretty surprised at the possibility the zf would be a stop better than the z6ii with the same sensor
 
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John Navitsky said:
i think it’s more like a stop, but yah, that would make it as good as the d5 which would be awesome. makes me really excited about the z6iii. of course the z6iii will probably be 33mp or similar but it should still be close to the d5 which is an exciting possibility
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DRwyoming said:
If that's true, it would be awesome as the Z6II is only about a half a stop behind the D5 for low light performance. If the Zf is actually a stop better than the Z6 II (a bit hard to believe) then it would be a better low light camera than the D5 which is still about as good as it gets.
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John Navitsky said:
i think it’s more like a stop, but yah, that would make it as good as the d5 which would be awesome. makes me really excited about the z6iii. of course the z6iii will probably be 33mp or similar but it should still be close to the d5 which is an exciting possibility
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If that's true, dynamic range would also top the Z9 and might exceed the Z7/D850. 13 stops maybe.
 
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John Navitsky said:
i think it’s more like a stop, but yah, that would make it as good as the d5 which would be awesome. makes me really excited about the z6iii. of course the z6iii will probably be 33mp or similar but it should still be close to the d5 which is an exciting possibility
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Well about a full stop between the D5 and Z9 with the Z6 II about halfway between the two according to PhotonstoPhotos:

Screen Shot 2023-09-30 at 7.28.17 PM.png

But realistically if the Zf is as good or better than the Z6 II or anywhere near the D5 that would be very good news
 
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DRwyoming said:
Perhaps, it sort of depends on what sort of dual gain structure they use and whether that high ISO performance also means increased dynamic range at low ISO which it famously didn't in the D5.
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I agree and I think you're on to something about the processor which allows them to somehow reduce the noise level.

I haven't paid attention to the Z6iii and didn't realize it might be getting the 33 sensor. That's a great sensor Sony uses in the highly-regarded a7iv which is famous for low-light and DR. They pretty much cracked the code on noise-reduction. Their latest camera the Burano is something like 17 stops with a 8.6k resolution (not comparable since it's log, but corrolated).
 
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Just new CPU means that better low light performance is all about noise reduction, not better raw pixels. So I think it can't be better if the sensor is exactly exactly the same.
 
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Kev68 said:
If there are many more AF points on the sensor on the ZF compared to the Z6ii - I would have thought it must be a new sensor. I haven't seen any discussion on that point anywhere...... ?
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Usually it's not exactly exactly the same sensor, so there could be non-trivial improvements. But I think it's unlikely...

I actually pre-ordered, while assuming it's the same sensor. The AF improvements are enough for me, and for casual camera I prefer this format (more compact), than waiting for Z6 III...
 
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iustin said:
Just new CPU means that better low light performance is all about noise reduction, not better raw pixels. So I think it can't be better if the sensor is exactly exactly the same.
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Thinking about it, I can see a couple reasons how faster readout would reduce noise and give better low-light performance. One, less on-sensor heat, two, more efficient capture (no "lost" photons) at the site level.

Regardless, looks like a great camera and like you, looking forward to getting one (or two if I can't decide among color).
 
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Kev68 said:
If there are many more AF points on the sensor on the ZF compared to the Z6ii - I would have thought it must be a new sensor. I haven't seen any discussion on that point anywhere...... ?
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I'm not sure there are more.

There's a difference between more af points, and more selectable af points. The latter doesn't really matter, because the points are already smaller than the box you use to pick them.
 
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I pre-ordered the Zf and looking forward to using it with my shelf full of Ais lenses! I used to have the Df and really enjoyed the retro experience. I made the move to mirrorless when Z6 when it came out (no regrets), but kept all my MF lenses which use on occasion. My primary body for wildlife and landscape is currently a Z8. I see the Zf replacing both my Z6ii for backup and general photography and replacing my Zfc for travel.
 
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So, surprise surprise, Nikon charged my card an hour ago. That is, after early morning they sent an email repeating that orders will be filled based on preorder queue, etc.

Honestly, after ordering on Sep. 27th, and knowing that US/Japan are scheduled for end of October, I was quite certain that the original European date of October 12th is just a mistake, and due to late ordering, I was also sure that I'll get mine in November. I'm located in Switzerland, by the way.

And of course, I'm leaving on a vacation very soon, so like the Z9, Nikon/DHL will deliver without signature while I'm away 😅
 
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Good catch!

The small number of buttons is giving me some heartburn. I like having an AF button for subject detection and a second one for 3D tracking, but there aren’t many buttons usable for that purpose on the Zf. I might have to use the DISP button on this one!
 
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Yeah, mine is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday, right in the middle of my vacation, when I’m in another country. I have excellent timing, second Nikon camera that lands like this 🤷
 
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