Nikon Zf

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Picked mine up. In a middle of a shoot, so no time to learn it, but I set it up on a stand and let it roll. That's me taping and I'll post more of these on the vid section for those interested in my set up.

Great little camera, very happy about my purchase.

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BarkingBeansCoffee said:
Strikes me as a great travel camera where wildlife isn’t a priority, but might appear, such as I had on a trip to Portugal.
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As it happens, I went out this morning with my new Zf and a 24-200 lens to scout good spots for fall landscapes. On my way home I saw a flock of Turkey Vultures circling over a wooded area. I pulled over and realized I only had the Zf and a middling zoom without nearly enough reach. Wish I’d brought my Z9 and 180-600 lens. 😢

Even so, at a surprising distance Zf AF nailed the bird’s heads and eyes very nicely using WideL and animal subject detection. It’s not a preferred choice for BIF but might suffice with a proper lens.
 
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fcotterill said:
Richard Haw's review

richardhaw.com

Review: Nikon Zf

Hello, everybody! Do you know “Nong Toom” (ปริญญา เจริญผล)? She is a legendary Muay Thai champion that’s known for her skills, but mostly known for being a “ladyboy”. …
richardhaw.com richardhaw.com
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Subject-Detection (Manual Focus)​

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fcotterill said:
Latest commentary fyi

More Thoughts on the Nikon Zf | Thom Hogan

Additional thoughts on the Nikon Zf that's now shipping
www.zsystemuser.com
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I’ve read that, and the original commentary, and it’s one of the few times I strongly disagree with Thom. He comments as if there are only professional photographers, and everyone else just shoots with their phone.

I didn’t receive my Zf yet, but the only gripe I have with the Zfc is the sensor and the CPU. The usability is just fine for casual photography, and with the z6ii sensor, the quality will be awesome. Even my son (primary school) loves taking photos with the Zfc.

Could the Zf end up a sales failure? Sure. But I think Thom is overly focused on action photography and similar things.
 
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iustin said:
I’ve read that, and the original commentary, and it’s one of the few times I strongly disagree with Thom. He comments as if there are only professional photographers, and everyone else just shoots with their phone.

I didn’t receive my Zf yet, but the only gripe I have with the Zfc is the sensor and the CPU. The usability is just fine for casual photography, and with the z6ii sensor, the quality will be awesome. Even my son (primary school) loves taking photos with the Zfc.

Could the Zf end up a sales failure? Sure. But I think Thom is overly focused on action photography and similar things.
Click to expand...
I agree with you. He doth complain rather too much..... although I agree this camera is lacking function buttons. My main negative is the Zf is short of a 2nd Fn button, as wel as AFOn next to the AE back button, in fact at least 3 programmable buttons on the right back panel additional to DISP. But this is only is one needs the extra commands i.e. action genres

Nevertheless, I suspect, discerning buyers will recognize the Zf as the bargain it is - A wolf in sheep's clothing (as a friend describes his copy... He's pleasantly surprised by its AF performance in first tests. And one can setup the Zf for full slow manual photography or use it like a modern MILC.

The first reports are favourable, including the AF which is surprising its early owners e.g.

Re: Zf for wildlife?: Nikon Z Mirrorless Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Expert news, reviews and videos of the latest digital cameras, lenses, accessories, and phones. Get answers to your questions in our photography forums.
www.dpreview.com www.dpreview.com
 
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I bought the Zf as a third "working body," next to my two Z9s. Subjectives aside (ergos, buttons, dials, etc.), I am going to be comparing it to my 9s to see which situations lend themselves to switching back and forth. I shoot primarily in two settings (studio and outdoors) and two outputs (stills and video).

Yesterday I started working on an ad for Olympus USA and did a quick comparison: same lens, same light, camera stand, native ISO, moderately open, slow speed, manual focus, tethered. No processing at all, just straight into LRC. This is my typical studio shoot setup, so it might not apply to your situation. But it's the only comparison relevant to me...

I'm no peeper, but going up to 400%, the images are indistinguishable. If you see a difference in the 1.3mb sample below, it's a function of compressing dissimilar NEF files. So at these settings and use-case, the Zf would be a good backup.

I am shooting in the field next week, and while I won't be swapping lenses back and forth in the tropics, I hope to conclude for myself how it does in more demanding environments, in stills and video.

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iustin said:
I’ve read that, and the original commentary, and it’s one of the few times I strongly disagree with Thom. He comments as if there are only professional photographers, and everyone else just shoots with their phone.

I didn’t receive my Zf yet, but the only gripe I have with the Zfc is the sensor and the CPU. The usability is just fine for casual photography, and with the z6ii sensor, the quality will be awesome. Even my son (primary school) loves taking photos with the Zfc.

Could the Zf end up a sales failure? Sure. But I think Thom is overly focused on action photography and similar things.
Click to expand...

fcotterill said:
I agree with you. He doth complain rather too much..... although I agree this camera is lacking function buttons. My main negative is the Zf is short of a 2nd Fn button, as wel as AFOn next to the AE back button, in fact at least 3 programmable buttons on the right back panel additional to DISP. But this is only is one needs the extra commands i.e. action genres

Nevertheless, I suspect, discerning buyers will recognize the Zf as the bargain it is - A wolf in sheep's clothing (as a friend describes his copy... He's pleasantly surprised by its AF performance in first tests. And one can setup the Zf for full slow manual photography or use it like a modern MILC.

The first reports are favourable, including the AF which is surprising its early owners e.g.

Re: Zf for wildlife?: Nikon Z Mirrorless Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Expert news, reviews and videos of the latest digital cameras, lenses, accessories, and phones. Get answers to your questions in our photography forums.
www.dpreview.com www.dpreview.com
Click to expand...

I don't pay much attention to others' opinions because so much, except image quality, is personal- and use-case driven.

First, per my store, initial orders are very strong. It is shipping in quantities and already out of stock in most places. B&H has the #1 Seller banner on it, fwiw.

Second, a few days into ownership and with some testing, this camera produces RAW files as good as the Z9. Personally, I am enjoying the tactile aspect of handling it. Very much reminiscent of my old FM2 which was incidently my back-up to the F3, then F5 for many years.
 
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I received my Zf yesterday and didn't had much chance to play around with it a lot. I never would think of using the Zf for Wildlife shooting or instances were I would need to rely on a highly customisable and ergonomic body. If you main aspects are for latter, look further.
I honestly bought it because I simply love the design of it - it has a nice "oldschool" look, with its metal dials and nicely built body it is a nice experience to shoot with. I did mount the Smallrig grip which is shipped foc with the camera here in Europe right away. I've got no big hands but without the grip I wouldn't feel comfortable holding it to be honest - even with the very light 40mm f2.
The Zf will replace my (also gripped) z6 - the AF of the Zf is miles ahead of the Z6 - I think quite close to the Z9 which I also own. and use for my wildlife stuff.

I'll go with the Zf whenever my z9 is too big of an camera to lug around, - which is quite often the case if I'm not out for Wildlife/animals.
I do also like taking fungi pictures - that's probably a great terrain for the Zf, too! Hope to find some more time on the weekend for some more: Forest Magic
with the Zf....
 
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12markus12 said:
I received my Zf yesterday and didn't had much chance to play around with it a lot. I never would think of using the Zf for Wildlife shooting or instances were I would need to rely on a highly customisable and ergonomic body. If you main aspects are for latter, look further.
I honestly bought it because I simply love the design of it - it has a nice "oldschool" look, with its metal dials and nicely built body it is a nice experience to shoot with. I did mount the Smallrig grip which is shipped foc with the camera here in Europe right away. I've got no big hands but without the grip I wouldn't feel comfortable holding it to be honest - even with the very light 40mm f2.
The Zf will replace my (also gripped) z6 - the AF of the Zf is miles ahead of the Z6 - I think quite close to the Z9 which I also own. and use for my wildlife stuff.

I'll go with the Zf whenever my z9 is too big of an camera to lug around, - which is quite often the case if I'm not out for Wildlife/animals.
I do also like taking fungi pictures - that's probably a great terrain for the Zf, too! Hope to find some more time on the weekend for some more: Forest Magic
with the Zf....
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Hello Markus. I’m glad you’re enjoying your Zf. I received mine on Friday last week. It’s a wonderful camera with AF capability similar to Z8.

Your fungi photos are excellent! Yesterday there were three mushrooms on my lawn but before I could get outside to photograph them, two dogs in my neighborhood ate them as a snack! I hope the mushrooms weren’t poisonous.
 
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".... The Fn button on the front of the camera is set to White balance. You really only have five buttons that support a great deal of customization: Fn, AE-L/AF-L, DISP, and surprisingly, the playback and red movie buttons. Plus, of course, lens buttons. Strangely, the camera is configured so that C30 as the camera comes out of the box, just gives you 30 fps JPEGs (no pre-release capture is enabled; you have to enable it)...."

Is the Zf a Z6 Upgrade? | Thom Hogan

Is the Zf an upgrade for Z6 users?
www.zsystemuser.com
 
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fcotterill said:
".... The Fn button on the front of the camera is set to White balance. You really only have five buttons that support a great deal of customization: Fn, AE-L/AF-L, DISP, and surprisingly, the playback and red movie buttons. Plus, of course, lens buttons. Strangely, the camera is configured so that C30 as the camera comes out of the box, just gives you 30 fps JPEGs (no pre-release capture is enabled; you have to enable it)...."
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I’m baffled by Thom’s complaints about the camera’s out-of-the-box settings. The dials and menu options have to be set to something. Each owner is going to change the defaults to their preferred settings. So why the complaint? I do find his reviews helpful, though.
 
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JAJohnson said:
I’m baffled by Thom’s complaints about the camera’s out-of-the-box settings. The dials and menu options have to be set to something. Each owner is going to change the defaults to their preferred settings. So why the complaint? I do find his reviews helpful, though.
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Yes trivial irrelevant complaints to put it mildly. I find it interesting he's now acknowledging the relevance of the Zf, and notably its myriad features, several of which are entirely new.... hence "long list of inclusions and improvements on the Zf..." ;)

There will probably be more industry media personalities shifting their initial stance on the Zf. Nikon has released a wolf in sheep's clothing: hushed bark belies strong bite
 
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