Nikon Z6 II not focusing fast

Hello all, new guy here.

I'm currently using D750 and just recently bought Z6 II.
With Z6 II my lens of choice is Tamron 35mm f/1.4 which I'm adapting using the FTZ.
Occasionally I would put 24-120mm f/4 the kit lens that I bought with D750.

Before I bought the camera I was reading as much reviews as it was possible just to get a feel of how it performs out in the field and how much should I change my style, if at all to adapt to this new Z system.

I found only positive comments. But ..

What I encounter so far with actually using the camera is just the plain pain and frustration.
Frustration with the autofocus.

I performed the test switching focus between the subject in front of me and a subject farther away enough to engage the whole autofocus range.

Member said:

-Case 1:
-Tamron 35mm @f/1.4, Single Point @Center, AF-S, focus and recompose:
When shooting using this aperture, no matter how dark or light the venue is I'm getting FAST autofocus, and I mean fast, even faster than on the D750 with a little to no impact in speed when setting different ISO and Shutter Speed.
I found it struggles just occasionally as much as D750 would which is totally acceptable.

Member said:

-Case 2:
-Same as Case 1 but f/5.6 or f/8, f/11:
This feels like I'm back to using D3100. The focus is SO SLOW, more than twice the time is needed for the camera to acquire the focus and confirm it. No matter the focus mode, single point, wide S/L, AF-S or AF-C. It is just slower no matter the light conditions. This is what bothers me the most. I cannot wait for 2sec for my camera to change the focus, I'm losing the shot when shooting events etc.

Member said:

-Case 3:
-no matter the settings, nor the light conditions:
The camera confirms the focus on the subject but the image that comes out actually shows that the focus is missed and sometimes the complete image is out of focus sometimes the focus is far back at the background.

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Why does the autofocus speed degrade when using smaller apertures?
Would there be any fix for this behavior? I tried using Apply to Live View On/Off, Low Light Autofocus On/Off and all the different combinations of those settings and many more, none of them gave any better results.
I'm considering to switch to the Canon R6 it looks it doesn't care at which aperture it's focusing. It just does what it is supposed to do or does it suffers from the same slowdowns? Can anyone confirm please?

Dslr always does AF with lens wide open. Nikon Z’s af’s at set aperture at F5.6 or faster, but F5.6 when slower than F5.6. Ie AF at F5.6 when shooting at F8 even on a F1.8 lens. On dslr, always does af at F1.8 on F1.8 lens. All mirrorless AF is different from DSLR Af and is a bit of a learning curve to adapt to.

Make sure youre subject is not underexposed, as AF is on sensor, this plays a role on mirrorless. If shooting low light without flash, try disabling custom setting D8 - Apply exposure setting preview to liveview. This makes viewfinder much brighter and impacts AF speed and accuracy in low light. This is disabled automatically when flash or flash trigger is turned on.

I suggest you try to get your hands on some native Z nikon glass, as this is the real setp up over most f-mount equivalents. The z24-70 f4 used can be obtained for around USD400.

After some googling, Canon mirrorless other than R3 still does Af with lens wide open. With R3 you have the option to choose.

sony, Nikon and Fuji appear to have live depth of field preview up to certain aperture, which is F5.6 on Nikon Z.

Nikon z lenses are much sharper accross the frame even wide open than F-mount equivalents, so I shoot wide open more than I would than with DSLR.

There is also less need to stop down for missed focus, only for required depth of field. AF is more accurate, so I even shoot my sigma art 135 f1.8 wide open most of the time on my z6 ii, whilst for critical shots would have it at F2.4 for safety margin on D810.

Everything Ben said. There's a big learning curve going from a D750 to a Z; as I did too. However, there are also scenes that my Z's can handle that the D750 cannot than the other way around. Also, having used the A7M4 and R7 (along with several other cameras) recently myself, I'm sticking with Nikon. The ergonomics, glass, and color science is unmatched IMO. The D750 is an excellent camera, and you have to go mirrorless with reasonable expectations. The camera is not going to improve your photography that much.

I don't think it is fair to judge AF without owning a single native S lens either. Especially when the 24-70F4S is such a good deal and outperforms nearly every f-mount and third party lens (at F4.) I prefer the 24-120F4S if you don't mind the additional size.

Posting a sample image with EXIF would also be very useful when asking for help capturing a scene. The Z9 may be #3 compared to Canon and Sony, but the differences are rather minor; unless you're birding or shooting extreme sports. All of these cameras are very capable of shooting nearly every scene.

Thank you all for replying.

I do understand that without native Z glass I cannot experience the full potential of the camera. Although, knowing that it does set the aperture in realtime and use that same aperture for focusing which affects its speed makes me want to go back to DSLRs. It really sounds like an option they could've put in the menus for us to choose the behavior we like. At least when we're adapting the older F lenses and shooting in poorly lit environment.

Low light focusing - when set to ON the camera would open the aperture to let in more light in order to achieve focus. Then why closing it down Nikon? Shouldn't it be better and faster if it was focusing at the widest aperture of the lens?

I'm gonna check the R6 these days and will update with my findings.

Bennvdm said:

After some googling, Canon mirrorless other than R3 still does Af with lens wide open. With R3 you have the option to choose.

sony, Nikon and Fuji appear to have live depth of field preview up to certain aperture, which is F5.6 on Nikon Z.

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Canon AF wide open? Are you sure?

Interesting. I tried googling that as well but couldn't find any info. Would you be able to post some links here? I would like to read more about it, thank you.

Btw, I still love the Z6 II more than any other camera, the ergonomics, the design, the images, the colors it produces, it's great, but this bothers me so much that I'm not actually enjoying shootings anymore. I kinda worry, more than I enjoy.

j4nk0 said:

Thank you all for replying.

I do understand that without native Z glass I cannot experience the full potential of the camera. Although, knowing that it does set the aperture in realtime and use that same aperture for focusing which affects its speed makes me want to go back to DSLRs. It really sounds like an option they could've put in the menus for us to choose the behavior we like. At least when we're adapting the older F lenses and shooting in poorly lit environment.

Low light focusing - when set to ON the camera would open the aperture to let in more light in order to achieve focus. Then why closing it down Nikon? Shouldn't it be better and faster if it was focusing at the widest aperture of the lens?

I'm gonna check the R6 these days and will update with my findings.

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Try this with your D750 and Z6II. Turn a light on at the end of a hallway, turn all other lights off, and try to focus on things. D8 off, AF-S, Wide (L whatever,) and the low-light mode never really made a difference I noticed. Then crank ISO to 25k or higher. The Z6II will focus where the D750 cannot. Almost into shadows the human eye can't see into.




The only light in the room was my monitor, and the battery box is behind shelving.

There are some picture controls with more contrast that can also improve focus performance, and they would not impact RAW images. I didn't find that necessary.



I shoot a lot of 1/3 compositions with focus and recompose. Having the full area available is a huge help. Shooting macros handheld with AF-C and subject tracking is also a whole new experience. I also have MANY candlelit birthday cake photos taken with my Z50 which has less sensitivity than the Z6II, and with slower Nikon lenses.



There is no doubt keeping the aperture open might help, but when I switch my Z50 from the 16-50DXVR kit lens to the 24-70F4S there is a night and day difference in low light. Even when I changed from the 24-200VR to the 24-70F4S. A larger front element will always help. Third party f-mount lenses were not optimized for mirrorless focusing. However, I've (for the most part) had great experiences adapting f-mount lenses such as the 70-300E, 16-80DXVR, various 1.8G primes, and 300PF-F4. I've also adapted current Sony G lenses to my Z's.



I think you need to experiment with the camera some more, but I understand your impression. Most of us here started off using our Z's setup like our DSLR's, and quickly realized we needed to be open to change.

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On Canon this appears to be exposure simulation, exposure & dof, but only available On R7 & R3. Lens opens up to lower f-stop than set when doing af, so then similar to Nikon Z, but not sure to which aperture. I agree that nice to have option to choose, but option to choose only came with R3 & R7. Not available on R5 & R6. Live dof preview has other benefits as touted in R3 link and more accurate AF when lens has focus breathing.

https://www.canon.co.za/pro/stories/things-you-never-knew-about-eos-r3/

point nr 1, live dof preview

https://snapshot.canon-asia.com/art...w-does-the-low-light-af-limit-impact-my-shots

Under maximize low light AF

Canon cameras use full-aperture metering, which means that even if you stop down from the maximum aperture setting, the aperture diaphragm is wide open by default and only narrows momentarily when the shutter is released. Hence, the amount of light that enters the image sensor is determined by the maximum aperture of the lens.

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1743434/0

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4660931

Please clarify, why would you shoot at f8 or f11 in lower light other than landscape? For couples I shoot at F2.8 or faster. I only stop down to f4 for small groups and f5.6 for medium groups. For very large groups I guess F8, but I would not do that in low light without flash.

For me, the bigger issue with moving mirrorless was that AF assist light of external flash does not work when using flash in very dark conditions, but this effects all brands. No-one has brought out a new flash with af assist for mirrorless either. Newer godox have white video light led. Solution only appears to shoot with fast glass nearly wide open.