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My Z6 III tech thread

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Dibyendu Majumdar said:
Horshack said:
Horshack said:
Stills:
  • 14-bit raw 1/69.39 (14.41ms)
  • DX area 14-bit raw 1/105.23 (9.50ms)
  • 12-bit JPEG/HEIF 1/90.62 (11.03ms)
  • C30,C60 JPEG 1/90.44 (11.05ms)
  • C120 JPEG 1/137.17 (7.29ms)
H.265 Video (8-bit/10-bit)
  • 6K 60p/50p/30p/25p/24p 1/107.14 (9.33ms)
  • 4K 120p/100p 1/163.19 (6.12ms)
  • 4K 60p/50p/30p/25p/24p 1/107.10 (9.33ms)
  • 1080 240p/200p 1/361.57 (2.76ms)
  • 1080 120p/100p/60p/50p/30p/25p/24p 1/320 (2.76ms)
NRAW (HQ/Normal)
  • FX 6K 60p/50p/30p/25p/24p 1/106.70 (9.37ms)
  • FX 4K 60p/50p/30p/25p/24p 1/107.36 (9.31ms)
  • DX 4K 120p/100p/60p/50p/30p/25p/24p 1/162.72 (6.14ms)
Click to expand...
I've published these results to my RollingShutter GitHub Project, which can be viewed here.

Note I made a copy 'n paste error for the 1080 results I posted here yesterday. I listed all 1080 at 1/361.57 (2.76ms) but that's only for 240p/120p. The remaining frame rates of 120p/100p/60p/50p/30p/25p/24p are 1/320 (3.12ms). I've made the corrections in the quoted post above.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for sharing these results.

Are Canon R5/R6 II also at 14-bit for photo?
Click to expand...
Canon electronic shutter for R5 and R6ii is 12 Bit.
 
I've encountered an intermittent issue with the Z6 III's WiFi whenever the HDMI port is in use. Either the camera will fail to connect to the WiFi network, or it'll get intermittent errors after connected while transferring images. It seems to be aggravated by certain HDMI cables, which implies a potential shielding sensitivity on the camera between the HDMI port and its WiFi antenna. That said, none of these cables produces the problem with my Z8.

Here's a quick demonstration, first showing the camera failing to connect to the network (error 1F), then later failing to transfer an image while connected (error 37). Nikon's wireless troubleshooting document for the Z9 says the following about these errors:
  • Error 1F: Solution - Turn the camera off and then on again.
  • Error 37: Check firewall settings, Check PASV mode settings
 
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100% crop, ISO 51K, no NR,

Neither one of those is great with those settings. Pretty sure any print would be imperceptible. It's good to know exactly what a sensor is capable of. But let's see side by side, print size, Iso 1600. Mostly where my camera lives.
 
Here is a full ISO noise comparison between the Z6 and Z6 III.

Notes:
  • Shot under studio-quality 5600K LED lighting
  • Lens is Nikon Z 50mm f/1.8 S @ f/8
  • Starting shutter speed ISO 100 is 1/6, which is doubled for each progressive ISO
  • Lossless 14-bit raws with electronic shutter
  • Processed in ACR/LR with camera neutral profile, all settings cleared except for matched WB and 45/0.7/35 sharpening. NR disabled
  • These are 100% crops.
  • Look to the black lens bag in the upper-right to see the deepest shadows, where the differences between the cameras are most noticeable.
Each of these Z6 vs Z6 III animation links is around 35MB. They are each 2250 x 1500 in size, so you may need to click once in your browser after loading so that they're shown at 100% instead of zoomed-to-fit in your browser. Noise performance differences between the two cameras only start to become noticeable at around ISO 6400.

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 100

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 200

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 400

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 800

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 1600

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 3200

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 6400

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 12800

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 25600

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 51200
 
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Thank you for all this work. Excellent additions to the camera knowledge base.
 
Here is a full ISO 100 DR comparison between the Z6 and Z6 III. This allows you to compare the DR differences of these cameras for whatever the maximum exposure boosting you normally do for your photography.

Notes:
  • Shot under studio-quality 5600K LED lighting
  • Lens is Nikon Z 50mm f/1.8 S @ f/8
  • Starting shutter speed ISO 100 is 1/6, which is doubled for each exposure, which creates a progressively-increasing underexposure. The raws are processed to match the brightness of the properly-exposed 1/6 exposure using ACR exposure controls.
  • Lossless 14-bit raws with electronic shutter
  • Processed in ACR/LR with camera neutral profile, all settings cleared except for matched WB and 45/0.7/35 sharpening. NR disabled
  • These are 100% crops.
  • Look to the black lens bag in the upper-right to see the deepest shadows, where the differences between the cameras are most noticeable.
Each of these Z6 vs Z6 III animation links is around 35MB. They are each 2250 x 1500 in size, so you may need to click once in your browser after loading so that they're shown at 100% instead of zoomed-to-fit in your browser. Noise performance differences between the two cameras only start to become noticeable at ISO 3200.

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 100, Properly Exposed

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 100, Minus 1EV

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 100, Minus 2EV

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 100, Minus 3EV

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 100, Minus 4EV

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 100, Minus 5EV

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 100, Minus 6EV

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 100, Minus 7EV

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 100, Minus 8EV

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 100, Minus 9EV

Animation: Z6 vs Z6 III, ISO 100, Minus 10EV
 
These two tests are what I was waiting for, thank you! Just about mirrors my experience too.
 
Did you reach a conclusion for the single/parallel row readout question?
 
Comparison of the following, all with the electronic shutter
  1. Live View lag for normal (unmagnified) view. This measures how old the LV feed on LCD is vs realtime.
  2. Live View lag for 100% magnified view. This measures how old the LV feed on LCD is vs realtime. This is a useful metric for manual focus responsiveness.
  3. Live View blackout for single-shot shooting
  4. Live View blackout for Contnuous Low shooting (5fps)
  5. Z6 Live View lag for slideshow Contnuous High + shooting (8fps)
  6. Z6 III Live View blackout for Contnuous High shooting (16fps)
  7. Z6 III Live View lag for slideshow for Contnuous High + shooting (20fps)
These tests are difficult to do accurately and have a considerable margin of error owing to the interaction of the various display refresh rates (rear LCD refrresh, iPhone display refresh, etc...), not to mention any possible mistakes in my methodology.

Results for those who prefer not to watch the video:
  • Z6 Live View Lag normal (unmagnified) view: <= ~70ms
  • Z6 III Live View Lag normal (unmagnified) view: <= ~50ms
  • Z6 Live View Lag 100% magnified view: ~200ms
  • Z6 III Live View Lag 100% magnified view: ~100ms
  • Z6 Single-shot blackout: ~200ms
  • Z6 III Single-shot blackout: ~100ms
  • Z6 Continuous Low 5fps blackout: ~200ms (+/- 20ms)
  • Z6 IIII Continuous Low 5fps blackout: ~80ms (+/- 20ms)
  • Z6 Continuous High+ 8fps slideshow lag: ~100ms
  • Z6 III Continuous High 16fps blackout: ~65ms
  • Z6 III Continuous High+ 20fps slideshow lag: ~50ms
 
Horshack said:
Comparison of the following, all with the electronic shutter
  1. Live View lag for normal (unmagnified) view. This measures how old the LV feed on LCD is vs realtime.
  2. Live View lag for 100% magnified view. This measures how old the LV feed on LCD is vs realtime. This is a useful metric for manual focus responsiveness.
  3. Live View blackout for single-shot shooting
  4. Live View blackout for Contnuous Low shooting (5fps)
  5. Z6 Live View lag for slideshow Contnuous High + shooting (8fps)
  6. Z6 III Live View blackout for Contnuous High shooting (16fps)
  7. Z6 III Live View lag for slideshow for Contnuous High + shooting (20fps)
These tests are difficult to do accurately and have a considerable margin of error owing to the interaction of the various display refresh rates (rear LCD refrresh, iPhone display refresh, etc...), not to mention any possible mistakes in my methodology.

Results for those who prefer not to watch the video:
  • Z6 Live View Lag normal (unmagnified) view: <= ~70ms
  • Z6 III Live View Lag normal (unmagnified) view: <= ~50ms
  • Z6 Live View Lag 100% magnified view: ~200ms
  • Z6 III Live View Lag 100% magnified view: ~100ms
  • Z6 Single-shot blackout: ~200ms
  • Z6 III Single-shot blackout: ~100ms
  • Z6 Continuous Low 5fps blackout: ~200ms (+/- 20ms)
  • Z6 IIII Continuous Low 5fps blackout: ~80ms (+/- 20ms)
  • Z6 Continuous High+ 8fps slideshow lag: ~100ms
  • Z6 III Continuous High 16fps blackout: ~65ms
  • Z6 III Continuous High+ 20fps slideshow lag: ~50ms
Click to expand...
Greetings. great test. very clear results. undoubtedly very useful research. Thank you
 
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ipopov said:
What camera do you use to film all that? What is shutter speed and what is its rolling shutter?
Click to expand...
Sony ZV-1, 1/240 @ 120fps, rolling shutter in that mode is 7.97ms, as I measured here.

The ZV-1 can go up to 1000fps @ lowered resolution but it's not needed for this test because both the camera and iPhone's LCD are only refreshing at 30Hz, which I measured using the 1000fps mode of the ZV-1.
 
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Not as technical as you..but holy [email protected] shot in my pitch black basement with my f4 lens iso crancked up to native 64000 and it focused like it was nothing...the z6 would have hunted like crazy to get focus..we got a winner!
 
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Here's a quick measurement of noise and DR of the mic port, when connected to a Shure MVL lav mic that receives phantom power from the camera. I couldn't get Audacity to prove a "pass" for the contrast measurement but based on the manual measurements I think it's accurate. The Z6 provides slightly more amplification than the Z6 III but with less actual noise. Note the frequency graphs of the background noise aren't to scale - I can't find a way to force Audacity to set the scale for the results.

 

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