Somewhat Brutal, But Informative Review Of Nikon Zf

KennyT said:

HRS said:

I almost bought one because it was cool and had the Expeed 7 processor. But, in trying out one in a camera store, the strange way the ISO dial/menu settings worked made me decline. As Thom put it, the ISO dial can be "lying" to you in certain situations. That could have been avoided by a green "A" position, but that's not what Nikon did.

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I think you don't fully understand the ISO dial and Auto ISO integration. When ion 'C' the Auto ISO uses whatever settings you put into it in the menu. By changing the ISO dial you either;

1. Raise the minimum ISO (maybe you want nee more shutter speed in A mode)

2' Raise the max ISO if it is higher than your programed setting.

This actually makes the Zf auto ISO interestingly flexible. I like it! YMMV.

I shoot this camera a lot differently than I do my Z9 but for me once I understood what the relationship was between the ISO dial and Auto ISO I kind of enjoy the little feature!

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No, I simply want the ISO to be set to the value displayed. Again, the Zf is not supposed to work like other Nikon M/L cameras, it's supposed to work retro style without menu-diving.

--
A sure sign of Cognitive Dissonance: NDS.

HRS said:

KennyT said:

HRS said:

I almost bought one because it was cool and had the Expeed 7 processor. But, in trying out one in a camera store, the strange way the ISO dial/menu settings worked made me decline. As Thom put it, the ISO dial can be "lying" to you in certain situations. That could have been avoided by a green "A" position, but that's not what Nikon did.

Click to expand...

I think you don't fully understand the ISO dial and Auto ISO integration. When ion 'C' the Auto ISO uses whatever settings you put into it in the menu. By changing the ISO dial you either;

1. Raise the minimum ISO (maybe you want nee more shutter speed in A mode)

2' Raise the max ISO if it is higher than your programed setting.

This actually makes the Zf auto ISO interestingly flexible. I like it! YMMV.

I shoot this camera a lot differently than I do my Z9 but for me once I understood what the relationship was between the ISO dial and Auto ISO I kind of enjoy the little feature!

Click to expand...

No, I simply want the ISO to be set to the value displayed. Again, the Zf is not supposed to work like other Nikon M/L cameras, it's supposed to work retro style without menu-diving.

Click to expand...

Then leave Auto ISO off and just use the dial. What am I missing?

KennyT said:

KennyT said:

No, I simply want the ISO to be set to the value displayed. Again, the Zf is not supposed to work like other Nikon M/L cameras, it's supposed to work retro style without menu-diving.

Click to expand...

Then leave Auto ISO off and just use the dial. What am I missing?

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As I've recently said, I want the option to use the indicated ISO number, and the option to go to Auto ISO directly from the dial without menu diving.

Solutions are:

• Add an "A" position to the dial (the real answer, but unlikely).

or...

• Add a firmware feature to allow the "C" position to toggle to "A" if desired. (Easy)

Ruby Rod said:

Read the review on his site, plus his Z6iii review. I used to like him and got a lot of useful info on older Nikkor lenses, but these reviews are pretty biased.

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Most people don't read very far into his site. After 20 years it is fairly large. He said negative things about a lot of gear including Canon and positive things about gear including Sony, especially the lenses.

Ruby Rod said:

He seems have a lot of old Nikkors, so downgrades the cameras based on the FTZ adapter. There are some things one would like the FTZ to do, like drive screw-type lenses and operate AiS diaphragm levers, but there are actually some significant technical obstacles to doing that. I wouldn't want to be the one designing the control loop to operate a screw drive to the tolerances needed today.

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He wanted Nikon to stay consistent, since they did not initially junk their F full frame lenses like Canon did. Of course, Canon saw the future a little better, since all their EF lenses work with adapter on mirrorless.

Ruby Rod said:

IMO, he should dump some of his old lens collection for modern Z glass, which is generally superior. I gave up on him after some obvious errors plus his statement in the Z6iii review that caused me to do an eye roll, "I usually shoot at VIVID picture control with +3 saturation unless I'm photographing people."

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I think he is too "old school" to go all Z. His picture style is not to my taste, but he claims to make money with it. He reminds my a little of a great photographer of the past to whom a realistic photo was just a starting point:

Read current thread "Cannot Figure Out Z f Auto ISO?"

DavidZihon said:

PLShutterbug said:

It is not. To begin with, the Z6ii uses dual Expeed6 processors and the Zf uses the Expeed7, the same as theZ8/9. He complained a lot bout ergonomics, ignoring that this camera was not introduced as an ergo camera but retro.

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So this means that it's actually a powerhouse?

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Kind of.

Let me put it this way : the Z6II could shoot 14fps, but would be quite limited in its focus accuracy at those framerates. The Zf isn't.

When it comes to focusing the Zf has much better focusing in low light compared to the Z6II as well, and is stickier to the subject it has decided on tracking. The new focus modes (especially 3D tracking) from the Z8/9 are extremely welcome. The Z6II is clunky in comparison.

Then there's video...

When the Z6II could do 4K30 no crop / 4K60 with a DX crop 8 bit 4.2.0 internally with at best the flat profile, and needed an external recorder to have 10 bit 4.2.2 with N-Log, the Zf can do all of that internally. Video performance on the Zf is actually pretty damn good for what it is, only the most advanced video features (like open gate recording or 6K video) are what separating this to a more video focused camera like the Lumix S5II.

So powerhouse ? Yes, for some users. The ergonomics, the very slow secondary Micro-SD slot, lack of joystick in the back or user profiles... all of those things are what will make a pro choose a Z6III, R6II or S5II instead of the Zf.

But for a hobbyist? Absolute monster camera in most aspects for sure.

The difference with the Z6II is not small. Anyone could be able to see that in a couple minutes, I'm surprised Ken Rockwell didn't correct himself about this.

HRS said:

• Add a firmware feature to allow the "C" position to toggle to "A" if desired. (Easy)

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I like that idea, it would seem to be an easy fix to please everyone.

JasonMulvern said:

HRS said:

• Add a firmware feature to allow the "C" position to toggle to "A" if desired. (Easy)

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I like that idea, it would seem to be an easy fix to please everyone.

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Yes, and then everything is solved for everybody