Z5 v z6 Flower photography

I’m going to buy either a used z5 or z6 and the 105 macro lens for flower photography. I currently do not use Nikon gear, so I wanted to know whether it makes much difference whether I buy a z5 or a z6?

I won’t be using the camera for video.

Any recommendations?

the difference between both cameras for still subjects is meaningless. At low ISO, the Z5 even has a slight bit more DR.

If you don't plan on unsing fast burst rates, or video, the Z5 might be more practical due to that camera using the much more common SD cards (instead of more expensive XQD / CFXB cards)

Other than that, both cameras are pretty much identical in handling : same AF, same buttons, same EVF, same body (outside of the top plate display).

If you don't have CFXB cards already, keep in mind a decent card is around 100 bucks, and you'll need a reader (which is another 30ish). Only get a Z6 if it's at least 130+ bucks cheaper than the Z5 (which can happen, the Z6 is older). SD cards are cheap, and if you already have a camera you probably already have them.

There are differences. Some matter. See here, e.g. My list is the following.

• The Z5 has two SD cards. That made me choose the Z5, besides the 1/3 lower price at that time.
• The Z6 focusses in one stop lower light. The Z5 often struggles in really low light, and I need to be more careful.
• The Z6 has a much higher shutter repeat rate. I rarely use it anyway. But for sports, that does matter.
• The Z6 display has twice the resolution (1.4 more pixels in each direction). In real life, I could not see the difference.
• As you already know, there are differences in 4K video.

In short, I would buy the Z6 II now. But there is not enough reason to switch from the Z5 for me currently.

By the way, unless your flowers are very small, a telephoto lens like the 70-180 f/2.8 might be the better choice.

Thanks for the advice. I will likely be using manual focus so the auto focus advantage of the z6 in low light wouldn’t matter.

Thanks for the advice. I only have SD cards , so that indeed will be a factor to consider.

MJ_Photo38 said:

the difference between both cameras for still subjects is meaningless. At low ISO, the Z5 even has a slight bit more DR.

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Maybe (barely) academically correct, but I defy anyone to tell a 0.3 PDR difference in any two random photos . . .

MJ_Photo38 said:

If you don't plan on unsing fast burst rates, or video, the Z5 might be more practical due to that camera using the much more common SD cards (instead of more expensive XQD / CFXB cards)

Other than that, both cameras are pretty much identical in handling : same AF, same buttons, same EVF, same body (outside of the top plate display).

If you don't have CFXB cards already, keep in mind a decent card is around 100 bucks, and you'll need a reader (which is another 30ish). Only get a Z6 if it's at least 130+ bucks cheaper than the Z5 (which can happen, the Z6 is older). SD cards are cheap, and if you already have a camera you probably already have them.

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But good points otherwise.

Mizar11 said:

MJ_Photo38 said:

the difference between both cameras for still subjects is meaningless. At low ISO, the Z5 even has a slight bit more DR.

Click to expand...

Maybe (barely) academically correct, but I defy anyone to tell a 0.3 PDR difference in any two random photos . . .

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My point was that the difference between both sensors is meaningless overall.

The Z5 is slightly better under 800 ISO, while the Z6 is slightly better over 800ISO thanks to the dual gain nature of the sensor.

Other than those details, sensors pretty much deliver the same output.

The ZF and 105 lens would be amazing. I really enjoy using 3D shooting macros handheld. It has better manual focus aids, much better IBIS, and better focus peaking. Most of the Z lenses have very close minimum focus, and you'd be surprised what you can get out of them.

I've mostly shot flower macros with a Z50 (now a Z50II,) the 50MC, 24-200VR, and 24-70F4S (used,) and sometimes with extension tubes. A much lighter and affordable kit. I even managed some semi-macro images with the 70-300E was surprisingly good on it.

PM sent.

The Zf ergos aren't for everyone, though. If handheld photography with large lenses is the priority, a camera with a built in grip might be the better choice. I say this as a Zf shooter who loves the camera but kind of loathes the ergonomics.

musicshootr said:

The Zf ergos aren't for everyone, though. If handheld photography with large lenses is the priority, a camera with a built in grip might be the better choice. I say this as a Zf shooter who loves the camera but kind of loathes the ergonomics.

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Absolutely, as I only used the ZF with the Smallrig grip, but needed the arca-swiss plate anyway. The ZF wasn't for me at MSRP, but now that it is $1200 refurbished it seems more viable than a Z5. I also use 10FPS burst to catch insects and when shooting in the wind. The Z5 was just held back a little too much IMO. The ZF can handle a lot more.

skyrunr said:

musicshootr said:

The Zf ergos aren't for everyone, though. If handheld photography with large lenses is the priority, a camera with a built in grip might be the better choice. I say this as a Zf shooter who loves the camera but kind of loathes the ergonomics.

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Absolutely, as I only used the ZF with the Smallrig grip, but needed the arca-swiss plate anyway. The ZF wasn't for me at MSRP, but now that it is $1200 refurbished it seems more viable than a Z5. I also use 10FPS burst to catch insects and when shooting in the wind. The Z5 was just held back a little too much IMO. The ZF can handle a lot more.

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That's why I think if you don't care about CFXB cards (and their cost) a used Z6 is probably a better value than a Zf, if you don't need the super accurate AF.

Basically same sensor, still able to do 12fps bursts and you can get one used for like $650/700

And the AF is not nearly as hopeless as people would make it.

Rene Gr brought up the 70-180mm f/2.8 tele that goes to 0.48x magnification. I find it an interesting proposition to use a more generalist lens with a decent magnification for flower images. Along this line, you might also consider the Z 24-120mm f/4 S lens, which goes to 0.39x magnification. This is a very sharp generalist lens, which would allow to do also a wide angle view of a garden with the same lens.

A closeup example with the 24-120 shown on another website.

Andrewcn said:

I’m going to buy either a used z5 or z6 and the 105 macro lens for flower photography. I currently do not use Nikon gear, so I wanted to know whether it makes much difference whether I buy a z5 or a z6?
I won’t be using the camera for video.

Any recommendations?

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If you're in the studio, I'd recommend the ZF or Z6III instead because you've got pixel-shift. It'll alleviate color blocking in the reds because you'll be supersampling the sensor and avoiding any demosiacing errors that happen.

Remember, half the pixels are green, 1/4 of them are blue, and 1/4 of them are red. So if you're photographing a rose, you're barely picking up any signal. This is especially obvious when photographing really saturated colors like neon lights, but it also happens in the natural world.

If you're outside, it's a moot point and and I would just get the cheapest FF Z body you can get your hands on.

That is a VERY good point about a used Z6 or even a Z7. Nearly very Z5 thread here recommends a used Z6. Too bad they don't make CFE-B to SDHC adapters. I only really appreciate the performance when transferring 45mp images.

So, Im not in the studio. Manual focus macro is the only think I’ll be doing with this camera. So I might as well get a Z5?

skyrunr said:

That is a VERY good point about a used Z6 or even a Z7. Nearly very Z5 thread here recommends a used Z6. Too bad they don't make CFE-B to SDHC adapters. I only really appreciate the performance when transferring 45mp images.

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The super fast buffer clear times that renders the buffer health concern obsolete is a pretty nice thing too

I shot a couple of sports events on my Z6, and even when I outrun the buffer, I only have to wait a fraction of a second and the camera is ready to shoot anothe 20 or 30 more.

That's much better than even UHS-II SD cards that I had in my previous camera. If you use the Z6 for video (and have like 30-40GB files at a time for 30min of 4K30 footage) or if you use the burst mode a lot : the CFXB cards even make sense on the lowly Z6 in my opinion.

Andrewcn said:

I’m going to buy either a used z5 or z6 and the 105 macro lens for flower photography. I currently do not use Nikon gear, so I wanted to know whether it makes much difference whether I buy a z5 or a z6?
I won’t be using the camera for video.

Any recommendations?

Click to expand...

Get the Z5. Save the money for something else as you likely won't see any difference given your use case. The Z6 might do better in low-light in terms of AF and shadows areas but beyond that there is no real benefit of the Z6 over the Z5 (as most of the other differences are AF or video related).

The Z5 is a great camera for casual shooting and basicaly anything other than sports/action photography and video. the other thing is if you buy a Z6 (as in a gen 1 Z6) you will also have to buy an XQD/CFE card and reader, but the Z5 takes regular SD cards, and has two card slots too versus the Z6's single XQD/CFE card slot. You can get the Z5 new for $1000 currently or used for maybe $700 from what I've seen but that is what I recommend (the Z5).

And you can "beat up" the Z5 raw files pretty good in post, meaning you can recover a lot of detail if you shoot at say ISO 100. I've been able to do some extensive exposure pulls on my Z5 files as much as 4 stops without any real major side effects. The Z6 can probably do the same, but the gen 1 Z6 was a bit more prone to banding in some rare cases (shadow banding that is).

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PLEASE NOTE: I usually unsubscribe from forums and comments after a period of time, so if I do not respond, that is likely the reason. Feel free to PM me if you have a questions or need clarification about a comment I made.

Andrewcn said:

So, Im not in the studio. Manual focus macro is the only think I’ll be doing with this camera. So I might as well get a Z5?

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It that is truly the only thing you will be doing with the camera, yes, get a Z5. It'll be great. You may not want to limit yourself to manual focus, though. Consider using the focus shift feature to open up the possibility of focus-stacking. The Z5 can do this.

If you think you may want to use the camera for anything other than flowers, but you want to stay close to that $1000 price for the body, you could consider a refurbished Z6ii ($1200 from Nikon today, goes on sale about monthly for another 10% off). It takes SD cards and CFExpress, so you don't need to buy expensive media if you don't want to. It also has better facial recognition and subject tracking for portraiture and event photography (not good enough that I'd recommend it for sports) and better video.