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"The Latest & the Greatest"

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grovep

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I am preparing a talk entitled “The Latest and the Greatest” for the photography club of which I am a member. Most of the talk is focussed on generic developments in mirrorless cameras covering areas such as burst rates, pre-capture, improvements in autofocus, improved ISO performance, faster storage … However I have a section where I plan to quickly mention a few specific cameras and highlight particular features that perhaps differentiate them from others and relevant to the audience. Being a Canon user (yes, I apologise!) I am reasonably familiar with Canon’s offerings but I am wonder if people here can highlight in a sentence or two any key features of a specific Nikon camera that they feel is worth a brief mention. Currently I plan to mention the Z5 II and Z50 II as I guess these will be the sort of camera the audience would consider. Or do you feel the real differentiators are in the lenses – sharper, lighter, lower cost?
 
If you need something to say about Nikon, I would suggest the huge amount and quality of lenses available and the ability to utilize "almost" any Nikon ICL lens made in the last 25 years or so and across both FF and APSC sensor bodies fully interchangeable.
 
grovep said:
I am preparing a talk entitled “The Latest and the Greatest” for the photography club of which I am a member. Most of the talk is focussed on generic developments in mirrorless cameras covering areas such as burst rates, pre-capture, improvements in autofocus, improved ISO performance, faster storage … However I have a section where I plan to quickly mention a few specific cameras and highlight particular features that perhaps differentiate them from others and relevant to the audience. Being a Canon user (yes, I apologise!) I am reasonably familiar with Canon’s offerings but I am wonder if people here can highlight in a sentence or two any key features of a specific Nikon camera that they feel is worth a brief mention. Currently I plan to mention the Z5 II and Z50 II as I guess these will be the sort of camera the audience would consider. Or do you feel the real differentiators are in the lenses – sharper, lighter, lower cost?
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Can you show what has been written about Canon (or what you'd write), just to have an idea ?

Would be the easiest way to know exactly about your needs I think.
 
Pierre Lagarde said:
grovep said:
I am preparing a talk entitled “The Latest and the Greatest” for the photography club of which I am a member. Most of the talk is focussed on generic developments in mirrorless cameras covering areas such as burst rates, pre-capture, improvements in autofocus, improved ISO performance, faster storage … However I have a section where I plan to quickly mention a few specific cameras and highlight particular features that perhaps differentiate them from others and relevant to the audience. Being a Canon user (yes, I apologise!) I am reasonably familiar with Canon’s offerings but I am wonder if people here can highlight in a sentence or two any key features of a specific Nikon camera that they feel is worth a brief mention. Currently I plan to mention the Z5 II and Z50 II as I guess these will be the sort of camera the audience would consider. Or do you feel the real differentiators are in the lenses – sharper, lighter, lower cost?
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Can you show what has been written about Canon (or what you'd write), just to have an idea ?

Would be the easiest way to know exactly about your needs I think.
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The audience is a mixture of DSLR & Mirrorless users one of which I know is hoping to revert back from m4/3 to Nikon in the next few months. I have not written anything yet about specific cameras but I plan to show the tracking and pre-capture on the R6 II, highlight its rolling shutter performance (similar to a Z6 III I think) and maybe the buffer clearance time which IMHO is poor. I'm was not planning to expound the greatness of the camera but more show what modern cameras are now doing. I believe some of the Nikons have very fast sensor read out speeds. The high end Canons for example you can control the focus point with your eye which I think is rather novel, do any Nikons have specific features that you think are worth mentioning?
 
If you are a Canon user and unfamiliar with Nikon or other brands, I suggest you keep your comments more generic and talk about industry trends rather than diving into brands. Any discussion of brands and cameras within a brand will quickly get you into deep water and you could say something that isn’t true simply out of ignorance. I have seen this sort of thing many times, and it can end badly for everyone.

Discuss the advantages of larger lens mounts, newer optical formulas that make zooms close to par with many primes, advances in in-camera processing that help with noise reduction and sharpening and color science, the differences in mirrorless vs. DSLR AF technologies, and how EVFs help in low-light situations. I’m sure there are lots of other topics others will suggest. None of these are brand-specific other than maybe Nikon’s Z mount and its really short g}flange distance (and shorter flange distance is another mirrorless advanced allowing lenses that were not possible with DSLR-imposed lens design limitations).
 
Covering the camera topic, I'd mention the Z50II as the DX family member; then continue with the Z5II as the "entry-level" full-frame camera, with its retro-control brother, the Zf; and put the shutterless Z8/Z9 at the top-level of the range.

And I'd definitely mention that most of the Z users have jettisoned their Nikon F-mount lenses in favour of the Z lenses; once you tried a Z variant of an F lens, you usually don't want to go back to F-mount gear...

(For further details, I've put your text combined with mine into Microsoft Copilot, and it even offered me creating a PowerPoint slide deck - might make your life easier)
 
Kazmarov said:
grovep said:
highlight its rolling shutter performance (similar to a Z6 III I think) ... snip
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Source please?
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github.com

GitHub - horshack-dpreview/RollingShutter: Compilation of rolling shutter camera sensor readout speed measurements for various cameras, plus the technique and tools used to generate it

Compilation of rolling shutter camera sensor readout speed measurements for various cameras, plus the technique and tools used to generate it - horshack-dpreview/RollingShutter
github.com github.com
 
The Z8 has some unique features for astro photographers.
 
grovep said:
Being a Canon user (yes, I apologise!) I am reasonably familiar with Canon’s offerings but I am wonder if people here can highlight in a sentence or two any key features of a specific Nikon camera that they feel is worth a brief mention. Currently I plan to mention the Z5 II and Z50 II as I guess these will be the sort of camera the audience would consider. Or do you feel the real differentiators are in the lenses – sharper, lighter, lower cost?
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The Z50ii and Z5ii can be considered as "latest" from Nikon, since they are the most-recent two Nikon Z mirrorless bodies for photography and video, i.e. hybrid cameras, while the absolute latest Nikon Zr is mainly a video/low-end cinema camera, and production samples have not yet been shipped. However, both the Z50ii and Z5ii are sub-$2000 bodies. In fact, the Z50ii was $909 at introduction before tariff price hikes pushed it about $1000. All three cameras mentioned above probably don't quality as "greatest."

Nikon probably has the best telephoto lenses among all brands at this point, with two high-end lenses with built-in 1.4x teleconverter and two PF lenses. Interestingly, both concepts were pioneered by Canon in EF-mount DSLR lenses.
 
Some key innovations to flag include:
  • Low light image quality improvements with the D3 and since
  • Dual gain sensors, D850 and Z9 etc
  • Silent photography aka electronic shutter also allow mechanical protection Z9
  • High frame rates
  • PreCapture, Olympus first followed by other systems
  • Fast Uwide lenses with the 14-24 f2.8G Nikkor and since: impacts on astrophotography
  • Phase Fresnel optical elements, 300 PF and since
  • Improved zoom lenses: prime level image quality and faster, yet comparatively light weight, 180-400 TC14, 120-300 f2.8S, 70-200 f2.8E FL and its Z-mount equivalent
  • Subject Detection derived from machine learning, leveraging applications of Autofocus, Z9 AF system
 
Last edited:
chambeshi said:
Some key innovations to flag include:
  • Subject Detection derived from machine learning, leveraging applications of Autofocus
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Concerning that last point, I went to a Canon presentation a year ago on the then brand new R1 and R5ii. Those cameras have subject detection for specific sports. And there is facial recognition technology so that the photographer can input certain subjects (people) and the AF system will try to focus on those people. I am sure a lot of such technologies are still in their infancy, but they will gradually improve over time.
 
shuncheung said:
chambeshi said:
Some key innovations to flag include:
  • Subject Detection derived from machine learning, leveraging applications of Autofocus
Click to expand...
Concerning that last point, I went to a Canon presentation a year ago on the then brand new R1 and R5ii. Those cameras have subject detection for specific sports. And there is facial recognition technology so that the photographer can input certain subjects (people) and the AF system will try to focus on those people. I am sure a lot of such technologies are still in their infancy, but they will gradually improve over time.
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Yes a powerful feature in the right situations:-)

It's become standard on some sports TV cameras

there's been some discussion about this technology over on BCG in some AF threads and also speculation about the Z9 II update

Loading…

bcgforums.com

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bcgforums.com
 
chambeshi said:
shuncheung said:
chambeshi said:
Some key innovations to flag include:
  • Subject Detection derived from machine learning, leveraging applications of Autofocus
Click to expand...
Concerning that last point, I went to a Canon presentation a year ago on the then brand new R1 and R5ii. Those cameras have subject detection for specific sports. And there is facial recognition technology so that the photographer can input certain subjects (people) and the AF system will try to focus on those people. I am sure a lot of such technologies are still in their infancy, but they will gradually improve over time.
Click to expand...
Yes a powerful feature in the right situations:-)

It's become standard on some sports TV cameras

there's been some discussion about this technology over on BCG in some AF threads and also speculation about the Z9 II update

https://bcgforums.com/threads/same-focusing-problem-on-all-mirrorless-cameras.18522/post-206265

https://bcgforums.com/threads/z9ii-predictions.48358/
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Just imagine AF can identify Lionel Messi in the crowd and focus on him only, or in the case of American football where they wear helmet and face mask, AI can somehow focus based on the jersey number and/or the height/size of the player .... We still have a long long way to go with EXPEED 8, EXPEED 9 .... :-D
 
The things that are impressive to me:

20 frames per second raw, 30 frames for 45 mp jpg (z8) great for sports and wildlife.

6 stops of in body image stabilization when used with any z lens.

new lens designs. Like plena which has almost no vignetting, and round bokeh balls wide open. Or tamron 35-150 f2-2.8. Other systems have other unique lens designs like Sony has 50-150 f/2. Zooms are getting faster with impressive quality.

Focus peaking for manual lenses. Newer cameras have eye detect box that changes color when manual focus is achieved. Can set up ibis for manual lenses. Mount older lenses with adaptor. For old dslr users, taht is a real win.

silent photography modes. Some models don’t have a shutter and less moving parts to wear out. Z8 and z9 have a dust shield over the sensor for changing lenses.

many of the other features seem like gimmicks to me like focus shift or pre-capture. Some may use these but not me so far.
 
Thanks everyone, I intend to simply show the key points from either the OEMs website or reputable dealer and highlight some of the bullet points thay you have raised.
 
grovep said:
Thanks everyone, I intend to simply show the key points from either the OEMs website or reputable dealer and highlight some of the bullet points that you have raised.
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That's probably the best way to go.

Pick up some highlights from reliable sources online and clearly state that you are not a Nikon user and hence cannot provide practical insight.

Then go on to expand on the Canon features that you have actually used.

Don't harp too much on features like pre-capture where Nikon is probably the only brand that doesn't shoot raw files.

There is something in Z6iii about the stabilization prioritizing around the focus points. That's a cool feature. You will find it in DPR's review.

All the best.
 
I realize that you are mainly talking about the camera end of things - but I think you would be remiss in not at least mentioning many of the advances in post-processing. Compared to 5 years ago, there has been tremendous progress in AI noise reduction, AI masking, 'smart' object removal, file enlargement etc.
 
grovep said:
I am preparing a talk entitled “The Latest and the Greatest” for the photography club of which I am a member. Most of the talk is focussed on generic developments in mirrorless cameras covering areas such as burst rates, pre-capture, improvements in autofocus, improved ISO performance, faster storage … However I have a section where I plan to quickly mention a few specific cameras and highlight particular features that perhaps differentiate them from others and relevant to the audience. Being a Canon user (yes, I apologise!) I am reasonably familiar with Canon’s offerings but I am wonder if people here can highlight in a sentence or two any key features of a specific Nikon camera that they feel is worth a brief mention. Currently I plan to mention the Z5 II and Z50 II as I guess these will be the sort of camera the audience would consider. Or do you feel the real differentiators are in the lenses – sharper, lighter, lower cost?
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To be honest, talking about the "greatest" is kind of a risky topic to get into. As everyone will have different opinions, either within teh same brand or across brands. it's actually a subject I tend to avoid when possible, as people often ask me "What is the best camera?" and then we go down the road of looking at what they want to accomplish, etc, and that's different for each and every person. For some, a Z50 Ii might be the "best" or greatest camera for them given their needs, while for others a Z9 may be needed. Some may choose the cheaper Z5 Mark I because of budget constraints, etc.

So I'd be careful about the "greatest" part. Latest, that's easy to go over as it is what it is.

But you kind of know where I'm going with this. Some canon users for example might be inclined to say that the R1 is the latest and greatest in Canon land, and that may be true, but for others it may not. The R5 II or R6 II might be the "greatest" for a mid-range consumer.

Something to consider.
 
sirhawkeye64 said:
grovep said:
I am preparing a talk entitled “The Latest and the Greatest” for the photography club of which I am a member. Most of the talk is focussed on generic developments in mirrorless cameras covering areas such as burst rates, pre-capture, improvements in autofocus, improved ISO performance, faster storage … However I have a section where I plan to quickly mention a few specific cameras and highlight particular features that perhaps differentiate them from others and relevant to the audience. Being a Canon user (yes, I apologise!) I am reasonably familiar with Canon’s offerings but I am wonder if people here can highlight in a sentence or two any key features of a specific Nikon camera that they feel is worth a brief mention. Currently I plan to mention the Z5 II and Z50 II as I guess these will be the sort of camera the audience would consider. Or do you feel the real differentiators are in the lenses – sharper, lighter, lower cost?
Click to expand...
To be honest, talking about the "greatest" is kind of a risky topic to get into. As everyone will have different opinions, either within teh same brand or across brands. it's actually a subject I tend to avoid when possible, as people often ask me "What is the best camera?" and then we go down the road of looking at what they want to accomplish, etc, and that's different for each and every person. For some, a Z50 Ii might be the "best" or greatest camera for them given their needs, while for others a Z9 may be needed. Some may choose the cheaper Z5 Mark I because of budget constraints, etc.

So I'd be careful about the "greatest" part. Latest, that's easy to go over as it is what it is.

But you kind of know where I'm going with this. Some canon users for example might be inclined to say that the R1 is the latest and greatest in Canon land, and that may be true, but for others it may not. The R5 II or R6 II might be the "greatest" for a mid-range consumer.

Something to consider.
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Thanks but the title is a little tongue in cheek. Its more about getting people in the photogaphy club aware of the sort of cameras/features that are now available. Some are using DSLRs which have had many years of use and even those of us using mirrorless may not be aware of the some of the more recent advances.
 
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