Question: Image Quality Comparison

[amagumo]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some insights from those who have experience with either (or both) of these setups:

• Nikon Z5 with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S
• Fujifilm X-T2 / X-T3 with XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR

I'm primarily interested in portrait and street photography, and I want to compare the overall image quality — including sharpness, rendering, bokeh and color. I am not that interested in AF performance.

I own a Fuji X-T2 and am planning to buy the Fuji 56mm f/1.2 lens, and maybe upgrade my X-T2 to the X-T3. However, I'm also considering selling my Fuji gear and switching to the used Nikon Z system.

Weight-wise, the Z setup would be about 200 grams heavier—not a big deal. The size difference, of course, would be more significant.

I’m wondering how much of an image quality improvement I can realistically expect, and whether it would be enough to justify the switch.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and sample images (if you have any)!

 

[ZilverHaylide]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some insights from those who have experience with either (or both) of these setups:

• Nikon Z5 with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S
• Fujifilm X-T2 / X-T3 with XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR

I'm primarily interested in portrait and street photography, and I want to compare the overall image quality — including sharpness, rendering, bokeh and color. I am not that interested in AF performance.

I own a Fuji X-T2 and am planning to buy the Fuji 56mm f/1.2 lens, and maybe upgrade my X-T2 to the X-T3. However, I'm also considering selling my Fuji gear and switching to the used Nikon Z system.

Weight-wise, the Z setup would be about 200 grams heavier—not a big deal. The size difference, of course, would be more significant.

I’m wondering how much of an image quality improvement I can realistically expect, and whether it would be enough to justify the switch.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and sample images (if you have any)!

DPR usually reviews cameras with downloadable studio test shots taken with a lens that is 85mm for full-frame, or the proportional equivalent for smaller formats, and also has a downloadable gallery, so you should check the reviews, they might have used the particular lenses you are interested in for the camera reviews. Lenstip.com and OpticalLimits.com do good reviews of lenses with published quantitative resolution and lateral chromatic aberration results, and also have image galleries with high resolution downloads. Those may or may not have been done with your cameras of interest. The Polish parent site of Lenstip, linked at the top of the Lenstip page, also does good reviews of cameras. Your phone or computer browser should be able to translate the reviews.

 

[amagumo]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some insights from those who have experience with either (or both) of these setups:

• Nikon Z5 with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S
• Fujifilm X-T2 / X-T3 with XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR

I'm primarily interested in portrait and street photography, and I want to compare the overall image quality — including sharpness, rendering, bokeh and color. I am not that interested in AF performance.

I own a Fuji X-T2 and am planning to buy the Fuji 56mm f/1.2 lens, and maybe upgrade my X-T2 to the X-T3. However, I'm also considering selling my Fuji gear and switching to the used Nikon Z system.

Weight-wise, the Z setup would be about 200 grams heavier—not a big deal. The size difference, of course, would be more significant.

I’m wondering how much of an image quality improvement I can realistically expect, and whether it would be enough to justify the switch.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and sample images (if you have any)!

DPR usually reviews cameras with downloadable studio test shots taken with a lens that is 85mm for full-frame, or the proportional equivalent for smaller formats, and also has a downloadable gallery, so you should check the reviews, they might have used the particular lenses you are interested in for the camera reviews. Lenstip.com and OpticalLimits.com do good reviews of lenses with published quantitative resolution and lateral chromatic aberration results, and also have image galleries with high resolution downloads. Those may or may not have been done with your cameras of interest. The Polish parent site of Lenstip, linked at the top of the Lenstip page, also does good reviews of cameras. Your phone or computer browser should be able to translate the reviews.

Thanks.

 

[ikolbyi]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some insights from those who have experience with either (or both) of these setups:

• Nikon Z5 with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S
• Fujifilm X-T2 / X-T3 with XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR

I'm primarily interested in portrait and street photography, and I want to compare the overall image quality — including sharpness, rendering, bokeh and color. I am not that interested in AF performance.

I own a Fuji X-T2 and am planning to buy the Fuji 56mm f/1.2 lens, and maybe upgrade my X-T2 to the X-T3. However, I'm also considering selling my Fuji gear and switching to the used Nikon Z system.

Weight-wise, the Z setup would be about 200 grams heavier—not a big deal. The size difference, of course, would be more significant.

I’m wondering how much of an image quality improvement I can realistically expect, and whether it would be enough to justify the switch.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and sample images (if you have any)!

Is there something specific about your Fuji setup that you don’t like? I’m trying to understand what has you not satisfied with your equipment/lenses that has you eyeing Nikon?

Regarding hardware:

From my understanding the Nikon Z5 and Fuji X-T2/3/4 are using a 24-26mp sensor, therefore in terms of image detail they should be equivalent. Sharpness is determined by your lenses. Do you plan on buying quality (larger/heavier/expensive) Nikon lenses?

the Full-frame sensor buys you slightly more ISO & dynamic range but we are not talking huge amounts.

You may find this video of interest:

 

[amagumo]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some insights from those who have experience with either (or both) of these setups:

• Nikon Z5 with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S
• Fujifilm X-T2 / X-T3 with XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR

I'm primarily interested in portrait and street photography, and I want to compare the overall image quality — including sharpness, rendering, bokeh and color. I am not that interested in AF performance.

I own a Fuji X-T2 and am planning to buy the Fuji 56mm f/1.2 lens, and maybe upgrade my X-T2 to the X-T3. However, I'm also considering selling my Fuji gear and switching to the used Nikon Z system.

Weight-wise, the Z setup would be about 200 grams heavier—not a big deal. The size difference, of course, would be more significant.

I’m wondering how much of an image quality improvement I can realistically expect, and whether it would be enough to justify the switch.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and sample images (if you have any)!

Is there something specific about your Fuji setup that you don’t like? I’m trying to understand what has you not satisfied with your equipment/lenses that has you eyeing Nikon?

Regarding hardware:

From my understanding the Nikon Z5 and Fuji X-T2/3/4 are using a 24-26mp sensor, therefore in terms of image detail they should be equivalent. Sharpness is determined by your lenses. Do you plan on buying quality (larger/heavier/expensive) Nikon lenses?

the Full-frame sensor buys you slightly more ISO & dynamic range but we are not talking huge amounts.

You may find this video of interest:

IBIS in the Z5 sounds very tempting for night photography. I'm not planning to buy anything over $1,000 for now. I used to have Nikon cameras, so I'm familiar with the menu system. Both kits are the same price.

 

[RaysJ]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some insights from those who have experience with either (or both) of these setups:

• Nikon Z5 with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S
• Fujifilm X-T2 / X-T3 with XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR

I'm primarily interested in portrait and street photography, and I want to compare the overall image quality — including sharpness, rendering, bokeh and color. I am not that interested in AF performance.

I own a Fuji X-T2 and am planning to buy the Fuji 56mm f/1.2 lens, and maybe upgrade my X-T2 to the X-T3. However, I'm also considering selling my Fuji gear and switching to the used Nikon Z system.

Weight-wise, the Z setup would be about 200 grams heavier—not a big deal. The size difference, of course, would be more significant.

I’m wondering how much of an image quality improvement I can realistically expect, and whether it would be enough to justify the switch.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and sample images (if you have any)!

There are some great deals on new Z5s at the moment, don't know where you live but maybe worth checking, sometimes new is cheaper than used.

 

[FormerFearlessPhotog]

The best full frame sensors will offer about one full stop of extra dynamic range performance across the ISO range vs. the best APS-C sensors. However in this specific case the difference isn't that dramatic, after ISO 200 there isn't even a half difference in performance between these two cameras. Whether the performance difference at base ISO is relevant really depends on your use. Both lenses are great performers.

Photographic Dynamic Range versus ISO Setting

 

[John Crowe]

To make the switch to Nikon worthwhile you'd likely have to go to one of their many 45MP cameras, like the Z7, and use faster portrait glass. Which, of course, gets bigger and heavier again.

 

[amagumo]

To make the switch to Nikon worthwhile you'd likely have to go to one of their many 45MP cameras, like the Z7, and use faster portrait glass. Which, of course, gets bigger and heavier again.

That's what I feared.

 

[Mountaingrapher]

IBIS in the Z5 sounds very tempting for night photography.

Then what about a X-S20? Same sensor as X-T3, but with IBIS, though PSAM controls.

Of course finding a X-T4 could help keep the Fuji manual controls, and the best would be to get a X-T5 or X-T50.

As for the lenses, the Fuji X 56mm f/1.2 WR is clearly superior: according to lenstip, wide opens it offers 30% to 40% more sharpness than the Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8...

 

[amagumo]

IBIS in the Z5 sounds very tempting for night photography.

Then what about a X-S20? Same sensor as X-T3, but with IBIS, though PSAM controls.

Of course finding a X-T4 could help keep the Fuji manual controls, and the best would be to get a X-T5 or X-T50.

As for the lenses, the Fuji X 56mm f/1.2 WR is clearly superior: according to lenstip, wide opens it offers 30% to 40% more sharpness than the Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8...

Yes, it makes sense to get the 56/1.2 now and decide on an IBIS body later. I don't like PSAM on Fuji body and X-T4 is too bulky. Maybe X-T50 will become more affordable in the future.

 

[Mitchell Clark]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some insights from those who have experience with either (or both) of these setups:

• Nikon Z5 with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S
• Fujifilm X-T2 / X-T3 with XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR

I'm primarily interested in portrait and street photography, and I want to compare the overall image quality — including sharpness, rendering, bokeh and color. I am not that interested in AF performance.

I own a Fuji X-T2 and am planning to buy the Fuji 56mm f/1.2 lens, and maybe upgrade my X-T2 to the X-T3. However, I'm also considering selling my Fuji gear and switching to the used Nikon Z system.

Weight-wise, the Z setup would be about 200 grams heavier—not a big deal. The size difference, of course, would be more significant.

I’m wondering how much of an image quality improvement I can realistically expect, and whether it would be enough to justify the switch.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and sample images (if you have any)!

DPR usually reviews cameras with downloadable studio test shots taken with a lens that is 85mm for full-frame, or the proportional equivalent for smaller formats, and also has a downloadable gallery, so you should check the reviews, they might have used the particular lenses you are interested in for the camera reviews. Lenstip.com and OpticalLimits.com do good reviews of lenses with published quantitative resolution and lateral chromatic aberration results, and also have image galleries with high resolution downloads. Those may or may not have been done with your cameras of interest. The Polish parent site of Lenstip, linked at the top of the Lenstip page, also does good reviews of cameras. Your phone or computer browser should be able to translate the reviews.

Our Z5 studio scene was shot with the 50mm F1.8 S; I believe the 85mm that amagumo's considering didn't exist at that point. However, you can check out this link , which has the Z6 II as well, which we shot with the 85mm F1.8 S. It's not the exact same sensor, but it's the same resolution.

Also, I'd just like to mention that if you go to our lens pages, you can see all our samples from them, both from their dedicated sample galleries, and from when they've been used in our other galleries. Here's the samples page for the Nikon 85mm and for the Fujifilm 56mm.

 

[RaysJ]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some insights from those who have experience with either (or both) of these setups:

• Nikon Z5 with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S
• Fujifilm X-T2 / X-T3 with XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR

I'm primarily interested in portrait and street photography, and I want to compare the overall image quality — including sharpness, rendering, bokeh and color. I am not that interested in AF performance.

I own a Fuji X-T2 and am planning to buy the Fuji 56mm f/1.2 lens, and maybe upgrade my X-T2 to the X-T3. However, I'm also considering selling my Fuji gear and switching to the used Nikon Z system.

Weight-wise, the Z setup would be about 200 grams heavier—not a big deal. The size difference, of course, would be more significant.

I’m wondering how much of an image quality improvement I can realistically expect, and whether it would be enough to justify the switch.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and sample images (if you have any)!

DPR usually reviews cameras with downloadable studio test shots taken with a lens that is 85mm for full-frame, or the proportional equivalent for smaller formats, and also has a downloadable gallery, so you should check the reviews, they might have used the particular lenses you are interested in for the camera reviews. Lenstip.com and OpticalLimits.com do good reviews of lenses with published quantitative resolution and lateral chromatic aberration results, and also have image galleries with high resolution downloads. Those may or may not have been done with your cameras of interest. The Polish parent site of Lenstip, linked at the top of the Lenstip page, also does good reviews of cameras. Your phone or computer browser should be able to translate the reviews.

Our Z5 studio scene was shot with the 50mm F1.8 S; I believe the 85mm that amagumo's considering didn't exist at that point. However, you can check out this link , which has the Z6 II as well, which we shot with the 85mm F1.8 S. It's not the exact same sensor, but it's the same resolution.

Also, I'd just like to mention that if you go to our lens pages, you can see all our samples from them, both from their dedicated sample galleries, and from when they've been used in our other galleries. Here's the samples page for the Nikon 85mm and for the Fujifilm 56mm.

The Nikon look considerably sharper and have more detail, why are the Fuji images so soft?

 

[Matthew39]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some insights from those who have experience with either (or both) of these setups:

• Nikon Z5 with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S
• Fujifilm X-T2 / X-T3 with XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR

I'm primarily interested in portrait and street photography, and I want to compare the overall image quality — including sharpness, rendering, bokeh and color. I am not that interested in AF performance.

I own a Fuji X-T2 and am planning to buy the Fuji 56mm f/1.2 lens, and maybe upgrade my X-T2 to the X-T3. However, I'm also considering selling my Fuji gear and switching to the used Nikon Z system.

Weight-wise, the Z setup would be about 200 grams heavier—not a big deal. The size difference, of course, would be more significant.

I’m wondering how much of an image quality improvement I can realistically expect, and whether it would be enough to justify the switch.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and sample images (if you have any)!

DPR usually reviews cameras with downloadable studio test shots taken with a lens that is 85mm for full-frame, or the proportional equivalent for smaller formats, and also has a downloadable gallery, so you should check the reviews, they might have used the particular lenses you are interested in for the camera reviews. Lenstip.com and OpticalLimits.com do good reviews of lenses with published quantitative resolution and lateral chromatic aberration results, and also have image galleries with high resolution downloads. Those may or may not have been done with your cameras of interest. The Polish parent site of Lenstip, linked at the top of the Lenstip page, also does good reviews of cameras. Your phone or computer browser should be able to translate the reviews.

Our Z5 studio scene was shot with the 50mm F1.8 S; I believe the 85mm that amagumo's considering didn't exist at that point. However, you can check out this link , which has the Z6 II as well, which we shot with the 85mm F1.8 S. It's not the exact same sensor, but it's the same resolution.

Also, I'd just like to mention that if you go to our lens pages, you can see all our samples from them, both from their dedicated sample galleries, and from when they've been used in our other galleries. Here's the samples page for the Nikon 85mm and for the Fujifilm 56mm.

The Nikon look considerably sharper and have more detail, why are the Fuji images so soft?

Fuji pictures always look soft in the DPR comparison. You can download the RAW files to see the quality for yourself using the software of your choice. I have an X-H2 and a Z7ii and they both provide excellent image quality.

 

[RaysJ]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some insights from those who have experience with either (or both) of these setups:

• Nikon Z5 with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S
• Fujifilm X-T2 / X-T3 with XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR

I'm primarily interested in portrait and street photography, and I want to compare the overall image quality — including sharpness, rendering, bokeh and color. I am not that interested in AF performance.

I own a Fuji X-T2 and am planning to buy the Fuji 56mm f/1.2 lens, and maybe upgrade my X-T2 to the X-T3. However, I'm also considering selling my Fuji gear and switching to the used Nikon Z system.

Weight-wise, the Z setup would be about 200 grams heavier—not a big deal. The size difference, of course, would be more significant.

I’m wondering how much of an image quality improvement I can realistically expect, and whether it would be enough to justify the switch.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and sample images (if you have any)!

DPR usually reviews cameras with downloadable studio test shots taken with a lens that is 85mm for full-frame, or the proportional equivalent for smaller formats, and also has a downloadable gallery, so you should check the reviews, they might have used the particular lenses you are interested in for the camera reviews. Lenstip.com and OpticalLimits.com do good reviews of lenses with published quantitative resolution and lateral chromatic aberration results, and also have image galleries with high resolution downloads. Those may or may not have been done with your cameras of interest. The Polish parent site of Lenstip, linked at the top of the Lenstip page, also does good reviews of cameras. Your phone or computer browser should be able to translate the reviews.

Our Z5 studio scene was shot with the 50mm F1.8 S; I believe the 85mm that amagumo's considering didn't exist at that point. However, you can check out this link , which has the Z6 II as well, which we shot with the 85mm F1.8 S. It's not the exact same sensor, but it's the same resolution.

Also, I'd just like to mention that if you go to our lens pages, you can see all our samples from them, both from their dedicated sample galleries, and from when they've been used in our other galleries. Here's the samples page for the Nikon 85mm and for the Fujifilm 56mm.

The Nikon look considerably sharper and have more detail, why are the Fuji images so soft?

Fuji pictures always look soft in the DPR comparison. You can download the RAW files to see the quality for yourself using the software of your choice. I have an X-H2 and a Z7ii and they both provide excellent image quality.

So a very misleading comparison. I'm not interested in Fuji, just curious why they look soft and missing detail. DPR should fix this.

 

[ZilverHaylide]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some insights from those who have experience with either (or both) of these setups:

• Nikon Z5 with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S
• Fujifilm X-T2 / X-T3 with XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR

I'm primarily interested in portrait and street photography, and I want to compare the overall image quality — including sharpness, rendering, bokeh and color. I am not that interested in AF performance.

I own a Fuji X-T2 and am planning to buy the Fuji 56mm f/1.2 lens, and maybe upgrade my X-T2 to the X-T3. However, I'm also considering selling my Fuji gear and switching to the used Nikon Z system.

Weight-wise, the Z setup would be about 200 grams heavier—not a big deal. The size difference, of course, would be more significant.

I’m wondering how much of an image quality improvement I can realistically expect, and whether it would be enough to justify the switch.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and sample images (if you have any)!

DPR usually reviews cameras with downloadable studio test shots taken with a lens that is 85mm for full-frame, or the proportional equivalent for smaller formats, and also has a downloadable gallery, so you should check the reviews, they might have used the particular lenses you are interested in for the camera reviews. Lenstip.com and OpticalLimits.com do good reviews of lenses with published quantitative resolution and lateral chromatic aberration results, and also have image galleries with high resolution downloads. Those may or may not have been done with your cameras of interest. The Polish parent site of Lenstip, linked at the top of the Lenstip page, also does good reviews of cameras. Your phone or computer browser should be able to translate the reviews.

Our Z5 studio scene was shot with the 50mm F1.8 S; I believe the 85mm that amagumo's considering didn't exist at that point. However, you can check out this link , which has the Z6 II as well, which we shot with the 85mm F1.8 S. It's not the exact same sensor, but it's the same resolution.

Also, I'd just like to mention that if you go to our lens pages, you can see all our samples from them, both from their dedicated sample galleries, and from when they've been used in our other galleries. Here's the samples page for the Nikon 85mm and for the Fujifilm 56mm.

The Nikon look considerably sharper and have more detail, why are the Fuji images so soft?

Fuji pictures always look soft in the DPR comparison. You can download the RAW files to see the quality for yourself using the software of your choice. I have an X-H2 and a Z7ii and they both provide excellent image quality.

So a very misleading comparison. I'm not interested in Fuji, just curious why they look soft and missing detail. DPR should fix this.

I think the problem is that DPR has used Lightroom as their standard RAW processing (to supposedly not bias results towards any brand by using software that was optimized for it). I'm not a Fuji X-Trans user, but IIRC, Lightroom used to be significantly worse for X-Trans RAW processing.

I think I've seen it stated that recent versions of Lightroom are much better for processing X-Trans RAWs than was previously the case. But even then, some people say that other software is still better for X-Trans. Whatever is currently optimal, my guess is that DPR wasn't going to go through all its old articles and image files and reprocess them.

 

[RaysJ]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some insights from those who have experience with either (or both) of these setups:

• Nikon Z5 with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S
• Fujifilm X-T2 / X-T3 with XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR

I'm primarily interested in portrait and street photography, and I want to compare the overall image quality — including sharpness, rendering, bokeh and color. I am not that interested in AF performance.

I own a Fuji X-T2 and am planning to buy the Fuji 56mm f/1.2 lens, and maybe upgrade my X-T2 to the X-T3. However, I'm also considering selling my Fuji gear and switching to the used Nikon Z system.

Weight-wise, the Z setup would be about 200 grams heavier—not a big deal. The size difference, of course, would be more significant.

I’m wondering how much of an image quality improvement I can realistically expect, and whether it would be enough to justify the switch.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and sample images (if you have any)!

DPR usually reviews cameras with downloadable studio test shots taken with a lens that is 85mm for full-frame, or the proportional equivalent for smaller formats, and also has a downloadable gallery, so you should check the reviews, they might have used the particular lenses you are interested in for the camera reviews. Lenstip.com and OpticalLimits.com do good reviews of lenses with published quantitative resolution and lateral chromatic aberration results, and also have image galleries with high resolution downloads. Those may or may not have been done with your cameras of interest. The Polish parent site of Lenstip, linked at the top of the Lenstip page, also does good reviews of cameras. Your phone or computer browser should be able to translate the reviews.

Our Z5 studio scene was shot with the 50mm F1.8 S; I believe the 85mm that amagumo's considering didn't exist at that point. However, you can check out this link , which has the Z6 II as well, which we shot with the 85mm F1.8 S. It's not the exact same sensor, but it's the same resolution.

Also, I'd just like to mention that if you go to our lens pages, you can see all our samples from them, both from their dedicated sample galleries, and from when they've been used in our other galleries. Here's the samples page for the Nikon 85mm and for the Fujifilm 56mm.

The Nikon look considerably sharper and have more detail, why are the Fuji images so soft?

Fuji pictures always look soft in the DPR comparison. You can download the RAW files to see the quality for yourself using the software of your choice. I have an X-H2 and a Z7ii and they both provide excellent image quality.

So a very misleading comparison. I'm not interested in Fuji, just curious why they look soft and missing detail. DPR should fix this.

I think the problem is that DPR has used Lightroom as their standard RAW processing (to supposedly not bias results towards any brand by using software that was optimized for it). I'm not a Fuji X-Trans user, but IIRC, Lightroom used to be significantly worse for X-Trans RAW processing.

I think I've seen it stated that recent versions of Lightroom are much better for processing X-Trans RAWs than was previously the case. But even then, some people say that other software is still better for X-Trans. Whatever is currently optimal, my guess is that DPR wasn't going to go through all its old articles and image files and reprocess them.

Fair enough but maybe there should be a warning about it, otherwise people like me, will just think the images are soft, because of the lens.

 

[amagumo]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some insights from those who have experience with either (or both) of these setups:

• Nikon Z5 with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S
• Fujifilm X-T2 / X-T3 with XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR

I'm primarily interested in portrait and street photography, and I want to compare the overall image quality — including sharpness, rendering, bokeh and color. I am not that interested in AF performance.

I own a Fuji X-T2 and am planning to buy the Fuji 56mm f/1.2 lens, and maybe upgrade my X-T2 to the X-T3. However, I'm also considering selling my Fuji gear and switching to the used Nikon Z system.

Weight-wise, the Z setup would be about 200 grams heavier—not a big deal. The size difference, of course, would be more significant.

I’m wondering how much of an image quality improvement I can realistically expect, and whether it would be enough to justify the switch.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and sample images (if you have any)!

DPR usually reviews cameras with downloadable studio test shots taken with a lens that is 85mm for full-frame, or the proportional equivalent for smaller formats, and also has a downloadable gallery, so you should check the reviews, they might have used the particular lenses you are interested in for the camera reviews. Lenstip.com and OpticalLimits.com do good reviews of lenses with published quantitative resolution and lateral chromatic aberration results, and also have image galleries with high resolution downloads. Those may or may not have been done with your cameras of interest. The Polish parent site of Lenstip, linked at the top of the Lenstip page, also does good reviews of cameras. Your phone or computer browser should be able to translate the reviews.

Our Z5 studio scene was shot with the 50mm F1.8 S; I believe the 85mm that amagumo's considering didn't exist at that point. However, you can check out this link , which has the Z6 II as well, which we shot with the 85mm F1.8 S. It's not the exact same sensor, but it's the same resolution.

Also, I'd just like to mention that if you go to our lens pages, you can see all our samples from them, both from their dedicated sample galleries, and from when they've been used in our other galleries. Here's the samples page for the Nikon 85mm and for the Fujifilm 56mm.

Thank you very much.

 

[Mitchell Clark]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some insights from those who have experience with either (or both) of these setups:

• Nikon Z5 with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S
• Fujifilm X-T2 / X-T3 with XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR

I'm primarily interested in portrait and street photography, and I want to compare the overall image quality — including sharpness, rendering, bokeh and color. I am not that interested in AF performance.

I own a Fuji X-T2 and am planning to buy the Fuji 56mm f/1.2 lens, and maybe upgrade my X-T2 to the X-T3. However, I'm also considering selling my Fuji gear and switching to the used Nikon Z system.

Weight-wise, the Z setup would be about 200 grams heavier—not a big deal. The size difference, of course, would be more significant.

I’m wondering how much of an image quality improvement I can realistically expect, and whether it would be enough to justify the switch.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and sample images (if you have any)!

DPR usually reviews cameras with downloadable studio test shots taken with a lens that is 85mm for full-frame, or the proportional equivalent for smaller formats, and also has a downloadable gallery, so you should check the reviews, they might have used the particular lenses you are interested in for the camera reviews. Lenstip.com and OpticalLimits.com do good reviews of lenses with published quantitative resolution and lateral chromatic aberration results, and also have image galleries with high resolution downloads. Those may or may not have been done with your cameras of interest. The Polish parent site of Lenstip, linked at the top of the Lenstip page, also does good reviews of cameras. Your phone or computer browser should be able to translate the reviews.

Our Z5 studio scene was shot with the 50mm F1.8 S; I believe the 85mm that amagumo's considering didn't exist at that point. However, you can check out this link , which has the Z6 II as well, which we shot with the 85mm F1.8 S. It's not the exact same sensor, but it's the same resolution.

Also, I'd just like to mention that if you go to our lens pages, you can see all our samples from them, both from their dedicated sample galleries, and from when they've been used in our other galleries. Here's the samples page for the Nikon 85mm and for the Fujifilm 56mm.

The Nikon look considerably sharper and have more detail, why are the Fuji images so soft?

Fuji pictures always look soft in the DPR comparison. You can download the RAW files to see the quality for yourself using the software of your choice. I have an X-H2 and a Z7ii and they both provide excellent image quality.

So a very misleading comparison. I'm not interested in Fuji, just curious why they look soft and missing detail. DPR should fix this.

I think the problem is that DPR has used Lightroom as their standard RAW processing (to supposedly not bias results towards any brand by using software that was optimized for it). I'm not a Fuji X-Trans user, but IIRC, Lightroom used to be significantly worse for X-Trans RAW processing.

I think I've seen it stated that recent versions of Lightroom are much better for processing X-Trans RAWs than was previously the case. But even then, some people say that other software is still better for X-Trans. Whatever is currently optimal, my guess is that DPR wasn't going to go through all its old articles and image files and reprocess them.

We use ACR, not Lightroom, but they use the same tech. The issue is consistency; we can't use three or four different pieces of software to process Raws, since that would be more of a referendum on the software than the camera or lens. It's also worth noting that our test chart isn't great for analyzing lenses; we use the best lens we can for a system so that it's as little a factor as possible.

Not for nothing, but we also find that Fujifilm's straight-out-of-camera JPEGs (which are also included in our studio scene) generally have less detail than their peers. That's not saying its Raws have less detail, but ACR isn't the only thing that struggles to get good results out of them.

 

[Ruedon]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some insights from those who have experience with either (or both) of these setups:

• Nikon Z5 with Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S
• Fujifilm X-T2 / X-T3 with XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR

I'm primarily interested in portrait and street photography, and I want to compare the overall image quality — including sharpness, rendering, bokeh and color. I am not that interested in AF performance.

...

I own not exactly, but somehow comparable:

• Nikon Z8, e.g. with 24-70/2.8
• Nikon D500, e.g. with 18-35/1.8

Image quality is comparable with equivalent lenses.

The difference starts if equivalent lenses are not available for APS-C -- like the 3x zoom 24-70 vs 2x zoom 18-35. Or like the full frame Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4.

Using f/1.8 zooms on APS-C, "fast" primes only started to make sense to me with full frame.