Nikon Z7 sample gallery updated from New York and Japan

Thematic ...I think they are warming up ! Sensing the market , the comments etc. Their main thrust is planned for 2020 when also their dedicated pro lenses are scheduled to arrive. For now it is mostly for hot headed gear maniacs who love to get the newest and brightest. As the saying goes...Good things come to those who wait... ! :)

I don't know when dpr will stop putting pre production images and stop insulting manufacturers. The production cameras would be magically better we all know this.

The camera and lenses are preproduction.

I wouldn't expect the same performance for the same sensor between a DSLR and a mirrorless camera, the mirrorless sensor is always running and so never have the time to cool down. Look at Sony E mount cameras, their DSLR Nikon and Pentax counterparts have always better dynamic range and lower noise for the same sensor (A7R vs D800/K-1, A7 vs D600, A6000 vs D3300/k-3 etc..).

What the heck are you talking about? At any rate, I sold my D70 over 10 years ago and never named any of my cameras. What do you call yours?

"What is image 7 doing anywhere near a DPR gallery?"

Well, it's showing you what the camera can do in a situation of near-darkness. (check the metadata) as well as showing you that the IBIS system allowed me to handhold a 35mm lens at less than 1/fl.

You do realise that we're not just setting out to make cameras look good, right? Otherwise we'd shoot everything at base ISO on a tripod, with reflectors and filters, with post-processing filters applied. That's really not what these galleries are for.

@Fujica makes a good point, actually...

Just kidding.

The first thing I saw this morning when I woke up was a Facebook message to my personal FB page in (I think) icelandic, calling me a f**king idiot (thanks Google Translate). There are some very smart people out there, and some extraordinarily stupid ones. Individuals from both camps can be unbelievably rude, especially when they think they're anonymous. I've been doing this for more than 10 years - I'm so thick-skinned that when I go for blood tests these days they have to hammer the needle in. I'm not special - I'm sure that most online journalists feel the same, if only to protect their sanity.

ps, our interviews are all here:

https://www.dpreview.com/features#interviews

If you're wondering whether Fujica's take is accurate. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Barney Britton Don't worry Barney ! Stanislaw Lem, one of my favourite writers, once said ..."I hadn't known there were so many idiots in the world until I started using the Internet. " On the other hand the fact that medusa has survived 650 mln years without brain gives hope to millions of people out there...PS Everybody is entitled to his/her opinion but they can do it without insulting other people ...especially when they are doing this anonymously !!!
Best Regards
Artur Zawadzki

Fujica - you might want to review the definition of journalism: the activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and information.

I see a Sony user biased as hell.

I use Nikon and Fuji gear and I am not impressed and sad about it.
I planned to buy this

Lol. You were planning to buy this camera but now won’t because of this sample galley?. This just screams hack amateur and you probably shouldn’t buy this camera for the simple fact that you are clueless. Everyone knows that you will pretty much get D850 results with this camera, and D750 results from the Z6. Mirrorless is all form factor. Why do you think buying new camera will improve your photographic output? Sad indeed.

@Koda: Everyone knows nothing yet.
Sadly. Including yourself - how about asking me why I wont buy it before going into a pointless tirade?

"Really bad" may be going a bit far, but I'm not blown away. Some of them look like the JPEG engine is doing some weird patchy sharpening and noise reduction or something.

I think less than stellar photography and an iffy JPEG engine are to blame. Those new lenses should be spectacular, and the Z7 will have more or less the same sensor as the D850...

I was wondering what the Canon Boys have to say... you probably never have handled a Sony is all i am going to say... and laugh really hard..

Talking about OOC JPG:
I really dislike the sony JPGs, also the Nikon JPGs.. and MFT JPGs... you know whats also bad? Canon JPGs

RAW since 2005

I will stick to the teasers. Nikon does them right, for camera sony is better choice now.

Fair enough, but I dont get why, these days there is as much negativity as anticipation, influential social media commentators already saying wait for MK2 based on an hours look / feel.and few JPG

Manufacturers always put the preproduction note in order to cover their ass, if something strange or unexpected happens they can say that it was a preproduction model and software is still being polished.

But let's be honest, a camera that has been developed for 3 years and ships next month has little room for improvement on the software. Maybe they issue a firmware update half a year after the introduction but don't expect miracles. 1.0 code could very well be that same code with the version number adjusted to reflect the final product version.

And no, I don't belive they showed the product to the press one month before launch without the lastest and greatest firmware available

We were shooting with preproduction cameras, running FW 0.51 (in Seattle) and FW 1.0 (Japan and New York, last week). I'd expect our experience with FW 1.0 to be pretty representative of shipping models, but none of the cameras we shot with had a serial number. I.e., they were built before mass-production commenced.

Barney, he could just be a very talented photographer..

It has nothing to do with my talents as a photographer. The simple fact is that the photos coming out of my phone look better than the photos in this gallery, which suck. Now, I'm willing to give Nikon the benefit of the doubt, seeing as they were taken with a pre-production camera. But still, I wouldn't expect Nikon to loan out a pre-production camera for a first look article if it didn't perform close to a production model. We'll see. But this first gallery is not good sign.

@Barney Britton. He probably means he can take better photos with his phone. I can for sure using RAW. So many blown highlights and unsharp corners from the 24-70 f/4.

Best regards David

Are you serious, release date is next month and you're not ready? Barney also said he saw Nikon in Japan mass producing these, are those still in preproduction as well?

I am serious. Every review 5 days ago says PREPRODUCTION - Nikon is reinventing mirrorless......these cameras are not done yet but will be soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUii9dTwPkw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nauzVklivI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNHQUGgZAKE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhTPepixEAc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEQsZW8Y5-M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkR9GfQHIEc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MKDB9dOSp4

Sony is actually a lot better at marketing these. Usually at their events, they have really nice setups to take sample photos. The setup Nikon had at some of their recent events could have been a lot better.

"reinvent mirrorless" by having the press review preproduction cameras??

the new Nikon mirrorless thingies

But Nikon is Reinventing Mirrorless.

I really hope a Z8 or Z9 adds eye AF, if not I really really hope the Z10 does..

“When Nikon shows cameras to people, things like focusing are not important “ isn’t this problematic when you have people like the Northrup ripping Nikon on YouTube about how crappy the AF is? I’m sure this might cause a few less preorders they might have got if the AF worked properly at the get-go.

You give a camera to someone that is used to snapping pics on a cellphone and guess what you are going to get: cellphone pics. It really says nothing about the camera.
Time and time again these sample galleries are demonstrating their uselessness.

did you notice the ISO that picture was snapped at ? It says ISO 10000 in some very bad artificial light and OOC jpeg.

Snapa,
Please, tell me which recent APS-C camera can take such a shot at 10000 ISO...
Yes, 10000 ISO !

photomedium,
LOL !
Please, take a shoot at 10000 ISO with a 45MP cellphone and come back to show us...

Tony Northrup's latest video has already explained that the Z7 has inconsistent focusing issues when using single point focus. It's definitely not user error. However, I think DpReview should wait for Nikon's firmware updates before putting out a sample gallery such as this. This gallery basically kills the Z7 before it even hits the shelf....

Yes... Pretty disappointing release I was ready to pull the trigger and be one of the early adopters, but I'll pass.

What? What are you basing these conclusions on? Out performs the D850 in which aspects? The sample gallery doesn't show anything other cameras in the same price range can't do from my eye. Happy for you to point out something I'm missing.

How is it clear?
I've seen no improvement significant enough for me to realise this is an evolution in terms of IQ.

Mr @Zvonimir is fooling himself. Throw him some A7 or D850 pics in the mix and see if he can tell which camera is each image.

Yeah, sorry, the good light pics could be from an A6K and no one would know.
They look great but so do 5D2 images.

I appreciate DPR supplying the images, but they don't give us any clues as to how good the camera is, fortunately they've also produced very good video reviews outlining all the features and as a result I've come to the conclusion that an A7R3 is every bit as good or better (in terms of IQ and AF handling) for less money using my cheaper existing cards and with a significantly larger lens selection, the redundancy of two cards also (HUGE plus for me).

Bottom line, a Sony 7R3 will perform as well or better for less cost with better lenses on offer.
The Nikon seems to have better ergonomics, maybe slightly better EVF? But more exxy and no lenses yet.
So if you must buy now, a 7R3 it is.

Same thing as with the Z6 vs the A7. I was ready to jump but I don't want to be confused by some Nikon mirrorless fanboy :)) I think I will go with the A7iii plus the kit zoom, which at $2100 is hard to beat.

The Z6 with the 24-70 is going to be a hell of a lot better piece of glass.

@sandy b

The A7 III is going to be a hell of a lot better at AF. In-focus images from an average lens > out-of-focus images from a sharp lens.

I doubt that very much. We shall see.

@lawny13 agree. Optically the Sony kit zoom is very decent, especially for the price. However, when I had my A7 I always wanted the elusive native 35mm 1.8 or f2 that for some unknown reason Sony refuses to release.

And guys... Remember, the old rule/saying still applies. It is all about the lenses.

Assume that nikon is about 1 gen (0.5 gen) behind sony. So what? Manufacturers equal or leap frog each other all the time. It is the way the industry works.

I bought into the sony system, but I hit a wall when it comes to lenses. I would like a 70-200 f2.8. Adapting one is sub-par at best. And the only option they have is the GM which is close to $3k. For shorter FLs I prefer native lenses because in general you can take advantage of the mirrorless size. But for longer FLs, the over all package is big whether you go DSLR or not. So adapting the longer glass is not a big deal.

The nikon and eventually canon will likely offer the options of adapting their DSLR lenses without the performance hit you would get on the sony side. That is huge.

And don't forget weather sealing. Her in rainy Netherlands I wis the A7III had this weather sealing. And I won't hold by breath for sony to ever address this.

The emperor's new clothes aren't so new anymore, so he bought a Nikon Z.

Yes! Sony are being so dam frustrating by keeping the 2/35 they have for the RX1R from us ILC users.

That's such a sweet lens and it's a massive hole in the Sony optic line-up.

I love the way sony pushed the envelope on tech. I fully get it. But I don't actually like the limitations they have in terms of choice.

GM lenses are designed for no holds barred performance, I get it. At the same time they release the A7III to pull in people into the system, and once you are in you release that you need to get GM, or meh lenses. For example the 50 f1.8. Optically it is nice, but AF on the thing is meh at best.

The 24-70 GM is $2.5k, and the f4 is not worth the money, since the kit pretty much gets you 90% there. The 35 f2.8 is a nice performer, but for that price i wouldn't get it as an f2.8. Heck, having the tammy f2.8 now, it pretty much doesn't justify the cost of any of sony's primes (almost). The 70-200 GM is massive and almost 3k.

So GAS aside, and thinking practically, a good performing AF, and availability to better priced lenses that work well on a 24 MP... I am willing to sacrifice eye AF assuming it will show up later in canikon.

Sorry, I did mean to type in 3650. I hate typo mistakes that occur often on a phone. The point was to show a comparative values.

The point was that this is just 1 lens. Take 2 GM lenses or 3 etc etc and the price differences quickly add up. Go second hand market for Nikon glass, especially if you have the 24 MP cameras and the difference increases big time.

Besides. You have options adapting Nikon to Nikon bodies that you don’t exactly have on Sony, since you can never be certain about performance. This of course assumes native quality performance of those adapted lenses on the Nikon bodies

Now that's funny, this is pretty much as good as M43, what about iphone, you think this can match the iphone image quality? if you approve so, I will get one.

Thank you ZeBebito for giving me the best comedy I've seen all day and making me laugh and my blood pressure go down!

I'm going to give @Thoughts R Us the benefit of the doubt and say his response was not bad considering the Nikon fan boys wetting their pants over the Z6 & 7. Especially Peter on Nikon Rumors, and others. All of a sudden, the "flaws" of of a mirrorless camera are ok now that Nikon is in the game. And NO ONE is admitting it!!!

@AZheaven

well, yes, now it seems there are a bunch of fanboys claiming this is the best IQ ever seen in the history of humankind. The truth is there is nothing in these samples that cannot be done with a 6Dii, D750 or any other "obsolete" DSLR.

AZheaven, the only "flaw" of the Z system is the presumptuousness of its naysayers, who never even touched the camera, who in their limited knowledge presume what a camera should have to be "successful", and then whip the reviewers and the manufacturers if that does not happen. "They" are the gatekeepers, "they" know the best, only "they" can bless. But their lack of consistency, their incontinence, technological ignorance, biased and inflammatory remarks, only prove the opposite of what they believe. Fact is that Nikon has delivered an amazing new mirrorless system, and ignoramuses are fuming with envy.

Haha...

Try and compare an ISO 10,000 out of the A7III, to any of the smaller formats. The difference isn’t trivial.

I can comfortably do ISO 10k with useable photos, while On APSC you would likely stick to 3.2k. Probably even less on 4/3, and definitely nothing good out of a phone in similar conditions assuming you can even get your subject in focus and not blurred from motion.

@lawny13, and make sure to do this comparison in the lighting condition that actually requires such high ISO, not some fancy studio lighting or broad day light. the difference in shadow noise between the small M4/3 and any FF is really day and night. same generation technology of course,
I know for sure my OMD 10 II produce cleaner image than my 2004 1Ds II at ISO 3200, LOL.

Nikon D5 weighs 1415 grams with batteries!
More than the Z7 plus kit lens (which is a great lens)!
Do we understand now why Sony and Nikon are going towards the FF mirrorless? The FF mirrorless is the closest we can get to the old-school FF film body size ideals. DSLRs have become way, way too big, everyday users started hating them, and I wish we had this technology 20 years ago that would have allowed this sort of downscaling.

Not really, there is M4/3 and there is "real camera" which should be a lot heavier and bigger, in fact, I am not buying the Z7 as yet as I wish the next generation or higher end model is much bigger than this one, I hope.

Yeah ! Just like what I said mirrorless Nikon Z7 weight less than Nikon D5.

It looks like a kit lens, which oddly, is exactly what the 24-70mm f/4 is.
It's still better than the Zony 24-70mm f/4 anyway :D

lol, this lens is like a prime compated to the garbage 24-70 f/4 Sony..

Could be worse, Sony 28-70 f5.6

The Sony 28-70mm is an unjustly maligned lens. It's pretty decent, and runs cheaper than practically any other 35mm-format kit lens released in the last 10 years.

The Sony 28-70 kit lens is optically very good. Not $800 lens good maybe, for resolution chart testing, but good enough for 90% of mirrorless shooters -- especially the soccer moms that never come off Auto or P mode. Optically speaking, it's said to be one of the better kit lenses to come out in the last decade.

Actually, it's pretty quick. It's effectively instant, as any modern lens is (in decent light). It would take equipment to measure any difference between the AF speed of this "slow" lens and a "fast" one. It's not going to feel slow to anyone who is contemplating keeping the kit lens as their main lens.

You must be one of those types that complain about 0.02mS access time being slow on one SSD because it's not 0.01mS like the competition, and you overlook the fact that conventional HDDs (which many people still use) have access times around 15mS -- which is 750X as long as your "slow" SSD.

The obvious exception to my "any modern lens" statement is the FE 50/1.8. It does a defocus/refocus thing every time you AF, even if it's sitting on the same focus point as the last shot. It's a little "unh-unh" each time, which would be noticeable and not the instant feel that the 28-70 has.

Y'know, your comment sounds a bit like trolling, but the question is a genuinely good one. I'd also like to know.

I've shot with pre-production Z 7 bodies now on two occasions, across three very packed days. On each of those days, I've shot mostly stills, with some 4K video and managed in the region of 1200-1600 exposures each day, before the battery was exhausted.

Barney: Thank you for your answer. But for how long did you shoot on each session?
On mirrorless cameras, run time is more important than the number of exposures taken, as I'm sure you know. I can grab a Canon M50 and rattle 2,000 exposures in less than an hour and a single battery, but that doesn't make its actual battery life any less pitiful.

12 hours, 12 hours, 12 hours (ish).

OK, that sounds quite good. Why is the CIPA number so low, then? I know you probably don't know :D I'm just wondering "out loud".

Barney Britton wrote: "managed in the region of 1200-1600 exposures each day, before the battery was exhausted."

Seems like what you could expect from other mirrorless cameras with about the same battery capacity when doing real world photography, not following the CIPA routine.

Also, mirrorless cameras should be capable of doing a lot long exposure photography on one battery, like dense ND filter shots/night sky and astrophoto, since there is no mirror that need to be held in the upper position during exposure.