Gallery update: The Nikon Z7 goes wrestling

Details about most pictures say -1EV to -1,7EV.

Can Dan explain if he had to compensate on the camera that much, or is it in post ?
Anyway shooting with a mirrorless, unless shooting with the 3 parameters locked, I don't get the need for so much correction. Is it the camera overexposing so much???

The wrestling gallery is good. Much better than what's been shown for the Canon EOS R. I was really impressed with the autofocus. On closer examination, the f stop is always f4. So the gallery says less about Z7 autofocus than it looks at first glance.

Great gallery though.

I have to say this is one of the coolest galleries I've ever seen on DPR. Props to the photographer, and whoever was responsible for setting up the gym and the lighting.

The photographer on this did a fantastic job! Made the camera look good.

Nothing here a dslr can’t do. Don’t see why one has to pay the MILC tax to just say they have the lastest.

Lots of pictures. And good ones. Thanx.

But - I am just as surprised as when I looked at your previous OOCJPG vs RAW comparisons. The difference in exposure and tone are super dramatic. All RAW images are brighter with more contrast and higher saturation. By a huge amount.

This is nothing I have ever seen from a camera I have used.

I guess you are tweaking the RAW to your liking. But ... it is possible to tweak the JPEG also you know.

Well done! I like them a lot !

I think the shots here are artist and has a theatrical feel to it (composition and lighting). My buddy that shoots local wrestling is more spray and pray shooter, I can tell these are more enjoyable to look at. Dpreview staffs stepping up their game after all the complainers on the sample shots not being pro level.

IQ wise, it is fine with me, quite impress for a high mp sensor.

A valiant effort shooting indoor sports at f/4, but you get exactly what you can expect: flat images. Indeed, not a lot of noise at ISO 10.000, but not a lot of colour, tonality, or depth either. That's not the camera's fault; there's only so much you can do when so little light hits the sensor.

Having said that, it's not particularly a testament to the camera's focusing abilities either: it's not hard to get something in focus at f/4 and ±24mm. And yeah it may have been dark, but the arena isn't: the athletes are under spotlights.

What type of processing gave the "look" of these images? I really like them

Sorry, but this is "rasslin". It is not Wrestling.
Wrestling is Oklahoma State, Iowa, Penn State and the like.
Jordan Burroughs, John Smith, Kyle Snyder, Mark Schultz and others who actually wrestle and win real World and Olympic Championships - and the many who compete and never reach those heights.

Yes, some of these "whores of the sport" have been actual wrestlers. But they are nothing more than whores and actors giving fixed results, cheezy entertainers. Not Wrestlers.

Really high ISO shots look like garbage (phone camera style) at pixel level. Washed out colors, muddy details and some kind of noise reduction artifacts. These look decent on a small screen like many photos do. It is sad to realize that consumer cameras can't get enough exposure and use it well enough to get natural looking in low light.

This is not really a problem today because common displays are small, low resolution, quite limited color and contrast reproduction. Someday these high ISO photos also can be viewed life-sized and all RAW data is utilized. They will not look good compared to the reality, but right now there is barely any better cameras for consumers.

Considering the terrible AF and dynamic range of the Z7, these photos are fantastic.

Speaking about lens lust, the new 35mm 1.8 is looking really great!

Not particularly fond of wrestling, but this gallery surely demonstrates the capabilities of the camera and, not in the last place, the photographer.

you guys have really stepped up when it comes to showing really good gallerys that not only shows the quality but are fun to look at..well done carey

So many underexposed areas and no visible banding and even AF seems to be working fine under these pretty challenging conditions and with lens as slow as f4.
The bad anti Z7 pose of Dpreview in recent weeks seems to have no basis in real life.

But really, I can't recall any other articles here saying "XX camera can't keep with XZ feature of ZY model" except those for Z7 (and rest assured you can put negative titles on anything if that was someone's goal...) and now we see the effect in real life is none.

Main drawback of this product release is that the camera is hard or impossible to buy and the stores can't even answer when they'll be in stock.

For a camera with supposed focus issues those are great images. Really good portfolio.

You guys should do gallery updates more often. Very nice gallery and the chainsaw pic is awesome!

Try basketball like you did with the G9. Give it a real test for a change.

I often complain that I miss the old London photos from the old DPR days but the wrestling photos make up for it!

Excellent IQ which is to be expected of a FF camera with this resolution.

Well good, this camera seems to be as capable as most other cameras under these conditions.

Swap the 'badges' around and I'll challenge any reader here, or any dpr staff, to distinguish between the images.

Still it has to be said - wrestling has never been a sport, it's a kind of entertainment requiring the suspension of belief. Harmless, but based upon a dishonest premise.

Stunning photos, Dan.

Really nice. Both the 35/1.8 and the 24/70 are sweet.

I'm surprised at the high level of noise in these images. I shoot APS-C (Fujifilm) and I really haven't looked at many FF images at 100%; however, if these images are representative of typical noise levels at high ISO, then then I don't see much of a difference versus APS-C. I have to be honets, I'm somewhat shocked.

Finally pictures that can make any cellphone fanboy completely speechless.

The fourth shot, the one with the guy in the mask and chainsaw up on the turnbuckle...that's just a downright awesome shot. Very cinematic in its quality. Major kudos for that one.

I'd guess Dan is composing in the EVF with histogram on and adjusting exposure compensation on the fly. Auto ISO, and locked shutter/aperture. Excellent tool. Can't be done with the D850!

Also my Leica 35 f/2, 50 f/2, 90 f/2.8 and other compacts work great. Probably better in some respects than on the M10.

And it has replaced my compact binoculars. For telescope mode just zoom to 70mm and press magnify twice. Identified a tiny golden-crowned kinglet with it today. It's stabilized!

Finally we got some pictures of sony fanboys.

The wrestling pics are good. But it ain't the camera, it's the photographer right?

Whatever camera, these are more interesting and informative than pictures of the Space Needle or the fish market.

Seems autofocus is not that bad. May be not as fast as Sony but usable.

Impressive photographs. Great camera and I must say the 24-70 lens is pretty good.

z6 and 35z 1.8 is my dream combo right now.

Those must be the most photographic test images taken by DPR ever. Great energy, great colors, great atmosphere. Not just images but photographs.

Nice shoots! And most of all great colors :-)...

Hilarious ploy from dpr, shoot virtually immobile objects and pretend Z7 has good caf.

These are some great images, really appreciate the series

Came for Z7 AF commentary, stayed for the awesome awesome wrestling shots. Well done.

Couldnt this all be done with a D850? Manufacturers just taking the mirror out to get you to rebuy the gear that you already have. Mirrorless is an excuse to get people open up their wallets again!!

Great shots

Tough shots. That ISO 16000 looks very clean.

Sports photography, low light, and back light are not supposed to mix. It's nice to see this is now possible with these cameras.