Live review of the Nikon Z7

The Nikon Z7 was hidden in a particularly beautiful Easter egg this year - and I found it. It's not a new camera on the market and those interested have probably already read everything about it. For this reason I'm doing it differently this time than before my other experience reports. Instead of waiting for some time and then writing a big article, this time I'll share how I get used to the camera. If you're interested, just come by here often. Now the report has been finalized after almost 7000 recordings and several orders...

Why a Nikon Z7 at all?

A legitimate question, since I switched to Sony about a year ago. With A7III, A7RIII and A6400 I'm really very well equipped. On the one hand, I still have some interesting Nikon lenses, which I haven't sold yet and I wanted to know whether the heavy expected financial loss is unavoidable. Adapting Nikon lenses to other camera bodies is difficult and is very possible with the FTZ adapter on Z bodies. On the other hand, the Nikon Z models are better protected against moisture than the Sonys. This is a not insignificant point for use on the sidelines of a moderate second division team in Hamburg weather. I also have unused XQD cards lying around here. Oh yes, I can still use my old batteries from the D800 and D500.

Then why not a Z6?

The question is very easy to answer: it is clear to me that the autofocus of the Nikon Z series is currently not as good as the Sony models mentioned. So I don't need a sports autofocus camera. I need a small camera that I enjoy. Sony also showed me that I like the quality of the high-resolution images better.

My first impression of the Nikon Z7

Of course, a new camera is always a change and getting used to. Since I've been photographing with Nikon for about ten years, it's easier for me now than it was with Sony. A lot of things on the menu have remained the same. And my many years of experience with autofocus systems on mirrorless (DSLM) cameras helps me find the right settings.

Nevertheless, I searched for a long time until I managed to take the display out of continuous operation. The Nikon Z7 has a button on the left side of the viewfinder that switches through the four possible modes (automatic, viewfinder only, display only, display off). I initially looked for it in the menu for a long time because the other cameras I know make this possible using the display button in freely selectable modes and this setup takes place in the menu. EDIT April 22.04nd: see, it's starting - of course the four modes can be switched on and off in the menu. You can find it under - Similarly abbreviated to “great” as with Sony 😉

Next time I'll photograph something other than pigeons. By the way: this annoying whitish feces is diarrhea because the animals have to feed on human dirt (kebab remains, etc.). Usually the animal's feces are round in shape and black.

I had to be a little trickier with the button assignment to enable quick switching between AF-S and AF-C. Although the continuous autofocus AF-C on the Nikon Z7 is better than its reputation, it cannot be compared with that of the current Sony models. (An upgrade for the Nikon is due to come in May and I of course hope that Nikon will get the connection there.) With the single-focus AF-S there is hardly any difference to the Sony (from the lack of eye autofocus on humans, cats and dogs). apart). So I was looking for a way to quickly switch between focus modes.

The solution is much simpler than I initially thought. The Fn2 button is already assigned to focus measurement and AF field control in the factory setting. If you press the button you can use the rear dial to choose between AF-S and AF-C (and of course MF). You can also set up the appropriate measuring field using the front dial. I set the function to Fn1 because I can reach it better with my finger., set up focus mode as the first menu item in my personal menu. Then I can assign one of the two Fn buttons on the front of the lens to call up the first menu item. This means I can quickly select the appropriate focus mode with my right middle finger while taking photos without putting the camera down.

Appearances

The Nikon Z7 fits well in the hand, the view through the viewfinder does not miss the optical aspect and that 24-70mm/f4 kit lens* is very good: sharp and with a remarkable close focusing distance.

The Nikon is not a lightweight. Together with the 50mm f/1.8S it weighs 1080g. The comparable combination of Sony A7RIII and 55mm f/1.8 (a very nice lens, by the way) weighs just under 960g. In the picture above you can also see that the Nikon is significantly larger. But it feels much better in the hand than the Sony.

Nikon has definitely created a DSLM right from the start that has its place and can compete with the big players. You have to remember that Sony has actually only been around for two years and the A9 has brought a really good mirrorless camera to the market. Fuji impresses with its design, but the new X-T3 has only now received usable autofocus. And it only has a small sensor. (Oh yes, and the autofocus of your medium format cameras is only for people with a lot of time. I have a lower reject rate with my Leicas and they don't have AF at all...) I haven't had Panasonic in my hand yet and I don't have anything from Canon yet heard or read positive things.

Therefore, the Nikon Z7 is worthy of all respect and I am positively surprised by the first impression.

Dynamic range test

The following two pictures show the same motif and were taken in quick succession. Do you see the difference? (No, I don't mean that the ship and crane moved.)

With the Nikon Z7 you can correct roughly 7 f-stops, although a little more is possible for underexposure. So plus 5 down and plus 2 up. Of course it makes more sense to expose correctly, but this is supposed to be about extreme examples. By the way, things look very similar at Sony. However, the Nikon exposes about half a stop brighter despite the same settings.

However, there are stark differences when photographing such extreme subjects. While the viewfinder on the Sony was almost black when underexposed - which makes the error shown above almost impossible, because you can see that you're doing something wrong - you can still see something in the viewfinder on the Nikon. Clearly so. I then played a little with the aperture and found out: with smaller apertures than 7.1, the viewfinder image no longer changes. Despite Live View being switched on, no difference can be seen in the viewfinder or on the monitor, regardless of whether the aperture is 7,1 or 16. This is very irritating behavior. The advantage of mirrorless is that I can already see my finished image in the viewfinder. With Sony, when you turn the aperture, the viewfinder becomes brighter or darker accordingly.

Nikon has obviously decided that you should still be able to see something of the subject in the viewfinder or on the monitor. In the example above, the phenomenon occurred from aperture 7.1, but this is not always the case. Rather, it depends on the conditions in which you are photographing. In cloudy weather, you may very well not notice this Nikon preset at all. Either way: it's unnecessary and annoying. I hope Nikon changes this with one of the next firmware updates. Because it deprives a mirrorless one of the great advantages of having the finished image in front of your eyes when taking photos before the shutter is released.

The 24-70mm f/4 kit lens

Kit lenses are often of questionable quality. Not so with the 24-70mm lens: very good sharpness and a great close-up distance. And despite the open aperture 4, good bokeh is also possible.

On Thursday evening I tested the Nikon Z7's autofocus a little more intensively at the blind football friendly match between FC St. Pauli and the Russian national team. When the sun was setting and the aperture was open at f4, ISO numbers around 2000 were the order of the day. Not ideal conditions for sports photos.

The Nikon Z7 did well here too. In the game in the other division of FC St. Pauli there weren't as many opportunities for action, but the goal net was important here too. The smallest AF point helps in such situations.

Flashing with the Nikon Z7

Luckily I hadn't sold my SB-900 yet. Flashing is a dream with the Nikon Z7 and the SB-900 system flashes. For several reasons. On the one hand, the focusing works easily even in absolute darkness. With the (green) auxiliary light switched on, it's extremely fast. The Nikon Z7 masters a situation that all mirrorless cameras have difficulties with without batting an eyelid. Really good. Below you can see the picture in our guest toilet, which has no window and the light here was also turned off.

The other positive point when flashing with the Nikon Z7 is the display of the Kelvin value calculated by the camera when using automatic white balance in the display of the data when displaying the image. At an event, I can read this value from a photo without flash and adjust the color temperature of my flash to this value using appropriate color filter foils. I already explained this in detail in an older blog post. Using the procedure described there, I can now quickly find the right correction foils and adjust the flash color temperature to the ambient light. Great service Nikon, thank you for that!

Manual focusing

Even if the camera has a decent autofocus system, sometimes nothing beats manual focusing. Not just in macro photography, but also in street photography. In principle, mirrorless lenses are very suitable for manual focusing, because you can switch on 100% magnification in the viewfinder and thus set the focus precisely. Two things stand out in comparison to the Sony Mark 3 series. For one thing, the 100% magnification doesn't automatically switch back to full screen when I half-press the shutter button. Secondly, the focusing point is not retained when I turn off the Z7. However, if it goes into sleep mode, manual focusing is retained. The latter is important if you have the lens set to a specific focus range for quick snapshots. You must not then turn the camera off, otherwise the next time you turn it on the lens will be at infinity again. This is important if you need your picture quickly - for example in street photography. What's interesting is that when the camera goes to sleep, the focus setting is retained, even if I accidentally turn the lens focus.

Conclusion on manual focusing: basically good, but you can't turn off the camera.

Sports photography with the Nikon Z7

The good thing about the Z series is that you can also use “older” F-mount lenses, i.e. those that were built for Nikon DSLRs, with the FTZ adapter. The bad thing about the Z series is that you have to do this because there is no longer a focal length than 70mm. That is why I tried the 105mm f/1.4 for men’s football and the Women's football the 200-500mm f/5.6. The autofocus is a little too slow for my taste, but as you can see you can still get great shots with the combinations.

Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to the release of the 70-200mm f/2.8 lens for the Z series, because it will certainly make the autofocus significantly faster. Above I have already shown examples with old firmware and shorter focal lengths.

Eye autofocus with firmware 2.0

As promised, Nikon released a firmware update in mid-May. The current buzzword in the photography scene is eye autofocus or eye AF. To be honest: the camera has already recognized the face, tracked it and imaged it in focus. Now small boxes appear around the eyes. The images are still sharp. I don't see the big impact, but it's no longer possible without Eye AF these days, because all other manufacturers also have it in their current models.

In my personal opinion, Nikon has implemented Eye AF very well. If an eye is recognized, I can use the rocker to jump back and forth between the eyes of several people - in the same way as the faces, between which I can also switch back and forth. The Auto Area is best suited for this. I just lack consistency when it comes to recognizing eyes and faces. At least I haven't yet realized how big the face in the picture has to be in order to see eyes. This is a bit confusing, but doesn't make facial recognition unusable. On the contrary: sometimes you move the camera to your eye and the face is already marked. This is very quick and very comfortable.

The only problem is that switching between eyes doesn't work in portrait mode. This is for firmware 2.1, which unfortunately hasn't been announced yet.

The Eye AF also works really well compared to the Sony A7(R)III. Although the Sony displays a frame around the eye more quickly, the rate of sharp images does not improve as a result. That's more psychology... I actually find the Nikon's tracking more intuitive than the two Sonys. (A9 and A6400 are more like the Nikon Z7)

Autofocus in low light conditions

With firmware 1.x, many users complained about the speed of autofocus in poor lighting conditions. I couldn't understand that - maybe because I wasn't comparing with a Nikon DSLR, but with the Sony. The trick is to use Pin AF. It switches to contrast autofocus in AF-S mode. This is slow but very precise. I took photos in almost complete darkness at night. The Nikon's AF took around 4 seconds to focus at f/10. Of course that seems like a long time, but it focuses. The Sony rushes restlessly from infinity to the closest focusing limit and back again. However, it only focuses with a lot of luck.

The problem with autofocus is probably that people don't know how to use it. It just works differently than with an SLR camera. But that’s the case with all mirrorless cameras. But you can learn.

And otherwise…?

A battery can last for over 1000 triggers. I've always succeeded with normal use. However, the monitor consumes a lot of energy and can therefore reduce the number of triggers.

The viewfinder is very comfortable and also allows for optical focusing when using manual focusing. However, the streaking in artificial light is noticeable. Maybe I have to look at the flicker settings again...

The IBIS – speaking of image stabilization – works great. In my opinion, even better than Sony.

Conclusion on the Nikon Z7

I have now taken almost 7000 releases with this camera and completed several jobs with it. The Nikon Z7 feels good in the hand, has outstanding image quality, especially with the S lenses, and works very reliably. I haven't had any failures, freezes or anything like that yet (knock on wood). The Nikon Z7 is a step in the right direction and will certainly find many friends in the next few years. What bothers me most about the current model is that I have the feeling that the CPU and therefore the image processing in the camera is slowing down the Z7. So it's a mystery to me why she uses XQD cards but only describes them at a good 50% of the possible speed. Most users of such a camera probably won't even notice this.

Even at this point, I can recommend buying the model if you know that it doesn't work like a Sony, Fuji or Canon and, as a Nikon user, it doesn't work like a DSLR. But you can still take photos with it even in the hustle and bustle...

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