It's now been a year since I picked up the mirrorless Nikon Z7. Since then, the camera has joined me to numerous assignments -- Travels all over Japan, Shooting deep underground at a construction site and of course, countless portrait sessions. Here are my thoughts on Nikon's first steps into the high-end mirrorless world.
As someone who has been shooting professionally with Nikon Cameras since the Nikon D700 (released back in 2008, before that I was a Canon shooter), I have used a wide range of their semi-pro cameras throughout the years. After the D700 I went to the D600, and after that, I've been using the D800 and D810. While each upgrade has come with its own set of pros and cons, going from the D810 to the Z7 was a much bigger switch than any of my previous ones -- Including the switch from Canon to Nikon back in 2008.
My initial impressions of the Z7 was somewhat lukewarm. The first few times I held the camera in my hands it didn't really resonate with me. I thought it felt cheap and plasticky, and not like a professional tool. My initial plans before I purchased one, was to use it as a secondary camera, in tandem with the D810 that I still keep up to this day. But, during the year or so that has passed since I made the plunge, the number of times that I've actually used that D810 can be counted on one hand. Despite the somewhat poor first impression, my new Z7 turned out to be a competent little camera that has finally turned me into a full-time mirrorless evangelist.
The handling of the Nikon Z7 leaves little to be desired. Granted, I do miss the dedicated AF-mode button, but having reprogrammed one of the custom buttons next to the lens mount to serve the same function works good enough. Everything else about using the Z7 quickly felt natural and fluid, and I promptly got up to speed with this camera. Today I have no complaints with regards to the handling. Button tactility is excellent, and most functions are placed at logical locations both physically and in the menu system. Switching to an all-digital EVF wasn't problematic for me at all, as the one on this camera is very, very good. If anything, it brings more positives than negatives in my opinion, in particular being able to see the depth of field and colour rendition before pressing the shutter is incredibly useful.
Battery life has been equally pleasing. While a full charge doesn't give me as many shots as on the D810, it often gives me something in the 1000 or so range of frames, which is always enough for my intents and purposes.
The new lenses that Nikon has developed for this system are impressive, and one big reason as to why one would switch to the Nikon Z system in the first place. While I don't think they feel as good as the higher grade F lenses -- The plastic exterior and fly-by-wire focus ring plays a significant role in this. But the lenses that I've used performs on a level that makes the switch to the mirrorless Z-series feel like a proper generational leap. So far, I've used the 14-30mm F4, 24-70mm F4, 50mm F1.8 and 85mm F1.8. I also use a handful of adapted F-series lenses (Sigma Art 35/1.4 and 50/1.4, Nikkor 28/1.8 and the new-ish 70-300/4.5-5.6E AF-P tele zoom) on my Nikon Z7.
With the exception of the 14-30/4, all the new native lenses are as close to perfection as I've ever experienced. Sharpness is definitely one step up from similar lenses from the DSLR generation, and in most cases, they even surpass most high-quality F1.4 primes I've used, such as the Sigma Art series, when it comes to cross-frame sharpness. Even wide-open sharpness out in the extreme corners is as good as I ever need it to be. Pixel peepers, in particular, will probably be very happy about this system. The lens selection choices and roadmap are sensible too -- the fact that Nikon went for smaller and lighter F1.8 lenses rather than F1.4 makes perfect sense to me. These lenses match the bodies very well, and I presume that the smaller aperture also contributes to their stellar image quality. The only lens that I currently feel the system truly lacks is a good tele zoom. A native 70-200/4 would be great, and even a variable 70-300 would most likely be highly appreciated, but surprisingly neither is yet to be found on Nikon's roadmap. Niche users, such as those who rely on tilt-shift lenses, are also left out in the cold for now.
But what we've got so far is very promising. The collapsible kit lens, 24-70/4 is by far the best standard zoom that I've ever used. Granted, I've never been a photographer who relies heavily on a standard zooms other than when I'm travelling light or when I only want to bring a one-lens setup while out and about in Tokyo. This new 24-70/4 is leaps and bounds better than the 24-120/4 that I used to carry with my D810, a lens that never really managed leave any lasting impressions.
Personally, I see no reason to upgrade to the F2.8 variant. Although the image quality of the F2.8 version is supposed to be amazing, that lens is just so much heavier and more or less negates a big chunk of the benefit of going mirrorless in the first place. The eye-watering price tag is also challenging to disregard. But if you are a pro who makes use of a 24-70/2.8 in your work, I'm sure that you'll be very happy with it.
The wide-angle zoom, Nikkor 14-30/4 is impressively small and good enough for most intents and purposes. However, the corners are not nearly as good as what I get with the 24-70/4, which is a bummer as this wider lens is one that I primarily use for landscapes. However, compared to the wide-angle lens that I was using previously, the Tamron 15-30/2.8, I would say the Nikon lens has a similar image quality. The reason why I switched to the Nikon 14-30/4 was primarily because of weight. I don't use my wide-angle lens that often, and the fact that the Nikon weighs less than half of the Tamron (485 vs 1100 grams) while being a millimetre wider to boot, convinced me that it would be a worthy upgrade. Since I picked it up, I do actually bring a wide-angle lens on most of my travels, as opposed to before when it only warranted a place in my bag when I was on an assignment that forced me to bring it with me. That was basically just architecture and event shoots in tight spaces.
Sharpness is not as good as with the 24-70/4 though, and the Nikon 14-30/4 also suffers from some field curvature. Let's also not forget that it's a lens that relies heavily on (mandatory) software corrections, which also contributes to the less than stellar corners. As a complete package though, It's good enough for my uses, but I'm sure there are better options out there to those of you who really relies on your wide-angle lenses. Landscape photographers of the most enthusiastic kind, for example, might want to wait for the upcoming version of the 14-24/2.8, a lens that is about to be released later in 2020.
The Nikkor 50/1.8 S and Nikkor 85/1.8 S prime lenses are as close to perfection as I've ever experienced lenses to be. Both lenses are impressively sharp across the entire frame all the time, and they also perform wonderfully with regards to flare and ghosting. Having bright light sources in the frame while shooting at night rarely causes any problems at all. For night portraits I still think that the Sigma Art 50/1.4 is the better lens, as it has both a wider aperture and smoother bokeh, and those are factors that can make a tangible difference under those circumstances. But for most other situations, I bring the much lighter and smaller Nikkor lens, which also has a more consistent sharpness profile.
The Nikkor 85/1.8 S lens is a big step up from the older F-version that I was using up until the release of the new mirrorless lens. The new lens is much sharper and gets rid of most of the annoying purple fringing that often troubled the older lens. Bokeh is smooth and creamy too, although the older lens already performed well in this regard. As far as I'm concerned, this is probably the best lens I've ever used, in terms of technical image quality. Colours pop, contrast is high and it makes my portraits look perfect, even when scrutinized at 100% in lightroom.
However, I am somewhat concerned about the build quality of the Nikkor 85/1.8 S. In fact I had my first copy of this lens break the first time I used it. It literally fell in half when I took it out of my camera bag, for no obvious reason. The shop where I bought the lens (Map Camera in Tokyo, highly recommended!) replaced it for a new one right away and since then I haven't had any problems, although I still think the long and skinny design of this lens makes it feel somewhat fragile, and thus, I pay a little bit extra caution as to how I pack it in my bag from now on.
System weight: The benefit of the lighter weight, while contributing to the less than stellar "feel" of the lenses that I complained about in the previous paragraph, is also a huge improvement in the general quality of my life as a photographer. As someone who does quite a lot work that forces me to travel often, my back is truly grateful for this, being able to shave a kilo or two of the weight of my daypack feels substantial.
Autofocus: This is where things get somewhat complicated… I'm one of those shooters who used to sick to 3D tracking for most of the time with the D810. Not having a similar AF mode was one of my biggest disappointments with this camera. The convoluted tracking mode that involves using the middle button on the four-way controller doesn't even count, I never managed to make it feel anywhere close to useable and it still baffles me how Nikon couldn't at least have put a little bit of effort into tweaking this mode to make it more similar to their old 3D-tracking, at least in terms of controls. The tracking itself seems to work well enough, but it's just way to clunky to engage. Instead, I primarily rely on the wide-area AF mode combined with AF-C whenever I need to keep a moving subject in focus. The downside to this is that it doesn't work if the subjects move all over the frame quickly. But the upside is that the hit-rate is generally quite good. I primarily use this mode during my portrait shoots, and once I got used to it, I now think it works admirably.
In fact, this brings me to the #1 improvement that I've noticed since going mirrorless, which is the number of shots that ends up in focus. While this is not a big deal for static subjects, it was already good enough for most intents and purporses on the D810, it makes a world of a difference when I shoot portraits. I often have my subjects walk towards- or away from me, and nailing focus while doing this, particularly when shooting at night, used to give me a hit rate in the realm of 20-30 per cent. With the Nikon Z7, this is at least twice as high, probably even three times as high. This goes both when using the native prime lenses and when I shoot with adapted Sigma Art lenses (usually the 35/1.4 or 50/1.4). My wife, who is also a portrait photographer, has a similar experience. She usually asks to borrow my Z7 for most of her portrait shoots these days.
On the subject of Autofocus, Nikon added a face tracking function via a firmware update a few months ago, but it doesn't work for me at all. It often misses faces entirely and when it does, it falls back to auto-area AF, which generally tends to focus on the backgrounds rather than the subject… Although I have to admit that I haven't tested this mode much yet but seems like AF in general, and face detect AF in particular, is one of the biggest benefits of the Sony system. Please note that I usually shoot subjects from a distance, on busy streets in Tokyo. If you are a studio shooter, chances are that Nikons face tracking autofocus is good enough and could be relied upon.
So my concluding thoughts when it comes to Autofocus on the Nikon Z7 is that it is generally good and reliable enough. It has definitely improved my hit rate compared to back when I was using the D810. But it still feels as if Nikon hasn't really figured things out yet, and I do really envy Sony shooters in this regard, who seems to be enjoying a very solid Autofocusing system that handles nearly all shooting conditions equally well. Reliable face tracking would certainly be great for my work as well, but sadly Nikon is not there yet.
In-body stabilization is another feature that contributes to the feeling of a generational leap. It truly opens up new photo opportunities, such as hand-held photos where motion blur is an essential part of the image. It works with all lenses, but according to Nikon, the new native Z lenses stabilized even better than when using the adapter. Personally, I don't notice a big difference; it works great with all the lenses I've tested. In fact, it works so well that I almost feel like I'm sometimes cheating. Such as when shooting hand-held shots at 1/4th of a second, for example. Having it built into the camera body, rather than contributing to bulkier lenses, is amazing and something I never want to be without ever again.
I woulnd’t even have tried doing something like this hand-held before I got the stabilized Nikon Z7.
Image Quality is another factor where the Z7 doesn't disappoint. 46 megapixels is plenty, and the dynamic range of each of those pixels is as good as it gets in the full-frame world today. Granted, the step up from the D810 in terms of resolution is not that noticeable in practical terms. But anyone for anyone coming from a lower resolution camera, such as one with a 24-megapixel sensor, will most likely notice a substantial upgrade.
There has been much fuss about banding on various internet forums, and yes, it does exist. But even though I often push both shadows and highlights quite substantially, especially when shooting portraits at night in Tokyo. I still don't see banding except for in the most extreme cases. I certainly don't think it's a reason for any significant concern. Those few times when it does creep into the shadows a bit of noise reduction and a slight downsize, to 6000 pixels in export is usually all it takes to conceal this well enough to please anyone except perhaps the most notorious pixel-peepers.
60-megapixel sensors are coming soon, and while I don't feel the need for anything higher than what I've got now, at least I know that the native lenses I've invested in this far will be up to the task once this becomes relevant.
Finally, let's touch on build quality. Unfortunately, this has been a bit of a mixed bag for me. Besides having a lens literally fall apart in my hands, I've also had one of the rubber flaps covering the I/O on the side of the Z7 swelling in size. My guess is that it's made from the same sort of rubber that was used for the grip of the D800 and D810, which I had a similar issue with. It seems that this material isn't suitable for tropical summers, as the heat and humidity here in Tokyo during August and September always caused the issue of the rubber grip swelling in size and eventually coming off the body. I'm confident this will be a cheap and easy fix once I take the camera to the Nikon service centre here in Tokyo. But for photographers living far from those, this could be quite a significant source of concern. On a positive note, it finally seems like the rubber on the handgrip is actually attached with a better sort of glue this time. At least it hasn't started loosening from the camera body yet, despite the summer of 2019 being one of the hottest ever recorded here in Japan.
Another issue I've had was the rubber eyecup around the viewfinder, which broke for me after just a few months of use. Fortunately, this should be another easy and cheap thing to fix even without access to a service centre. More concerning are the issues with the eye detection sensor that I've been experiencing for a few months now. The problem is that the camera seems unable to properly detect when I remove my eye from the viewfinder, not switching from the EVF to the rear screen properly. It's not a huge issue to me, but still somewhat annoying when I'm out with portrait clients and quickly want to show them a photo that I just took. Manually switching between EVF and the rear screen works as it should though, so this is not much more than a minor annoyance rather than a major issue in my book. It does however, clearly indicate that this is not a true pro-level camera, despite the hefty price tag.
Conclusion
One year after investing in the Nikon Z7, I must say that I'm a very happy user. What was initially supposed just to be my extra camera, turned into my day-to-day workhorse and has done so while also delivering a noticeable step up in the image quality department. The technical quality of my photos has improved, both in terms of the number of pixels as well as the quality of each and one of said pixels. More importantly, however, is the significant increase in photos where the focus has been nailed perfectly despite challenging shooting conditions. As a bonus, the equipment I lug around on a daily basis is now much lighter than before. Hopefully, Nikon will improve the autofocus capabilities even further in future Z-series cameras, as well as bring out bodies with slightly better build quality soon.
Update in March 2020. Nikon recently released version 3.0 of the firmware and it seems that the face detect algorithm has been improved. I would now say that face detection is on a usable level and that it can now be relied upon in most situations.
Firmware version 3.0 also adds Animal AF, improved support for CF Express memory cards as well as some well-needed improvements with regards to how the subject tracking function is enabled. It’s still not a separate focusing mode that can be used in a similar way as 3D tracking could on nikons DSLRS though… Hopefully there will be another update soon that addresses this.
It’s nonetheless great to see that Nikon keeps improving on this camera well over a year after its release!
All the photos in this review was shot with the Nikon Z7 and the lenses mentioned in the text. Contact me if you like the photos and would like to book your own portrait photosession in Tokyo.
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