A new journey in photography
I’ve been using my Nikon D700 for more than a decade. Its 12MP Full-Frame chip is amazing. The color coming out of its 14-bit RAW files is nothing less than stunning. Coupled with a set of primes, it is a powerful kit. I have so many memories that I captured with it. I love shooting all kind of types of photography:
- Landscapes: Mountains during summer hikes, national forests, and incredible lake sunsets. Nikkor 20 mm f/1.8 is sharp and fast to capture foreground subjects with a stunning background.
- Portraits: I love doing portraits in a photojournalism style. Nikkor 50 mm and 85 mm f/1.8 are excellent fast lenses to produce sharp images of subjects lit by the ambient light in low light environments. The light is great to throwback to the events happening during the time of the shooting.
- Macro Photography: Nikkor 105 mm f/2.8 allows to get close to establish a strong relationship with the subject. It is the unimaginable view that provokes new perspectives on things.
- Street photography: Love people and unforgettable moments, colors, and simply a celebration of life. It helps capture the atmosphere we enjoyed on a trip. Photographs take us back to adventures and the joy of unpredictable but pleasant experiences.
- Interior design: Help people to see unique ideas we take for granted in our homes.
It’s been lots of fun. I’ve printed quite a few portraits, landscapes for my friends. My images tell stories of the Canadian Rockies in houses of both Canada and the US friends. My loved ones enjoy many warm photographs.
At one of the recent parties, I happened to try my friend’s small mirrorless Canon camera. I was happy to discover a small form factor and quite good low light capabilities of the camera. Having bulkier and heavier equipment, I resort to my iPhone for most of the occasional photography. This experience has provoked me to look further into the subject.
After being detached from the market for quite a while, I was all into it. For the last week, I was watching Youtube influencer videos and reading all kinds of reviews. Damn, how much innovation and new stuff I missed. There are all kinds of movements:
- First, I missed the whole thing with Sony taking the lead and getting all those high-quality G-lenses paired with high mega-pixel bodies pushing medium format cameras out of the market.
- Canon delivering a mirrorless version of Canon 5D that became the top of the wishlist for many photographers.
- People move from Nikon to Fuji, from Sony to Fuji, getting into new mirrorless Cannon and many other strange movements getting people to sell out all of their equipment.
One thing left unchanged is “it is all nuts and crazy” as any time before. Vendors will not make it easy to make the “right” choice. The equipment is still expensive, many promises are made, and no one delivers all of it regardless of the number of features packed into the offering.
I’m not trying to create another comprehensive review to make everyone happy and grow my follower base. As one “angry photographer” mentioned, I’m here to share how I see it and what I plan to get my projects going. I’m open to share experience and hear your opinions on it. Anyone who faces similar challenges is welcome to join and comment below.
So, where do we stand today? The technology has evolved, and the progress is quite substantial. There are many good choices today.
FujiFilm
Fujifilm discovered a market of pro-consumer APS-C cameras. Fujifilm XT-4 is one of the leading choices for landscape photographers delivering a superb quality with 26 MP images good to print up to A3 size prints.
A great landscape photographer and YouTuber, Nigel Danson, did a good piece on the print quality of FujuFilm vs. Nikon Z7 and FujiFilm Medium Format goddess GFX 50R.
It is a lovely case. Fujifilm shooters enjoy the premium build quality. The cameras and lenses. It brings the premium tactile experience that is quite handy if you are out in the wild in bad weather where touching LCD is not exactly working.
APS-C sensor technology has evolved. However, it is where size actually matters. A smaller chip size will enable you to build significantly smaller lenses that are easier to transport on your back during hikes. However, a bigger sensor implies better details and color reproduction in the dark areas of the image. Interestingly, Fujifilm still did quite a good job in that area — kudos!
Adopting versatile FujiFilm X-mount low-cost cameras naturally pushes photographers into the medium format market as they grow and expect larger prints as well as the level of details. Fuji has a strong offering paired with the best combination of lens choice, bodies adopting the latest technologies, and constant innovation that shares the best features between entry and professional offerings. File size ranges from 50 MP to the latest FujiFilm 100 GFX.
Nikon
Nikon is conservative in its choices and has a solid base of existing customers in the DSLR market and a historically huge army of F-mount adapters. I’m one of those lucky followers believing in the eternity of the f-mount. Unfortunately, Nikon was challenged by the market demand and financial reality focused on mirrorless. It refocused its business and adopted a new lens connector specification — Z-lenses.
Being a data company, the company decided to focus on 2 offerings: Z6 and Z7. Both cameras look identically the same. Both carry Full Frame sensor with 2 different resolutions, 24.5 MP and 45 MP, respectively. The following report provides a fair comparison between 2 options: https://photographylife.com/nikon-z6-vs-z7
Ultimately, your choice lies between:
- low light performance, speed, and video capabilities — Nikon Z6
- the higher resolution, level details, and dynamic range — Nikon Z7
Even though Nikon sells an f-mount adaptor to allow using legacy lenses, many report substantial improvements in using Z-mount lenses with the new Z camera generation. Personally, I believe that the FTZ adapter is a temporary solution that will lead to the purchase of an entirely new set of Z lenses shortly to get the most of the system. Old lenses paired with FTZ adapter are bulkier, slower at focusing, do not have the same edge to edge sharpness, loud to be used for video, and not as sexy looking ;-)
Comparison
Many cameras are great. I’m a Nikon gear owner as I mentioned already and, therefore, I would be inclined to use Nikon tools to leverage my existing gear. Besides, I love Fujifilm and what they do with their color reproduction simulating Fuji films from the pre-digital era. Hence, I focus on the FujiFilm and Nikon cameras. Note that I do not dismiss the advances that Canon and Sony made in their eco-systems in both camera bodies and lenses that are both amazing.
I first was intrigued by so many photographers moving towards Fujifilm gear. As I dug through the historical traces of those movements, I realized that many Nikonians or Canon photographers moved around 2015–2017. During these times, both Canon and Nikon did not have mirrorless offerings that many customers were looking for. Despite great reviews about the FujiFilm gear quality, I’m hesitant to switch and invest in that eco-system. My main concern is around APS-C sensor that might have good performance and lenses will not catch up with full-frame in:
- Quality of bokeh
- Low light performance
- Availability of wide lens
- Natural perspective
I was surprised to see how many good points both Z6 and Z7 scored for me. It is still a tough decision to make. Even though these have literally the same body, they are 2 principally different cameras.
- Z6 — one of the best low light and astrophotography fast camera that also has great video features
- Z7—king of dynamic range (ISO 64) and close to medium format high resolution.
Z6 also has a financial premium on top. However, I think understanding which one fits my needs would be a more decisive variable to play.
Something to think about…
I expect prices to drop in spring and still have more time to make up my mind. Till then, I will continue enjoying the art of photography. Here is one of the images from my latest hikes:
You can find more of my pictures if you follow me on Instagram iphone__nomad.
