Mirrorless photography is also exciting
Abstract
I wrote this article about a year when I went ahead and purchased Nikon Z7 II. Many people are now buying Nikon mirrorless cameras, and it is common knowledge that Nikon is one of the leaders in mirrorless technology. That was not the case a year ago. However, making a decision was not so simple. I wanted to share some of my decision-making, my first impressions of going with the Nikon mirrorless camera, and a few things I learned this year.
I've been using Nikon D700 for ages and could say it is probably one of the best value cameras. Some agree and even put a video on that:
There are many good things to write about the Nikon D700, including a small manageable image size with a Pro level colour gamut and 14-bit support in a 12 MP RAW image. It produces stunning images but pushes to frame correctly with unforgiving small-sized images. In addition, it supports all high-quality D-Type Nikon lenses that anyone can find for a bargain on the used market.
As much as I love my camera, I decided to find where technology took photography. Thanks to a vast community of bloggers and YouTubers sharing their experiences, it's been a few months of constant learning. I'm very grateful for their effort and wanted to contribute a bit to help fellow photographers on their learning path.
I watched many videos, read some blogs to align some options, and summarized those in my previous post.
Lately, my curiosity pushed me toward mirrorless systems, but I still did not realize why at that moment. My calculations showed that a good lens is the most considerable expense in building a working kit. Therefore, following my research, I aligned on proceeding with the Nikon mirrorless Z system to leverage the Nikon lenses' set. However, I was still hesitant about my choice of the camera body, with many pointing out Z6 being a better value. I've seen a few arguments on the web, such as the lower attractive price for the full-frame sensor, better low light performance, and good video capabilities. However, the difference between Z6 and Z7 was not well articulated, and the choice presented a risk.
I was lucky to see a price drop on Amazon for the Nikon Z7 II kit, which pushed me into a decision. Being very skeptical and determined to return the camera soon, I decided to try it and I took the camera on a few road trips to capture images I enjoy staring at daily. The experience left me positively surprised about Nikon's operation. So, I decided to share a few of those findings and hope they will be helpful for you.
OVF vs. EVF
My first discovery was EVF. A massive optical viewfinder spoiled me on my D700. Surprisingly, I discovered that Z7 EVF is nicely built and is a lot of fun. As a technology person, I have always tried to imagine augmented reality but never experienced it in action.
My typical workflow is to shoot a picture and then look at the histogram on the LCD at the back of the camera to check how the camera utilizes the available dynamic range, which is no longer the case. The histogram is overlayed and updated in real-time as I compose the shot. To sum up, I can take a picture while being mindful of the exposure. Isn't that amazing?
On another occasion, I was shooting a row of cups, and I was surprised to see how the camera updated the depth of field preview to reflect the aperture setting I was using. True, I have a way to close the lens to emulate the view in some DSLRs. However, having a dark image makes it challenging to see how the picture would come out. Most of the time, I was ending trying it out and checking the result quickly. That was an improvement relative to the film cameras. However, it is a definite improvement here as well.
Depth of field
Depth of field (DOF) in Z7 and Z6 is automatically previewed in the EVF and on the Monitor down to the aperture setting of f/5.6 only! Limitations to the autofocus system prevent the camera from focusing well with apertures set to values below f/5.6 (too dark). Therefore, the camera limits the depth of field in automatic image preview to f/5.6 and larger aperture values. Even if you are using f/16 or f/22, the depth of field seen on the EVF or Monitor is from an f/5.6 aperture setting.
It is possible to assign a preview to the Preview function to the custom function Fn1 or Fn2. Then you can use the FnX button to step down the lens fully and see the actual depth of field at whatever aperture.
As I show further in this post, the camera provides many opportunities to define workflows that fit your photography style and needs through customizations. I feel these customization options make it a unique and memorable experience that wins you over.
I also want to add that many smartphone users, including iPhone photographers, might say they have had this feature for ages. True, and I was one of them using it. However, I would not compare artificially simulated bokeh to the fantastic optics we have a chance to work with when using mirrorless cameras and larger sensors that help to uncover unimaginable beauty in this world. Our algorithms still have a long way to go to catch up there, if ever. Nevertheless, I'm glad those attempts challenge the art of the possible and help create better tools for creative artists.
ISO 64
D700 could only go to ISO 200. I enjoyed shooting images at that ISO paired with my f/1.8 prime lenses and was happy with how fast they were in most situations at ISO 200. I would be very selective about the composition and lighting. I tried to account for the dynamic range limitations when I was shooting. Lightroom was coming to help in many cases helping to recovering the dark tones and highlights digitally, pushing the dynamic range further. However, I discovered something special when I got to use Z7 at ISO 64. Being able to capture the foreground and sunset simultaneously without image staking was truly unthinkable for me.
Below is a photo I took during low tide sunrise at Hopewell rocks in the Atlantic East of Canada this year. You can see how both sky and the shadows in between the stones are well exposed without any additional help from neutral density filters.
ISO 64, coupled with a high resolution of 45 MP, makes Nikon Z7 II an excellent landscape camera. Moreover, its small size and variety of high-quality lenses make people question the need for medium format cameras, given the results they get for their work. For example, a famous UK landscape photographer, Thomas Heaton, decided recently to give Nikon Z7 a shot after primarily using Fuji medium format camera.
Focus speed
Nikon autofocus is probably not the leading in the industry. However, it works sufficiently well for most situations I'm shooting in and constantly improves with new firmware updates. I try to learn its limitations and choose a workflow that helps me mitigate them.
I shoot with a few older lenses not fully supported by Nikon Z7. For example, I have older D-Type lenses, such as a macro 105 mm f/2.8. For many of these, I will use a manual focusing mode that is fully supported.
Shooting with the manual focusing mode is fun, fast and gets fantastic results. In addition, the camera has a dedicated peak mode that uses augmented reality to mark areas in focus on EVF or LCD screen at the back. The peak mode sensitivity, as well as the highlight colour, are configurable and work exceptionally well.
In addition to focus peaking, Nikon allows magnifying subjects when focusing to 100% and 200%. Magnification will enable you to point and set focus with exceptionally high precision. As a result, you can have guaranteed sharp images with a good quality lens and properly selected aperture. This feature is a must when shooting landscape photography. As you can see, the focus speed is irrelevant in this situation, which explains why Nikon Z7 is a popular choice for landscape photographers nowadays.
The magnification can be assigned to one button and quickly turned on while composing a photo. I usually configure the AF-ON button in the f2 Custom Controls menu to Zoom on/off 1:1 (100%) setting to implement this.
High pixel count camera limitations
Raw vs. mRaw vs. sRaw: https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-d850
Nikon Z7 mRaw is not exactly Z6 raw. The first is only limited to 12-bits vs. 14-bit available on Z6. Besides, Z6 produces higher-quality images if the majority of images are.
Larger files and generation of mRaw/sRaw in the Z7 case should cause more processing on the camera side to handle large amounts of data, resulting in higher battery usage and fewer shots per charge. In reality, I always shoot with the highest resolution to get a 14-bit colour gamut and use image compression to save on file transfer times. I find the Z7 very generous in using the battery compared to Nikon D700. On my two weeks road trip, I probably charged my camera only once while shooting thousands of images. Image compression allows up to x2 reduction, close to the file sizes generated by Nikon Z6.
Using other brand lenses
One of the changes that mirrorless photography brings is the ability to break brand boundaries. For example, there are a few examples of people buying Leica or another system attachment to reuse their legacy lenses on the Nikon camera. For instance, in the article below, some used a Leica M lens on a Nikon Z7 camera. That is a powerful combination for street photography using a superb Nikon 45 MP chip and an old high-quality bargain lens.
I also looked into bargain deals for high-quality lenses. One specific lens I'm a big fan of is a Zeiss Distagon 35 f/2. That lens is a thing of beauty, and the image quality is outstanding. It goes for about $650 US on the used market, and it is still possible to get it on the Facebook market, B&H Photo and others.
One can view sample images in this article.
As I continued researching, I changed my mind and went with a different lens. Finally, at the beginning of 2022, I found an interesting manual low-priced 35 mm f/1.4 lens. Its size and weight were impressive, and the camera had a minimal profile — perfect for a street photography adventure. Judge for yourself.
The lens is small for Z mount and has a vignette in the corners. I overcame the issue by using a 16:9 crop that fits my needs of taking mostly landscape and street photography images. Later this year, many other companies realized this opportunity of small factor lenses and released many different lenses you can find now on the market. Their price points are slightly higher but still compelling. I purchased my lens on Amazon for around $100 US. Nikon released a new Z lens that I bought and now use on many occasions — Nikon 40 mm f/2. Nikon 40 mm is an automatic lens with a customizable dial on the lens that you can program to focus manually or adjust the aperture if you like. It looks a bit bulkier as seen on the image but very light and fast both to focus and optically.
I'm also considering a sister lens, Nikon 28 mm f/2.8. It is another small profile, low-cost prime lens that allows a slightly broader perspective and provides new exciting challenges to compose images.
More aftermarket additions
As you've seen above Nikon Z7 II is a capable camera. However, with all that, some companies keep pushing this camera's limits. One of these companies is Arsenal. So I'll dedicate a post to this offering which I find fascinating.
Arsenal product uses a digital interface of Nikon Z7 II to take control of the exposure and add computational photography we now take for granted in our smartphones to powerful mirrorless and DSLR cameras. They include features such pano photography, deep colour and deep focus through automatic image stacking, better management around timelapse photography, removal of moving objects such as crowds, etc.
Here is a fantastic timelapse youtube video captured with Arsenal:
Workflow: Transferring and editing files
The workflow might also require a separate post, but I would like to mention my workflow, how I edit images for printing, and my Instagram channel.
I edit my photos using Lightroom. I have a subscription to Adobe Lightroom CC. It is a low-cost option with a good 1 TB storage to keep your most important work. This cloud storage allows me to access my most loved images at full resolution on any device I have: Macbook, PC, iPad or iPhone. When I travel, I download images from the camera to Lightroom on my iPhone using a simple SD Card to lighting connector adapter. This high-speed connector gets even large 45 MB images in no time. When I arrive home or at a place with good internet connectivity, I can sync all photos I stored on my iPhone with the Adobe Cloud and access them later on other devices. I usually process the first version on my iPhone and filter good images. When I arrive home, I use a proper monitor to review and inspect all photos in detail and select special ones I'd love to print. There is no comparison between what you can get on a mobile device and a large screen — Size matters here.
Future of D700
Someone asked me what will I do with my old camera now that I have Nikon Z7. Well, it will enter my private collection of David's owned cameras, which already has a few older Nikons, including F60, F100, D100, and now finally, D700. All but D100 are still functioning cameras.
Share your tips and tricks in the comments below, or fire them up if you have questions about the camera and my workflow. Thanks!
