Z fc - the thread

[Birna Rørslett]

I have a Laowa 11mm lens and I can grant you focusing that lens at shooting aperture say f/11 is *not* easy-peasy zooming in or not.

Wide-angles are the achilles heel of the EVF and low light only exacerbates the issue.

Fortunately, as 99%+ of my existing lenses are CPU-enabled, they will work nicely if hooked up through an FTZ-type adapter. Anything else won't do as well, that is why I'd wish for more Z-mount solution with electronics inside. Failing that, I can at least use my decoding engine in the database to get the actual lens data when they are missing or incomplete, so an enhanced EXIF data sequence can be stored.

[mxbianco]

Well, focussing an 11mm @f:11 is probably not necessary, everyhing is going to be in focus from 25 cm to ∞. It is also probably the reason why you don't see any apparent difference...
I don't have a Laowa, I have an IRIX 11 mm Blackstone MF (chipped), and it has similar optical behaviour. I bother focussing only when the lens is wide open (f:4 or f:5.6).

Back to Zfc,  BALANCING

I have made a couple of outings with the Zfc and its kit lens, the 16-50mm, camera was hanging from my neck, using the standard Nikon Zfc strap with two Peak Desing Anchor Links at the ends, attached at the standard camera eyelets. Normally with a heavier lens (Z-Nikkor 24-70 or 14-30 etc...), camera bends with the lens pointing down. In this case the camera back was flush with my chest, and the eyepiece was getting foggy all the time. I had to wipe the eyepiece every time I took a photo. This morning, prior to the usual outing, I changed the suspension points of the strap, one Peak Design Anchor got attached to a slot provided in the SmallRig grip, and the other one to a Peak Design Anchor point screwed to the 1/4" thread at the base. PROBLEM SOLVED: no more fog condensing in the eyepiece. The camera is pointing down with any lens, no undue strain on the camera eyelets with long lenses.

Ciao from Massimo

[Birna Rørslett]

Critical focusing is also required for wide angle lenses. That they, well stopped down should have a tremendous depth of field so focusing isn't required is one of the stubborn myths of photography. This becomes plainly obvious when such lenses are used towards their near focusing limit, which is my usual way of doing wide-angle work.

I usually sling the camera over one should so haven't seen the problem you describe. Can't have the camera flat flush again the chest anyway these days

[mxbianco]

This becomes plainly obvious when such lenses are used towards their near focusing limit, which is my usual way of doing wide-angle work.

Agree on the necessity for focussing at all times at near distance (50 cm and lower)

I also have two Peak design anchors (for extra bodies) on both shoulder straps of my backpack, but when I use a single camera I don't like to have it swung over a shoulder, when walking quickly it bounces around and it's more prone to bang against something.

Ciao from Massimo

[Birna Rørslett]

Use a short strap. That prevents the camera from swinging around and walking is more relaxed as well.

[mxbianco]

BATTERIES

I waited a little before giving my impressions on batteries, both original and compatible, because I needed a longer count of actuations vs recharges.

Now I have one original EN-EL25 battery (came new with the camera) and two compatibles, PATONA brand.

As I said before, EN-EL25 batteries are overpriced for their capacity, both original and compatible

Capacity is half the capacity of an EN-EL15c and price is in the same ballpark  (62€ the original, 40€ the compatible)

Autonomy: I got 169 shots from my first charged original battery (NEF+JPG), a little low but most of the time I was looking at rear LCD and configuring... so it does not really count.
I got 270 shots from one of the PATONA batteries, and then I got 250 shots from the recharged original. Same pattern in subsequent recharges.

Apparently the autonomy is the same from original and compatible. Only time will tell if they last the same in the long run.

My previous experience with PATONA is good, back in 2013 I bought some EN-EL15s for my D600, and all batteries (orig Nikon and PATONAs) are still alive!
Only problem, when I bought my Z6 and Z7, they refused to accept most (but not all) of the compatible EN-EL15s.
I had to label the incompatible ones "NO Z6".
A similar problem with EN-EL14s and D5300, only intermittent: a battery signalled as non useable becomes useable if you remove it and put it back in place. Mysteries of electronics!

Ciao from Massimo

[Fons Baerken]

I tried altenative batteries for the Zfc they didnt charge, and the original battery tends to discharge easily when not in use.

[mxbianco]

I tried altenative batteries for the Zfc they didnt charge, and the original battery tends to discharge easily when not in use.

You mean they didn't charge on the charger, or via the USB cable? I haven't tried charging via USB...

I assume you are having USB power delivery set to ON in the SETUP MENU (the one with the wrench icon), otherwise it won't work even with original batteries.

Ciao from Massimo

[Fons Baerken]

I only use the mh-32 charger, non compatible batteries fail to charge by the 2nd charge on,"so after the camera understands its not an original nikon battery".

[mxbianco]

I only use the mh-32 charger, non compatible batteries fail to charge by the 2nd charge on,"so after the camera understands its not an original nikon battery".

Let me have this straight:
You only use the original MH-32 charger
Non-original batteries fail to charge.
BIG Question: by what means do you realize that battery has failed to charge? (quickly flashing LED in the MH-32, or a message from the Zfc ?)
On the MH-32 you have three possibilities:
1) If the battery is in the process of charging you have a slowly blinking LED light (one every 2 seconds approximately)
2) If the charging cycle ended OK, you would have a steady LED light (but then the camera must have a sort of watchdog to dump non-originals, maybe some parameters were not updated in the battery? Usually the number of actuations is reset to ZERO when battery is recharged)
3) If there is a battery error  you have a quickly blinking LED light (4 times a second) and battery does not charge. Usually this happens when a battery is defective (for example, if battery has a severe undervoltage, say 2.5V. Good voltage is between 7V and 8.1V). Any voltage tester wil tell you the actual voltage at battery terminals to confirm or negate that. You need very thin contacts on your tester.

The other problem (battery discharging when not in use): Do you turn off your camera when not in use? Do you have Airplane Mode Off? To save battery you should have Airplane Mode ON (means ALL wireless connectivity -bluetooth, wifi, ...-  TURNED OFF), and then turn Airplane Mode OFF only when you want to use the remote, or you want to connect to a wi-fi network

Another question: what is the brand that's giving you problems?

Ciao from Massimo

[Fons Baerken]

I have tried 3 batteries of the DSTE brand and they all failed, rapid blinking lights and no charge, have returned the batteries now i have 3 originals. The discharging batteries are spare batteries that are in not use.

[mxbianco]

I have tried 3 batteries of the DSTE brand and they all failed, rapid blinking lights and no charge, have returned the batteries now i have 3 originals. The discharging batteries are spare batteries that are in not use.

Poor quality Li-Ion batteries will have no PCB circuitry (called BMS = Battery Management System) for low-voltage/high-voltage protection, while Nikon original batteries are equipped with BMS protection, and likewise the better compatible batteries. I suspect the DSTEs you bought (and returned) had no low-voltage protection. A single event of voltage going under a certain value, usually 2.5V per cell in the case of Li-Ions, can kill a battery (it won't recharge ever, even if you pray in Farsi). This is the reason for the voltage protection circuitry, which disconnects the battery at once (but saves the battery itself) when undervoltage event occurs.

Ciao from Massimo

[mxbianco]

More on Battery Charging

I have an original Nikon EH-7P dedicated charger (came with my Z7) for charging via its permanently connected USB-C cable, and I tried to charge the batteries via USB.
Both my original battery (Nikon) and the two compatibles (Patona) did charge in less than two hrs each, starting  from a red blinking status. Satisfactory!

Apparently they stopped including the EH-7P from Z7/Z7II delivered after July 2021, you have to buy it separately...

Will try and report what happens on a car with one of those cigarette-lighter USB ports and a standard USB-C cable, if it works it's a nice feature!

Ciao from Massimo

[Nasos Kosmas]

I personally use original batteries
I recently bought a new EN-EL 25 battery and noticed that it over performs my oldie that’s 1,5years old and has done 16K shots on my Z50 camera

I am thinking to move to Zfc and have some questions:
Does ZFc have custom banks U1, U2 ?

How is AF performance compared to Z50 is it quicker as I think  given the ability to eyeAF on video?
Thanks

[mxbianco]

...
I am thinking to move to Zfc and have some questions:
Does ZFc have custom banks U1, U2 ?

How is AF performance compared to Z50 is it quicker as I think  given the ability to eyeAF on video?
Thanks

1st question: No, Zfc does not have U1 and U2 custom banks, that's a pity because there was enough room on the dial  where you select the exposure modes (currently M, A, S, P, Auto) to  add U1 and U2

2nd question: I cannot answer, because I have never used a Z50

Ciao from Massimo