Nikon Z6/7 mirrorless system

[RobOK]

Vs native lens

[Eddie Draaisma]

Strangely enough, never had any issue with the Markins on the Z cameras even for vertical shooting. Thus your mileage might vary.

For myself it is beneficial the bracket doesn't extend the whole way underneath the body as this would interfere with my fingers when hand-holding the camera. Again, YMMV.

It is not that it will break easily  , but vertically mounted on a sturdy tripod with the Markins it is easy to visibly flex the camera by touching it. Not possible with the RRS and the Smallrig. I guess for mirrorless incl. EFCS etc it is not a big issue, but nevertheless.

For use with the smaller Z lenses personally I do not really need a grip extension, for use with the bigger ones I slightly prefer the Smallrig. It is a little bit thicker than the RRS, and has a nice area for the pinky to rest upon 

[simsurace]

I‘m preferring the grip extension even for small lenses, otherwise my index finger reaches too far and I have to hit the shutter release with its second joint! this is the smallrig. The lower plate is perfect, but the gap is annoying. I wonder why they made it so... after all, extending it is not an issue if more space is required around the contacts. All the Chinese knockoffs are copying the design. Maybe asking them to make another version is worth trying...

[Bent Hjarbo]

Nikon Z6 as sports camera

I tested the Z6 during the Danish Championships in CX skiing.

First the exposure was much better than with my D500 and D800, they both don’t like the white snow and under expose dramatically.

The big question when talking about mirrorless cameras is the AF speed and the wake-up time.

The AF worked without any problems, I used only one point, no group or other setups.
I was able to make my normal speed pans, but did notice more keepers if VR was disabled.

The wake-up time was not a problem, if I pressed the shutter just before lifting the camera to my eye, when it reached my eye it was on, but of course it is slower than a DSLR. I managed to use the camera with only minor problems, as I had to get used the the short shutter press, when I say the skier and start to prepare for taking the pictures.

All in all it worked much better than I feared.

The 2 first pictures are taking with VR on, the 2 next without VR

[golunvolo]

Nice job. I agree the 3rd and 4th looks better. Wonder why vr behaves like that

[Birna Rørslett]

VR and the manner it interacts with the scenery is an enigma. For my own work, I try to turn it 'Off' whenever possible.

Amazed that you could capture seemingly wintery scenes like these, Bent ... in my neighbourhood snow is long gone.

[Birna Rørslett]

I've used the little Z50 extensively over the last weeks and must admit I do like it more than previously thought.
 
Natively Z50 does not support GPS input through the USB port unlike the Z6/7. That was a disappointment as I had hoped to use one of my Foolography GPS modules on the Z50.

However, the menu clearly show the camera is ready for GPS as there is an item entitled 'Location data display'  under Setup Menu. The geospatial data can be sent from an Android/iPhone through the Snapbridge app. Thus NMEA data is received via Blutooth not directly on the USB port. This actually works -- although positional accuracy is not up to what a dedicated GPS module can deliver. I set up Snapbridge to only use GPS and left all other features of image transfer in the disabled mode. The EXIF contains the GPS data as expected.

[Birna Rørslett]

The full-spectrum modified Z6 does better after its firmware had been updated to v.2.2. It is now quite useful for false-colour emulated IR, and general IR work. I still have some striping issues with the camera in UV. These artefacts can be removed by some RAW converters like RawTherapee, but the catch is that this program balks at setting a proper "UV white" balance. We'll see when the flower season commences how big the issue is.

For anything else than UV, results are pretty good. The native Z lenses don't like IR much as most of them tend to make hot spots in IR. Fortunately, by using either FTZ or other suitable adapters, a raft of older lenses are available for such non-visible light applications. The venerable old-timer  Zoom-Nikkor 28-45mm f/4.5, Nikon's firs really wide zoom design, has proven itself particularly good for my IR and false-colour work. Here is a recent example, using false-colour IR, of thawing snow. Using 1600 ISO allowed me to snap the pictures hand-held.

[golunvolo]

Very happy to know the z6 is working better in IR. Looking forward for more of your findings!

[Bill Mellen]

Bent, thank you for sharing your experience and tips on VR.

Birna, the false color IR is very interesting.

This has been a most informative thread!

[Akira]

A very beautiful image, Birna.  It looks so natural to me that it is difficult to discern it as an IR image.   

[Hermann]

For me I’m talking about an Arca plate, so the only option would be a rectangular arca which is thinner and don’t think that exists....

I just got the Peak Design grip, and the new Arca plates have an elongated hole for the tripod screw, so you can shift the plate on the bottom of the camera. That may actually work with the FTZ adapter.

Hermann

[Erik Lund]

Very nice Bent! well done with the VR off! Some of the DSLR VR lenses  has compensating VR that allow for panning in one setting, so works really well for that,,,

[Eddie Draaisma]

The Z6/7 IBIS has two settings, one being for sports

[Erik Lund]

Correcting for motion blur with a shaker in front of the sensor is completely different to  doing it with an optical element in the lens.

And yes Nikon has an option to use both at the same time,,,