Camera test 51
Photography News | Issue 61 | photographynews.co.uk
Performance: ISO
The Nikon Z7 has a BSI sensor so you’d expect a capable high ISO performance, and it is impressive. Withexpansion, equivalent speeds down to ISO 32 and up to ISO 51,200 and 102,400 are available too so that will be welcomed by long exposure and low-light shooters alike. This low-light scene was shot with the Z 7 fitted with the 24- 70mm f/4 S lens, the combination mounted on a Novo Explora T20 tripod and the shutter released in exposure delay mode. The camera’s high ISO noise reduction was turned off. The 14-bit Raws were processed on Lightroom with noise reduction set to zero. The base ISO 100 exposure was 3secs at f/8.
The same scene was also shot with a D850, again with NR off, in Raw and so on. Both cameras use a 45.7-megapixel BSI sensor while the Z 7 uses the EXPEED 6 image engine compared with the EXPEED 5 on the D850. Comparing the shots from both cameras showed that the Z 7 has better high ISO performance with around 1EV benefit. For more on their differences, see the panel Nikon Z 7 v D850 in this review. Results are lovely with smooth tonal range and no graining up to ISO 800 and even at this speed you have to look hard in areas of smooth dark tone to see any sign of graining and fine detail is crisp and sharply defined. There is barely any change at ISO 1600
and at ISO 3200 you can see grain at 100% in the shadows and you can see that fine detail has very slightly lost its edge. That said I wouldn’t have an issue shooting at ISO 3200 or even at ISO 6400 if the choice was a blurred image with littlenoiseor a sharponewith some noise, which can be lessened in processing. I’m impressed with image quality at ISO 6400 and getting critically acceptable big prints out of files shot at this speed is no problem and the noise is fine and neutral in tone. Beyond ISO 12,800 and coloured noise is much evident and detail is impacted too. Venture further and you run into coloured noise, detail break-up and general degradation, as you would expect.
Original image
This has the self-timer settings too. I use the self-timer a lot and being able to select it via the i buttonwould have been good. There is plenty of customisation available. There are two function buttons adjacent to the lens throat. Both offer 22 options with button push only and 17 more when the function button is used together with a command dial. Six other body controls and two lens-based buttons can be reassigned to features. What features are available depends on the button, The AF-ON button, for example, has nine options including off, while the focus lever (Nikon calls it the sub selector) has two, or with centre push 18, or three with a push-and-command button. The two lens-based custom function options are dependent on the lens. Some will have a lens function button and the two I had for this test did not have such a control, while what is usually the focus barrel can also be reassigned to act as an aperture ring, focus barrel or, very usefully, as the exposure compensation control.
Push the i button on the backplate and you get a virtual panel of 12 camera features on the touch monitor; you can edit this too, from a total of 31 options. So if you want to call up Wi-Fi, exposure bracketing or adjust image size without using the menu, you can. The touch monitor also enables touch AF and touch shooting but you can’t move AF point by touch when the eye is up the finder and you have to use the focus lever. Perhaps this might come in the future via a firmware update because if it’s well implemented it is a very useful feature to have, and potentially faster to use compared with a focus lever. The touch monitor, which tilts up and down for low or above-the- head shooting, works very well and provides a crisp, bright viewing image for composition and image review. Push the DISP button and you can scroll through display options: an info panel, then the live image with two info options, a live histogram and electronic spirit level. Contrast and brightness is good too and if you find the default colour
ISO 100
ISO 800
ISO 1600
ISO 3200
ISO 6400
ISO 12,800
ISO 25,600
ISO 51,200
ISO 102,400
Above Putting the Z 7 alongside the D850makes the mirrorless size benefit very evident, and you can see the differences in the mounts too.
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