Photography News Issue 61

Camera test 56

Photography News | Issue 61 | photographynews.co.uk

Verdict

Trying IBIS

Features 24/25 An extensive list of spec will appeal to the top-end stills photographers and keen video shooters Handling 23/25 Impressive EVF, fast AF Performance 24/25 Detail rich, sharp images, good The Z 7 is a serious investment, but it’s serious machine Overall Nikon’s first Z camera is a pretty formidable picture-taking tool Pros Image quality, high ISO performance, EVF, handling, FTZ adapter Cons One XQD card slot 93/100 Nikon’s expressed objective with the Z System is to be number one in the full-frame mirrorless market. Sony has a good head start so only time will tell if Nikon will succeed and it needs to build up its lens range quickly if it is to stand any chance. The option of the FTZ adapter is very welcome and that will no doubt be embraced by existing Nikon system owners, but it isn’t ideal. Saving weight may not be the prime reason for people to go mirrorless but it is one of its appeals and sticking bigger existing lenses on a new smaller camera body seems counter- intuitive. However, there is no denying that the Z 7 is a very good start and it is an impressive, highly capable camera. Nikon hasn’t rushed into mirrorless full-frame photography but now that it has, there is no denying that it has done a very fine job. I really enjoyed using the Z 7 and I think Nikon has got a great deal right. Image quality is among the very best, and the same goes for high ISO performance. It also handles well, the in-camera stabilisation system works very capably while the AF and AE system deliver spot-on pictures time after time. The Nikon Z 7 with the 24-70mm standard zoom and FTZ adapter is £4099. Whichever way you look at it, that is a serious, serious financial commitment, but it is a very fair price for what you get. at high ISO settings Value for money 22/25

7 has gained the option of locking exposure on the first frame and a Peaking stack image option that produces a black&white image to let you check focusing after shooting. To test the exposure system, I used the Z 7 almost entirely in Matrix metering method, and used aperture-priority AE, program AE, andmanualexposuremodes.Ihadno serious exposure issues at all. To be fair, though, this was often because with live previewyou could see some that scenes needed a small tweak and with the exposure compensation set on the lens control ring you could do this instinctively. I like the Z 7, I like it a lot. I know it is a glass half full way of looking at it, but there wasn’t anything about the Z 7’s layout or handling that I found annoying or that cost me shots. In my week with the Z 7 I shot around 1000 frames, and of course it is true niggles could very likely surface in time. A relationship with a camera is just like life – it’s all lovey-dovey to start with but it does not always stay like that. Frommy experience I liked what I sawand picture quality is first The camera’s IBIS system also works with F bayonet lenses. You get three axis VR with non VR F mount lenses with the benefit depending on the lens – with high- spec fast aperture lenses such as the 105mm f/1.4E ED and 24mm f/1.4G ED a 5EV benefit is claimed. On VR equipped lenses you get three-axis AR – pitch, yawand roll. Using the 24-70mm S lens and the 70-200mm f/2.8 on the FTZ adapter, I took five shots at each shutter speed from 1/60sec down Nikon’s DSLR full-frame and APS-C systems feature many lenses with its VR (Vibration Reduction) system to help defeat camera shake. With video an important feature of the Z 7 and the opportunity provided by the larger Z mount, Nikon’s brought in body image stabilisation (IBIS) into its new system. IBIS in the Z 7, when a Z lens is attached, works in five-axes – pitch, yaw, roll, y axis (up/down) and x axis (side to side) with a 5EV claimed benefit.

to 1/2sec at 24mm and 70mm on the standard zoom and both extremes of the telezoom. The system performed impressively although whether it hits the claimed 5EV benefit is debatable because it depends on the starting point as well as the individual. With the 24-70mm S, I achieved a very good success rate and at 70mm with the VR on, I got five razor sharp shots at 1/8sec, three at 1/4sec and two at 1/2sec (shown left). With VR switched off, I still got sharp shots at 1/8sec but success rate was generally much lower. This is very good going I think – although not in the league of the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II with the 12-100mm zoom but this is not comparing like with like. With the 70-200mm at 70mm and VR off, I got two out of five shots sharp at 1/8sec and turning on the lens’s VR doubled that hit rate. At 200mm, I got nothing sharp at 1/15sec without VR, but using it I got four out of five.

Above This scene in Peterborough Cathedral was shot five times using the Z 7 fitted with the 24-70mm S at 70mm. In aperture-priority AE, the exposure was ½sec at f/10. In the ½sec series one frame was a total failure, two just about sharp and two were very sharp.

rate too. It outperforms my D850 and that is a camera I regularly and happily make A2-size prints from. If there is any issue, it’s with lenses. The FTZ adapter is good but ultimately I’d prefer to use dedicated lenses. With the Nikon Z (and the same applies to the Canon EOS R) system in its infancy the lens options are currently limited. At least, Nikon has announced a lens road map so we knowwhat’s coming and when.

Top Bags of great detail from the Z7 even at ISO 6400. Middle Another detail-packed scene shot in the late afternoon. Above left Accurate exposures even in tricky lighting. Above right The Z7’s VR system performs well. Left The 24-70mm f/4 Z showed itself to be a fine lens.