Nikon Z 8
Big test
PRICE: £3999
NIKON.CO.UK
The Z 8 has been called a baby Z 9, but no one in their right mind will put this baby in the corner. It’s an incredible picture-taking machine and, says Will Cheung, one of the best digital cameras he’s ever used
combined 1475g. While not exactly featherweight, it’s still perfectly portable. In fact, I used it at the recent PN Photo Video 24 event and, having managed to leave the strap at home, I had to carry it around by hand. This wasn’t problematic as the contoured handgrip felt comfortable and secure. The Z 8 has a robust articulating monitor, which simplifies upright shooting from low or high angles. But it can’t face forward, which is a negative for vloggers. However I’ve nothing but praise for the Z 8’s EVF, which gives a lovely, clear image almost matching that from an optical viewfinder. There is no smearing as you pan with the camera, even if I got a slight juddering effect while shooting fast- moving subjects at 15fps and 20fps with the high-fps viewfinder mode on. Fortunately that didn’t impact on my ability to keep the subject in the frame. Shoot at 30fps or faster and this effect isn’t there. When shooting video, a bold red outline frame appears on both the EVF and the monitor to confirm recording is in progress. Overall, the Z 8’s handling is brilliant. Nikon has historically and conveniently placed the on/off switch around the shutter button collar. Being able to bring the camera up to the eye while switching it on means you’re ready to shoot almost instantly. Having the ISO, exposure compensation and movie-record buttons nearby is a positive too, plus the good-sized, positive AF-On button feels great to use.
WORDS & IMAGES BY WILL CHEUNG
UNTIL THE FLAGSHIP Nikon Z 9 came along, its mirrorless cameras lagged behind rivals from Canon and Sony. This wasn’t in respect of image quality; Nikon’s Z 7II and its 45.7-megapixel sensor are excellent. It was more to do with key performance parameters such as autofocus, subject tracking, shooting speed and movie features. The manufacturer more than redressed the shortcomings on the Z 9 and it deserves all the accolades it receives. While its deep-bodied design didn’t have universal appeal, its dual CFexpress slots, Ethernet connection and long battery life resonated with press and sports pros. Now we have the Z 8, a camera with much of the advanced tech found in the Z 9 – but not its dual CFexpress slots, Ethernet connection or large battery – in a more compact form. It is still a significant presence, however. The Z 8 is 205g heavier than the Z 7II, which won’t please outdoors shooters keen to save every gram, but it’s 400g less than the Z 9. During my test, I paired the Z 8 with the Nikkor Z 28-75mm f/2.8 and the Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S. The Z 8/28-75mm f/2.8 combo weighs a
The four-section control cluster at the top left of the body allows for the adjustment of important features including drive, bracketing and exposure-mode selection, usually in conjunction with the input dials. As is typical with modern cameras, there are other ways to access key features and on the Z 8 that means tapping the ‘i’ button. This takes us into a virtual, editable touch panel of 12 features we can quickly access. Many controls can be adjusted, so if you don’t like the default function then another feature can be selected instead. In addition, there are three function buttons: Fn3 is on the rear left of the body, so less accessible, while Fn1 and Fn2 are around the right-hand side of the front and accessible to the third and fourth fingers. This means they are very quick to operate, even when the camera is up to the eye. I had the Z 8 during a busy two weeks tackling street, night, portraits, landscape scenes and wildlife. I shot stills and video in all sorts of lighting
conditions, went up and down the ISO range and tested many aspects of the AF and drive systems. In that time I made over 12K exposures. That’s a lot of frames, but bear in mind that testing the Z 8’s burst shooting skills up to 20fps with Raw files and to 120fps in JPEGs does very quickly add up to a great deal of images within a short time frame. I could not have been happier with the results. Exposures and auto white-balance were consistently spot on and, while I did dial in exposure compensation occasionally, it was for expected situations like shooting into strong, direct lighting. The autofocus is stunningly quick and accurate, and the only time it hunted around was during night shooting. The claimed working range is -7EV but no system will cope if you aim the focus box at very dim, low-contrast subjects. Move the focus target to an edge or lit area and the system locks on fine. The AF was generally good with moving subjects and the subject-detect system was
SCREEN TEST The Z 8’s articulating monitor can easily accommodate shooting upright format images, but it bucks the current trend for forward- facing monitors fine, although because I didn’t find auto consistent, I preferred manual. People either running, walking or riding a motorbike were no problem. Flying birds and insects were more challenging as 3D tracking with the whole focus area didn’t work reliably
DARK MATTER The Mathematical Bridge at night doesn’t receive much light, but you wouldn’t think it from this shot. Remarkably, this is an unedited JPEG straight from the camera. Exposure was 20secs at f/8 and ISO 1600, shot in aperture-priority AE
12 Photography News | Issue 109
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