Nikon My Z 6 has taken over my bag

Location
Central Florida
Name
Tim Williams
I don't need another camera. For the first time I can say that and mean it after thinking it through. My Z6 shoots everything, better than any camera I've ever owned , close enough that I don't care. Nikon's updates have helped this platform grow into a world class imaging system. That's how impressed I am with it. It does things better , quieter, faster and image quality and colors are world class in my eyes. I'm sure Sony and Canon fan boys will disagree but I'm sold.
 
The Canon R cameras had my lust but this camera seemingly covers just about everything, even things things which most people consider insignificant. Those insignificant but relevant things for me include the ability to use Canon L mount lenses with same AF, useage of M mount lenses with AF, no AA filter and generally faultless native lenses, perfect size/ haptics and (almost too good) image output. Plus the used prices seem to be coming down too.
 
I own a Z 6 as well as a Z 50.

The Z 6 is my best camera, period. I could probably do all of my photography with it - it's a great tool and by far the most potent modern camera, mirrorless or otherwise, that I've ever owned or shot with. It's so good that upgrading to the Z 6 II simply doesn't make any sense for me - though I might, at some point, add a Z 7 II (or some later iteration) for more serious landscape photography.

The Z 6's only "downside" at the moment is considerable bulk, even though it's a very pleasant camera to carry and handle in all configurations that are available to me: I just can't go really small with it, and no combo will fit my favourite everyday bag yet (unless I leave stuff at home that I'd like to carry). But once the planned small primes arrive or Sigma or Tamron manage to provide Z mount versions of some of their lenses, I'll be able to move on quite a lot of "residual" gear from earlier attempts to find my goldilocks system, stuff that I keep for its size (and sometimes price and/or availability) alone ...

However, the camera that has so far surprised me even more than the Z 6 is - the Z 50. I added it solely to extend reach (alongside the 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E, mounted on the FTZ - very nice, and very portable, too), but paired with the cracking tiny kit lens, it turned out to be a superb EDC camera. If the little 16-50mm zoom was weather-sealed and the body had I.B.I.S. (to use with my Z primes), I couldn't think of a crop sensor camera with a more desirable feature set at this price and size.

In its present form, it's also pleasantly reductionist: It offers a lot, but its handling paradigm is straightforward, with only minor niggles and no major flaws or irritations. For its price and class, it's extremely well balanced, though it's actually telling that I found that out *in use*: At the beginning, I looked at what was "missing" or "suboptimal" instead of what was there (that's a mistake many make in the context of gear) - but I enjoyed using the camera so much and liked the results so much that I quickly forgot about the frankly negligible shortcomings. That said, a Z *0 body with I.B.I.S. would have my name on it ... if it wasn't a lot bulkier, that is, because in that case, I could just pick up the Z7 II and be done (with added benefits!).

IMO, Nikon has done a very good job, and judged on its own merits, it's a compelling system, no matter what else is out there. I also think we can look forward to what's to come - I just hope we'll get the compact primes next, not some supertele primes and zooms.

M.
 
I have been using the Z6 for two years. I am totally happy with it. I bought a Z50 for hiking. It is a great little camera to go along with my Z6.

By the way. Welcome Terri. Good to see you here.....
Yes welcome @Terri French .

I don't need another camera. For the first time I can say that and mean it after thinking it through. My Z6 shoots everything, better than any camera I've ever owned , close enough that I don't care. Nikon's updates have helped this platform grow into a world class imaging system. That's how impressed I am with it. It does things better , quieter, faster and image quality and colors are world class in my eyes. I'm sure Sony and Canon fan boys will disagree but I'm sold.

I own a Z 6 as well as a Z 50.

The Z 6 is my best camera, period. I could probably do all of my photography with it - it's a great tool and by far the most potent modern camera, mirrorless or otherwise, that I've ever owned or shot with. It's so good that upgrading to the Z 6 II simply doesn't make any sense for me - though I might, at some point, add a Z 7 II (or some later iteration) for more serious landscape photography.

The Z 6's only "downside" at the moment is considerable bulk, even though it's a very pleasant camera to carry and handle in all configurations that are available to me: I just can't go really small with it, and no combo will fit my favourite everyday bag yet (unless I leave stuff at home that I'd like to carry). But once the planned small primes arrive or Sigma or Tamron manage to provide Z mount versions of some of their lenses, I'll be able to move on quite a lot of "residual" gear from earlier attempts to find my goldilocks system, stuff that I keep for its size (and sometimes price and/or availability) alone ...

However, the camera that has so far surprised me even more than the Z 6 is - the Z 50. I added it solely to extend reach (alongside the 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E, mounted on the FTZ - very nice, and very portable, too), but paired with the cracking tiny kit lens, it turned out to be a superb EDC camera. If the little 16-50mm zoom was weather-sealed and the body had I.B.I.S. (to use with my Z primes), I couldn't think of a crop sensor camera with a more desirable feature set at this price and size.

In its present form, it's also pleasantly reductionist: It offers a lot, but its handling paradigm is straightforward, with only minor niggles and no major flaws or irritations. For its price and class, it's extremely well balanced, though it's actually telling that I found that out *in use*: At the beginning, I looked at what was "missing" or "suboptimal" instead of what was there (that's a mistake many make in the context of gear) - but I enjoyed using the camera so much and liked the results so much that I quickly forgot about the frankly negligible shortcomings. That said, a Z *0 body with I.B.I.S. would have my name on it ... if it wasn't a lot bulkier, that is, because in that case, I could just pick up the Z7 II and be done (with added benefits!).

IMO, Nikon has done a very good job, and judged on its own merits, it's a compelling system, no matter what else is out there. I also think we can look forward to what's to come - I just hope we'll get the compact primes next, not some supertele primes and zooms.

M.

The Z system is SOOOO tempting. I like pretty much everything Nikon has done with the system so far. Not sure I could go completely back to Nikon, I also need something small and while the 2 compact primes would definitely be on my list, they can't compare to my Pen F and P14/P20 for size.

But an X100v paired with a Z6II or Z7II.............

I think I better take a double dose:
 

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I own a Z 6 as well as a Z 50.

The Z 6 is my best camera, period. I could probably do all of my photography with it - it's a great tool and by far the most potent modern camera, mirrorless or otherwise, that I've ever owned or shot with. It's so good that upgrading to the Z 6 II simply doesn't make any sense for me - though I might, at some point, add a Z 7 II (or some later iteration) for more serious landscape photography.

The Z 6's only "downside" at the moment is considerable bulk, even though it's a very pleasant camera to carry and handle in all configurations that are available to me: I just can't go really small with it, and no combo will fit my favourite everyday bag yet (unless I leave stuff at home that I'd like to carry). But once the planned small primes arrive or Sigma or Tamron manage to provide Z mount versions of some of their lenses, I'll be able to move on quite a lot of "residual" gear from earlier attempts to find my goldilocks system, stuff that I keep for its size (and sometimes price and/or availability) alone ...

However, the camera that has so far surprised me even more than the Z 6 is - the Z 50. I added it solely to extend reach (alongside the 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E, mounted on the FTZ - very nice, and very portable, too), but paired with the cracking tiny kit lens, it turned out to be a superb EDC camera. If the little 16-50mm zoom was weather-sealed and the body had I.B.I.S. (to use with my Z primes), I couldn't think of a crop sensor camera with a more desirable feature set at this price and size.

In its present form, it's also pleasantly reductionist: It offers a lot, but its handling paradigm is straightforward, with only minor niggles and no major flaws or irritations. For its price and class, it's extremely well balanced, though it's actually telling that I found that out *in use*: At the beginning, I looked at what was "missing" or "suboptimal" instead of what was there (that's a mistake many make in the context of gear) - but I enjoyed using the camera so much and liked the results so much that I quickly forgot about the frankly negligible shortcomings. That said, a Z *0 body with I.B.I.S. would have my name on it ... if it wasn't a lot bulkier, that is, because in that case, I could just pick up the Z7 II and be done (with added benefits!).

IMO, Nikon has done a very good job, and judged on its own merits, it's a compelling system, no matter what else is out there. I also think we can look forward to what's to come - I just hope we'll get the compact primes next, not some supertele primes and zooms.

M.
Thanks for the info Matt. I was really tempted at the beginning of the year. But with the discounts and trade deals I am finding it hard to resist. If only I just had more time to do photography. Super busy now.
 
Thanks for the info Matt. I was really tempted at the beginning of the year. But with the discounts and trade deals I am finding it hard to resist. If only I just had more time to do photography. Super busy now.
Don, just to mention it: If you're into moving subjects, the Z 6 II is the better choice.

I can't really say how people coming from other brands will find the Z 6, though. I've owned Nikon cameras since the late 1980s - for me, the Z line feels like a natural progression (and yes, an improvement on almost all fronts). But people who have owned other mirrorless cameras might feel differently. YMMV!

And as for the size thing, yes, that's definitely true - but that's where the Z 50 comes in and does a much better job than I ever hoped it would. Did I mention that the files coming from the Z 50 comfortably match or beat those coming from the Sony A7 II at higher ISOs?

For the record: At the moment, all other systems I currently own (with the notable exception of the M mount) are on the line - however, I don't think I'll find anything that can fully replace my :mu43: gear any time soon, especially the Olympus E-M5 III, and also the small, fast primes and wonderfully compact, weather-sealed zooms. And even though I prefer the shooting experience of the Fujifilm X-E3 over that of the Panasonic GX9, the latter isn't a worse camera - in many respects, the opposite is true.

So, my Sony and Fuji stuff, as much as I like some of it in some ways, is practically on its way out (with Sony leading the way). The Z 40mm and Z 28mm will replace the Sigma 45mm f/2.8 and Samyang 35mm f/2.8 (and make the Sony A7 II and the A6000 redundant - finally), the Z 28mm can also replace the Fujifilm 27mm ... Yes, the Z 50 with the 28mm will be bigger than the Fujifilm X-E3 with the 27mm, but not decisively so. For everything else, I'm already well served by what's available, especially if I keep :mu43:: The one lens I can't seem to see anything on the horizon to replace it with in Z land is the Fujifilm 23mm f/2 - but then, the Panasonic 15mm f/1.7 pretty much matches that lens's output and is the more consistent performer (the 23mm is really pretty weak at close range, the 15mm is solid).

I didn't mention it here (much), but I've done shootouts with many of the lenses and bodies I own over the last couple of weeks to see which of my secondary systems delivered what Nikon couldn't and :mu43: wouldn't; what you've just read is kind of a summary: Only some small primes seem to be hard to replace at the moment; specifically, the Nikon Z lenses match or beat their Fujifilm counterparts in all respects but size.

M.
 
And even there, hasn’t the original Z6 had a software update improving the AF in some way? Not to the standard of the Z6 II but still...
Absolutely - I just wanted to point out that some won't be satisfied unless they have the latest and greatest in that regard (AF-C, eye and face detect and tracking), and I certainly am not among those! For most of my shooting, AF-S is *it*.

M.
 
Sony had better get around to introducing the A7IV quickly or I may pick up a Z5 with a 50mm prime to try out the Z system. It's not that I need the latest and greatest, it's that I want better weather resistance in a full-frame camera. My A7III is a great camera overall but it has the older Sony interpretation of WR. I almost picked up an A7rIV but 61mp is too much.
 
As I mentioned in many a previous post, I love Nikon. For work, I cannot find a more efficient tool for what I want to do.

what Nikon has lacked for me is soul. I don’t find myself going, “I WANT to shoot with it”.

when I go out just to shoot, I gravitate towards Fuji or m43. There is just something fun about them, almost inspiring.

if I had to pick a system that did everything and I would never have to worry about it, I’d pick Nikon Z hands down.

thankfully, I can complicate my life and choices by playing around with multiple systems. :)

I went out yesterday with the Z6 and Z50/1.8

I do LOVE that lens. So much going for it.
 
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