Move to the Z system or buy a F-Mount Lens

photobunny

I haven't heard of the 1.8 primes being mammoth unusable monstrosities, I have only heard good things about their optics and the occasional fuss that they are made in China or Thailand instead of Japan.

What we don't hear about too is sample variation, it seems if you order a f/1.8 prime they are all rather excellent.

And I love supporting the camera by the lens, the f/1.8s are all long enough to give you something to hold which is great if you are changing the ring to exposure compensation or are used to always having longer lenses. Feels very natural and as more people use them they seem to 'get' them.

For a up and coming events/wedding photographer I think set of f/1.8 primes on a Z6ii would be killer for that application. They are all fast, have the desired focal lengths, are sharp to the corners, and well built. For me, the f/1.8's are cheep but give professional results for infrequently used focal lengths or taking the 35/50 out and about when we are visiting a castle or something.

mhedges

photobunny said:

I haven't heard of the 1.8 primes being mammoth unusable monstrosities,

You must have more sense then me and stay out of the comment sections of the main blog or DPReview. There are constant whines about the size of these lenses there.

photobunny

mhedges said:

photobunny said:

I haven't heard of the 1.8 primes being mammoth unusable monstrosities,

You must have more sense then me and stay out of the comment sections of the main blog or DPReview. There are constant whines about the size of these lenses there.

There is a wonderful browser extension called "ShutUp!" that blocks all comment sections. So the people I have heard from are people that actually have the lenses and have done wee reviews on them or just tried them out when I suggested going to the Z system to them.

The Z AF is another thing you only hear about in echo chambers comment sections I believe. More and more wildlife shooters I know personally or those doing guides and the like are using the Z6 and/or Z7 or a the v2's and they aren't complaining about anything other than bird in flight, but not because of the AF, its because EVF is a bit too slow without predicting where the bird is going.

mhedges

photobunny said:

The Z AF is another thing you only hear about in echo chambers comment sections I believe. More and more wildlife shooters I know personally or those doing guides and the like are using the Z6 and/or Z7 or a the v2's and they aren't complaining about anything other than bird in flight, but not because of the AF, its because EVF is a bit too slow without predicting where the bird is going.

Agree. I find the AF to be noticeably better than DSLR with still subjects and about the same to a little better with moving subjects. I've been going back through some old shoots and editing the results and there are so many from my DSLR days where the focus missed.

photobunny

Aye, when YouTubers talk about the inferior AF on Nikon Z is is always about eye AF, focus tracking, and that the UI for these does a little dance. But when using the Z like a DSLR with the normal AF modes I have more sharp shots than ever before and if I really want to nail it when you zoom in it goes right away to pinpoint AF on your focus point. But I have only used that when there is something obscuring the animals eye like a feather or a branch in the way, and frankly not even the magic eye AF of the R5 and R6 can defeat that scenario reliably. Once Nikon do get animal eye AF I will use it for sure, but I haven’t been limited by having the AF point ready in my desired framing and just moving the camera with the subject while keeping that point on the eye.

PB_PM

mhedges said:

My guess is the CFe support on Z6 is emulated rather than native and that's why CFE cards slow the camera down ever so slightly compared to XQD. It doesn't take much difference in write speed to make a significant impact in buffer performance.

It’s a hardware limitation, no emulation going on whatsoever. The difference is that the CFe has a different controller and is optimized differently, with more PCI-E lanes. Since XQD slot cameras cannot take advanced of all the PCI-E lanes on the CFe cards, it cannot run even at full XQD speed due to how the CFe controller splits incoming data across the PCI-E lanes. It’s kind of like if you have an 8 lane freeway, but everyone is forced into the first three, then toss in some fast lane sitters who won’t go the speed limit because they are confused.

Nikon might be able to better optimize the firmware, but I doubt it will happen for the older cameras (Z6/7/D850/D500).

photobunny

Do we know if the v2 Z models are native CF Express or just bumped up XQD slots?

PB_PM

Given that all Nikon did was give the new cameras dual processors and revamped firmeware, and that XQD cards still work, I'm guessing they are still XQD slots. As far as I am aware XQD cards do not work in CFe slots at all. Is that a hardware or firmware limitation? I don't know.

WestEndFoto

PB_PM, can you point us to a source that can elaborate on that please.

PB_PM

I said I was guessing, I would think that was self explanatory.

I cannot find any technical data one way or the other. There are some suggestions that both CFe and XQD should work and be backwards and forwards compatible (firmware dependent), but these are on personal blogs from people who have no technical data to back it up.

WestEndFoto

You then went on to say, “As far as I know.....” regarding another point.

Seems like there is some reasonable room for ambiguity...

But hey. I happen to know I am mentally challenged. I certainly think you know I am mentally challenged.

I’ll just go crawl back under my rock and shut up......

photobunny

XQD cards are pin compatible with CFExpress. The only hold up on a CFE slot having XQD support is licensing/firmware. My TB3 CF Express reader can read XQD cards at full speed, but it needs a driver from Sony to do so, CF Express on their on just work. Canon never used XQD before and likely don't want to pay Sony a licensing.

PB_PM

WestEndFoto said:

But hey. I happen to know I am mentally challenged. I certainly think you know I am mentally challenged.

You said it not me, it's not the kind of thing I would judge others for.

I said, "I guess", and "as far as I know", since I don't know any CFe compatible cameras (other than Nikon ones) that will read XQD. I simply assumed they aren't forwards compatible. If photobunny is right, just like me no sources of information (but no questioning others sources from you I guess?), sounds like the same hearsay that I've seen, suggesting it is simply a firmware issue.

Nikon lists what cards work with the v2 cameras, but does not give the specs of the slots. I have not seen any tests of CFe card write speeds in Nikon Z6II/7II to suggest that it can operate at full CFe speed, so my guess is that it is a XQD slot. I suppose you would need internal Nikon software to run that kind of test. At this point everyone is guessing, unless someone has done a tear down that identifies the components are different.

photobunny

The second CPU may provide the additional PCIe lane(s) for CF Express in the v2, it just isn't confirmed if this is a XQD slot with CF Express drivers or a CF Express slot with XQD drivers.

PB_PM

The PCI-E lanes would be in the slot, not just the CPU. If they are using the same part, it makes no difference what the CPU's have, since the XQD slot does not have the enough PCI-E lanes.

NSXTypeR

Lots of sales on Z mount cameras. Anyone tempted on pulling the trigger?

webmastadj

I saw that. Even on the lenses which is surprising. But still no Z camera body that I want bad enough. Holding out for that d500 z replacement.

mhedges

I'm really tempted on that 24-200. Will probably pick it up before the sale ends.

NSXTypeR

webmastadj said:

I saw that. Even on the lenses which is surprising. But still no Z camera body that I want bad enough. Holding out for that d500 z replacement.

I'm in a similar boat, I'd like a DX body that uses an EN-EL15 battery haha. Doesn't have to be a D500 equivalent.

webmastadj

@NSXTypeR I want the controls and size/feel of a D500. Think baby Z9, much like how the D500 was a baby D5.

NSXTypeR

webmastadj said:

@NSXTypeR I want the controls and size/feel of a D500. Think baby Z9, much like how the D500 was a baby D5.

Right, I understand your requirements, but I don't need a camera built to that specification.

Are there any owners of the Z50 that can speak about battery life and how it compares to DX DSLRs?

Pretty spoiled with battery life honestly, at its peak performance I was getting close to 1000 shots prior to a charge on a D7000.

mhedges

NSXTypeR said:

webmastadj said:

@NSXTypeR I want the controls and size/feel of a D500. Think baby Z9, much like how the D500 was a baby D5.

Right, I understand your requirements, but I don't need a camera built to that specification.

Are there any owners of the Z50 that can speak about battery life and how it compares to DX DSLRs?

Pretty spoiled with battery life honestly, at its peak performance I was getting close to 1000 shots prior to a charge on a D7000.

I don't know if anybody on here has one.

Judging by the battery capacity I'd guess somewhere around 600-700 shots real world but it will depend a lot on the exact circumstances.

WestEndFoto

By Thom regarding the Z50 battery life:

Battery: As with the Z6/Z7, in most shooting situations I was seeing much higher than CIPA numbers. Unfortunately, since there's no Battery Info menu item on the Z50, I can't give you any exact numbers (I've had to judge from filenames). But in most sessions I'm clearly getting >500 shots per battery charge, and in at least one case, about a 1000.

NSXTypeR

WestEndFoto said:

By Thom regarding the Z50 battery life:

Battery: As with the Z6/Z7, in most shooting situations I was seeing much higher than CIPA numbers. Unfortunately, since there's no Battery Info menu item on the Z50, I can't give you any exact numbers (I've had to judge from filenames). But in most sessions I'm clearly getting >500 shots per battery charge, and in at least one case, about a 1000.

Thanks, that's pretty decent battery life then.

mhedges

NSXTypeR said:

Thanks, that's pretty decent battery life then.

Yeah not bad considering it isn't a big battery. About half the capacity of the EN-EL15's