Sold my Junk Z camera.

Pistnbroke

I have owned D800/810/850 and D7100/7200 and changed to Z buying a Z50ii. Terrible thing . Horrible menus with functions not available /no lock on focus position/no lock on selector dial/ terrible battery life / one card /stupid screen select button . just hate it so its gone and back to F mount

donaldejose

Wow! Very few people feel that way. Once most experience the advantages of Z, they would not go back to F mount. You are a rare bird, but that's ok. I have recently been shooting a lot with a D700 just to challenge myself and produce content for a facebook group D700/the legend. Here is an example of D700 plus 200-500 lens.

Pistnbroke

What are the advantages? was a wedding photographer BIPP MPA and all that ..Arrange Frame photo click ..next all dials taped up so nothing moved only ever changed to p for the disco . This Z thing you never know what you are going to get that is if the viewfinder is not black or the focus point gone ...junk

donaldejose

I find the old dslr format harder to use. Of course, you had a unique "taped up" style of shooting in which you just used the dslr to sort of "point and shoot" through a session. That style certainly works for the situation in which you used it. I was never a wedding photographer and never used your style of shooting. I always shot on manual and chose every setting for every shot depending upon the conditions and how I wanted the photo to look. I love the what you see is what you get viewfinder, I love using eye autofocus, I love animal autofocus, I love the Z lenses designed much sharper than the F mount lenses especially at lower f stops, I love the ability to play with old manual focus lenses because of focus peaking, etc. Many other people love other technologies found in the Z mount cameras, such as very high frames per second, et.

Pistnbroke

Perhaps I should have bought a higher spec Z like a Z8.....but for my limited use not appropriate.

mhedges

Here's my list of Z camera advantages in no particular order:

Get to use Z lenses which are excellent
Better AF coverage
Useable silent shutter mode
No need for viewfinder blind
Useable (albeit slow) AF in very low light
Better viewfinder visibility in very low light
Lots of tracking / eye AF / etc AF modes
IBIS

gene_mcgill

@Pistnbroke: Sounds like you did the right thing for you.

FWIW, I am keeping feet in both worlds. I now have a D7500 (bought new to replace an old D7200 when Nikon recently deeply discounted it) with 10-24, 16-80 and AF-P 70-300 (FX) Nikkors for my compact/lightweight kit. The D7500 has great battery life, fine image quality, is very responsive and deals well with a lens change in bad weather (vs. all the Z cameras other than the Z8/Z9). Also, the shutter doesn’t get fried between exposures when pointed at the sun for an extended period of time (not counting Live View). I considered the Z50II but the limited battery life, lack of IBIS, and exposed sensor with the lens removed were deal killers.

A big attraction for Z for me is the consistently great lenses vs. the F mounts. The S lenses I now have (14-30 f/4, 20 f/1.8, 24-120 f/4 and 100-400 f/4.5-5.6) are a definite step up from the corresponding F lenses.

I loved the size/weight/image quality of my Z7 but I traded it for a Z8 to gain far better AF (better than the D500 I sold too), more low-light usability features and the shutter that can be closed for lens changes. Both the Z7 & Z8 feature IBIS, which I’ve found amazingly effective. Being able to review the photo I just shot in the viewfinder is often helpful, such as when out in bright sun. Now that I have quite a bit of experience with the Z8 ergonomics, I do prefer them to the DSLRs. So far, my aging brain can still deal with both the DSLRs and the Z8s.

I also still have my D800e for use with mostly Ai(s) lenses for fun.

Being a mostly landscape / wildlife shooter, these bodies serve me well. Definitely suppressed my GAS.

donaldejose

Rent a Z6III and the 180-600 lens. You should like that combo.

photobunny

If you're happy with your DSLR and it's getting you keepers there is no need to 'upgrade'. The Z bodies and lenses make it easier to get the shot, but they still get the same shot and in many cases with the same image quality.