Nikon Mirrorless FF Discussions/News/Rumors

Interesting to see Jason Lanier's thoughts on the Nikon ML camera's....is that a beercan between the 2 camera bodies on the left?
video

As a Nikon shooter for a few years now, obviously the Z-series interests me.

Some good comments in here, and some very fair points in regards to comparisons with the E-mount bodies.

General thoughts:

Are they groundbreaking, not at all.
Lens mount - fantastic, opens up the ability to adapt a lot of glass due to the small flange distance, and bigger may well be better for lens designs in the future.

Whilst i was hoping for a big full-sized body, I can certainly understand why Nikon hasn't done this (yet). Have to cater for the common sales and appear to as wide an audience as possible

Honestly, Nikon is not hoping to bring over Canon, Sony, or any other system users to Nikon.
This is 100% fully for their existing customer base, and even then I dont think that they will get many people selling their DSLR's
I would see it as an additional camera to their primary, especially in their first incarnation.


1. AF - Looks to lack eye-AF but Nikon's face detection from my usage has been pretty good at nailing the eye with the D850. I presume that the Z-series will be decent too. They may add eye-AF in a firmware update.
Continuous AF will be interesting to see how it tracks.

2. Frame rate - these arent intended as sports cameras (more general use).
The locked AE isnt a huge issue for many who shoot on manual - i'd personally only miss the auto-ISO option.
Of course faster would be better.

3. Buffer seems a little weak, but will wait for real world testing.
XQD is quite fast to clear so it may not be a huge deal.

4. One slot. Yes a 2nd slot would be nice but clearly the size of the camera was of more importance. They may have also run out of CPU power to effectively distribute images between cards etc too

5. Battery life - CIPA rating appears to be a fair way off actual usage based on first report.
I like that Nikon added the feature to turn off the evf when not in use (as well as the screen), i dont think this is an option on the E mount bodies?

6. Lenses - honestly the released lenses look pretty weak, but its a start.
Honestly, Nikon are not expecting to sell many, but they couldnt release a camera with no native lenses.

7. Adapter - Yes it doesnt support AF-D lenses, but thats not an issue for me. Sony did support their screw drive lenses with the la-ea4 but the AF system on it was pretty weak in features.
Nikon has a huge lineup of AF-S and newer glass, and 3rd party options.

The Adapter is THE saving grace of the system, if its poor then it will not bode well for sales.

8. Image quality will be a wash between sony and nikon, e.g. both fantastic.
What a great world we live in (unless you shoot Canon! )


As for me personally....

I shoot Nikon for sports/action/wildlife (2x D4's, a D850), and Sony (a7rii) for landscapes/portraits/travel/general photos.

Shooting 2 systems can be a right pain when it comes to not being able to share memory cards, batteries, lenses, menu systems etc

Z-series vs my current a7rii
single slot, weak battery, slow AF, slow FPS, awful buffer - so i'm not losing a lot, probably some portability and nice glass.

The main benefit for me is using my nikon mount glass (of which i have a fair investment) with the benefits of a mirrorless body.

I'll have a Z6 on pre-order, and it suits me i guess my E-mount stuff will get sold and you'll run me out of town!

@lonewolf:
5. You can turn of the screen that is not in use. I usually only use the EVF, it is on when close to my eye and off when not.

7. At least Sony gave the option and offers better backward compatibility. Also: Nikon still sells screw mount lenses. Even more, Nikon still sells Ais lenses and those do not meter with these adapters Whatever else with this Z camera, the adapter is a bit weird for a company that emphasize backward compatibility.

Hope the Z is what you look for. The rules allow for the occasional non Sony picture

lonewolf wrote: I know you can change off the one thats not in use, but can you turn off the screen, then also the EVF (unless your face is detected)?

That's exactly how it works, if you switch to viewfinder it will only be on when your eye is in front, if you're not looking both screens will be off.
I think nobody is interested in an option where the viewfinder is on while not looking through it

lonewolf wrote: And yeah, i've only ever used one AF-D lens that i got for free with a camera body, they're usually pretty cheap so i suspect not really the target market for the Z-series of camera users. Like i said i suspect the Z-series is being made as more of an "add to your existing collection" camera than "replace your dslr's"

I find it amazing how much more forgiving the world is for Nikon (not only you, but what I have read in general) building and selling a partly compatible adapter while Sony gets flak for a fully compatible adapter with a slightly older AF system

Edited by pegelli - 13 September 2018 at 07:43

From what I am seeing on other forums, there seems to be an issue with (some?) Tamron lenses coming up with an error when used with the FTZ and not working at all.

pegelli wrote: lonewolf wrote: Havent seen flak for the la-ea4 - it did serve a purpose but the world has gone past 9 AF points and limited functionality (Particularly in a mirrorless camera) I think Nikon did the right thing by dropping AF-D support personally - but i would as it doesnt affect me I've seen plenty of flak but then I also classify your comments on the LA-EA4 as flak, so maybe our definitions of the word are different I think for the kind of photographers who use Nikon screw drive and AF-D lenses the AF system in the LA-EA4 would be plenty good.

Haha possibly, the la-ea4 wasn't too bad back when the A7 was first released (and the AF systems in the first generations werent very good, things have moved on a fair bit AF wise)

Its possible that they could have put the screw drive mechanics into the adapter, then the size and price might go up, performance might be lackluster and everyone would be screaming about that.

Cant satisfy everyone - I'd hate to be in the camera business

The Nikon 50/1.2 is a manual focus lens and the Nikon 135/2 is an AF-D lens. Hardly cheap lenses...