Tag: Nikon Z

Nikon Z6 III Announcement Feelings

Well THAT snuck right up on me!

Courtesy of Nikon

Prior to my two Apple posts last Thursday and Friday, the last one was way back at the end of January. Boldly proclaiming that my internal struggle between Fuji X and Nikon Z had settled in favor of the Fuji X-H2 for a variety of obvious (to me) reasons. However, I ended up returning it and just going with the “good enough” Nikon Z6 II to tide myself over until the rumored, soon-to-be-released Z6 III that would allow me to keep my amazing Nikon glass (specifically, the Z 24-120S) – until reversing course yet again and picking up a mint condition Fuji X-H2S (even badder asser than the X-H2 that I had for a week or two), reasoning that whenever the Z6 III did come out, it likely would not be that much better than the Z6 II, at least not enough of an improvement to justify its likely $2500 cost, which would only be offset by a mere sub-$1000 return that I could get for my Z6 II.

Soon after falling in love with the new used Fooj, I landed a 2-3 month contract gig (I’m a corporate finance guy for income-generating purposes, as I never have nor never will make money from photography). Consequently, it’s been gathering dust up in my study since taking it to the lake for a family birthday celebration back in late March, where I stuck my new prime on it (the Fujifilm XF 50 f2, a 75mm full-frame equivalent that I had always feared would be too close to my subjects and was on sale at Amazon) for the entire day and got amazing shot after amazing shot, never missing a single one throughout the course of the day and evening, indoors and out. There is just something very, very special about that focal length that makes everything infinitely more intimate when going back to review the captured moments, and had I not been inspired to take the plunge due to its affordability and size on the Fuji X system (unlike the comparable Nikkor Z glass), I never would have known it.

Back to the task at hand. Why did I title this post “feelings” rather than “thoughts” or “impressions?” Well, simply put, I don’t have any thoughts or impressions yet. I was caught completely off guard by yesterday’s announcement (that’s how unplugged from photography I’ve become since getting back to consulting for a few months). But having been back off now for the past few weeks, I was still wholly uninspired to grab a camera and get out to take pictures. Life has just been too busy with the start of the summer to afford myself that luxury. But popping YouTube onto the big screen yesterday for lunch, lo and behold – the Z6 III announcement, everywhere! Which brings us to this: feelings.

The first thing that was felt was, for lack of a better word, shock. The shock of it finally arriving, the shock of my instantaneous awareness of how far away I felt from that world after just a few months of neglect, and the shock of the realization that I just didn’t care about it. Yes, the price was exactly in line with my expectations. Yes, it can do more amazing things than its predecessor, which is still in my possession. No, it would not supplant my X-H2S.

After the shock wore off, I found myself several minutes into an official Nikon video of all of its impressive capabilities in the hands of incredibly talented professionals. A feeling of, dare I say, boredom crept in. I ended the video not yet halfway through. Then, faced with a sea of familiar YouTubers who cover Nikon, rather than binge them all as I used to, I just kind of internally shrugged my shoulders. It was a mixture of feelings – “nah, I’m good” and “I just don’t have the time to go consume all of that info right now” and finally, “man, I REALLY need to get out with the X-H2S and shoot some pictures!”

So, to Nikon and the Z6 III team and all those who cover it, I say thank you. Thank you for pushing forward, thank you for keeping the pressure on Fujifilm, thank you for your joy and passion. And also, thank you for putting your amazing work on YouTube, where I can and no doubt will come back to it when I’m ready, to gobble every tidbit and morsel of what this thing can do. I love technology!

Fuji or Nikon – or Both?

Shot with Z6 II and Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4

Without going too far into the image by image, blow by blow of how we got here, I find myself immersed in both the Fuji X and the Nikon Z systems. This is a journey that started over 10 years ago with a Nikon DSLR kit from Costco, then 5 years later a heavily researched upgrade to mirrorless APS-C in May 2018 (commencing with a Fuji X-T20 and 18-55 kit), followed 5 years after that in May 2023 with a painstakingly detailed hands on trial of both the Fuji X-T5 and a Nikon Z6 II full frame mirrorless with the 24-70 F4 S kit (which I actually returned in favor of the more expensive, razor sharp, extraordinarily versatile “one lens to rule them all” 24-120 F4 S that was on sale for a couple hundred dollars off).

In the meantime, I had added to my Fuji kit back in summer 2022 with a used X-T3, a new 23mm F1.4 (the latest version, not the old one), and prior to that had added a manual Rokinon 12mm F2 and a used XF 55-200 variable aperture (which, if I’m being honest, almost single-handedly keeps Fuji in the discussion as I have gone back and forth between selling off all of my Fuji kit or keeping it). I also added a used XF 35mm F2 back in early 2022, before I got the used X-T3.

So if you’re still with me, you very likely know something about the Fuji X system, either from direct experience or interest/fascination from afar. It is, for me, a system no less capable of eliciting fan loyalty than anything from Apple or Tesla, whether merited or not. In the case of what Fuji has produced over the course of their X line of APS-C cameras and lenses, it is absolutely deserved. Which is exactly my problem.

You see, the thing is, it is not legitimately arguable that the full frame Nikon Z system, with the cameras and glass produced by Nikon, is capable of “better” image quality than Fuji’s or anyone else’s APS-C systems. It’s simple physics: bigger sensors and bigger glass = more light to work with, and coupled with Nikon’s decades of optics expertise, better image potential. And I do see that in practice, along with the equally indisputable autofocus speed and accuracy advantage of the Nikon Z full frame system over the Fuji X APS-C system. It is just noticeably easier and faster to get a good, sometimes very good, shot. And much more difficult to miss a shot entirely due to low light or being out of focus. Even the F4 zoom lens is phenomenal in less than ideal conditions. Not to mention my recent trial of 2 non-S Nikon Z lenses, the 28mm 2.8 and the 40mm F2, which are flat out RIDICULOUS in terms of their performance regardless of available light, be it low or ample.

What I had hoped to find with my initial full frame dabbling last May was a clear and obvious improvement over the results from the X-T3. And I did see that, particularly in less than ideal lighting conditions. I thought it could have possibly been attributed to not only the full frame sensor, but also the IBIS of the Nikon Z6 II, which the Fuji X-T3 does not have. Naturally, in an effort to preserve my collection of Fuji X glass, I also tried out an X-T5, which was supposed to have tremendous IBIS. But unbeknownst to me at the time (very early May 2023), the still new X-T5 had some known autofocus issues, which would be completely obliterated with a firmware update later that month (after I returned the camera). Had I tried out the X-T5 WITH that update, I may never have decided to go with the Z6 II. In fact, I almost decided not to go with Nikon despite the autofocus issues of the early X-T5 when I took out the Fuji 55-200 to an early evening outdoor music fest in Fort Worth – for Fuji X aficionados, you may recall that this is a lens with OIS, and it absolutely nailed every shot, near and far. The detail it captures and the colors it renders, from any distance, is just hard to believe, especially for a variable aperture telephoto zoom, and as mentioned earlier, single-handedly prevented me from selling off my entire Fuji kit once the decision to go with the Nikon Z was made.

Eight months later, I still own everything I’ve purchased for each system (I added a Tamron 70-300 for the Nikon Z last summer and although I can’t say that its performance is better than the Fuji 55-200 on the Fuji X system, the fact that it is even in the conversation is the highest praise I can give it). I want to buy more for the Nikon, a prime, which is why I’m evaluating the 28 2.8 and the 40 2. I did try out the 50mm 1.8 S when I initially evaluated the Z6 II last May, as it seems to blow the minds of all who review it, but found that the 24-120 F4 S was so crazy good that I could not envision actually packing up that large prime glass often enough to justify its acquisition (the full frame system is just bulkier to pack up and transport than the X gear, so I often only go with the body and the 24-120 that rarely leaves it, as was the case with a trip to Europe last August). However, what these 2.8 and 2.0 primes promise are low (enough) light performance in a pancake profile, as compared to the bulkier 1.8 S primes. Perfect for street or indoors. And I have to say, especially in the case of the 40 F2, they absolutely deliver on that promise.

Shot with X-T3 and 23mm f/1.4 R LM WR

What to do, then? I have a used X-H2 on the way from MPB. I’ll try it out and either pay to ship it back, or keep it and sell the X-T20 and the X-T3 back to MPB to defray some of the cost. It is not an X-T camera, so I cannot yet say what I will think about the controls, the ergonomics. But if it performs significantly better than the X-T3 in low light (I hate to keep carrying on about low light, but I really do quite a bit of shooting inside of museums and old, REALLY old, churches, when I can get to them, not to mention indoor nighttime family shots around the holidays each year), which I am quite certain it will, then I will once again have a decision to make: Fuji, Nikon, or both? I would hate to take the financial hit on selling off my Nikon kit less than a year after purchasing, and I am also embarrassingly intrigued by the new Nikon ZF as well as the upcoming Z6 III. Which makes me lean towards keeping the Z system, at least for now.

The inconvenient truth is, I love both systems; yet when I review images after shoots with one or the other, I am typically treated by the X-T20 (which I admittedly pull out on only the rarest of occasions now) and the X-T3 with quite a few keepers that I instantly fall in love with and share with others, along with a smattering of “what the heck happened with those?” throw aways; with the Nikon shoots, practically every image is solid, usable, good to very good. No extreme loves, and no obvious throw aways. Is this why “pros” are more likely to shoot Nikon, because they are just really unlikely to come away with bad shots? I hate to use words like “sterile” or “clinical,” but those certainly come to mind when I review my Z images. I can give them a bit more of a wow factor in Lightroom, but what’s the fun in that when I can plug my SD card reader straight into the iPhone or iPad, review the JPEGs straight out of camera, and fire them off to whoever needs (as determined by my own impatience to share) to see them in that very moment?

Thank you all for helping me work through this. At the end of the day, “Fuji, Nikon – or both?” seems as far away from resolving as it ever has. And I kind of love that.