Nikon Z6, Early Impressions

Looking closely at the iPad stopwatch display, I see a numeral 1 faintly superimposed under the 5. It definitely doesn't look like a 4 or a 6. Which makes me suspect that the refresh rate of the iPad screen is incapable of displaying 0.01 second increments. Thus rendering the whole test void.

 

Basically, all you can say about the lag in the camera is that it's a bit longer than the screen-refresh lag of an iPad - maybe.

 

Even a 1/100th second sweep hand on an 'analogue' stop watch will jump in 2 or more 0.01 second steps. Unless it's a very expensive calibrated sports timer.

Looking closely at the iPad stopwatch display, I see a numeral 1 faintly superimposed under the 5. It definitely doesn't look like a 4 or a 6. Which makes me suspect that the refresh rate of the iPad screen is incapable of displaying 0.01 second increments. Thus rendering the whole test void.

Rodeo Joe, I have run that test a number of times, and the 0.04 second difference seems to be fairly consistent, although I only posted one image from that sequence. I am indeed pushing the limits of the stop watch on the iPad. The transition in 0.01-second increments is happening very quickly. However, the gap is definitely much shorter than 0.1 second or we would see differences in the 0.1 second digit.

 

My test was recreating another test by Jim Kasson with the Z7 on DPReview. He was trying to get the image from the EVF rather than the rear LCD, though:

Z7 EVF latency: Nikon Z Mirrorless Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

 

The gap Jim Kasson measured is 23.1 msec or 0.0231 second, which is shorter than what I found. In any case, the EVF delay is very much negligible.

The Z7 apparently has similar weather sealing as the D850, but of course it’s a first generation device so there may be glitches.

 

Teardown of the Nikon Z7 Mirrorless Camera

 

”This is not marketing department weather resistance. This is engineering department weather resistance. Anything that can be sealed has been sealed. I’m impressed, and I will say for future cut-and-paste blurbs: this is as robustly weather sealed a camera as we’ve ever disassembled.”

Was he able to put it back together again?

From your use so far, how do you think you would incorporate the Z6 alongside the Nikon dSLR's? What and when do you think you would use the Z6?

 

Some people relate to mirrorless as a more compact camera, how do you see Z6 with things like family vacations and get togethers?

 

:)

Was he able to put it back together again?

Nah, he tried to return it to Nikon and they claimed

 

'Impact Damage'

 

.....and refused to help.;)

So far we have some "spin off" threads on the FTZ adapter, etc.

 

One comment I have read elsewhere is that the new Z (forget 6 or 7) cannot work with some old EN-EL15 batteries. My Z6 comes with a new EN-EL15b, but my various older EN-EL15 work just fine with the Z6. I have exchanged most of my old EN-EL15 batteries with the newer Li-ion 20 type in 2016 when I got my D500, but I hit the limit for exchanging at most 5 batteries so that I still have one EN-EL15, Li-ion 01 type from year 2010 when I bought my D7000. That old battery works just fine on the Z6, but I didn't use it for very long so that I am not sure how long it would last. The D7000, introduced in 2010, is the very first Nikon body that uses EN-EL15 batteries.

 

And yes, the EN-EL15b battery works on older DSLRs that use the EN-EL15.

 

Oh, I thought the older batteries worked, but only the new ones will charge via USB in the camera. Is that right?

Rodeo Joe, I have run that test a number of times, and the 0.04 second difference seems to be fairly consistent,

 

- It will be if that's the screen refresh rate of your iPad.

 

Maybe a simple spinning disk with a clear mark on it - old vinyl record deck or similar - would be a better tool.

 

At 45 RPM the periphery of a 12" disc moves at just over 1/4" (7.2 mm) every hundredth of a second. At 78 RPM that increases to just under 1/2" (0.49" or 12.45 mm).

 

Not so easy to read, admittedly, but with potentially better accuracy than an LCD screen that only updates when it feels like it.

 

I have no idea how the guy on DPreview arrived at a claimed 0.1ms accuracy using a similar setup. That's some superfast LCD refresh rate! Not to mention the fact that the internal timer only had two decimal places of accuracy.

Edited November 28, 2018 by rodeo_joe|1

Rodeo Joe, I ran that test again with my iPhone instead of iPad. The problem is the refresh rate of the Z6’s LCD more than that from the iPad/iPhone.

 

My conclusion is that EVF delay on the Z6 is around 0.03 to 0.04 sec. I don’t really care about the precise number, but to me, the delay is completely negligible, which is important to me.

 

If you have a better way to measure it, by all means find yourself a Z6 or 7 and let us know what your findings are. Live view on a D800 or something similar can also simulate the condition. Again, I think the limitation is on the camera side.

Edited November 28, 2018 by ShunCheung

Maybe try this one: Online Stopwatch

 

Might be interesting to see whether liveview on a DSLR has better or worse lag time?

I suppose it's appropriate for me to mention that I tend to use my V1 for measuring lag time, because you can run it at 1200fps? :-)

 

I suspect the sensor readout is the limiting factor, but it'd be interesting (to me) to know whether the finder and the rear LCD have the same refresh/response time. I guess there's a chance of cheating, too - VR systems tend to reposition an image after it's been rendered to minimise the lag caused by head movement, and there's a chance the viewfinder view could do the same thing (either last-chance update or predictive shifting) to "keep up" better. Doesn't help with moving subjects, obviously. Just a thought.

I have no idea how the guy on DPreview arrived at a claimed 0.1ms accuracy using a similar setup. That's some superfast LCD refresh rate! Not to mention the fact that the internal timer only had two decimal places of accuracy.

Maybe because he used this setup to confirm results: Z7 magnified LCD lag

 

Not sure if all the iphones and ipads have the same screen refresh rate - and whether the stopwatch actually uses the fastest one available to begin with (which ought to be 120Hz or 8.33ms.

I passed up on buying the Z6 even though I could have purchased one last week after putting my name on the local dealers pre-order list a few months ago. The "cons" issues of among other things AF performance, low buffer capacity and shallow sensor location (leading to increased dust bunny issues) outweighed the "pros" of much improved Z mount S series optical performance (based on Nikon MTF charts), smaller, quiter and other mirrorless camera benefits. I suspect within a year, Nikon will introduce improved versions that may be more enticing but for now I'll stick with my D500 and D850. Edited November 28, 2018 by alan_wilder|1

I passed up on buying the Z6 even though I could have purchased one last week after putting my name on the local dealers pre-order list a few months ago. The "cons" issues of among other things AF performance, low buffer capacity and shallow sensor location (leading to increased dust bunny issues) outweighed the "pros" of much improved Z mount S series optical performance (based on Nikon MTF charts), smaller, quiter and other mirrorless camera benefits. I suspect within a year, Nikon will introduce improved versions that may be more enticing but for now I'll stick with my D500 and D850.

There really is no need to pre-order either the Z6 or Z7. Both have been in stock, at least in some kit combination, since day 1 of their respective availability. (Both are available with the 24-70mm kit zoom, but not yet body only.) I never pre-ordered mine.

 

I think AF performance can be a bit of a concern, especially if you are used to D5, D850 and D500 type AF performance. Unfortunately the weather around where I live has been poor in the last week, such that I haven't tested the Z6 with some big AF-S lenses for like birds in flight.

 

I don't think buffer size is a concern due to the XQD card, unless you find an "ancient" XQD card to use. My D500 can do 10 fps, with 14-bit lossless compressed RAW, the buffer on the D500 is irrelevant because any current XQD card can record (off-load from the buffer) faster than the D500 can capture. On the D500, the buffer is an issue only if you use the SD slot or if you capture RAW + JPEG or uncompressed RAW.

 

Given that the Z6 is 24MP, slightly higher than the D500, and can capture 12 fps only in the 12-bit RAW mode, I don't expect the buffer to be a major issue as any XQD can off-load very quickly. And there is no SD slot on the Z6 to slow it down. However, I have not yet pushed the Z6 that hard to test the limits.

 

Finally, the shallow sensor location close to the lens mount will be a feature on all Nikon Z bodies, as that is part of the specification for the mount. There is absolutely no possibility for that to change unless Nikon changes the Z mount. The shallow sensor location is very desirable because for best optical performance, you want to put the rear element of the lens as close to the sensor as possible, especially for wide-angle lenses. That is why the mirror has been some sort of hindrance for decades.

 

One option Nikon has is to do what Canon does (as far as I know) for their mirrorless cameras, leaving the shutter closed by default to protect the sensor, but the trade off is that you are exposing a vulnerable shutter, very close to the lens mount. The Nikon 1 mirrorless cameras also have an exposed sensor very close to the mount for the same reason.

Edited November 28, 2018 by ShunCheung

Before Christmas, I managed to take the Z6 along with my DSLRs and some super teles to the field. There is no doubt that AF on the Z6 is not quite in the same league as AF on the Multi-CAM 20000-based DSLRs: D5, D500, and D850. However, I still managed to get plenty of decent birds-in-flight images with the Z6, mounted on a 600mm/f4 AF-S VR (2007 version) via the FTZ. At that location I actually prefer the D500 since the birds are quite far away and I like the DX crop.

 

In particular, the two tundra swans were flying towards me, but the Z6 manages to keep focus. A few weeks ago I was trying to photograph some small birds from a distance, and the Z6 was a mess. These larger birds occupy a larger area in the frame, and the Z6 manages to do a decent job.

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing, Shun. (I think my D850 is safe for another year or so.)

 

Happy Christmas, all!

Thanks for sharing, Shun. (I think my D850 is safe for another year or so.)

 

Happy Christmas, all!

For action photography such as sports and wildlife, I would imagine most of us would still prefer DSLRs (those bodies with fast AF such as the Multi-CAM 20000) in the next 2 to 4 years. That is why I think there will be a D6 in the next 13 months for the Tokyo Olympics.

 

Nikon mirrorless is already very good for a lot of things. The short-term issue is the lack of native lenses.