Z 7 vs Z 6 purchase, which one?

With the current "trade-in" rebate-incentive and my extensive Nikon system, I plan to dump my Sony A7+28/2+adapters and get a Z that will work much better with my Nikon system that includes a number of AF-S lenses.

 

Given the $s I have tied up in lenses and other Nikon stuff, the price difference between Z7 and Z6 cameras is not huge, especially given the larger "trade in" differential for the Z7.

 

So, the question becomes actually which is the better camera? All things being equal, I would rather have more MP and no anti-alias, so the Z7.

 

There seems to be some internet info that indicates that the Z6 has faster, more effective AF. I would rather have 24MP in focus than more MP out of focus so does the Z6 really have better AF?

 

Frames per sec, I hardly ever ran my D3s over 6FPS, I don't have time to sort through so many images, so FPS is not important for me.

 

Anything else that I am missing?

 

PS, keeping the D810 and adding the Z for now, at least.

Edited January 28, 2019 by robert_bouknight|1

I, for one, think 24MP is more than enough. Why would you rather spend $3000 to get 46MP? Other than pixel count, there are not many major differences between the Z6 and Z7.

 

IMO, you are better off spending the difference in lenses. For example, the up-coming 14-30mm/f4 could be a great lens to add for the Z mount.

Edited January 28, 2019 by ShunCheung

Anything else that I am missing?

Yes - why do you want a mirrorless in the first place? It certainly would make sense to replace a first generation A7 (assuming that is what you have) with either a Z6 or Z7; I am certain either will perform better with F-mount lenses than any Sony with adapter ever will.

I, for one, think 24MP is more than enough.

I, for one, don't think so. I do enjoy the 36MP of the D810 (and the 42 of the A7RII). Though Nikon never gave me choice - they never put a 24MP sensor into a D810-style body. Answering the question whether 24MP is "more than enough" or not is a personal one and depends on, among other things, how images are used or how heavy the user intends to crop into them.

 

I just rented a Z7 for a weekend - my main take-away is that the main appeal of the Z system is in the lenses (of which there aren't many available). I am not going to debate the many advantages mirrorless has over a DSLR - but I am just not ready to use a mirrorless as my main camera yet and when I do, I want to make a complete switch using native Z-mount lenses only.

Attached is an image I captured yesterday, with a D850 and the 500mm PF, at 1/800 sec, f5.6 and ISO 400.

 

This pied-billed grebe had caught a crayfish and was trying to swallow the big prey, as I posted to the Nature Forum earlier:

Monday in Nature, January 28, 2019

 

Since the bird wasn't flying, I thought I didn't need a super fast shutter speed, e.g. over 1/1000 sec, but the bird was shaking its head trying to swallow. It turns out that 1/800 sec wasn't nearly fast enough and I had obvious motion blur in the head. With 46MP, it is like blowing the image way up such that any motion or out-of-focus area becomes very obvious. The end result is that although I have an image file that has 46MP, it is not very useful due to the motion blur. Perhaps a 24 or even 16MP body would have done the same job, and I would have smaller image files (in terms of byte count).

 

Edited January 29, 2019 by ShunCheung

If i read it well, then the z6 also goes up to 51.600 iso where the Z7 goes up to 25.600 iso e,g. low light sensitivity may differ but how advantageous that is remains to be seen .

If i read it well, then the z6 also goes up to 51.600 iso where the Z7 goes up to 25.600 iso e,g. low light sensitivity may differ but how advantageous that is remains to be seen .

The Z7, just like the D850, has ISO 64. That could be an advantage if you shoot landscape. Once you are over ISO 800 or so, you can pretty much forget about 46MP and 14-bit capture. Noise will make the pixel count meaningless and you'll lose sufficient dynamic range that you might as well just use 12 bit for slightly smaller files.

Personally, I would go for the Z6, the added value of higher resolution isn't enormous to me (don't print much larger than A3, and I don't crop all that much), so I rather have the savings as the price point of the Z6 is a lot more tempting. I do enjoy the D810 as well but not because of 36MP, but as a total package I like it better than the 24MP options (D6x0, D750). In that sense, I do like that both Z bodies are identical, so that the choice between high res and low res doesn't become also a matter of handling and ergonomics.

Video should also be better on the Z6, if that's a consideration.

Thanks all for the good input so far. Shun, your example of motion blur highlights the difficulty of actually achieving all that a 45MP sensor can record. When I started shooting basketball (again after a 25 year break!), the poorly lit gym and earlier cameras had me shooting at 1/320@f/2. Moving to a D700 helped a lot, allowing a higher shutter speed from higher ISO. Then, I found that the 50mm1.8D just was not very good at f/2. For the last couple of years, I shot in a broadcast lit college venue that had enough light to get the shutter speed up well over (under) 1/1000. I found that going to around 1/1500+/- produced enough increase in sharpness to be worth taking the ISO a little higher.

 

Perfect focus often also turns out to be difficult to achieve. Mirrorless technology ought to help with focus accuracy. Then, lenses aren't perfect either. Several lens test websites are able to rate lenses using the 24MP sensor in the D3x, which at least implies that that the D3x has more resolution than most lenses tested can deliver.

 

I took a very good photo class right after I got an FM in the late 70's. The instructor was a fanatic about getting the best negative possible. I still shoot with ""the best raw file possible" philosophy, so the Z7 extra resolution does appeal. On the other hand, I am not a tripod-nature shooter, my photos tend to be of people in their natural surroundings, most of the time I'm sure I don't capture files where my 36MP D810 achieves it's potential.

 

Why do I want a Z camera when I have a D810? With the Sony A7, I was able to put together a very small and light travel and walk all day kit. A Sony 28 stayed on the camera and a Leica 90/2.8 tele-elmarit in Nancy's purse. I will miss the Sony 28 but won't miss the A7, I think.

the D3x has more resolution than most lenses tested can deliver.

 

This isn't quite right. The contrast of detail rendered by a lens decreases smoothly as a function of increasing spatial frequency, and this is true of AA-filtered sensors as well. A much higher resolution sensor would be needed to actually record images that contain all the detail that lenses are able to resolve. By increasing either sensor or lens MTF you can improve the detail in images.

 

However, movement blur, and noise do limit what is realistically possible in many practical photography scenarios. The question then is how important is the chance of getting that extra detail, even if it means that one has to try harder and shoot more to get images where the subject didn't move and everything just came together? Or does one just want to get on with the shooting and settle for something that might not be the highest resolution possible but is still very good.

 

As far as I know, the Z6 does have better high ISO image quality than the Z7, but at ISO 64-1000 I would expect there to be advantages to the Z7 sensor. The tonality at high ISO is likely to favour the Z6. Whether the highest resolution or smoothest tones are more important for the high ISO images, it depends on the photographer's preferences.

I will miss the Sony 28 but won't miss the A7, I think.

Nothing as light and compact in the Nikon Z system at this point in time; and the FTZ adapter alone weighs almost as much as the Sony 28/2. On the other hand, a Z6 or Z7 with the 24-70/4S "kit" lens is a bit under 2.5 pounds and probably fits in the same space as your A7/29/90 kit.

my photos tend to be of people in their natural surroundings

At least to me, that would point to the Z6 as the better choice. On the other hand, the Z7 gives you the chance to find the image within the image and crop accordingly. Personally, I would lean towards the Z7 - if I was in the market to enter the Z system at this time.