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Nikon Announces D6 and Two Mirrorless Z-Mount Lenses


ShunCheung

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The announcement combination is a bit unusual since the two lenses are not compatible with the camera body.

 

The D6 has already been pre-announced in September last year (2019), and five months have elapsed before this formal announcement. To me, one surprise is that Nikon has another new AF module, with 105 AF points and all of them are cross type. The D6 can capture 14 fps with E type lenses with electronically control aperture. Another advantage is built-in GPS. We'll see how this new AF module performs. Otherwise, it is mostly smaller, incremental upgrades from the D5.

 

Historically Nikon updates the AF module every eight years. Since the D5 and D500 came with a new Multi-CAM 20000 in 2016. At least I didn't expect this Multi-CAM 37000 this soon. The price in the US is $6500

 

The two Z-mount lenses are already on the road map:

  • 20mm/f1.8 S, $1050
  • 24-200mm/f4-6.3 VR, non-S, $900

Links to Nikon corporate web stie:

D6_24_70VR_front.thumb.jpg.876d0ab9a1e51c14fb4287f518737bf1.jpg

Edited by ShunCheung
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I'm most excited by the "new" menu system and USB-C, not that I'm in the market for a D6. I'm looking forward to details (or at least manuals).

 

I'm not sure how D500 sales are doing. Sony have a 60MP sensor which would be obvious for a D850 replacement, but it's not universally better than their previous one. If noise got worse, video sampling was worse and the frame rate dropped, I'd consider the camera worse. Given my feature list content, I'd give Nikon £500 for a software update way before I gave them the cost of a new D8x0 body.

 

I'm interested in the AF module too, but my only big issue with the existing one was the 3D lock on thing....

 

Edit: that 24-200 better be good. I loved my 28-200 until I stuck it on a D8x0 body, but it's faster than the new lens and certainly wasn't $900!

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Although a lot of people online are dissing the D6, Nikon seem to be confident the new AF system is a significant improvement. In dpreview's interview of Keiji Oishi, he says "The D6 has two big advantages. The first is the performance of its new autofocus system, and also the interface for transmitting images. These two advantages are of major importance to professional photographers, who need more rapid data transfer and more focus accuracy. In these respects the D6 is a dramatic jump from the D5."

 

I think they wouldn't talk about a "dramatic jump" if it weren't a major improvement. Of course, marketing is marketing, but I'd give them the benefit of doubt in this case. 105 cross-type, user-selectable points almost evenly spaced across the sensor array is pretty impressive, but of course how it works in real life is decisive.

 

I can't really easily spring for a D6 (it's expensive) but I look forward to seeing the new AF system in a D850 update some time in the future. It seems an easy target for Nikon to reuse their tech would be e.g. to put in the Z7 sensor and AF system into a D860 LV, and include the D6 AF system for viewfinder shooting. Of course, there is also the 61MP and 100MP Sony sensors that are available and those could also be used in a D850 replacement.

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Have been waiting for the 20mm lens for the Z7 but I still have my 850 and don't plan on getting rid of it any time soon. Looks like the F mount 20mm may actually be smaller than the Z. Considering the $300 difference in price maybe the F mount with the FTZ adapter would be a better idea. Will be interesting to see the reviews. Especially how it handles distortion.
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24-200mm/f4-6.3 VR, non-S, $900

Good but overlap with 24-70 f/4. Depending on how good it is, it may be a good replacement for 24-70.

 

Oh forget what I said. Just noticed it's not an S lens. Now the 20mm s lens would be a good replacement for my non_S version.

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Good but overlap with 24-70 f/4. Depending on how good it is, it may be a good replacement for 24-70.

 

Oh forget what I said. Just noticed it's not an S lens. Now the 20mm s lens would be a good replacement for my non_S version.

Mary, why do you feel the 20mm s would be a good replacement for the non S version?

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Just because it is native to the Z system? There may be no difference in image quality as the non-S version works well with the FTZ adapter.

 

I just replaced the non-S version of the 24mm 1.8 to the S version and the S is considerably better. And since I found the 24mm 1.8G to be even better than the 20mm 1.8G, I bet the S version will be well worth the upgrade.

 

I have been using Nikon for a living since 1988 and I have never seen such contrast, flare resistance and even sharpness like I do the Nikon S lenses.

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Have been waiting for the 20mm lens for the Z7 but I still have my 850 and don't plan on getting rid of it any time soon. Looks like the F mount 20mm may actually be smaller than the Z. Considering the $300 difference in price maybe the F mount with the FTZ adapter would be a better idea. Will be interesting to see the reviews. Especially how it handles distortion.

 

The future of NIkon lenses IMHO is really the Z lenses without an adapter. The adapter is just a temporary measure and for those lenses Nikon may not place a priority on. In 5yrs from Nikon's Z lenses would be more complete than now. I also think that the dSLR will be faded out if not discontinued.

 

Also from what we see with the current Z lenses so far they perform better than F mount lenses.

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The future of NIkon lenses IMHO is really the Z lenses without an adapter. The adapter is just a temporary measure and for those lenses Nikon may not place a priority on.

 

Nikon made close to 400 F mount lenses, it's going to take a good bit of time before they have replacements for everything in Z mount. Many of the lenses I use they probably aren't even thinking about starting a project on.

 

In 5yrs from Nikon's Z lenses would be more complete than now. I also think that the dSLR will be faded out if not discontinued.

 

Yes, eventually everything will fade out, including ourselves.

 

Also from what we see with the current Z lenses so far they perform better than F mount lenses.

 

Yes, but they're also more expensive. And there isn't a second hand market to speak of. It'll take a very long time before F mount lenses are no longer used. Personally I haven't really decided if I will buy a Z camera or lens. I think ideally products should be used until the end of their repairable life rather than put aside just because there is a newer technology available. F mount lens quality is sufficient for me. There are certain advantages to mirrorless, such as silent shooting (which is currently very limited due to rolling shutter in cameras other than the Sony A9(II)), and more portable wide angles (such as the 14-30/4) but there are also disadvantages.

 

I'd like leaf shutter lenses (such as in Hasselblad's system) but they are pricey. It's not the leaf shutter that makes them all that expensive (the Fuji X100V also has one) but the relatively small market that medium format currently has, most likely is the cause of this. I'd also like Fuji's OVF (X100V, X-Pro3), but Nikon's mirrorless doesn't provide these things even as options. Nikon's EVF is quite good as far as EVFs go, and it's not intolerable to me (unlike many of their competitors' EVFs).

 

Nikon's primary marketing why people should buy into Z is the lenses that the geometrically open mount permits the designers to do. And indeed they are very good. The handling is also nice IMO.

Edited by ilkka_nissila
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$6500 for a 20mp camera - I don't think Nikon was too forward thinking on that. But from what I saw in the advertisement it does seem impressive - but I think it still should have come with at least 36mp.

 

I have to assume that the number of sports/photojournalist customers, whose priorities have typically been to get a basic shot in limited light that can be sent to an editor quickly, who might actually want a 36MP camera in this form factor, would be limited. Small raw helps, but - with an open question about Canon's just-announced mirrorless body with 8k video support - generally speed and low light performance have been incompatible with pixel count. If you want fine art images made from raw files with lots of dynamic range and resolution, get a D850 or Z7.

 

That said, Thom Hogan had been vocal about the lack of successor to a D3x meaning batteries etc. are incompatible between sports and landscape/pro portraiture bodies. Personally I suspect there are way more landscape prosumers who like a lighter body (as in Canon's 1Ds to 5Dii transition), and Nikon probably did the right thing with the D8x0 positioning.

 

Are you arguing for a D5x model? It would obviously be somewhere between the D850 and D5 in speed. I am curious whether the D6 will have better low ISO dynamic range for flexibility (as in the D3s/D4 transition), although I assume this isn't a high priority or the D5 wouldn't have its characteristics.

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Nikon made close to 400 F mount lenses, it's going to take a good bit of time before they have replacements for everything in Z mount. Many of the lenses I use they probably aren't even thinking about starting a project on.

 

 

 

I don't mean all those 400 lenses. I mean from a practical point of view, ie - what the modern offerings are available today brand new apart from some outliners. Outliners meaning super telephotos and some specific lenses like the DC and T/S lenses which Nikon haven't updated them to AF-S anyway. The most modern lenses the majority of photographers need - from 14mm/17mm to the 200mm mark in zooms (and a 80-400mm) and the common primes ie the 20mm, 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 300mm. Lenses outside of these may be the less popular (more specialised) ones they can use the adapter but the most of the Nikon customers would be catered for.

 

 

Yes, but they're also more expensive.

 

Nikon's primary marketing why people should buy into Z is the lenses that the geometrically open mount permits the designers to do. And indeed they are very good. The handling is also nice IMO.

 

If a person has a Z camera body already and is either thinking of buying a new 20mm F mount lens or a Z mount lens. I would just swing for the Z lens. The F lens with the adapter will together add more size / weight. One could also wait a bit more for a promo.

 

OTOH if one already has a 20mm F lens that they want to use on the Z camera then using with the adapter is OK for the time being.

Edited by RaymondC
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Does the GPS have altitude meter and electronic compass? Some of my bird photographers are very interested in these features spending most of the time in the jungle mountains. They at presently using D5 with external GPS.

 

Out of interest, why? I wouldn't want it as a way to find my way around, but are you wanting to triangulate to where a bird nest was? I wouldn't have thought a D5 was the obvious body to carry up a mountain in a jungle (or for pixel density for birds), although I admit it's about as waterproof as Nikon will get short of Nikonos and the 1 AW.

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