It seems to be quite common amongst photographers to, on occasion (ha!), have a bout of GAS, Gear Acquisition Syndrome, and there’s no doubt I’m as guilty as the next person.
In some cases it’s definitely a case of buying a camera from a different stable to see how they compare to the one you normally use, other times it might be you want something smaller or pocketable, or a few other excuses you dream up. At the minute, the success of Fuji with their XF100 series of retro inspired fixed lens compact camera, as well as numerous online. “influencers” using older compact digital cameras in place of smartphones has even convinced some manufacturers to get back into the compact camera market, including Sigma who recently released the ultra minimalist BF at the CP+ trade show.
Alongside the XF100’s, Fuji’s similarly retro attired XT series of APS-C mirrorless changeable lens cameras and OM Systems (as well as Olympus’s original E-M series, before they sold the camera business to them) gained market share with old school 35mm SLR styled, but digital bodies. To some, me included, who were brought up with control dials for film and shutter speeds, as well as aperture controls around the lens, the layout is second nature. So it was no surprise I really enjoyed using the similarly vintage styled Nikon Z fc I bought early in 2024 and took all over last year, in preference to my full frame Z5.
However, it’s readily apparent that Nikon’s primary market and where most of their R&D budget goes, is the full frame arena. After an initial batch of four zoom lenses and a single prime for their DX/APS-C sensor Z cameras, every other release from Nikon themselves has been for their full frame FX brethren, though a few third-party DX lenses have started to appear. Yes, you can fit an FX lens to a DX body and it will produce exceptionally good results, as you’re using not much more than the centre portion of the full image, off what is usually the sharpest part of the lens. But the penalty is you’re effectively paying for capability you can’t use, let alone a distinct increase in weight over DX lens in the process. On the actual camera bodies themselves, none of the range has IBIS, In Body Image Stabilisation, which reduces the level at which camera shake can blur your images so allowing hand held shots at lower shutter speeds, usually in low light. It’s also why all the DX lenses, bar the single 24mm prime, have VR, vibration reduction, built in which offers similar benefits, but generally to a lesser extent.
Despite releasing a second edition Z50 in the last few months, Nikon still didn’t add IBIS, and the sensor is the same, though at least the latest Expeed 7 processor has been updated, which does add some new functions. But it shows Nikon is still reluctant to add too much to the DX line, probably for fear of taking sales from the FX range. With only £70 or so between Z50 II body and cheapest FX body which is the Z5, it’s hardly surprising. Even adding their equivalent kit lens to the bill and the gap only widens to closer to £250. Having used both sensor sizes, unless you want a lightweight kit, personally I’d pay the extra and get full frame.
Consequently, after handling a Nikon Zf in my local camera store when Nikon’s reps were doing demos, the idea of replacing the Z fc plus it’s DX lenses and the Z5, whilst keeping the rather good 24-70 f4 lens I bought for it, with a single full frame camera, i.e a Zf, seemed like a sensible thing to do. Hence, as my latest blog post mentions, the Z fc and lenses have gone, the Z5 is packed and awaiting despatch to a buyer as I write this..
Front view, with the FM3 derived ancestry very obvious. Note the very modest hand grip on the left.
Mounting what could be regarded as a modest 24.5 MP full-frame backlit sensor which Nikon state is “partially-stacked” and coming with the newest Expeed 7 processor first seen in the top end Z8 and Z9, the Zf actually share much in common with the Z6 III, expect body style, but arrived to market around 12 months earlier than it’s sibling. That year has allowed used models to get into the system which offer a considerable saving over the original new price, some with ridiculously low shutter actuations and recently we’ve seen something of a softening in new prices too. It’s possible Nikon users aren’t that enamoured of the retro style as other photographers. Or, after comparing the Zf and either Z6 II or Z6 III, they have come to the conclusion that the more modern styling works better ergonomically with long lenses. Having been able to compare my Z5 with the Zf, even with the Small-Rig grip fitted, there’s no doubt the Z5 with anything longer or heavier than the 24-70 f4 S I already have, it would be much easier to handle than the Zf.
Sensor wise, the advantage of the Zf over the Z5 is that the former is back-lit, as opposed to front-lit, which allows more light to reach the sensing pixels and hence produce a better image. The sensor itself also sits on a different IBIS sled to the one in the Z5, one that isn’t locked when the power is off, which can be a little disconcerting at first as it can make an odd noise when you pull the camera out of your gadget bag or rotate the camera, but I’m assured it’s normal.
The big difference between Z5, Z6 II and the Zf and Z6 III, is the adoption of the Expeed 7 processor as this greatly improves the autofocus and focus tracking abilities. The new 5-axis IBIS sled also gives 8 stops of stabilisation, over the 5 stops of the Z5, which after using the Z fc last year that has no IBIS at all and is reliant on VR (Vibration Reduction) in the lens where available, its a definite bonus for low light photos (though I won’t be using that as an excuse to go back to Disney’s “Galaxy’s Edge” for some better night shots). Expeed 7 and the IBIS sled also gives the Zf access to what’s now common amongst mirrorless cameras, pixel shift photography. Here a series of shots are taken, with the processor moving the sensor a few pixels at a time in all directions, with each extra image used to build up a single composite image. In the case of the Zf, this can be up to 32 shots, resulting in a 96MP image, but all these individual pixel shift images generated have to be processed off camera using Nikon Studio NX software (Watch out for a blog post once I’ve tried this). As with all implementations, this technology only works with motionless subjects to reduce the chances of blur and if you’re doing 96 shots, I’d say a tripod is pretty much mandatory. Some later Olympus/OM Systems models are supposed to be able to do hand held pixel shift images, but there you’re only moving a sensor thats half the size of full frame!
Videography is well catered for, apparently, having output options for 4K / 60p with crop and 4K /30P without, plus it supports 10-bit N-log recording. As you might guess, I’m no film maker! I understand what the 4K bit is, but after that, I’m lost, just not my thing. I can’t remember the last time I used any of my “proper” cameras to take a video; GoPro or iPhone, yes. So with a face ideal for radio and a voice with too much of a Yorkshire accent, I’ll stick to stills and the written word.
Construction wise, the magnesium alloy body has a distinct heft to it, coming in a fraction, 30g, heavier than the Z5, but 240g more than the Z fc, which now feels utterly featherweight in comparison. It also makes the Z fc feel somewhat toy like with the 18-50 kit lens attached, despite both actually being pretty robust. The control dials on the Zf are painted brass as opposed to aluminium on the Z fc and as a result, you can expect classic signs of aging over the years; exposed brass, as the painted finish wears. The mode selection switch on the Zf is one that I will definitely find useful, as apart from photo and video, there’s a dedicated position to take B&W photos and this also sets the EVF to mono. It takes a lot of experience to be able to visualise a scene in B&W, so if you want to shoot in mono, this feature is great and the RAW file still preserves the colour image data should you change your mind.
Initial UK stocks of the Zf were black bodies with black leatherette, whilst the Z fc came in the usual two tone silver and black. However, since then, the Z fc has been offered in additional colours, (as well as some rather lurid limited edition designer wraps in Japan at least), whilst the Zf can now be ordered in six additional colorways to go with the stock black body, including a rather loud orange, which looks stunning. Nikon Zf Homepage
The battery is the standard EN-EL15 sized battery introduced by Nikon in 2011, but only the A, B & C versions are compatible with the Zf, which is also able to charge it via the USB C port. No charger is supplied with the camera however, just a USB C cable, which seems a bit mean on a near £2000 camera.
Around the back of the Zf, you have a similar multi-pose LCD as the Z fc, but at a higher resolution and this is common to the Z6 III as well, while the actual EVF is a vastly better higher resolution LCD than both the Z fc and the Z5. The rest of the controls are fairly standard, but the Zf lacks the popular focus point control joystick of the Z5 and above, forcing you to use the control-pad or if you have it exposed, the touch screen. Allowing you to use the camera with the touch screen hidden, again promotes retro eye-piece only operation as well as camera the improve look, whilst also offering some protection for the LCD itself, though I doubt an impact on the covered side still wouldn’t do a deal of good.
Controls and their customisation seems to be a thorny subject with Nikon users, especially the implementation of Auto-iSO, which does appear…. peculiar! You ‘d think that with an actual dial to set the film speed, the C setting on there would just set Auto-ISO and the camera would do the rest? No, that simply enables the menu entry you have set for maximum sensitivity, so should you want to alter that, you have to delve back into the menus to do so. The rest of the time, if you’ve set Auto ISO from the menu and the dial isn’t on C, then the ISO dial actually indicates the lowest ISO value available to the Auto ISO function; it takes some getting used to shall we say. The Z fc was the same and unlike the Z5 and more modern style bodies, there’s no dedicated Auto-ISO button on either camera. As you can’t assign that function to the rather limited number of customisable buttons on the body, it usually ends up on the quick access i menu. Pushing the ISO to some of the values a full frame sensor is capable of seems somewhat alien after coming from using m4/3 for ten years, where I was keen to keep it under ISO 6400 to avoid too much grain off the 16MP sensor. Consequently, I personally don’t tend to use Auto ISO and judging by some comments on the web regarding strange decisions with shutter speeds or ISO settings if you do, I’m liable to stay a non-user.
The other design decision that doesn’t really make sense is the choice of memory card types. All the DX bodies have a single UHS-I SD card, (UHS-II on the new Z50 II). The FX bodies start with a pair of UHS-II SD slots on the Z5, and a mix of SD plus CFExpress / QXD slots on the rest. As for the Zf, there’s a UHS-II SD slot (which is fine as it makes for cheaper memory prices compared to CFExpress), but this is paired with a UHS-I micro SD slot; eh? So yes, you can set image type to be RAW plus JPEG and save each file to a different slot, so 25Mb RAW file to the faster slot and 11Mb JPEG to the slower micro SD, maybe. But if one card is UHS-II and the other UHS-I, should you set image quality to RAW only and save the same file to both as a backup, then shoot a fast sequence, the buffer will slow down trying to write to the micro SD slot. Two identical slots would have been nice, and doubtless the micro SD slot was chosen to reduce body thickness. Personally, I can see the micro SD option being set to overflow and it staying empty.
As I mentioned in my main blog post, I wasn’t 100% sure the Zf would stick around and I might actually keep my Z5 instead. After taking it out a few times and using it, especially with the 40mm f2 lens you see in the photo above, it’s nicer to use than first thought. That the 40mm (and similarly styled 28mm) SE lenses lack an aperture adjustment ring is beside the point, but definitely a trick missed. Using the longer, but crucially much heaver 24-70 f4 S lens is a different matter, it upsets the balance somewhat. Once they’re back in stock, an alternative grip to the Small-Rig I currently have, one which also has a thumb rest might have to be bought, whilst a Peak Designs Clutch hand strap is also an option I may also take. (The hand strap supplied with the original Olympus E-M5 battery pack and grip was exceptionally comfy in use, and made the camera feel like an extension of the hand, if you see what I mean? So I’m hoping for the same)
Overall, the Zf is growing on me. The original spec and the styling wooed me in and successfully disposing of my DX kit allowed me to buy a used body. I’ve been lucky to be able to keep the Z5 body around for a while to compare the Zf with, but that too is departing and I’ll be back to one body to rule them all, which was the original plan. Just got to get out and take more photos now.
Pros:
- Retro styling with “proper” knobs and dials for those with years of muscle memory. Looks good too.
- Latest Expeed 7 processor improves auto focus and focus tracking abilities over those with previous generation chip.
- Stabilised sensor gives up to 8 stops of exposure leeway and adds pixel shift shooting.
- Dedicated B&W shooting setting.
Cons:
- A little unwieldy with larger lenses and really needs an extra grip fitting for daily use. Overall, maybe a tad too heavy.
- Odd choice of memory card slots. A single SD or even a CFExpress slot would have been better than shoehorning a micro SD slot in that’s slow and difficult to access.
- Only two matching SE finish primes available and neither have aperture controls.
