Correct!

When I made my migration to mirrorless several years ago, it involved a lot of thought and study.

I dabble in lots of different photographic opportunities — stills and video for training content development, photojournalism, documentary and short filmmaking, slide and negative transfers to digital images, copy work including old photos and flat art, eBay product photography, environmental and studio portraiture, and more. Previously, I had been using a Canon EOS 50D, a Canon EOS 5D, and Canon XL H1 and GL2 camcorders for video. I also had a Nikon D70 for documenting camera equipment. My primary use from 2005 to 2012 was school portrait photographer training program development — and delivery.

After studying what was available in 2014, my criteria were:

Must be small, light, unobtrusive. A simple system should fit under an airline seat.

Must have at least a 16 MP sensor.

Must be capable of acceptable quality at ISO 3200 in low light.

Must be as good at 1080P and 4K video as it is at stills. (My goal was to use ONE type of camera and ONE lens system for everything. I hate camcorders' form factors, save for one thing: power zooms. I was using SLRs long before I used video cameras.)

Must have a really sharp, clear, fast response EVF.

Must have a really bright, fully articulating OLED touch screen for video, macro, low angle, high angle, and copy work.

Must have a silent mode, with electronic shutter.

Must be as good at audio as it is at video. Must have level meters, limiters, level controls, headphone jack, stereo microphone jack, and be compatible with Sennheiser wireless mic receivers.

Must work with studio flash systems (via a locking PC terminal).

Must have a very good JPEG processor, in addition to raw mode.

Must have access to plenty of lens choices, including strategic, image stabilized pro glass (the "holy trinity" of three f/2.8 zooms, plus fast primes and macros).

The Lumix GH4 checked all those boxes, and more. I ordered it with three lenses and I haven't looked back. The thing just works, even in rain and high heat (104°F) when recording video for an hour. Now I want a GH5! My son will have access to one at school in a couple of weeks. I am more than a little envious.

Is it perfect? No. No camera is perfect. I wish it were full frame without being any larger, but the laws of physics prevent that. I wish I had f/1.4 zooms and an f/1.4 macro. But they don't exist, and I couldn't justify the price if they did. I wish I had power zooms for video. I wish it made coffee and cooked breakfast... Oh well!

Life — and photography — is full of little trade-offs. I gave up Canikon to get what I wanted a few years sooner than it was likely to happen. I gave up APS-C and full frame. But I got what I *needed,* and most of what I wanted.

Anyone looking for a new camera should make a list of things they want to do, that they cannot do with their current gear. That has a way of clarifying things. So does actually putting one in your hands and using it for what sort of work or fun YOU do. Borrow or rent, to try before you buy.

Will I *need* what Nikon or Canon release soon? That's unlikely. Could I be persuaded to switch to one of them, or Sony, at some future date? Possibly. But again, it's unlikely. I like my Lumix.

I'm very happy for Nikon and Canon to get more serious about mirrorless gear. I hope they bring some new tricks to the table that we haven't seen before.

I watched the online Nikon Z6/7 Hands-on Panel Discussion (twice) as well as watched or read user reviews on numerous web sites, but I still don’t understand why I should want or need this new mirrorless camera. I currently own a Nikon D810 and two Nikon Df’s along with a variety of AI-S, D, G and E lenses. What are the compelling reasons why I should add this camera to my current Nikon product collection or replace one of my existing cameras? And if for some reason I need a mirrorless camera, wouldn’t I be better off buying a Fujifilm XT2 with a Nikon F mount converter?

I switched from a Nikon D800E to a Sony A7RII. I was a dedicated DSLR user and I still love a good OVF, but I have become a believer. A good EVF gives you some amazing and important advantages, not the least of which is the ability to see pretty much exactly what you are going to get in terms of exposure. Going back to DSLR would be difficult now, since I am spoiled by being able to use zebras to see exactly what highlights are being blown, and quickly set a perfect exposure (for my purposes, whatever they are for a given image) while looking through the viewfinder--seeing exactly how compensation affects the image. Critical focus means that I can immediately call upa detailed area at 5x or 10x to set focus exactly where I want it. No more disappointments when viewing in PS at 100%. And shooting in low light is a pleasure. These are not trivial considerations.

EVF's aren't perfect, and I still sometimes miss very-critically-timed shots due to a bit of viewfinder lag, but overall a tradeoff that works for me. In normal use I don't notice it at all.

Silent mode means I can take pictures completely silently. That is a huge plus in more situations than you would imagine. Finally in-body optical stabilization is absolutely marvelous up to about 150mm. It has opened up a whole new world of reportage photography for me in low light, and is useful as well is more situations than I expected.

One thing I would be remiss not to mention is the very short flange distance, which means that using manual focus, I can suddenly use thousand upon thousands of vintage lenses of all kinds that simply are not adaptable to a DSLR.

Oh, did I mention that I am a professional videographer who does documentaries, features and news for a living? Video with a mirrorless is an absolute dream, especially with IBIS, and you can film in places that you would never be able to film using a video camera or even a DSLR, since you don't need a viewing hood on the back LCD.

I am 100% sold on mirrorless, but not cheap ones with poor viewfinders and fiddly controls. The Sony A7 series are professional tools (though not perfect). I expect the Nikon Z series to be as good as or better than the Sonys in significant ways, with the added advantage that modern Nikon F lenses will be completely backwards-compatible on the Zs, and will be able to use a whole new generation of lenses that would be impossible to build for a DSLR.

You really need to ask for information in a better manner. The way you worded your question makes me wonder why, at some point in time, you were smart enough to evaluate and then buy your D810 and DF's. We Hoggers really didn't need to know what you currently have. The only question you needed to ask, if anything at all, is "What are your thoughts on the new "Z"? As it is, the answers you got the most were a litany of ones telling that you really don't "need" anything as it relates to cameras. If your bottom line question is, do I really want a mirrorless camera, then make up your own mind and rent one of the highly regarded ones out in the market to see if you like this form of photography. Having a "Z" is irrelevant at this point. No one here on UHH has the "Z" yet so you're only getting opinions, not real world experiences. Come on, use your own evaluative process about this in the same way you reached a conclusion about your other Nikons.

You are asking the the big question that nobody can really answer. Only the people that need a super light camera can tell you that they NEED one for that reason. But I watched an evaluation of the new Nikon ML cameras for use as a wildlife camera and the pros and cons. There were zero pros. (just as I predicted) There were all negative things to say about the new Z series camera for wildlife. In fact, in this video he would add some comments about portraits, or landscape photography using this Z series camera and there wasn't a whole lot to he had to say about them in this regard either.

Basically, if you want a lighter, smaller camera for use on holiday, or if you only do landscapes or portraits and you aren't a pro, then they are nice cameras. But the Z7 didn't even come close compared to a D850 in performance or in features. It falls way short. About all it is is a huge sensor in a small package that can't compete with the big boys.