ahmorgan Loc: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

I have been a Nikon shooter for many years. I shot with the D70, the D200, the miraculous D700, and the superb D810. I have also experimented with the Sony A7Rii but found I missed the rich Nikon colours. Recently I traded two of my Sony lenses and some cash for the mirrorless Nikon Z7 with the 24-70mm F4 S, the Nikkor 50mm f1.8 S and the current adaptor which I use with my Nikkor 16-35 f4.

I hate to admit I'm still on the fence with this camera. I'm posting a couple of Z7 photos so others of you who are sitting on the fence can see the camera as it is being used in the real world.

From my previous experience when I shot with the D700 and the D810 perfect white balance and pleasing colour were just something that happened. A little bit of tweaking and one was good to go. With the Z7 I find I have to work at it using a colour checker as my base and proceed from there. Admittedly the Z7 can be hand held at ridiculously low speeds and the ibis is exceptional but it's still a question of trust.

With a planned trip to Germany coming up shortly I am still leaning towards lugging the trusty D810 and trinity of lenses with me and leaving the Z7 on the shelf. Once I have convinced myself that it can consistently perform it can join me on future travels but not until then.

I would be very interested in hearing about your experiences with the little Nikon mirrorless.

Nikkor 16-35 with adaptor, f18, 1/80, iso 160

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Nikkor 16-35 with adaptor, f14, 1/160, iso 320

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Nikkor 16-35 with adaptor, f14, 1/125, iso 320

(Download)

Nikkor 16-35 with adaptor, f20, 1/180, iso 320

(Download)

ncribble Loc: Albuquerque, NM

Friend form Ottawa, I completely fit your description with on exception I shoot Canon equipment. This spring I purchased the Canon "R" and two RF lens. We had two trips planned, one to Norway and Iceland, an a second to the New England states. I suffered the same dilemma you are experiencing; do I take my trusted 5Diii or the R. I just bit the bullet and like playing Texas Hold'em I went 'All Inn' and took the mirrorless R. It pushed my ability and the book was out frequently, but now some 1,500 ~ 2,000 photos later my new best friend in my Canon R. The 5Diii and several EF lens are now off to Canon, and then I'll sell them to make room for two or three new RF lens. Go for It!

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

I’m not a Nikon shooter but my I initial reaction to your posted photos is that they are flat and dull. Maybe a lack of contrast and color saturation. I am just looking at them on my iPhone not downloading. Not meant as a bash of your shots... just my initial reaction.

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

A professional photographer/instructor friend, after years of Nikon and Canon shooting, ditched all that gear for the Z7. He used the 7 and his Nikon gear side-by-side on Africa, Maine, Amalphi coast, and Smoky Mountains trips he led. He’ just went full mirrorless. It took him about a year to make the switch.

old johnnie

I have had the Z7 since late last year and bought it with the 24-70 lens and converter, and planned to use it along side my D750. In April I went to New Zealand and took both cameras and a few lenses, thinking I would shoot with both cameras. Wrong. I ended up using the Z7 and 24-70 lens 99% of the time. I took over 2500 pictures and the results were fantastic. Most of my pictures were shot using auto ISO.
Also used my Z7 handheld for a sound and light show in San Antonio in a dark open square. Again I used auto ISO. Only later did I realize the nighttime photos were taken at 25600 ISO, still with sharp focus, perfect exposure and no noticeable graininess seen in post processing.
I recommend the Z7 without any reservations.

cameraf4 Loc: Delaware

I'm with you, A.H. It is hard to let go of a trusted old friend. I still have my D700, too. But I bought a D850 when it first came out and have not had any GAS for the Z7 (well, maybe a little). But I would say that, if White Balance is your only caveat with the Z7, then by all means take it with you to Germany (beautiful country there). WB is an easy fix in post and the more you use your Z7 the better your images will be.

pappleg

I too traded the D810 for the Z7 primarily due to weight issues. There are places I simply cannot go lugging the 810 and five Zeiss primes at 24lbs so I now have the 7 with 24-70 F 4.0, 14-30 F4.0 and an older 105 Micro Nikkor that manual focusses on the 7-that's ok with me; including the adapter the package is now just over 5 lbs. Never looking back my ultimate test was a trip to Scotland and Ireland in June. Attached are some examples.

Kells' Bay, Ireland 14-30 F4.0 @14mm 1/50 at F11.0 ISO 100

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Inch Beach, Kerry Ireland Pano X3 @14mm 1/250 @ 5.6 ISO 100

(Download)

Glencoe Scotland 24-70mm @24mm 1/200 @ 6.3 ISO 64

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Galway Ireland 24mm 1/15 @4.0 ISO400

(Download)

CaptainBobBrown

All this discussion of whether a mirrorless camera can do what you want misses the point. It's really about the lenses. If you shoot RAW, tone, white balance, etc. all depend on post-processing and can be within limits of the sensor A/D conversion set to the photographer's taste. If the lenses available for your mirrorless can't give you sharp focus for the kind of photography you're doing it's all pointless. If you are shooting only wide angle of slowly changing scenes (e.g. architecture, crowds, landscapes) and you want to have complete control of the outcome shoot RAW and adjust to taste.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Most definitely take the camera that gives you the best results on your trip. Take the D810. Otherwise you will get substandard results on possibly once in a lifetime shots.

Mirrorless takes a while to get used to. Better to do this at home with images that are not valuable. If after a period of time you are not satisfied, then I recommend that you sell the Z and go back to the camera that you like.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I have used Nikon cameras and lenses for more than 50 years but about 5 years ago I became curious with those little rangefinder cameras that are called mirrorless so I bought an Olympus EPL-1 with a kit lens. I immediately fell in love with the size, weight and quality of the results.
Although I keep and will keep using my Nikon dSLR cameras and lenses I am using very often my Olympus gear.

In my case, do I hesitate bringing my Olympus bodies for a shooting here or abroad? The honest answer is NO, no hesitation. I use only one professional lens made for these cameras by Olympus and still I do not hesitate taking them with me. Eventually their AF for action will be as good as that of a dSLR body. Their AF is contrast detection and not the best AF modality for moving subjects.

Your images I am sure were shot on a cloudy day so they have a cool color and they lack contrast. If you have used the right WB those images would be great so my answer to your concerns is that your Z7 is a great tool that will not disappoint you. If you do not feel confident enough using your Z7 then take either the D700 or the D810 but assuming you had used any of those two full frame bodies your results with these images would have been exactly the same. Some simple adjustments with a good editing program will bring those files alive and if you are using Topaz Adjust AI a simple click on the Sunlight setting will work miracles.

You have a great little camera in the Z7. If you are comfortable using it the little camera will not disappoint you.

chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

Not a Z7 guy (yet) but I love my Z6 to death. It didn't take long to get used to it and, apart from the ongoing focus adaptation I'm *almost* done with, it's my favorite body. YMMV.

Rlti Loc: Medford, OR

Just returned from 6 weeks shooting wildlife, birds and landscape in South Africa. Traveled the entire time with 2 cameras - a D500 with 300mm PF + 1.4 and my new Z7 with 70-200mm. I took several other lenses, but never used them - shot more than 7000 photos. It took a couple of weeks to get used to the Z7, but once I did I took every shot I could with it. I came to love the EVF and it's advantages and the extra pixels. I am now in the middle of post processing and can really see the difference in IQ between the 2 cameras. Only wish the Z7 auto focus was as good as the D500 for birds in flight. For everything else I now prefer the Z7.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Hi Captain,

The lenses available for the Z7 are the same lenses that are available for any Nikon DSLR, plus the new Z-series lenses. Nikon provides an adaptor, called the FTZ, that adapts the F-series Nikon lenses to the new Z-series lens mount. There is 0 optical degradation. However older AF-D series lenses will need to be manually focused on the Z because the FTZ does not have the internal focusing motor. It is a bit of a PIA but it is ok for things that don't move.

Pistnbroke Loc: UK

Why are you using such stupid high F numbers ?? F20 ?? That's why they look flat and nasty..cut it all back to F5.6 or F8

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Which 70-200 lens were you using on the Z7?