Today we head out in to the woods of Maine looking for woodland composition landscape photography and manage to bag a bunch of nice photos. How good is the Nikon Zf? Is the Nikon Zf worth it? I think my conclusions will show the truth.
There is a guy on RU-vid that owns a civil construction company in North Carolina. He spends most of his days clearing land for homes, farms, ponds, and other developments. He finds Mylar balloons in the forest almost every day, sometimes several a day if he’s close to the city. Several Florida counties have made balloon releases illegal and they are trying to make them illegal across the state. Couldn’t happen fast enough.
The Nikon style of retro camera is actually the way I learned shooting. If you look at old Minolta cameras (X700, X300, X...), they work the same way with the dials as Nikon has implemented it. So, it is natural to me. Some people prefer one, others the other. Ok. What surprised me is the very low ISO noise. I have done some test shot at ISO 64.000 and showed it to a friend also into photography without telling the ISO value. He was like: "Urgh, bad..." Then, I told him that it is ISO 64.000 and he was like: "😧" 🤣
Yeah, the ISO thing is why I don’t think this is the same sensor. Who knows. It may be just the new processor has some magic going on. I will tell you though, its not a false improvement. I couldn’t get the same results in software so they are doing something special whether its a new sensor or a new processor.
@@ThomasPetzwinkler It is most probably just the new processor. The Expeed 7 is more efficient at doing noise reduction. And since Nikon knows the sensor they have used, the firmware is tuned specifically to that sensor type. I mean, you could see the same things happen with the Z50 (Zfc, Z30) that also has a sensor that Nikon has used previously but it looks better on the Z-Cameras than their previous DSLRs.
So stay tuned. I am making a ZF vs X-T5 video in the near future. I think you’ll find some good thoughts in favor of the Zf when that video comes out. Thanks for watching!
@@ThomasPetzwinkler I did a pros and cons list, the Nikon zf won but, for some reason I’m still thinking keep the Fuji and sell the zf. But maybe your video might highlight something I missed
That's all I needed, Thomas, I have been drooling over this beauty since it came out, but I recently went a bit silly and got the Z8 to go with my Z7II. I think my wife might have something to say if I went for it just now. you got some lovely shots and I really like your darker moody processing of the woodland shots. Just back from an Autumn shoot myself today, over here in Scotland Autumn is definately several weeks later, normally the trees are pretty well stripped by now. Look forward to your more in depth of the Zf!!
I lived in Glasgow for a summer back in 2000 and absolutely fell in love with Scotland. I don't think you can go wrong with this camera for any purpose you need it for. Its a fantastic all arounder. I am putting out a new video this week about just why this camera is a great landscape camera as well!
Very nice video, Thomas! More I use, more I like Zf since the delivery in mid Oct. Z7 has been my main camera for a time, and wondered if 24MPix is good enough for landscape, resulting in full satisfaction except trimming. Along with days with Zf, more I use prime lens, giving me a fan time with manual focus lens as well.
The Zf is definitely an exceptional machine. I will use it with long, short medium, and prime lenses. It’s suited to all of them.I’m glad you are enjoying it!
I've been on the fence whether I should pick up the Zf and I think you may have given me the push I needed. Nice overview, thanks. PS, would be great if you shared the locations of these beautiful areas you're photographing.
I don't think you can go wrong with this camera. I'm working on a full review that should be out before long. So about the locations. They are just small local trails literally near my house. Quiet and empty. I think no matter where you are in Maine, you will find trails like these for sure.
I actually just ordered a Zf yesterday. They've been in stock at B&H a couple of times, but that usually just lasts a day if that. Was going to wait but finally just said screw it and ordered it and hopefully they'll get another shipment over the next couple of weeks. Looking forward to it. I do think the pixel shift will be of very limited usage for landscape unless there's absolutely no movement. I've seen some photos from people that have tried it and minor grass or leaf movements get all messed up. So likely more suited for far away vistas with no foreground that can move. I'm curious which viewfinder app you use. I did some searching and there's a variety of them, but they all describe putting in a camera & lens info but didn't list an option for having it give you a focal length based on how you frame it.
I completely agree on the pixel shift. I messed with it some and I’m not seeing it as very usable if there is any movement at all. Possibly a better algorithm for combining the files will be developed. As for the app. I use “Viewfinder” it allows you to tell it you are using 35mm (full frame) then when you zoom in and out if tells you the equivalent focal length for that format. I use it extensively when framing things for my medium format and large format work where you don’t really want to set up a camera every single time you think you might see something.
I think this would be far better than the D780. First off you don't have a mirror to deal with smacking up and down so any video you do will be far better served as a result. Also, mirrorless is simply far superior to DSLR cameras these days. In addition, you are in the Z system if you pick this beauty up. That means you can use all of the amazing new glass and still adapt with 100 percent functioning (as long as its G series or newer so anything made in the last 10 years that didn't rely on autofocus motors in the body). I think there's no reason at all to look at the D780 anymore. As for the tripod. The tripod is an older Benro travel model similar to the travel angel models. The sticker is long gone so I can't tell you the actual model. I've loved it though. Thanks for watching, I appreciate your feedback!
I love the lens 24mm-120 mm F 4Z . I'm waiting on my ZF Camera on back order 😢 but I have tried the lens on Nikon Z 6II and so far is such a great lens . What software ware do you use ?. Great pictures and video 👏👏. Cheers
I use Lightroom for most everything. I do have capture one but have now switched back to Lightroom. I switched to capture one 4 years ago when it was better than Lightroom but Lightroom has caught up and is better in every way than C1 now. Thanks for the compliment. I'm working hard to get these out once a week now.
@@ThomasPetzwinkler Thanks for your response Thomas, I'll give a try to Lightroom, I'm using luminar neo at the moment but open to try a different software 😉. Thanks a lot for showing us your great job, keep going 👍.
