Review Nikon Z 6 & 24-70mm f/4S Impression/Musing/Review (long/image heavy)

I must start by pointing out that my learning and experimenting isn’t nearly as far along as Andrew’s. Second, yesterday’s experiment was educational for me but not in the way I planned. Of our three grandchildren, two were sick and were unable to attend their school Christmas party. Also, the plans for the parties changed and I was stuck with standing along the wall in both the kindergarten and the second grade classroom. But, you go with what you are given. I shot in RAW, aperture priority at f/1.8, auto ISO using the Nikon 28mm f/1.8 G and the FTZ adapter.

Some overall observations:

• As Andrew has noted, the initial focus in AF-S regardless of focus area is quick and accurate. I find it at least as good as my D750 in all but the darkest, lowest-contrast situations.

• Face detection works well. I have never used the Sony which seems to be the benchmark so I can’t compare but even with my errors in technique at the school yesterday (more on that below) it bailed me out in some cases.

• None of what I have done has really pushed the camera’s limits.

I decided to try auto area AF with face detection. This, coupled with the need to shoot wide open in the relatively dark, florescent-lit classrooms, proved to be a mistake but an educational one. With so many little (moving) faces to detect and with such a narrow DOF to work with the face detection proved, ahem, easily confused. The remarkable thing to me is that it got it right as often as it did.

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One other thing I must note is that, again so far, the auto white balance seems to be “smarter” than my D750. Although the florescent overhead lights had tubes of varying age (and in a couple of fixtures, apparently different color temperatures) the Z6 figured it out. Unlike previous indoor shoots at the school I did not make a single WB adjustment in post.

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The next thing I want to try is touch shutter. This is a feature on most current model smart phones (my son uses it a lot on his iPhone 8) and in crowded venues like the classroom shots shown here it would seem to be a good tool to control the focus point (as an alternative to half-press focus and recompose).

I am really enjoying this camera. I think for most of the things I used the D750 for the Z6 is a worthy tool with some intriguing potential advantages. I’ll plan the next experiment better, I promise.

 

Useful information, Doug. I am very interested in your conclusion as to whether a Z6 is a worthwhile upgrade from a D750, as that is the decision I will eventually need to make. No hurry.  

 

Nasim Mansurov at PhotographyLife.com has just posted his first impressions of the Z6 vs. D750. He's a pusher too.