I just got back in the Nikon camp after a long sojourn with Sony's A7, A7ii, and A7iii. It wasn't totally by choice as I had my entire Sony A7iii and AF lens kit stolen. I had mostly been shooting F-mount and M-mount glass on the Sony cameras until I built up an AF kit, and at least those lenses remained at home. So I decided to take the opportunity to develop 2 parallel kits. I've been using a Leica M10 for all of my manual focus enjoyment with my rangefinder lenses I'd accumulated over the years. And I decided to give Nikon a chance again when I need AF.
I have to say, Nikon has really delivered the camera platform I was hoping Sony would evolve towards. No doubt that at this point in time, Sony has a much more fleshed out native lens selection for E-mount, and its AF system is top notch for mirrorless on the 3rd generation bodies and particularly the A9. However, I see a bright future for Nikon. The larger diameter lens mount allowed them to make a compact, lightweight, and optically excellent (with a bit of cooked in software help) 24-70/4 lens. Sony still has not done this. Only f/2.8 big zooms or the underperforming and overpriced Zeiss 24-70/4. Nikon also came out of the gate with excellent 35mm and 50mm f/1.8 lenses. Light, bright enough, compact enough, perfectly sized for the system. Sony does have the excellent 55/1.8, but still no 35/2 native lens, only the 40/2 Batis.
I've read some complaints about the FTZ adapter. I understand it would have been nice to have more complete support for non-chipped AI and AI-S lenses, as well as AF for the AF-D screw-driven lenses. But the adapter is big enough as is, in fact I wish they'd have been able to pull it off without the little tripod mount. But let me tell you, as a recovering "F-mount lenses adapted to E-mount" guy, this adapter is way more solid than any of the 3rd party adapters I used for Sony. And with my chipped lenses, I get EXIF data and camera body aperture control which is awesome. New life breathed into my ZF.2 35/1.4 and CV 20/3.5, 40/2, 90/3.5. My limited use of an adapted G lens has been promising as well.
I just spent a couple weeks in beautiful Hawaii with my family, and the Z6 delivered in spades. I brought the 35/1.4 but never used it. The 24-70/4 is that good. Crisp across the frame at all focal lengths, especially at f/5.6 and f/8. Nice bokeh. AF never skipped a beat. I'd read a fair amount online before setting up the camera, and I agree with the settings that were posted above that Terri had so much success with. Dynamic AF with AF-On is awesome. I borrowed a friend's 70-200/2.8G for a whale watching trip and it was spot on every time. Grabbed some of the best portraits of my kids on the boat that I've taken in awhile as well. Sure, the rendering of these lenses isn't as unique and "character-ish" as my rangefinder lenses, but it's so fast and reliable that my keeper percentage is increased significantly.
I wish I could find my posts on the Cafe from the early days of the Sony A7 and what I hoped Nikon would do. They've done it, and it's only going to get better from here.
