Got the ZF because my patience ran out on the availability of the Fuji X100v6 .. boy am I glad the Fuji wasn’t available.. I love my ZF especially the image quality 💯

Simply put, I think the Zf is for someone who fancies the heritage flavor of shooting with a Leica M, but who doesn't want to fork out the obscene amount of money an M body fetches; or, for someone considering a Fujifilm X-T5 for similar reasons, but who wants a full frame sensor.

Nice review. The following is not intended to be critical of what you said - just another POV. NIkon's full line of 1.8 S primes all work well with the Zf (assuming you use any one of the numerous 3rd party grips that are all very affordable (Smallrig, Neewer etc). It is true that they do not 'look' the part the way the 40mm and 28mm dom but they are optical masterpieces and are not too big or heavy to work nicely on this camera. Likewise, the 24-120 F4 S lens is a gem to pair with this camera. Yes it is a little bigger, but again with the grip it is still very manageable - I shot a 5 hour event with this combination and it was not too difficult and got spectacular results. That said, this camera is clearly not for many professional uses and it does not claim to be - rather it is a retro camera for every day - throw in the bad and go uses, that happens to also be capable enough to compete with the pro cameras and its IQ is second to none. Your point about it having a soul really stands out - it definitively does - and Sony's as you also point out definitely do not - they are very sterile and frankly boring to use. Sony's get the job done to be sure (but none better than a Z8/9 - but I digress), however I would never opt to just walk around with a Sony camera for casual/fun/hobby type shooting - they simply do not add to the enjoyment of photography - I'd say they actually subtract from it. Ultimately, if any of the issues that you mention as negatives would be a bother to a perspective buyer then they should most definitely wait for the Z6III which will be a beast of a camera and likely the best in the market for $2500 or less upon its release in the next few months. It will be even more powerful than the Zf and have a great grip to handle any lens and also be a beast of a video camera - but this is really for a different use case... The Zf - simply put - is for those that love photography and the art of photographing, and oh by the way it can also do just about everything else (almost) that an A7 IV can do in a pinch. -PD P.S. I know you mentioned this (sort of) but all those great Sony lenses can easily be adapted to the Z system by way of the Megadap adaptor where they achive near native and even native functionality in many cases on the Z system. So for those people that already have these lenses - they are just as good on your Nikon as on your Sony... just something to think about.

Love the Zf. Such a fun camera.

8:14 Are you sure that you figured it out? Omar had NOT figured it out. It's because Nikon's Auto-ISO offers more than the ones of Fuji, Canon and Sony. It's not just either full manual ISO or Auto-ISO with a max limiter. It's an Auto-ISO with a max AND a LOW limiter. So here is the important addition to using the ISO-wheel in Auto-ISO mode: It sets the MINIMUM !!! ISO in Auto-ISO mode. Explanation: As Nikon bodies will always choose the lowest possible ISO at any given aperture/shutterspeed the more important thing you CAN change using the normal thumb wheel or the ISO-wheel of the ZF is the MINIMUM ISO. So in Auto-ISO the ISO-wheel doesn't only overwrite your max ISO. Setting it below your max ISO it also sets the minimum ISO. Use cases: So let's say you are in manual and your max. ISO is 12800 and min. ISO 100 and you are using a flash. By raising the min. Auto-ISO you can bring up the ambient light without lowering your shutterspeed below 1/60. Or suddenly there's more action and you need generally faster shutterspeeds. But you don't want to go full manual. Again just raise the min. Auto-ISO. And as you still need the entire ISO-wheel in Auto-ISO mode for setting the minimum ISO you can't just have an A on that wheel for Auto-ISO. Because that would limit the ISO-wheel just to dial in Auto-ISO and then remaining there without using it further for minimum ISO. Cheers from Stuttgart

Thank you very much for your efforts, honest review, and free presets. We wish you well for your channel and photography.

It's awesome to see the low-light performance demonstrated in this review of the Nikon Z.

Sony must be loving the lens situation with Canon and Nikon right now.

Been using the Zf for about as long as you. I think your review is quite accurate. I often go for this camera over my Leica, which says a lot. You did not mention the tech art adapter for m lenses. This addresses one big issue: small excellent quality lenses. They look and feel great on the Zf and they lean into its strengths. I wish for a very beefy grip to hold the 100-400 size lenses, mainly so I don’t buy a Z8, lol. The ISO method implemented by Nikon is best dealt with as follows: “set the max iso to the lowest possible menu setting, leave auto iso on, and use the dial to “override” the max allowable iso in the field. My wish list for future versions of the Zf would include: 47 megapixels, native z lenses with manual aperture rings, even better evf, and an iso dial with auto iso right on the dial. Also, if I could go back to 2016 when things were less easy, I’d probably stay there but that would be a topic for a whole other KZfaq channel.

Thank you for this, I own the Df which I have loved for night on eight or nine years now, and used it alongside a Leica X. The x is getting on in terms of both age, and it has gremlins - and I have been looking at the Fuji x100 series, but this has been hovering in the corner of my eye.

Re Nikon Z lenses: the native Z lenses are superlative performers, and while their aesthetics are 'industrial' and do not flatter the retro vibe, quite a few of them, beyond the 40 and 28, stay compact and light enough to be comfortably carried and used with a gripless Zf. Specifically, the 24, 35, 50 and 85 f/1.8 quatuor and 24-70 f/4 zoom will bring you "best-in-class" IQ with zero downside. You can of course also use the 26 pancake which I find quite a bit more "biting" than the 28. Even the superb 14-30 f/4 balances well enough. So, there i plenty of choice within the range. I routinely use the 24-120 with the Zf + Smallrig grip, and it also passes the test, but that is as heavy/large as I am willing to go with that body. And you are right, the Z-mount Voigtlander lenses do mesh perfectly with the Zf, if you give up on AF.

My first SLR was the Nikon FM2n. It didn’t feel uncomfortable to use. It was blocky but smaller than the Zf. It carried well in small fanny back albeit like a mini brick so it went many places with the E series 50mm attached. Your comment that we have improved ergonomics for a reason is exactly what I thought when I tested it out at a show.

Omar Gonzales actually did not understand the ISO dial and Auto ISO. You can set your preferred ISO value using the dial in auto mode. Auto ISO will then pick a value equal to (which it will prefer) or higher (if said value is impossible) than the value chosen on the dial. Look at the ISO number on the screen. If it is in Auto ISO and blinking, the camera tells you that your ISO value is impossible. If the value is shown constantly, it can expose correctly using that value. This is actually the way Auto ISO has worked on basically all Nikon digital cameras. Auto ISO on Nikon is relatively sticky, i.e., it will stay on the user selected value until no longer possible. In the case of the Zf, you can thus actually switch to a semi-automatic mode if the dial is not on C.

I got my Z f for 3 1/2 months and I really love it! Video is not a topic for me (at the moment), so the Z f is the perfect "photo tool" for me. I got the 28mm Z (came with my Z fc 2 years ago) and some Viltrox lenses (20mm, 40mm & 85mm) but I keep using some F-Mount lenses from the ART Series (35mm, 50mm & 105mm) and some others. That works pretty fine. The best thing about the Z f is how easy it is to use (vintage) manual focusing lenses like Nikon AIS 50mm 1.2 or 105mm 2.5. I used MF lenses with the Nikon D800 and always missed the focus peaking I got with my Pentax cameras years before. Now with having the Z f I back on having the same or even better support of MF lenses! 😃 I'm a hobbyist and photography is a "head cleaner" for me - I can totally forget about the job and other things while running around in my city and taking pictures. The build quality & haptic suits me, having the Smallrig grip attached makes also using heavy lenses ok (Sigma 105mm 1.4 3,62 lb/1,64 kg).

The Nikon Zf needs the Sigma "i series" lenses in Z-mount... I have the 35mm f/2 for my Sony and it's amazing ! They have the 20mm, 35mm, 50mm and 65mm f/2 which are all great and could give that vintage feeling to the combo with an amazing image quality !

I have the Zf as a second to my Z9. Sometimes I prefer the Zf, does everything I need it to do and more. It’s also exceptionally versatile as a second body. B cam for filming, walk around camera for travelling and day to day life and sometimes when I’m shooting landscapes I’ll put my 800mm on it to photograph wildlife nearby.

The nice thing about the 6bit to artisan adapter is you can also just adapt other mounts to m mount and stack the two adapters (like, I’ve done Nikon F->m -> Z and it has worked fine)

Great video I love my ZF just did a wedding with it

I would have definitely bought this camera if it had a normal grip, a standard PASM dial, and a tilting LCD.

Thank you for this video! Ive been contemplating to get the X100VI but the wait is killing me! And after holding the Zf, i fell in love with the feel and the looks. Now the question is, could it replace my A7c as edc camera/serious setup. For that i still havent found the answer.

Clever Review 🙏🏾👍

Man... I've had the ZF for a couple of weeks and you nailed all my thoughts on it. It's such a weird camera for me. I love the image quality. I love the speed. I hate the ergonomics and the lack of lenses that fit the overall look and feel. As a stills photographer, I hate the screen, and as someone who knows what video shooters kind of look for in a screen, I hate even more that they threw all the ports on that side of the camera knowing it would block the screen. This camera feels like a really, really good first attempt at a retro-inspired digital camera, but I feel like they tried to make it a jack of all trades and missed the mark just a tiny bit in a few critical areas. In the end, it's a better camera than I thought it might be, and I absolutely love the shooting experience for the most part. I think a ZF2 could be a really perfect camera if Nikon continues to pursue this avenue of retro-inspired digital cameras.

I found the best ISO setting on the Zf that I've ever experienced in any camera. Basically you must activate auto iso and limited the auto ISO to the lowest number possible in camera settings (the minimum allowed it's 200 iso) than control the maximum ISO on the ISO Dial mechanical. It's super easy

Did you use the slo-mo with the latest firmware?

As a photographer only, it's beyond me why Nikon put the screen on it as they did. Ijuyst use it as a fixed screen. I bought this camera but my next purchase will be a D780 to go along with my Df. I don't like the Z lenses on the whole ( I do have the 40mm & 24 to 70 F4 S which will be it for me), but overall the primes are just too long. Being on fixed income I'm quite happy with F mount lenses.

Kyle, appreciate the effort, the extensive review of your likes and dislikes - after using the camera for some time. I do not own it, nor plan to, but enjoyed your review of the pluses and minuses. I do shoot Nikon, and understand some of the consternation over the menu system in general. For the Z9, I needed to lay it all out on an Excel spreadsheet - but I do utilize banks, so keeping many of the shooting settings the same between banks was important. Let me start by saying, I agree, that adjustments to the ISO in any camera should not be difficult or challenging. Now, please before you roll your eyes, hear what I'm about to say. Please be one of the "new" generation thinkers that realize there is no such thing as an "Exposure Triangle". Specifically, ISO - in almost all cases - is amplification of signal all ready captured - and has noting to do with exposure directly - but yes, indirectly helps you balance out how bright your image is and effects the settings of aperature or shutter speed you pick (which do change exposure). When I first started photography a few years back, I said the same thing to someone you would know on a large channel, and I received a very nasty reply . Fast forward: Just recently he released a video on another topic and now claims he doesn't like the term "Exposure triangle" - that it's more like a balancing board. Thank goodness for progress. I know this is a very side issue, and I could care less what others believe here. But I believe influencers should try and get the terms and definitions straight. There's plenty of literature on this. Just like many talented photographers influencing on KZfaq are now handholding the camera away from their body - looks cool, but really? Anyway, loved the video, and your effort, so sorry for the rant, but if I didn't think you would listen, I wouldn't bother.

8:14 I struggled with the ISO settingson my Zf too at first. But really, Nikon got it right. They got it REALLY right. Here is why. ISO does not impact your exposure. Radical thought to many, I know. But it's true. Because changing your ISO does not change how much light gets onto the sensor, only changing the aperture and shutter speed does that. So if you set your aperture and shutter speed and only change your ISO in between your shots, you are always shooting with the same exposure values because you always let exactly the same amount of light onto the sensor. Changing the ISO only determines to what degree you want to amplify the signal on the sensor. Since signal amplification (ISO) really is only relevant as to what your preference towards signal to noise ratio is (how much grain you tolerate) and the exposure on digital cameras is only determined by shutter speed and aperture, this is how Nikon chose to implement the Zf - as a camera that gives photographers the tactile interface to do just that. There is a reason the M mode is all the way to the top. Here is how it works: You set your camera into manual. Like an actual mechanical film camera. Then you set your shutter speed and aperture according to your artistic vision as a photographer. On the ISO dial, you set the maximum aperture you tolerate the camera to go to. If the camera cannot get a metered "correct" exposure in manual mode with the steps above, it will show you but still expose to your settings. If you're set the camera to either A or S, it will adjust either shutter or aperture to stay below you ISO ceiling you set on the ISO dial. If you want to shoot at any ISO or below: just set it on the dial. Genius. For people who shoot primarily in manual mode and want the camera to select ISO based on the metering mode, what Nikon have done here is genius. It's the best implementation of this I have seen on a camera yet.

As far as I recall the ISO dial of Nikon Df was setting the max ISO value when in auto-ISO mode. I think it was very useful. Is that not the case with the Zf?

Yo bro, that shutter sound wasn't be a mechanical shutter, but I also love it

"It's honestly probably the closest thing to a digital equivalent of manually focusing with a rangefinder." Probably more like manually focusing with an SLR. As to the menus, AF settings, for example, can be found [or programmed] into one of the custom function buttons, and they are also available in the dedicated "i" menu [which can also be customized for whichever of the twelve most common controls you use (and which entirely changes between stills and video at the flip of a switch).

I only buy old used Nikon DSLR bodies and love them. The Zf seems great & I shot with an FE2 back in the film days so the ergonomics will be fine for me. The issue is price - I won't buy a camera body for over £1000 U.K. - so it will be a couple of years at least until I try one.

Oh ISO. If I make go from dark into bright, or vice versa, on walk-around, and change settings in menu to handle it, the ISO does not change to reflect what I set in menu. I have to turn the camera off and back on, or the setting becomes whatever the last maximum number is even though I've changed in in the menu. That is: Dial set to "C" for Camera. ISO menu settings are: "ISO Sensitivity" number (frequently 100), a "Maximum Sensitivity" number, "Auto ISO Control" (M) " - I have it On". Is there a 'conflict' because of Auto ON?

As to menus - I go to Nikon's web-based reference guide, to the section with the menu items and their default values. Copy this list into an Excel file, and next put my own deviations next to that. Work the deviations into the camera, export the settings to card and import them in the second camera. Would have been nice if Nikon supported such a job with e.g. a ready made tab-separated file that can be edited as a spreadsheet and read back later. Would also have been nice if this could support user modes or memory banks. Second, the menu items you frequently use - copy them to My Menu. You may need only 10 menu items in there, out of a list of ~600 long. Third, if you are at the top of a menu chapter and need the item near the bottom, don't scroll down, but up. That item is very close to where you are. Fourth, I don't get the point about the lenses. OK, I only shoot primes only, and have all the "S" class focal lengths up to including 105. The f/1.8 are compact and very sharp. Great. No CA, no distortion to talk about. In the "non S class" lenses, Nikon have a few compact zooms that are good value for money. YT fluencers in the past were whining about 1.8, but for most work, a pro would choose them in the past over faster lenses: they have less optical issues, are cheaper/smaller/lighter, and equally sharp or better. The difference between 1.8 and 1.4 is too small (~0.5EV) to debate, and faster implies the design needs more elements to correct optical issues that again need more elements. "We" needed fast lenses with or SLR in the past or else could not focus in the optical viewfinder. Now we have night vision ;) with AF that focuses at low light levels outside the camera's light metering range. Come back to these fluencer channels a few months later and all shoot f/2.8 or f/4 zooms. That f/4 is 8 times as dim as 1.4. Fifth - Nikon could do especially better in hiring writers for their user and reference manuals. Many entries are tautologies: picture of On/Off switch and text: this is the On/off switch. A decent user manual tells you why, when you need it and the implications. No, if you switch it off, the camera doesn't stop using the battery and the difference in battery usage between Off and Standby (sleep) is not too big. I relayed this feedback to Nikon years ago, and they published a manual for portrait and wedding photography - its author did not understand it - how to relate settings to use cases - and management had not understood how to ask the right question first and second that it should not have been approved for release to the public. When as portrait/wedding photographer you read this brochure I think you feel insulted. Sixth - Nikon could also do better in grouping menu items or functions that hang together. They have worked on it, but. Seventh - the optional knob on the shutter release makes you look silly to the insider. Try this: rest the bottom right edge of the camera on the bottom of the palm of your right hand, press the tip of your right index finger on the cylinder around the shutter release and the flesh on the tip will release the shutter button - this gives the least shooter-camera-shake you can get as you're pressing both down and up. The big thing is a knob - pun and innuendo intended. Eighth - in portrait photography in lower light (LV 10 and below), including in your studio under "modelling light", the AF in the EXPEED 7 camera is very reliable, fast, consistent and with 3D tracking, recomposing without losing focus, without having to shift single point AF around the frame, is a breath of fresh air. I replaced my Z 7ii by a Z 8 to get that. (At LV 10 - LV=EV@ISO100 - the pupil of the sitter is moderately dilated, thus they look more attractive. Under bright hot permanent light the pupil gets tiny and this looks unattractive, while in darker ambient the pupil gets dilated to the point you almost have no iris in the photo.)

Thats easy I know who its for who ever wants to buy it. I'm a sony shooter but I really like the way this camera looks I bet it feels great in the hand I learned on flim so this is right down my lane

I shoot with the sony a7r3 but i had a chance to try the z7 once when a complete stranger was shooting and noticed my 50mm 1.2 GM and we compared the weights, it was insane and the z7 really did feel better in my hands, the shutter and overall feel. Too bad tho, it's too expensive for me to switch systems now. 😅

Great production here! Questions 1. Could this be a video camera for run and gun stuff? 2. Can you bake in LUTs like some Sony and Panasonic ?

I've been looking at the ZF instead of trying to get my hands on a Fuji X100VI. I know not entirely the same thing but I've been just wanting a retro body that I can throw a 28/35/40mm lens on and use as a travel camera and with the cost of secondhand X100VI's...I can just get the ZF with the 40mm lens. Also a note about the focusing comparison with Sony: It's interesting people still haven't or don't share the opinion that Canon has basically caught up and possibly surpassed the Sony bodies. My R5 and R6II outdo my Sony stuff or at least are on par with it in nearly any situation, especially the R6II.

As a 10 year+ Nikon shooter this is a really fair review. I love the idea of the Zf but I can't compromise on the lack of a grip so I'm sticking with my pair of Z6ii for now (for weddings).

Obviously no camera is perfect, but I think Nikon did a pretty good job with the Zf. Some of the things I think I would have preferred would be a slightly smaller/lighter body, photo-centric articulating screen, and SE/compact lenses with an aperture ring and metal mounts instead of plastic. I'm also not feeling the Smallrig grip... would prefer an OEM grip. The battery life performance and micro-SD card usage I can understand and accept.

Let’s not forget the amazingly functional and afordable Megadap Etz which makes any E Mount lens work very well with Nikon z cameras ❤️‍🔥

I think the ability to adapt much older glass for a desired effect is what people are after, not necessarily “better” performing. Look at the film industry for example. Using a set of Canon K35 lenses (1970’s) on a modern cinema camera.. yes there are good lenses for the systems but they can be so boring. It all depends on what you’re using them for of course. Are you shooting portrait work for GQ magazine, Landscape work for yourself, or casual photos to land on your instagram.

I love the camera in hand but felt like the viewfinder would mess up my ability to focus.

which soft shutter is that?

Nikon shooter here. Excellent review...

There are 2 other native FF compact lenses: 26mm pancake and 24-50 muffin 😊

They will make more lenses as more people buy the camera. Camera comes first and then lens according to demand. Orderly process. Make sense? I use a techart adapter with a Voigtlander 28 mm 2.8 m mount on the zf. Try it and you agree there is no need for Nikon to spend more money to develop their own.

Waiting for the z6iii

Voigtlander lenses are definitely the way to go with the Zf.

you can adapt e-mount lenses on nikon z :)

that intro tho!!

Couldn’t do it. 3.50 in the music forced me to switch off. Shame that.

Good review but, the music track was annoying.

Thank you for doing the review. BUT, why do so many of you have background music playing in your videos? It’s annoying and distracting and makes it difficult to focus on what you’re saying. Your production values are good enough to not need music to enhance them. You’re reviewing a product, not making a feature film. There’s no need for music to add “atmosphere”.

Just imagine if the Zf was a 45MP tiny monster!

music is too loud and distracting

You don't have to dig deep in the menu, the ZF has plenty of customized button shortcuts on settings that you frequently use lol come on man... And I mean PLENTY of workaround to get into that "shortcut"

❤❤❤❤

excuse me nikon f/1.2s are amazing i've seen!

ISO on the ZF is not complex. Set the dial for the intended ISO and change it there. Zero complexity. I think that feedback is like the grip complaint. Nobody complains about Leica grip?

Might need to try one

I would like to watch a review full of sample images and videos not only talking. I did not see any in this review.

disclosure!

But I have lost and trust on nikon Is Zf better than s5iix in all aspects.

Omar made a 5 minute video because Omar wanted to make a 5 minute video, he's not gonna do a 1 minute video lol

A used Xpro2 is more expensive than a new ZF. Crazy.

It's a camera for me.

Nice overview, Kyle. I agree with you about the lack of high quality lenses that match the Zf, especially with an aperture ring. However, as a Sony shooter, you’re in a good place because you can adapt the small Sony G lenses like the 50/2.5 to the Zf with an ETZ adapter. Actually, Nikon should’ve made a deal with Sigma to release their great set of I Series primes for the Z-Mount.

funny how a lot of us sony shooters bought a Zf 😂

It's a zed f

If you are not an actual Nikon user then your review whether good or bad is invalid because your dislikes will have been influenced by how your normal camera compares whether it's intentional or not, you are not really reviewing the Nikon you're constantly comparing it to a Sony, that's not a review then it's a comparison video

The Problem with the Auto ISO is huge imo.

when thing heat up u realize the a1 af is much better than cr

Video ends after 10 Minutes? If you open the flippy screen, every heat issues are gone.

Please dont be about firmware, please dont be about firmware.

Lol the nikon menu is complicated? I guess you have been Sony user for too long. Sony menu is one of the most complicated menu from all cameras out there.

At least through this video, i've heard nothing compelling at all about the Nikon, except for it's retro look and feel. But then there are loads of drawbacks. Cannot fathom why one would pick it over a Sony or even fujifilm camera at that price.

The one thing you forgot to mention which is a real problem is the very bad rolling shutter. This is the real deal breaker for video makers. It's about 10 years behind in terms of that specification. They really need to correct that issue in the next iteration.

Why compare the shutter sound to the a1? Why not compare it to the a7 IV with mechanical shutter... I think that point is a bit moot... especially when showing the a1 without the mechanical shutter

Give it another full size sd, make the top plate brass, increase mpix, and well made metal lens with aperture ring, and I’ll buy 2

Haha Def no economic advances.

A small camera with no small lens ecosystem behind it. No Auto ISO setting on the dial. No lenses with aperture rings. A PASM switch that makes your physical dial settings wrong. Using MicroUSB instead of dual UHS-II. Brilliant stuff, Nikon. Fuji does every piece of this puzzle better. The X-T5 is so much more compelling in every aspect.

Can you speak a bit louder please? Can’t hear you with that party you got going at the back… 👱‍♀️

I'm so tired of hearing camras lacking a soul. Total bullshit.