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How-to's Camera Reviews

Nikon Z7 First Impressions

Jonathan Kandel (JonK)


Keywords: z7, mirrorless, jonk

Show pages (3 Pages)

I have been handling the Z7 for about two weeks, test shooting in my apartment, general shooting around the neighborhood, and on two dedicated landscape shoots. Following are my observations. This is not a full review; it is not intended to compete with the articles by professional reviewers, and I won’t recite the camera specs — if you are reading this article you memorized them months ago. And my opinions are based on how I set up a camera which may vary from your set up. 

For the benefit of those who have not met me in person — which, given the self-imposed limits of our internet camaraderie, is almost all of you — here’s a brief introduction. I’m 68, 5'5", weigh 160 lbs., and my hands are medium size. I usually shoot Manual Exposure with unlimited Auto ISO, I use back button AF, and I never shoot movies. All that said, here we go.

01

The Nikon Z7 with 24-70mm f/4 S
Click for an enlargement

 

Ergonomics

As anticipated, the camera is small and light. For street, travel, and casual photo walks — in other words, with a prime or a short zoom, the weight savings is very noticeable. Necks and shoulders everywhere will be thankful. Even with longer, heavier lenses — I tested the 105mm f/1.4 and the 70-200mm f/4 — the kit is still noticeably lighter and well balanced.

The Touch Screen is as good or better than its recent DSLR cousins — except it does not articulate as much. It only tilts, not side swing, still very good for overhead and ground-level shooting. 

02

Nikon Z7 Touch Screen
Click for an enlargement

 

According to others’ tests, the battery performs considerably better than the CIPA rating, and performance can be further enhanced. I won’t engage in the debate about the “missing” second card slot except to point out that the failure rate of XQD cards, compared to CF and SD cards, is almost zero.

The grip is very similar to the D850 grip. It is very comfortable. With my fingers fully snugged around the grip and the tips touching the camera body, access to the F1 and F2 buttons with my middle and ring fingers, respectively, is easy and efficient.

The controls on the top right and the back of the camera are in familiar position compared to the D850, but the spacing is slightly changed. The index finger sits nicely over the shutter release and easily reaches the ISO and Record buttons. Pulling the finger back to reach the Exposure Compensation (EV) button requires a bit more effort but is not uncomfortable. The Command Dial felt positive under my thumb. As with the EV Button, the Sub-command Dial requires pulling my index finger back and down, and I find myself occasionally shifting my hand position on the grip. This may or may not improve with more repetition. Those of you with large hands will almost certainly position your hand on the grip differently.

Electronic Viewfinder

The Electronic Viewfinder (EVF) is a gem. It provides 100% view, behaving like the optical viewfinder on the D850 but with greater magnification. On the left side of the EVF housing is a button that cycles through four combinations of EVF and liquid Crystal Display (LCD) operation: 

  1. Automatic display switch — display switches from the LCD to the EVF when you put the camera up to your eye; 
  2. Viewfinder Only — The EVF is used for shooting, playback, and menus, and the LCD is off; 
  3. Monitor Only — The LCD is used for shooting, playback, and menus, and the EVF is off;
  4. Prioritize Viewfinder — Similar operation to a DSLR: the monitor only turns on for playback and menus, and the EVF turns on and off as you put the camera up to your eye and later take it away. I’m using Prioritize Viewfinder because of its similarity to what I’m used to coming from a DSLR. That mode probably also uses less battery than the other modes, increasing the total number of shots per charge.

Compared to the Optical Viewfinder (OVF) on a DSLR, the EVF provides a number of new benefits. Seeing the histogram, focus peaking, and highlight warnings in the EVF instead of on the LCD is so much faster and more efficient. For low light photography the EVF is brighter than an OVF; it’s much easier to see the scene. Menus and Image Playback are possible through the EVF, totally eliminating use of the LCD — and the difficulty in reviewing images on the LCD in bright light.

And there’s one other benefit to the EVF. Since it is WYSIWYG, the selected Picture Control is displayed, which is especially useful for Monochrome. For creative types who use the new Picture Controls — Dream, Morning, Pop, Sunday, Somber, Dramatic, Silence, Bleached, Melancholic, Pure, Denim, Toy, Sepia, Blue, Red, Pink, Charcoal, Graphite, Binary, and Carbon — the EVF shows the chosen effect. And — surprise! — Picture Control settings are now read by Lightroom!

Sidebar

Adobe and Nikon have been collaborating. The Z7 NEF contains new XMP data — camera profile (the Picture Control setting), sharpening settings, noise reduction settings, and more — that Lightroom now reads and applies to the image. The usual Picture Controls — Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Portrait, and Landscape — are correctly displayed as the chosen Camera profile in the Profile slot on the Basic Panel of the Develop Module. Interestingly, the Sharpness Amount changes with each of those profiles. More interestingly, the Noise Reduction settings vary with ISO. The Luminance value gradually increases as ISO rises, and the Sharpening Amount is reduced at specified higher ISO values. 

A few Picture Controls — Clarity, Midrange Sharpening, and Color Filter settings — were ignored, but could easily be added in a firmware upgrade from Nikon. ADL is also read by Lightroom, and while I did not test it, I have been told that the implementation is a bit wonky. We’ll see.


Controls

On the camera back to the right of the viewfinder is a very useful new addition, the DISP button. It cycles the EVF image through four different displays: all indicators displayed, simplified indicators displayed, a tiny histogram superimposed on the bottom right, or a large virtual horizon superimposed dead center. You do have to cycle through all four, but it’s instantaneous — and having access to the histogram and the virtual horizon is outstanding.

On the camera back, the thumb easily accesses the AF-On button and the DISP button to the left. Below the AF-On button is the Sub-Selector joystick, below that the all-important i-Button. That’s about as far as the thumb will move easily. Farther down are the Multi Selector and OK button, and I do relax my hand on the grip to allow my thumb to work them. Of the remaining four controls near the bottom, only the bottom right button, the Release Mode control, is critical to shooting. 

Perhaps the biggest difference from a DSLR to the smaller camera body is the lack of buttons — there just isn’t enough real estate. Nikon has developed an ingenious solution to the loss, the i-Button. But first, let’s look at the other controls:

The Mode Dial on the top left is a change from recent pro and prosumer bodies, where Mode was a button-and-dial operation (this change may disturb a few shooters — if your left hand is supporting a long lens, it is impossible to change shooting modes without putting the camera down). The Mode Dial now incorporates three User Settings — a very nice addition.

There are three buttons with fixed shooting controls: 

  • ISO
  • Exposure Compensation
  • Release Mode

ISO and EV functions can be moved elsewhere, but these two buttons cannot be changed to another function; there is little reason to move either of these functions except, perhaps, to move EV onto the lens ring (I didn’t). Changing from Single Frame to a Continuous Frame mode (or vice versa) with the camera at your eye is done by pressing the Release Mode button with your thumb and spinning the Command Dial, but it is not as simple or quick as on a DSLR. This is a loss for sports and bird shooters.

The following buttons can be assigned to one of about thirty-one controls, and I list my choices:

  • F1 — Choose Image Area (FX/Crop)
  • F2 — Focus Area Mode (AF/MF) and AF-Area Mode
  • AF-On — default AF-On
  • Sub-selector — default Focus Point Selection
  • Sub-selector Center Press — default AE Lock
  • Record Button — default Record
  • Lens Control Ring — default Manual Focus override
  • Lens Fn Button

The Lens Fn Button is shown in the User Manual, but the 24-70mm zoom does not seem to have it.

Those of you who have used the U-buttons will undoubtedly appreciate them. I never had the opportunity before, but I suspect they may make up for some of the other control compromises.

And now the i-Button. When you press it, easily done by your thumb, the image is overlaid with a grid, two rows with six boxes in each. A box is a control or setting. Via the Multi Selector a control is selected, and via the Command Dial the control is turned on or off. Control settings, if any, can be changed via the Sub-Command Dial. Accessing controls via the i-button is easier and quicker than navigating through the menus.

My current choices:

03

The most important controls (to me) are grouped at the left, near each other, very quick to access. The other controls are ones I might change in advance of a specific shoot or situation, but not while making captures. Note that the only items I change while shooting are turning Vibration Reduction on and off; changing the Meter Mode from matrix to spot; and turning Bracketing on and off — which used to be discrete buttons or switches, so no real surprise.

Sensor and Shutter

The Z7 will capture up to 5.5 frames per second while updating the EVF/LCD view. If updating the view is not necessary, then it is possible to record 8 frames per second of 14-bit NEF files or 9 frames per second of 12-bit NEF files.

The buffer is limited, no doubt about it. Once CFexpress cards are available, this limitation will simply disappear.

In normal operation the shutter uses two mechanical curtains. There are two other shutter modes: Electronic Front-Curtain Shutter eliminates the mechanical front curtain, reducing vibration. Some reviewers suggest that this be the default — which limits the maximum shutter speed and ISO to 1/2000 second and 25,600, respectively — but for landscape (and most other shooting situations) this makes good sense.

Silent Shutter mode eliminates both mechanical curtains, which really minimizes sound and vibration. Frame rate is reduced by about 1 FPS and several other items are disabled. Other camera noises may still be audible unless those sources are turned off. Under certain conditions — notably shooting under fluorescent, mercury vapor, or sodium lights, or with certain subject motion — the EVF may flicker or display distortion and the captured images may display banding or distortion. Again, for most shooting situations this is likely a non-issue. In my admittedly limited indoor or action shooting, I never saw or captured the problem.


Autofocus Modes

Volumes have been written about the Z7 AF Modes, how some are similar to those in the D850 and how some are totally different — and how some D850 modes were not replicated in the Z7. I won’t repeat all of that here, but here are summaries:

AF-S is excellent, either with Pinpoint or Single Point AF. There’s an option to use every other AF point which allows the photographer to move the AF point across the frame more quickly. Wide S slightly enlarges the AF point, but not by much. I did not test Pinpoint except to determine that moving the AF point in that mode takes forever and AF acquisition seemed to be slower — but I am guessing that Pinpoint mode is best used in a studio or still-life situation.

In AF-C, Dynamic Area is similar to D9. Wide L is just slightly larger than Dynamic Area, but again not by much. D25 and D72 (and the other D names) are gone, a big loss.

The Auto Area Mode is the intriguing, confusing, and most unfamiliar mode. It gives priority to central and closer subjects. It is no replacement for the Group mode on the latest DSLRs. Auto Area Mode is also the only mode that provides auto face detection, which seems to work better than on previous cameras, possibly reading eyes according to some reports.

The big problem is Subject Tracking. Available only in Auto Area Mode, Subject Tracking must be engaged, selecting your subject with the OK button if using the EVF or tapping on the LCD if using Live View. Note that you must select the subject before you can actually shoot — which implies that the subject, at the moment of selection, is stationary. Worse, to change subject you have to repeat that selection process. Once engaged, its behavior is similar to the D850 3D Tracking but perhaps not as good.

 

Shooting

Based on my neighborhood and landscape shoots, here are my thoughts:

EVF:Out of the box, I found the EVF and the LCD gave different renditions of the scene. Less than a minute of trial and error adjusting the EVF color rendition and they are almost dead on to each other. I never use the LCD — and now the EVF — for accuracy of color or of luminance, so this was not important. Almost everything else the EVF does is wonderful. I kept the view with the histogram up almost all of the time and used the virtual horizon frequently on the landscape shoots. I tried Monochrome a few times and found it a useful aid in visualizing potential B&W scenes. 

The one issue with the EVF is image playback, or rather the transition from shooting mode to playback mode and vice versa. There is a perceptible lag as the EVF image changes — but I am not sure that’s any worse than when using a DSLR: taking a shot, and moving the camera away from the eye to view the LCD for image review, and then putting the camera back to the eye. 

Handling:The handling and ergonomics are really nice. The Z7 is light, feels right, and the controls are where they should be. Changing the three aforementioned settings — Vibration Reduction, Meter Mode, and Change Image Area — via the i-button works well and almost makes up for not having discrete function buttons — and having nine other custom settings readily available is faster than slogging through menus.

IBIS:Full disclosure: I have never been a fan of VR. I rarely use it, and then only for shutter speeds considerably below 1/lens length. At higher shutter speeds I think VR occasionally causes weird background ghosts and messes up bokeh.

The in-body image stabilization is very good, a comfortable three-stop advantage. Shooting with my 105mm f/1.4 with IBIS was awesome — whereas on a high-resolution body such as the D850 or Z7 I would normally shoot at 1/200 sec., I routinely obtained sharp images at 1/30 sec. Shots at 1/15 or 1/8 sec., while not tack sharp, were still pretty good. I need another thousand shots to be sure, but I did not see any instances of the old VR degradation.

I was unable to test whether five-axis IBIS or two-axis in-lens stabilization is better, which makes sense — both systems work, and there are pros and cons to each. Certainly long-lens stabilization is better in-lens — there’s physics for that. But that extreme case aside, IBIS works well for lenses from short telephotos to wide angles and allows for smaller and less expensive lens design — and it adds image stabilization to non-VR lenses and improves image stabilization for VR lenses.

Autofocus:AF-S Single Point mode is excellent. The ability to select a focus point anywhere across the frame is oh so nice — though I can see invoking the setting that uses every other point just to speed up the choice of focus point. AF-C Dynamic Modes are good for a slow- to medium-moving subject, especially with stationary acquisition. But as feared, for true action subjects neither Dynamic nor Auto Area are reliable.

Image Quality:There is not much to say here. It’s D850 IQ. If the two sensors render color differently it will take someone shooting a Colorchecker to convince me. I do not see much difference in dynamic range or high ISO performance — other have suggested that the Z7 performance might be slightly better — but I didn’t test them.

Lenses:The 24-70mm f/4 S lens is excellent — and it really is sharper across the frame than the similar F lenses in my possession. F glass behaves as well or better on the Z7 than on the D850. Why? Because IBIS is there if you want it.

Battery:I’m about 500 frames in, and the battery is at 50%. 

 

Conclusions

The Z7 is, for all intents and purposes, a D850 without the mirror box. Producing image quality virtually identical to the D850, the Z7 is smaller, lighter, and has no mirror slap. Due to the smaller camera body real estate, the Z7 has fewer controls, but Nikon has engineered new ways of handling controls, snitched the U-settings from the consumer bodies, and best of all designed an outstanding Electronic Viewfinder. Summation: Nikon pretty much got it right. 

Should you buy the Z7? If you own a D850, buying a Z7 does not improve IQ from the sensor — but you do save size and weight; lose the mirror box and the vibration the slap introduces; add image stabilization to your non-VR lenses; gain the silent shutter operation; and best of all, get that EVF with all of its display advantages. If for the first time you are looking to move up to the D850 and do not shoot sports, birds, or other action, then buy the Z7. If you shoot sports, birds, or other action, hold off until we see how Nikon tweaks the AF system with a firmware upgrade or in a Z8…

By the way, I assume that all of this article will apply to the Z6, and that the choice of a D750 versus the Z6 would be the same as the paragraph above.

I’m off to do more shooting. Should I learn anything significant in addition to or contrary to the content of this article, I will open a thread in the Z Cameras forum.

 

More to read

You might also be interested in our Z6 / Z7 overview

 

(46 Votes )
Show pages (3 Pages)

Originally written on November 8, 2018

Last updated on November 22, 2023

Jonathan Kandel Jonathan Kandel (JonK)

Awarded for his high level skills and in-depth knowledge in various areas, such as Wildlife, Landscape and Stage Photography Donor Ribbon awarded for his very generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2015 Donor Ribbon awarded for the generous contribution to the 2014 campaign Donor Ribbon awarded for the generous contribution to the 2020 campaign

Alexandria, USA
Moderator, 9720 posts

11 comments

Neill Graham (NDGraham) on February 16, 2020

Thanks, Jon. Your review has swayed me towards the Z7 with my F mount glass on the FTZ. As I am starting my 70s and recently retired, this will likely be my last pro level camera. So I look forward to the IQ of the large sensor.

Stan Fong (Stan_Fong) on November 18, 2018

Nice review, Jon!

J. Ramon Palacios (jrp) on November 12, 2018

JRP is one of the two co-founders of Nikonians and has in-depth knowledge in many photographic areas Awarded for his contributions for the Resources

Thank you very much Jon for this thorough review. I believe that while the D850 and Z7 sensors may be similar, the new generation SPEED 6 processor on the Z cameras could very well have a significant impact on rendering. Looking forward to see your image quality tests.

Karen Gottschall (scenicshutterbug) on November 11, 2018

Winner of a Best of Nikonians Annual Photo Contest

John, Thanks for the review. I didn't realize the menus and playback features were accessible through the EVF. That is a very handy feature! I just returned from a 3-week trip to China where I used the Z7 almost exclusively and was not disappointed with it! I had one problem with moire on a black and white striped shirt in one image. Other images with the same shirt were fine. I also had one slight panic attack when I accidentally hit the EVF button and turned off the viewfinder. It took me a few minutes to figure out what I had done, but it was easily fixed. I used the FTZ with my 70-300 G IF-ED lens a few times. The balance felt fine, but the lens seemed to hunt a bit for focus. I have not yet tested it with any other lenses, so I have no conclusions about this yet. The camera worked superbly with the 24-70 kit lens. I also noticed no problems with battery life, but I shoot almost exclusively with the viewfinder. Karen

Jonathan Kandel (JonK) on November 10, 2018

Awarded for his high level skills and in-depth knowledge in various areas, such as Wildlife, Landscape and Stage Photography Donor Ribbon awarded for his very generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2015 Donor Ribbon awarded for the generous contribution to the 2014 campaign Donor Ribbon awarded for the generous contribution to the 2020 campaign

Otto, I also liked Ming Thein’s review of the Z7. But even he got hung up on minor points — the missing “protect” button, for instance — and he disagreed with the placement of the major back-button controls, notably the DISP button and the Joystick. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. While I am not quite get completely used to the positions, I am sure I would not want those two interchanged. I, um, rarely read anything on depreview… :-)

Jonathan Kandel (JonK) on November 10, 2018

Awarded for his high level skills and in-depth knowledge in various areas, such as Wildlife, Landscape and Stage Photography Donor Ribbon awarded for his very generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2015 Donor Ribbon awarded for the generous contribution to the 2014 campaign Donor Ribbon awarded for the generous contribution to the 2020 campaign

David, I have yet to do A-B testing, though I do intend to shoot a Colorchecker with both bodies. My gut feeling is that the IQ is the same — no surprise, the sensors are technically very similar. Post work feels the same for Z7 files as for D850 files — in fact, I am using the same preset, as of yet there is no good reason to change it. More to come…

Peter Mandzuk (Petzuk) on November 10, 2018

Good insight to the new Z. Thanks for posting.

David Kuttler (kuttler) on November 9, 2018

Thanks Jon - Enjoyed your opening give a good perspective on how the camera felt to someone with your body which helped me since I have not had a chance to hold one. Can you say something about picture quality from your point of view say compared to the 850?

User on November 9, 2018

Thank you Jon for an interesting and enjoyable reading. Like probably many of you I have read the review at dpreview, and I don't understand why they seemingly blow some minor issues out of proportin. I can recommend the review of Z7 (and the new 24-70) by photographer Ming Thein here: https://blog.mingthein.com/2018/09/29/2018-nikon-z7-24-70-review/

Geoff Baylis (GBaylis) on November 9, 2018

Donor Ribbon awarded for his support to the Fundraising Campaign 2014 Donor Ribbon awarded for his very generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2015 Awarded for his generous and continuous sharing of his high level skills with the Nikonians community Writer Ribbon awarded for his contributions to the Nikonians Articles. Ribbon awarded for his generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2017 Ribbon awarded for his win at the Best of Nikonians 2107 Annual Photo Contest Winner of the Best of Nikonians Images 2018 Annual Photo Contest Donor Ribbon awarded for the contribution to the 2016 campaign Donor Ribbon awarded for the generous contribution to the 2020 campaign Donor Ribbon awarded for the generous contribution to the 2024 campaign Winner of a Best of Nikonians Annual Photo Contest

Thanks Jon for an enjoyable read. It's nice to get a hands-on review about what's good for 99% of us rather than those reviews that seem to set out to uncover the 'deficiencies' versus the latest DSLRs Geoff.

David Summers (dm1dave) on November 9, 2018

Awarded for high level knowledge and skills in various areas, most notably in Wildlife and Landscape Writer Ribbon awarded for his excellent article contributions to the Nikonians community Donor Ribbon awarded for his very generous support to the Fundraising Campaign 2015 Ribbon awarded as a member who has gone beyond technical knowledge to show mastery of the art a

A good practical hands-on article. Thanks John!

G