Nikon Z7 Field Test Part II

Nikon Z7 Field Test Part II

A flexible and versatile full-frame mirrorless camera with few flaws

by Jeremy Gray | Posted 11/01/2018

Recap of Field Test Part I

In my first Nikon Z7 Field Test, I evaluated the camera's design and handling, JPEG image quality and discussed autofocus and performance. In this Field Test, I will be looking closer at the camera's features, discuss video quality and look closer at the Z7's raw files before giving my last word on the Nikon Z7.

Image stabilization

The Nikon Z7 features 5-axis in-body image stabilization. Nikon states that the system delivers up to 5 stops of vibration reduction. Nothing about my experience contradicts Nikon's claims. In my own use, the system seemed capable of not only delivering sharper handheld images, but also -- and perhaps even more importantly -- it did an excellent job of stabilizing the live view image in the viewfinder and on the display. Overall, the IBIS system works well and is an excellent inclusion.

Shooting with the Nikon FTZ adapter

While the native glass is good so far and Nikon's roadmap looks promising, existing Nikon shooters will want to know how to use their F-mount lenses on the Z7. Fortunately, it's easy. All you need is the Nikon Mount Adapter FTZ, which costs $249 USD. There is not a lot to the adapter; it is essentially a weather-sealed, magnesium alloy tube that acts as intermediary between an F-mount lens and the new Z Mount while allowing full electronic communication, including full AF and AE on over 90 Nikkor lenses. There are no optics inside the adapter. Further, there is an integrated tripod mount, which is nice, especially when using long lenses because it reduces stress on the Z7's lens mount. However, the tripod mount can get in the way of a tripod plate attached to the bottom of the Z7. This was the case with my plate as I needed to remove the tripod plate and attach it to the FTZ adapter.

Thanks to the Z7's built-in image stabilization, you can now shoot stabilized with many different Nikon F-mount lenses that do not have built-in VR, including lenses like the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8, 20mm f/1.8 and 105mm f/1.4E. If the adapted lens has VR, the Z7 adds roll axis stabilization in addition to the lens' own stabilization.

Optical performance of adapted lenses is perfectly good on the Z7. My Nikkor F lenses performed precisely how I expected them to with respect to sharpness across the frame, vignette and everything else. Autofocus performance, however, was a bit of a mixed bag. Some lenses, like the Nikon 20mm f/1.8G, worked well and focused quickly and accurately. Other lenses, such as the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E, focused well in some situations and not as well in others. I found that performance varied a fair bit on which autofocus point I was using. The further away from the center I got with my autofocus point, the less precise and fast the focusing performance was. As you can see below, my landscape-orientation images were sharp and in focus whereas the same settings and scene shot in portrait orientation delivered less-impressive results. However, in other situations, the lens focused well in both orientations.

Further testing is required and adapted lenses typically worked well, but I thought that it was nonetheless worth mentioning that I did encounter some focusing issues. With that said, overall, the mount adapter works as advertised and being able to shoot with VR on non-VR lenses is excellent. Further, you can adapt any FX or DX lens that is G, D or E-type with full AF/AE, which is impressive. You can adapt many non-CPU lenses to have VR as well, provided that you register the focal length into the camera's menus. The adapter is a must-have accessory for anyone with existing Nikon glass.

In the Field

Landscapes

My favorite type of photography is landscape photography, so it's something I do a lot of with every camera I review. There are multiple aspects of a camera that can make it better or worse for landscape photography, and the Nikon Z7 does lot of things correctly in my book.

Firstly, build quality. The Z7 is a robust camera with good physical controls. Importantly, the controls work well when wearing lightweight gloves even though the buttons are smaller than those on the D850 and the control dials have a less pronounced surface. I do miss the illuminated buttons of the D850, but the Z7 is still easy to use in most situations. The camera is made easier to use because of the display's tilting functionality. Without the ability to swivel, the two-axis tilt mechanism is not useful when shooting in portrait orientation, but it does well in landscape orientation, particularly when working at an odd angle. Finally, weather sealing is really important to me as a landscape photographer, and the Z7 has the same level of weather resistance as the D850, so that's excellent, too.

Size and weight are important as well, especially when I have to hike to a location. I will carry heavier gear if it means getting a better image, but in the case of the Z7, you get great full-frame image quality in a smaller and lighter package than the Nikon D850. Granted, if you are adapting lenses, some of that advantage is lost because you will need to carry an adapter and the relatively larger F-mount glass, but if you are using Nikkor Z lenses (the ones released so far, anyway), then you end up with a much smaller and lighter setup than a Nikon D850 or other full-frame Nikon DSLR camera.

Regarding image quality, the Nikon Z7 is very similar to the D850 in terms of sharpness and base ISO dynamic range. For landscape photography, I usually shoot at base ISO as to maximize dynamic range, so the fact that the Z7 delivers great raw files at ISO 64 is hugely important to me. Further, the camera is easy to use with manual focus, so that's nice as well. Regarding manual focus, the Z7 offers focus peaking in multiple sensitivities and you can zoom in to 100 percent by clicking the magnification button on the back of the camera once.

Overall, I very much enjoyed shooting landscape images with the Nikon Z7.

Wildlife

For wildlife, the Z7 is not obviously a better choice than the D850. Granted, a Nikon D5 or D500 are also fantastic wildlife cameras. The Z7 does have some nice things going for it as a wildlife camera, however, such as a smaller size and a silent shooting option. There's also its expanded autofocus point coverage across the frame, but I don't think its overall focusing performance is quite as good as the D850. While the D850 doesn't have a hybrid autofocus system covering 90 percent of the image area in horizontal and vertical directions, I think it bests the Z7 with respect to low-light autofocus and continuous autofocus. The D850 has better 3D autofocus capabilities and just generally feels more reliable.

Further, the Z7 has more shutter lag than the D850 and slightly slower 14-bit RAW recording speeds than a gripped D850 (8 frames per second versus 9 fps). If you shoot 14-bit RAW files at 7 fps, which is the speed without a grip on a D850, the buffer is 200 frames deep and it clears in just under 2 seconds. The Z7, on the other hand, shoots around 1 fps faster but has a 19-frame buffer that clears in just under 5 seconds. While both cameras are impressive, the D850 is better all-around with respect to continuous shooting thanks to its deeper buffer. The D850 also has a very good optical viewfinder and while the Z7's EVF is fantastic, an optical viewfinder is still generally a bit better for tracking a subject during fast shooting.This latter point is somewhat subjective, but buffer depths aren't, and the more action you can capture, the better.

With that said, I still enjoyed photographing wildlife with the Z7 and wouldn't hesitate to adapt a long lens to the Z7 and head out into the field for some wildlife photography. It's a good wildlife camera, just not quite as good as the D850.

Video

While the Nikon D850 made some really nice strides with respect to shooting video, the Z7 advances to another level and is Nikon's most capable full-frame video camera. While a full video field test is forthcoming, I wanted to give a general overview of the Z7's video features and briefly discuss its performance.

Looking at features, the Z7 can shoot 3,840 x 2,160 (4K UHD) video at up to 30 frames per second and 1,920 x 1,080 (Full HD) video at up to 120 fps. As has been the case with other Nikon cameras, you do need to rotate the shooting switch on the back of the camera from stills to video before recording video. Recording video is otherwise a simple and enjoyable experience on the Z7. The mode dial works as you'd expect, there's a dedicated movie mode, which allows you to import your settings from photo mode. The touchscreen works well for moving focus and adjusting settings in a quiet and convenient way. The Z7 also includes mic and headphone jacks, which is great.

Looking at the 4K video quality, it's worth noting that you can record using the full width of the sensor, which is excellent. The video itself is sharp and detailed, especially at lower ISOs. Color rendition and dynamic range is good as well. You can record in a new N-Log format, which offers a view assist to make it easier to see as log video can look very flat, and there's focus peaking even when recording in 4K, something prior Nikon cameras have not offered. Further, there's 4:2:2 10-bit HDMI output, which should please video-heavy users.

When considering higher ISOs, the camera continues to produce nice video. At ISO 1600, the video quality is very good. At ISO 3200, you start to lose coarser details and at ISO 6400, the loss of detail continues and there is a fair bit of grain and visible noise. At ISO 12,800, the quality degrades further and finally, at ISO 25,600, the quality is poor and not worth using.

As far as video autofocus performance is concerned, it's never been a strong point for Nikon DSLR cameras and it's not exactly a strong point for the Z7 either, although I do think it's better than we've seen from previous Nikon cameras. While continuous autofocus can still struggle a bit and the camera does make some overcorrections and clunky focus adjustments during video recording, the Z7 is more decisive than the D850 was during recording and definitely displays less wobbling, especially when using Nikkor Z lenses. You can tweak focus settings to make transitions in focus a bit smoother as well, but for the purpose of this review, the two videos below were captured with default settings. In the first video, the backlit scene proved challenging for the Z7 although it was able to generally acquire and maintain focus. In the second video, I walked in a zig-zag pattern and the Z7 with the 35mm f/1.8 S lens attached was able to stay on me pretty well with subject tracking enabled. In separate testing, it also proved capable of reacquiring focus if the subject, in this case, me walking, left the frame and then reentered a few seconds later.

The Z7 has good stabilization as well. In the videos below, I was shooting handheld with my Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E adapted to the Z7. The lens does have its own VR, but the Z7 adds a third axis of vibration reduction when VR lenses are attached, and it worked surprisingly well given that I was at a long focal length for the two clips. In the first clip, notice how the Z7 caught the leaves in front of the heron before shifting focus back to the heron.

Stay tuned to Imaging Resource for our full review of the Z7's video features and performance. So far, there's a lot to like with respect to video, although to me, the Z7 still feels like a camera primarily aimed at still photographers.

Nikon 24-70mm f/4 S Kit Lens

Alongside the Z7, Nikon has also released a new native 24-70mm zoom lens, which is available as part of a kit or separately for $999 USD. This standard zoom, officially known as the Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S, is a really nice lens which pairs very well with the Z7 due to its compact size and lightweight design. Specifically, the lens is 3.48 inches long at its minimum length (88.5 millimeters) and weighs a mere 1.1 pounds (500 grams). To utilize the lens, you must rotate the zoom ring slightly to "unlock" it and actually reach 24mm, which does add to its length in-use. As far as carrying it around or packing it in a bag is concerned, it is pretty small.

Optically, the 24-70mm f/4 S seems good in my real-world testing. There is a bit of falloff in terms of sharpness when looking at the corners, but it's a generally sharp lens. Part of this has to do with the design of the new Nikkor Z mount itself, which Nikon has made larger in diameter and with a considerably shorter flange distance than the Nikon F mount. This change in the design of the mount allows lenses to be made smaller while delivering better optical quality, specifically when shooting at their maximum apertures.

Looking closer at sharpness when wide open, in the image below, we see the full scene and then a 100 percent crop from a straight-from-the-camera JPEG image. You can click the link beneath the image to download the raw file. There's a lot of nice detail here considering the lens was shot at its maximum aperture and I'm definitely impressed by the center sharpness of the 24-70mm f/4 S zoom lens.

Corners are a slightly different story. At f/7.1 and a 65mm focal length, I would expect pretty sharp corners. However, as we can see in the image below and accompanying crops, there's significant softening as you move to the extreme corners of the image.

While not a lens designed around heavily out of focus backgrounds, I'm pretty pleased with the bokeh of the 24-70mm f/4 S. In the shot below, the distant background is rendered in a pleasing way. It's not thrown out of focus in the same way it would be if the lens was an f/2.8 lens, of course, but the bokeh is nonetheless nice.

Overall, the Nikon 24-70mm f/4 S lens is a good companion to the Z7 due to its compact size and lightweight design. The lens feels solid in the hands, the zoom ring has nice resistance and the focus ring works well. The lens is well-built and delivers good image quality, particularly in the center of the frame. I was impressed by its focusing speeds and its excellent center sharpness at f/4. If you don't have a 24-70mm lens you'd like to adapt to the Z7, it's hard to go wrong with buying the Z7 kit.

Picking up the pieces: A closer look at image quality and raw files

When I was writing my first Field Test, Z7 raw files were not yet supported by Adobe software. However, Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom have since been updated so I have been able to process my raw files.

Having worked with the Nikon D850, I had a pretty good idea about what to expect from the Z7. Raw files are very flexible and you can make a lot of adjustments without noticeably harming the overall image quality. We have already seen that the Z7 produces sharp JPEG files, but it's nearly always the case that a processed raw file can get you even more detail. In the shot below, I performed some fairly basic edits and sharpening. As you can see in the accompanying 100 percent crops, which were taken from the processed raw file within Adobe Photoshop, there's a lot of fine detail, which will make for nice, large prints.

Regarding recoverability of shadows and highlights, the Z7 again does quite well. In Adobe Camera Raw, I was able to bring back a good amount of shadow and highlight detail while maintaining good file integrity. There's not a lot of additional noise introduced in the shadow areas after increasing the brightness.

In this next photo, I am certainly impressed by how well the Z7 handled the scene, as it's a very challenging one given the bright cloud in the top right corner and the foreground being in shade. The sensor has a lot of dynamic range and nearly the same amount as the Nikon D850. If we look at the data compiled by Photons to Photos, we find that the D850 and Z7's dynamic range results overlap or nearly overlap throughout the entire ISO range. My personal experience corroborates these dynamic range results. Despite how well the Z7 performs, I still wanted to bring back some additional highlight and shadow detail during raw processing of the photo below, and the Z7's raw file handled the task brilliantly.

Overall, the Nikon Z7 is a very flexible camera because its raw files not only contain a lot of great detail, they also have a lot of usable data for shadow and highlight recovery. You can make a lot of adjustments to raw files, including extensive localized or global brightening, without ruining the file and introducing excessive visual noise.

Who is the Nikon Z7 best for?

There's a lot to like about the Nikon Z7 from many different perspectives. Based on my time with the camera, and having shot a lot with other Nikon DSLR cameras over the years, I think that the Z7 is one of Nikon's best cameras to date. However, no camera is perfect and the Z7 does have some weaknesses that might make it a less than ideal choice for certain types of photographers.

For a landscape shooter, I think that the Z7 is an excellent choice in large part because the Z7 is quite a bit smaller than a full-frame DSLR. The removed physical controls aren't a big deal for landscape shooters because it's not often the case that going into a menu will mean missing a shot.

For travel photographers, the story is similar, and the smaller size of the Z7 and its Nikkor Z lenses may make it an even better relative choice when compared to a Nikon full-frame DSLR. Although, the somewhat underwhelming battery life means you'll want a spare battery.

If you are photographing people, the lack of eye-detect AF, a feature well-implemented in recent Sony mirrorless cameras, might disappoint, but the Z7 has a large autofocus area and the focusing system works well, particularly with the dedicated autofocus point selector joystick.

With that said, the autofocus system is not quite as refined, particularly with respect to subject tracking, as the system found in the Nikon D850. The Z7 can shoot quickly, especially considering its megapixel count, but the buffer is a bit shallow and this limits its usability for wildlife and sports photography, although adapting existing Nikkor F-mount lenses to the Z7 works well, so long lenses are completely usable on the Z7.

Wedding and event photographers may very well lament the lack of a second card slot. For me, I'm fine with the single card slot, but I can understand why it may be a deal-breaker for some photographers. I think that the autofocus, shooting speeds and overall image quality make the Z7 suitable for wedding photography, but it may not be as good of a choice as a D850 or another Nikon DSLR.

Overall, the Nikon Z7 is a very good camera, and I think it's a great choice for many different types of photography.

The Nikon Z7 is great for:

• Landscape photography
• Travel photography
• Portraiture
• Photographers with existing full-frame Nikon lenses

The Nikon Z7 is not an ideal choice for:

• Photographing a lot of continuous action
• Photographers who need a second card slot

Nikon Z7 Field Test Part II Summary

A fantastic first step into the future for Nikon

What I like:

• Raw file flexibility
• Good in-body image stabilization
• A lot of versatility with the FTZ adapter
• Good 4K UHD video quality

What I don't like:

• No 4K/60p video
• Autofocus in video, particularly in low light, is lacking
• Not great continuous autofocus or subject tracking
• 24-70mm f/4 S kit lens struggles a bit in the corners

Wrapping up

With the Z7, Nikon has made an excellent step into full-frame mirrorless photography. In many ways, the Z7 is Nikon's best high resolution camera to date. It is likely their best video camera thanks to advanced features and good quality. However, it's not perfect. The buffer depths are not particularly impressive, the battery life is subpar and the continuous autofocus does not seem as good as the Nikon D850.

As is often the case with Nikon cameras, the user experience is excellent. The Z7 may be the company's first full-frame mirrorless camera, but it generally feels a lot like their recent DSLR cameras, and I think that's the right direction for the new mirrorless camera system. The electronic viewfinder and rear display are very good, and the body, while compact, feels robust and rugged.

When I was out in the field with the Nikon Z7, I enjoyed nearly every aspect of the camera. I didn't miss some of the dedicated buttons that had to be removed due to space constraints. I wasn't bothered much by occasionally spotty low-light autofocus or the lack of some of Nikon's 3D-tracking focus features found on their high-end DSLR cameras. However, given time to think about the camera and the context in which it exists, I'm a bit conflicted.

On the one hand, there are many things that the Z7 does very well. But on the other hand, I wish that Nikon had entered the mirrorless game in a serious way earlier because Sony has been building an impressive lineup of cameras and lenses for several years. For someone who already has Nikon lenses, the Z7 makes perfect sense. It's smaller and lighter than DSLR cameras and performs really well. You can get an adapter to use your existing lenses, even adding image stabilization to the ones which lack VR functionality.

Overall, the Nikon Z7 is a fantastic full-frame mirrorless camera. For Nikonians, the Z7 is likely the mirrorless camera you were hoping and waiting for.