I bought a Nikon Z7; But Why?

Nikon Z7 with the Nikkor 24-70mm f/4 S lens. Nikon Product Image (click to enlarge)

Well, I went and pulled the trigger, so to speak, on a Nikon Z7 with the 24-70mm f/4 lens and the FTZ adapter.  You may be asking why as I've written many times about how happy I am with the gear I currently own.  And I am!  Not to worry, I have no plans to give up my Fujifilm nor Olympus gear.  There are really several reasons why I made the purchase.  Owning and using this camera will provide me with opportunities (copying my 35mm slide archives for one), additional challenges (thoroughly learning this new camera) as well as some additional material about which to write.

After using a Z7 for a few days several weeks ago, I really liked how it felt in my hands and the way it handled.  I thought the user experience was excellent.  Not as good as with the Fujifilm cameras, but good.  The controls and menus are very similar to those that were in my previously owned D800 and D810 so there was quite a bit of familiarity with the camera as soon as I picked it up.  I liked the quality and malleability of the image files and the ability to pretty much do anything I wanted to and with a file and still result in a really pleasing final image.  I liked the EVF as well—sharp, contrasty, fast and high resolution.  Additionally, I found the 24-70mm f/4 lens really terrific in my testing as it produced high quality and usable files from wide open to f/16.  Add to that the fact that it is relatively small and lightweight and it complements the camera perfectly.

Nikon FTZ Adapter
Nikon Product Image
(click to enlarge)

There are also a couple of reasons why I purchased the camera when I did.  One of the main reasons for when I purchased it was the unbelievable equivalent of an $850 US discount that Nikon offered during May.  There was a $600 US discount on the camera and lens combination and then Nikon decided to throw in the $250 FTZ adapter for free!  I really don't care why Nikon decided to do this, I'm just glad they did.  That huge discount was what pushed me over the edge when I was trying to decided whether or not to purchase the camera.

One other important reason I purchased the Z7 is that a couple of months ago I was going through some of my thousands of old 35mm slides and negatives (35mm, medium format and large format).  I started photographing seriously in the spring of 1970.  I didn't find any slides or negatives from that year, but I do have some from the years following and up to the year 2001 when I switched to digital.  My archives go back over 45 years.  When going through those old slides I decided that there is a lot of family history, memories of travel as well as interesting subjects that I've photographed from all over the country in those slides and negatives and I wanted to digitize them—especially the family photos.  I think I would rather do it myself with a 45mp camera and macro lens than to send them off.  

The Nikon D850 DSLR has in-camera capabilities to digitize slides and negatives, when attached to a 60mm macro lens and the Nikon ES-2 Film Digitizing Adapter.  Nikon has built software into the camera that will automatically reverse negatives rather than having to do it later in the editing process.  I considered buying the D850 but the Z7, being mirrorless, has so many more advantages, not only for the slide copying project, but for general photography and is where the future of Nikon lies.  There are many more slides than negatives I plan to copy and I can manually convert those negatives.  The Z7 was the logical choice to me.

Additionally, I saw that Nikon had a promotion on its refurbished cameras and lenses and KEH as well as UsedPhotoPro had excellent condition telephoto zoom lenses available.  I decided to add a telephoto zoom to supplement the 24-70mm lens.  Being that I want to keep this full frame kit as small and as light as possible, I researched what telephoto zoom lens would be best for my anticipated needs.  I've been a reader of Thom Hogan, a long time Nikon guy, writer, workshop leader, gear tester, etc. who has insiders in Nikon who feed him information.  His recommendation for a high quality three lens travel kit includes the Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E ED VR AF-P lens over the 70-200mm f/4 VR lens.  That is interesting as I had owned the 70-200 f/4 in the past and had set my sights on that lens.  It is a fine lens.  But I bought a copy of the 70-300mm lens for a really attractive price.  As I stated, one of my main reasons for buying the camera being copying many of my slides, KEH offered a discount on certain gear for a day or two last month and I so I also purchased an excellent quality used Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G Micro lens from them.  Finally, I recently purchased the Nikon ES-2 Film Digitizing Adapter to complete what I need to digitize my slide archives.  As far as additional lenses, I don't have any plans to purchase any additional ones at this time or even if I will keep this Nikon gear after I'm done with my project.  We'll see.  As I said, I'm happy with my current gear.

Again, I don't plan to replace my Fujifilm or Olympus gear with the Nikon kit.  The X-T3 and X-H1 will still be my "go to" cameras and the Nikon gear will supplement them for specific situations I may encounter.  

I've now used the camera now for a few weeks.  I've gone out and photographed a variety of subjects and I'll be writing about it in the near future.  I've also thought through and set up my slide copying process.  I will be writing extensively about that in the very near future.  If you are interested in copying some of your own slides and have a camera with a adequate number of pixels, you may be interested in how I have things set up, what my testing has shown and what my process is.  Stay tuned.

Join me over at Instagram @dennisamook or my website, www.dennismook.com. 

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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