I Was A Bit Premature In My Initial Dismissal Of The New Nikon Z6 II And Z7 II Cameras

Portrait of a Deadrise Oyster boat.  Deal Island, Eastern Shore, Maryland.  (click to enlarge)
Nikon D810; 24-70mm lens @ 70mm; 1/400th sec. @ f/6.3; ISO 100

When Nikon first announced the new Z6 II and Z7 II cameras, because I own, really like and think the original Z7 camera is terrific, I was anxious to read the press releases as well as the spec sheets that were published by various web sites.  At first glance, I wasn’t very impressed with what Nikon did to improve these two cameras over the current models.  I classified them as moderate incremental updates with improvements and features that should have been in the original models.  I was pretty quick to dismiss them and wrote I had no real interest in them.  After now seeing and reading about all of the changes Nikon has made, I’ve now changed my mind and I think that the cumulative additions, fixes, updates and improvements add up to be quite substantial and these two new cameras are very different from the originals.

Sadly, this is now the second time I’ve made the mistake of initially dismissing a new camera based upon what what early information was available on the Internet.  Too quickly I dismissed the new Olympus E-M1 Mark III before, again, ALL the information was made available.  As sincere and accurate as I try to be with what I write, I trusted what I read online to reflect all the new improvements and didn’t wait for more information to be revealed before casting judgment.  A good lesson for us all.

That said, here is a more comprehensive list of the improvements in these two new cameras that I’ve now been able compile.  The improvements are much more extensive than I originally wrote in this earlier post, here.  Some of the improvements included have addressed my niggles spelled out in that previous post.  The list refers to only still photography as you may know, I care little about video.

What hasn't changed:

-Nikon doesn't want them called using the "Mark II" moniker, just Z6 II and Z7 II.

-The ergonomics, button and dial layout virtually identical;  The same feel and operation that is familiar will still be there.  Although slightly different, the bodies are essentially the same.

-The sensors, focusing points, etc. are the same in both cameras.

What has changed:

-The addition of another image processor—dual Expeed Processors; that allows speed increases and creates the potential for significant firmware upgrades in the future.

-Much larger buffer rate (Z7—RAW Files now 50 frames; Z6—120 RAW files; both can shoot JPEGs continuously.

-Speeds up frame rates; Z7 max frame rate is now 10 FPS; Z6 14 fps using the mechanical shutter

-Dual card slots now; One is XQD/CFExpress card and the other an SDXC UHS II card.  You can select which is your primary card slot as well.

-Autofocusing implementation has been changed and improved;  new "area" options; reduced the number of menu changes necessary if choosing human and animal eye/face detection autofocusing; also gives you the option to reduce the amount of screen area you want to prioritize where the camera looks for human or animal eyes of faces.  Face/eye detection is now more sensitive and can pick up those attributes at greater distances.

-Full featured battery grip now available giving you controls when the camera is in the vertical position and increasing the batter power by 90%.  Not a 100% increase because Nikon now allows you to "hot swap" batteries without having to turn off the camera (really helpful for video, I suspect).

-Lots of video upgrades but I haven't looked into those as I'm not interested in video.

-Firmware now upgradable using the Nikon's SnapBridge app.

-Improved battery life; EL-EN15C battery, which has a greater capacity and which can now power the camera and charge the battery at the same time;  In the past, if the camera was on the batteries didn't charge.

-As soon as you flip out the LCD, it turns the viewfinder off so no issue switching from LCD to EVF as you manipulate the viewfinder and your hand gets close to the eye sensor located at the eyepiece.

-Expanded shutter speeds;  Up to 900 seconds directly selectable.  No need to use Time or Bulb.

-The ability to remove all info from the LCD;  You can now view the image on the LCD without any obstructions.  This is one of the things I wanted to happen!  You can  remove all display info with the push of an assigned button rather than have to cycle through all of the display options for the LCD.

-A smaller and less obtrusive 3D horizon display.  Another item I wanted to be implemented.

-New options in the interval timer shooting mode;  You can choose whether or not you want the camera to focus/refocus before each shot or leave focus as is.  You can also choose which card the time lapse/interval shots are sent.  For example, send normally shot images of one card and when you do time lapse or interval shooting, have them automatically go to the other card.

-You can now exposure bracket during interval or time lapse shooting.  This is very cool.

-New and expanded options in customizing the I-menu.

-Additional options now for assigning menu items to the function buttons.  Another improvement I wanted to see.  There were a couple of things I wanted to assign to one of my function buttons but they were not available to do so.

-You can now reverse the rotation of the focusing rings on lenses so all of your lenses, both Nikon and independent manufacturers focus in the same direction.  Very small but thoughtful improvement.

-I think this is significant.  The ability to AF Fine Tune zoom lenses at both their longest and shortest focal length.  This is quite an important upgrade and is long overdue.  It is not unusual for a zoom lens to AF Fine Tune at a different setting at different focal lengths.  This will help maximize optimum focus.

-The ability to save your lens' focusing distance when turning the camera off then back on.  No need to have to refocus your camera on a specific subject over time if you turn your camera off then on as you go through your photographic process.

-Both cameras can now Pixel Map.  This is where the camera refreshes the pixels on the sensor if they are stuck, etc.  It allows you to clean up any white or black pixels and start afresh.

-There is a new "Energy Saving Mode."  The camera can reduce the frame rate of the EVF and LCD to save power and increase your battery life.  When you touch the shutter button, it immediately resumes full power.

There might be more that I've missed.  Again, to me, all of these changes, improvements and additions add up to a significant upgrade over the original Z6 and Z7.  I no longer think getting a new sensor is mandatory when considering a new camera.  The image quality, dynamic range and noise profiles are so good, that I'm fine with what is now being produced.  

If you are a current Z6 or Z7 user, you will have to decide for yourself whether or not the improvements provide enough of the right kind of upgrades for the kinds of photography you practice to buy one of these new models.  However, if you are thinking about moving to mirrorless, these two cameras are certainly worthy of consideration in my opinion.

Lesson Learned:  It is better to wait to ensure one has all the relevant information before judging.

Join me over at my website, www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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