No I don’t need lightning-quick AF, or at least very rarely. I dabble occasionally in bird photography, so pre-capture would be a nice-to-have.
Good question that makes me really think about it instead of getting upsold by latest tech! I guess I just meant the older Expeed 6 processor. But other than the AF, I’m not sure how much of an effect it has, since this line isn’t supposed to be a computational powerhouse. What’s the startup time like and general responsiveness?
Startup time is faster than the GFX and slower than the GR IV. I’ve never turned it on and said “wow I really had to wait for that.” I think its fine. But again, I’m never really getting it out in a hurry to catch a scene. I shoot it on a tripod 99.999999999% of the time.
Sometimes on the GFX I turn it on and it takes its sweet time. But you know speed is the price to pay for MF’ING MPIX.
I guess the FPS on the Z7ii isn’t great either, the sensor readout speed probably isn’t great. I don’t really use those things either, so they don’t matter to me. The lenses are awesome, the senor has excellent DR. Colors are nice. If I wasn’t a total slut for mpix and suffer from tremendous GAS, this camera would still be my primary. I still shoot it about 40% of the time, but I can’t justify taking both it and the GFX out, its too heavy. I have been thinking about getting a photography wagon though…
Yes! I got it and think it’s amazing.
I mean, this is what’s it all about really. I couldn’t care less about video, so I don’t need a stacked sensor, open gate and all the other video bells and whistles being crammed into most cameras these days. I want a photography-first experience, and I don’t need it to be blazingly fast. I already have a snapshot camera, so this FF camera will be my landscape/urban body for maximizing image quality and exploring some of the areas where my other cameras struggle, like shallow depth of field and low light (especially woodlands where I do a lot of my photography).
I do want good IBIS though because I don’t always go out with a tripod.
Do you use any APS-C lenses? Any thoughts on using it in crop mode?
I wonder how it compares with my Fuji and OM System camera. The former is not particularly impressive, but the OM System IBIS is great.
I have a tilt screen on my Fuji and flip-out on my OM-5. Both have their pros and cons, so I love the idea of the Sony A7V screen, which is the best of both worlds. But I’m not shopping in the price bracket of that Sony, so on balance I think I’d prefer the flip-out screen. I like the way it can be closed to protect it.
I think I’ve heard other users complain about the card doors on Nikon cameras. Not a big deal but sounds like a common issue.
TBH, I had my heart set on a Sony for a while for various reasons, including their generally more compact bodies, the sensor tech (improved DR on the A7V), the hybrid LCD screen, and of course the impressive lens selection. The mount is open to all 3rd party manufacturers, including Sigma, whereas Nikon seems to be shutting Sigma out at the moment, and now Viltrox is being sued.
But over time, I’ve become more drawn to Nikon for the value proposition. Plus, the Z mount seems to be the best for adapting other lenses, which might mean I don’t need to sell my current lenses. And their manual focus assist tools are well regarded. Ultimately, I can get a lot more for $2k with Nikon than I can with other brands, although I still haven’t ruled out others yet, (including Panasonic, although their bodies aren’t really aimed at a non-video photographer like me).
Yes, the assist where the camera lights up the focus point green (based of PDAF sensors) is amazing for MF only lenses, no need to guess or zoom to 100%. I don’t have such lens, but still - it’s great.
Yeah I have AF-P 70-300mm DX and it’s good. I don’t like that it makes it only 10.6MPx so I don’t use the lens, really. I think I can wait till I get a Tamron Z 70-300mm for a proper experience. I was thinking about Tamron F mount 100-400mm, but it’s too big compared to the 70-300 (21cm + 3cm FTZ compared to 14.8cm) and quite heavy (1135g vs. 545g, so more than double). I don’t think getting extra 100mm (even though it’s nice) would justify having to put up with the discomfort the size and weight bring – I’d only be able to carry the lens in my backpack and would have to unmount it to put it back. The 70-300 fits into my cross-body bag too, maybe even mounted on camera.
So, you don’t need to use peaking at all? Just put the focus reticle on your subject and rotate the focus ring until it turns green? I haven’t really seen it in action.
The peaking on my OM-5 is pretty good, although I do find that it’s overly generous and shows things in focus when they’re slightly soft.
This has been my worry too, that 10MP isn’t really enough. But this concern is always based on a theoretical need to print, whereas I actually rarely print. And if I were to print, 10MP is still about the same as my Pixel phone, and it’s still ok for wall prints up to 50x40cm (20x13in.) at 200 PPI. Most of my photos are viewed on a monitor or 4K TV, so 8MP is actually enough for this purpose.
But I do like some room for cropping, so I’d be happier with a 35-45MP sensor really.
Yes, that’s exactly how it works, I’ve tried that with my normal lens in MF mode. You have about 273 points (21 x 13 I think?) to choose from, so it’s nice.
Same for Z5 II. The peaking is rather useless for me. There is a sensitivity setting, but it’s either hard to see or over-sensitive.
Oh and also - the IBIS has pretty much eliminated the need to use tripod for me, for most shots at least. Last Christmas I shot all night shots of the decorations in the city handheld.
Yeah, if you choose the Z7ii and some other much newer cameras, you’ll see the DR in the Z7ii holds up really well. Photographic Dynamic Range versus ISO Setting
Its got ~1/2 stop less DR and the Canon R5ii and Sony AV5ii (or whatever its called) and both those cameras are several years newer and a few thousand more expensive. All Nikon’s newer cameras actually have worse DR than the Z7ii (Z6iii, Z8, Z9). Of course those cameras optimize for different things.
Z7ii does have IBIS, but I’m not sure how good as I’ve never used it. Not sure I even know how to turn it on.
It should be in the [ i ] menu, but dunno how it looks when a Z mount Nikkor lens has a VR too. I think it goes into some hybrid VR mode. If the lens has no VR, then it should be for controlling the IBIS
Also I originally heavily considered Sony A7 iii or maybe even A7 iv, but I was permanently discouraged after reading about countless premature shutter failures. Like there’s so many videos of Sony users where their camera stops working mid-event or something. There was even a class-action lawsuit, but it was probably swept under the rug. Yeah, no thanks.
What baffled me was that so few people talked about it when it came to recommendations. Perhaps a taboo in the Sony community? I’m hoping people were just unaware, despite how common it is.
It looks to be a whole 2 stops better than my OM-5 at base ISO:
OM-5: 9.7
Fuji X-T5: 10.4
Canon R5ii: 11.5
Nikon Z7ii: 11.6
Sony A7V: 12.5
I have to say, that Sony A7V DR is very impressive. I guess this sets the standard now for flagship and “mid-range” cameras, and the next generation from Nikon and Canon will probably catch up. But I won’t be wanting to spend the money on the Z7iii when it eventually comes out. Not sure how noticeable this extra stop is in real-world conditions anyway.
There are very few situations where I’m clipping highlights and shadows now, especially if you’re chasing light and shooting at sun set/rise, it is plenty.
Do you notice any difference between your GFX and Z7ii? I think it’s about 1 stop of difference.
In dynamic range, no. Def. some brand differences in color rendering, but I think that’s to be expected. I don’t really push either one with scene DR.
Well…
There are new rumors about a third small Nikon full-frame mirrorless camera without a viewfinder, designed for photography, that is expected to be announced in 2026. Here are the details I got so far about this possible third camera:
Given my EVF usage (close to none), this sounds like an attractive camera, but who knows how much of buttons and functionality they’d keep
No EVF and small, but FF? How would that work?
Fellow GAS suffers, I want your opinions/thoughts:
So, the Z7II is currently on sale for the price of CAD$2400, or 1750 USD/1500 EUR. They’re calling it a sale of CAD$1100 off.
I went into my local camera shop today with my X-T5 to see what kind of trade in I could get. Although I haven’t had a full appraisal yet, they think I would get approximately $1300 for the body, and $1600 if I include the XF16-80 F4 lens.
So, if I do the trade-in, I could get the Z7II (body only) for CAD$800 (USD590 / EUR500).
I know I can get more money if I sell my Fuji privately, but I can’t guarantee I could sell it before the end of the Nikon sale. Plus, there’s all the stress of selling privately to some scammy grifter.
I think it’s a decent price for the body, but I think CAD$300 for the lens is a bit low, considering it’s in mint condition and sells for about CAD$900.
I’m sorely tempted because I would be jumping up to a very good full-frame camera for not a lot of money. But I said to myself I wouldn’t buy another camera for a year or two! In a couple of years, there will be other cameras on sale of course, but I doubt I would get the same trade-in value for my X-T5 at that point.
Thoughts?
@paperdigits - Z7II vs X-T5?
@kap55 - got any Z lenses you want to sell 
I assume its similar to the ZR but geared towards stills instead of video. Has an LCD screen on the back.
Honestly reddit.com/r/photomarket
I am not a fan of xtrans, so I’m extremely bias. I think xtrans looks mushy.
Trying to be objective:
That’s the best I can do 
You’re no fun 
But yeah, I know it’s mainly GAS, but I had pretty much decided to sell the X-T5 because of various issues I had with durability, crappy grip, quite large for APS-C. And now that I have the OM-5 as my travel kit, I want my more serious landscape kit to be FF for it to be significantly different. I don’t need FF per se, but I think these Nikons are very compelling when compared to Fuji bodies and glass. I will probably keep a couple of my Fuji lenses for now, but I don’t have a huge lens collection.
So I think my main impetus is more the chance to trade in my Fuji for a decent price before the X-T6 comes out and avoid selling privately, which I generally hate unless I know the person.