Z 6

Exceptionally versatile instrument
With the viewfinder showing literally what is being recorded and with the ring on the lens said for exposure compensation, this rig works very well.


Using the numerous adapters available for very little money on eBay my Leica screw mount, M mount , Nikon F mount centimeter lenses, Pentax screw mount lenses and my favorite Zeiss Contarex lenses, the camera is able to make use of all of these exceptionally well. I could not be more delighted
Even the mirror lock up 21 mm Zeus´s lens works on this puppy

Eye Auto Focus works well. I would say 85% of the time. Occasionally, the Eye auto focus will get stuck and I will have to turn the camera away to get it to reset. Not all of the time but now and then. It can be a bit frustrating if youre trying to be quick.

One other thing I hope they can get fixed with the next update, is when you have a subject standing in front of a wall or mural, the EAF will pick up the eye of a painting/art and not the subject.

It was an easy transition from my D850. Great feel in the hands. The only negative is the battery life is shorter than with my D850.

I love the new eye auto focus. I considered switching to Sony because thy had auto focus but now that Nikon has it, I am very happy. However, it is not as good as Sony eye AF and needs much improvement. Though the AF on Nikon is good, it sometimes struggles to find the eye in the frame, even under good lighting and while being very close to the subjects face. Also, eye auto focus does not work when you are getting a full body frame, in that case it switches to face auto-focus. Overall the update is great, makes shooting much faster and is accurate enough for me to stay with Nikon until they perfect the feature.

Honestly, Eye Detect Autofocus wasn´t a feature I thought I would use. After trying it a few times, I quickly realized that it works almost like a human tracking autofocus, which is great for doing portraits. It´s definitely worth installing the latest firmware update.

The Eye-Detection AF a little bit slow response compare to Sony A7R III. Need to improve to have a quick response. Other than that, this camera is excellent. I use it for photograph and will try to use its video when I have the movie kits.

DSLRs are fast becoming dinosaurs. Mirrorless offers several advantages and can only get better from here. The Z6 is a fantastic camera, some of the best IQ I have seen from the Nikon 24mp bodies. The mirrorless bodies are much lighter smaller and easier to carry around - on paper they don´t seem much smaller but this is deceiving, hold one in hand next to a Fx or even mid-high range Dx camera to compare and you´ll see why DSLRs are called bricks.

AF in AF-S is spot on, can finally use my 1.4 lenses and nail focus every single time at f/1.4. Excellent low light focus ability even without having to use low light AF (contrast AF) after firmware 2.0 update. Excellent ergonomics true to Nikon, excellent build quality, excellent weather sealing, fantastic EVF/monitor resolution/color, and excellent S nikkor lens performance thus far, aside from some 14-30mm f/4 copies reported by users (keep in mind this is a very compact and collapsible design with no bulbous front element, so more of a travel lens than a max performance lens - from this perspective it is a very good offering, but perhaps it shouldn´t have been part of the S lineup, which I believe is supposed to be the new ´´gold ring´´). Menu system is one of the best in all the brands, as is the color science and consistency of it, along with metering and AWB - simply one of the best in the business (better than Sony, huge time saver in post production).

AF-C works very good for static or slow moving objects but still needs improvements and is the only reason for my 4 star rating vs 5. I understand this isn´t an action camera but even a general all around camera needs to be able to track moving objects with ~80% hit rate minimum (# of shots in focus). If the settings are optimized for what you´re shooting you can get this rate or better if your subject isn´t moving too fast or too erratic, like BIF (birds in flight) or *some* fast action/sports, where DSLRs like a D500/D7200/D850 still perform better. However, mirrorless systems like the Sony A7iii (the Z6 equivalent) can do it, so it can be done. Nikon, please keep improving the system through FW updates, and put this high on the priority list, we need updates while the cameras are still the latest offering, not after they have been superseded by subsequent bodies. FW 2.0 was excellent, keep it coming! You need to catch up to Sony here. Eye AF is very good, but still needs tweaking as it sometimes catches the eye lashes or eyebrows (AF box needs to be smaller), AF-C tracking needs to be its own mode vs being imbedded in the AF Auto mode (awkward to have to hit the OK button to get into it) and its AF box size needs to be selectable. Aside from these things the AF-C system is solid and most people only struggle initially because it is different than a DSLR but the learning curve is small, once you see what works it does perform.

One other item worth mentioning, H and H* burst shooting modes - please give us a true live view while in these modes, as it is very difficult to track fast or erratic moving subjects by looking at a fps slideshow, and please display the actual fps rate somewhere in the camera so we know what it is depending on our settings (currently the camera only shows that I am in H or H*, does not tell me what my fps is).

Also, please consider new strategies and unlock the Z system´s S lenses. License it. You need 3rd party support this time around. Stop worrying about it cannibalizing your own lineup - it won´t, it will only supplement it. We need *native* glass, quickly. 85mm and 70-200mm soon, please!

Lastly, a interview at a show earlier this year, I recall hearing that Nikon stated a 50/50 commitment between DSLRs and mirrorless. You already have a full lineup in the DSLR world. You need to invest ~80/20 towards mirrorless/DSLR, respectively. We need S lenses for the Z system. We need accessories like battery grips. we need FW updates. We need Sony level AF performance, which, alongside your color science, metering and AWB will be a fantastic system. Please don´t screw this up. Hire top level engineers and get it going.

I totally love my Nikon Z 6, however I do have a few gripes. Gripe One, I was really hoping that Nikon would hit a homerun with the eye autofocus feature as I like to shoot with very fast lenses. I´ve done 3 photo shoots since the firmware 2.0 update, and in all three sessions I had to revert back to single point autofocus because the eye autofocus would lock onto the eye lashes instead of the eyeball. That doesn´t sound like much unless you are shooting fairly close of a f1.4 and you realize that the great shot that you took was useless (Usually found in post). Gripe two is that I missed the bird shot of my life last week because my Z 6 locked onto the background and refused to refocus on the subject. Seconds later the birds flew away never to be seen again. (Not going to lie, that REALLY ANNOYED ME!) I have always shot Nikon (D50, D90, D600, D610, D750, D850 and now I´ve added the Z 6) and don´t think that has ever happened to me before, nor do I want it to happen again. Hopefully Nikon and get this sorted out in the next Z series firmware update. Otherwise I absolutely love my Z 6, I use it a lot for travel and in most cases it is a god send, quiet light weight, the S series lenses that I have 35 f1.5, 50 f/1.8, and 24-70 f/4 are all excellent lenses. I love it! (unless, I plan on shooting landscapes and wildlife then, I´d prefer my D850.)

Great job Nikon on the Z series! I want to buy another one with higher resolution (Z 7), but I´m holding off until the autofocus is more fine tuned.

The Eye AF has a long way to go. I tried it with native lens as well as other ones and seems that you have to be very close to the subject to trigger the eye detect. I do not have that issue with other branded cameras. I am a long time user of Nikon and currently use the D850, D750 D7000. Over all the Z6 is an Okay camera.