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What’s the Nikon Z like with adapted lenses?

25 Aug

How well does the Nikon Z work with adapted lenses?

When we polled our readers to find the things it was most important for Nikon to get right in its full frame mirrorless camera, full compatibility and performance with its F-mount lenses came out top.

This is no surprise: Nikon has sold over 100 million F-mount lenses, which has resulted in a large, loyal and, to a degree, locked-in user base. For Nikon to convert any significant proportion of those users into ‘Z’ mount shooters, they need not just to be able to mount their existing lenses, but to have them work well with the new system.

Based on our experiences so far, we don’t think they’ll be disappointed – and this is the first time that photographers using F-mount lenses will have autofocus coverage across almost the entire frame.

Nikon FTZ adapter

Backwards compatibility is provided through the optional Nikon FTZ adapter, which will sell for around $ 250 (though initially there’ll be a $ 100 discount if bought along with a Z series camera).

This F-mount to Z-mount adapter has full electronic connections between the camera and the lens. It also features a mechanical actuator to operate the aperture on the lens you mount to it. This means it will work with more than just the latest ‘E’ type lenses that have their own aperture actuators built-in.

This is something of a pleasant surprise; Nikon could certainly have made their lives easier by just supporting those newer electronic-aperture lenses, but we’re glad they’ve included even more backwards compatibility.

Full compatibility with AF-S lenses

That increased backward compatibility thanks to the aperture actuator means that AF-S and AF-I lenses are fully compatible with the Z system. Essentially, anything with its own focus motor will work and will be compatible with all the camera’s functions. There’s a greater risk of focus noise in video mode as Nikon lenses tend to have noisy focus motors, but that’s essentially the only limitation to using pretty much every lens launched in the past 18 years.

Partial compatibility with older lenses

The constant evolution of the F-mount means there have been many versions over the years. As you might expect, the degree of compatibility offered by the FTZ adapter drops as the lenses get older.

AF-D and AF Nikkor lenses without built-in AF motors will mount on the adapter and work with all metering modes, but will not autofocus. There’s no AI lever on the adapter, though, so anything from before the mid 1980s will mount but will have increasing restrictions over which metering modes are available.

As in previous high-end Nikons, it’s possible to record a list of non-CPU (AI and Pre-AI lenses) through the menus, so that the camera understands the focal length and maximum aperture of the attached lens. You can assign this function to one of the camera’s buttons if you’re regularly switching between lenses.

For more information on these oldest of Nikon lenses, check out our primer.

VR behavior

When working with adapted lenses, the camera’s in-body image stabilization system drops to offering correction in three axes: pitch, yaw and roll. This is optimized based either on the focal length data provided by the lens or from the focal length that’s been manually specified, if you’re working with non-CPU lenses.

Any lens with its own ‘Vibration Reduction’ mechanism built in should be more effectively stabilized. With VR lenses, responsibility for correcting pitch and yaw is passed to the lens, since in-lens stabilization can provide a greater degree of travel than the in-body system could provide on its own. The camera continues to provide roll correction that the lens can’t itself provide.

Performance with the AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G ED

During our time with a pre-production Nikon Z 7, we mounted the AF-S Nikkor 35mm F1.8 to the adapter and were impressed by the performance. In fact, we found it sometimes focused more reliably on moving subjects than the native (though pre-production) Z-mount 35mm F1.8.

All functions worked as expected and it focused quickly. Continuous autofocus performance was impressive, and is what we used to get this tack sharp shot of a toddler with this combo. During bursts though, our impression – albeit with beta firmware – was that the camera would sometimes back-focus trying to keep up with fast approaching subjects. This was not unique to this lens, and we hope final firmware provides improved performance.

The constant motor chatter would rule it out for video use though, unless you use an external mic away from the lens. And, of course, when used on the Z 7, the F-mount 35mm F1.8’s results are stabilized.

Performance: AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8E

The 70-200mm F2.8 is an essential part of many photographers’ kits and again we were impressed with how it performed on a pre-production Z 7. Focus was swift and generally snappy, just as we’d expect with the lens mounted on a Nikon DSLR. Subject tracking appeared to successfully stick to our subject as well, though becomes harder to engage as using the touchscreen or pressing the ‘OK’ button becomes more cumbersome with large lenses.

The camera was able to drive the lens to refocus on a moving subject quickly and decisively, giving us a very good hit rate of perfectly in-focus images in Single Drive. The only moments of doubt came when shooting high-speed bursts of images. As with most other lenses we tried on the pre-production Z 7, we experienced some back-focused shots as the focus system played catch-up on rapidly approaching subjects (you can see the results in our preliminary look at the camera’s AF performance).

We didn’t shoot with it enough to get a sense for whether the addition of roll-axis correction was significantly adding to our keeper rate, but the fact it comes in addition to the lens’s own VR can only be a bonus.

With manual focus lenses

In our limited time with the pre-production Z 7 and FTZ adapter, we unfortunately didn’t have a chance to give it a try with an older AI or AI-S manual focus lens. However, the Z 7 comes with effective focus peaking, and you can also assign a focus magnifier to a custom button, making it easy to quickly check critical focus.

We’re most curious as to whether the adapter has a provision for automatically magnifying the view if it can detect focus ring movement, and is something we’ll investigate when we have a production model in our offices.

Lack of third-party openness

However, while the FTZ adapter works very well, in the short term it’ll be the only adapter available. Despite the dimensions of the Z-mount being especially well-suited to adapting almost any lens you can think of, Nikon has – perhaps not surprisingly – decided not to share the mount’s electronic specifications for aspects such as focus and exposure with other manufacturers.

This has always been true of the older F-mount, where Tamron, Sigma and other companies have reverse-engineered it for years to offer their own lens alternatives. We would have liked to see Nikon be more open in this regard, particularly for those coming from different systems or wanting more video-centric lenses to take advantage of the new video-centric features on the Z 7 and Z 6.

The relatively open nature of the Micro Four Thirds mount and, to an increasing degree, Sony’s E-mount has really helped to flesh out those systems’ lens ecosystems. While doing this for the Z-mount may have meant fewer users buying Z-mount Nikkor S lenses in the near term, it would have given early adopters of the Z 6 and Z 7 the possibility of more lens options outside of those Nikon’s indicated on their roadmap.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Nikon Z 7: what you need to know about Nikon’s first mirrorless full-frame ILC

25 Aug

Nikon Z 7: what you need to know about Nikon’s first mirrorless full-frame ILC

The Nikon Z 7 is a full-frame mirrorless interchangeable lens camera built around a 46MP full-frame sensor – likely very similar to the sensor inside the D850. In fact, despite a 26% weight difference, the Z 7 and the D850 have quite a lot in common.

But the differences run deeper that the removal of the mirror. The Z 7 is a camera designed from the ground-up to always work in live view mode. So what does that mean for the camera as a whole?

Body and design

Nikon will probably hate me saying this, but the Z 7 looks a lot like the Sony a9, with the grip from a D850 glued onto the side of it. And that’s not a bad thing, to be honest. The Z 7 is very comfortable to hold, and generally speaking it works in much the same way as the D850 from its twin control dials down to its near-identical menu system.

Nikon claims that the Z 7 offers the same durability as the D850, which should reassure its loyal user-base, and while we don’t have specific details we’d expect it to be sealed against dust and moisture incursion at all major seams and control points. The Z 7 certainly feels well-built, and while more angular than Nikon’s current DSLRs, it should feel pretty familiar to any seasoned Nikon DSLR user. The Z 7 even has a nice high-contrast OLED top-plate information display.

Unfamiliar to some Nikon DSLR users will be the Z 7’s card format. Nikon is breaking from the past and only including a single XQD card slot in the Z 7, with support for next-generation CF Express media (which shares the same form factor) coming later, via a firmware update.

Body and design

It is clear that Nikon has made every effort not to alienate its existing DSLR userbase with the Z 7, even down to the battery that the new camera uses. The Z 7 ships with an EN-EL15b battery, which is the same basic shape as the EN-EL15a that’s used in the D850 and D7500. As such, the same batteries can be swapped between all three cameras (and any other EN-EL15-compatible DSLR) although in-camera USB charging is only available with the new EN-EL15b.

To make it easier to tell between the batteries, the ‘b’ version is more angular than the previous versions. The general rule is that the ‘a’ and ‘b’ versions, with grey cases will work well in the the recent cameras, but the original version in the black case may not.

The Z 7’s CIPA rating is a middling 330 shots per charge, but as usual this is likely to prove extremely conservative in normal use. On a recent video shoot, we managed more than 1600 images and several 4K video clips on the Z 7 with a single EN-EL15b before the battery started blinking red, so it’ll depend to a large extent on how you shoot.

Sensor

At the heart of the Z 7 is a 45.7MP BSI-CMOS sensor, based on the sensor used in Nikon’s popular D850. As such, it’s most likely fabricated by Sony Semiconductor from a Nikon design. ISO sensitivities range from 64-25,600 and at ISO 64 we’re expecting the Z 7 to offer the same class-leading detail and dynamic range as its DSLR cousin. For JPEG shooters, the Z 7 offers a grand total of six sharpening levels for fine-tuning sharpness, plus a new ‘mid-range sharpening’ setting for even finer control.

One major difference between the Z 7 and D850’s sensors is of course the addition of on-sensor phase-detection autofocus pixels in the mirrorless camera. These give the camera an understanding of subject distance that a DSLR would gain from its dedicated autofocus module. They underpin the camera’s ability to assess distance changes and also allow it to drive adapted F-mount lenses in the same manner as a DSLR would.

Autofocus

The Z 7 offers 493 PDAF points, which cover a total of 90% of the frame both horizontally and vertically. Outside of this area (and for added precision within it), contrast-detection autofocus comes into play. With F2 and faster lenses, the Z 7’s autofocus system is rated down to -3EV, provided that you’re shooting wide open (more on that in a minute).

In briefings with DPReview, Nikon representatives have told us that autofocus performance should be broadly comparable to the D850. A direct comparison is impossible given that the Z 7 is launching wth only three native lenses, but it’s certainly true that with fast-aperture F mount lens attached via the FTZ adapter, autofocus response is impressive.

When it comes to keeping your subjects in focus, the Z 7 offers highly effective face-detection, and very ‘sticky’ object tracking. It’s a shame though that the vocabulary of the Z 7’s various AF modes is different to what we’re used to in Nikon’s DSLRs. The functionality of subject tracking is different too – unlike the 3D AF Tracking systems in Nikon’s DSLRs, the Z 7 doesn’t provide as easy a method for initiating tracking on a subject, nor changing subjects to track. There’s also no easy way to instantly activate any of the company’s other AF modes with a single button press.

The Z 7 does not offer an equivalent of the excellent Eye-AF modes that we’ve come to appreciate in Sony and Olympus ILCs

Sadly, the Z 7 does not offer an equivalent of the excellent Eye-AF modes that we’ve come to appreciate in Sony and Olympus ILCs. And like Sony’s a7-series and a9 cameras, the Z 7 follows Nikon’s old DSLR live view logic, by stopping down the lens to your shooting aperture (or F5.6 – whichever is wider) all the time. This has the advantage of always offering an accurate preview of depth of field during shooting (at least down to F5.6) but it also starves the camera’s autofocus system of light.

While perhaps not a particularly common use-case, this means that if you’re shooting stopped-down in dull conditions, you will see AF performance drop compared shooting wide-open. We’re really hoping that this is fixed in firmware, to allow the Z 7’s autofocus system to take advantage of the maximum amount of light coming through the lens, before stopping down at the point of exposure. Compounding this issue is the lack of the red-grid autofocus assist when using the company’s own on-camera flashes. The only option is a bright green LED on the front of the Z 7 itself.

In-body stabilization

In a first for Nikon, the Z 7 features in-body image stabilization, which is effective up to a claimed 5EV. With Z-mount lenses, the camera can compensate for movement in five axes (rotation in three dimensions and translational movement up/down and left/right).

With adapted lenses, this drops to three axes, with only rotational movement: pitch, yaw and roll being corrected. When a VR-equipped F-mount lens is attached via the optional FTZ adapter, the 3-axis system hands off pitch and yaw correction to the lens, with the body dealing with roll. As such, a VR-equipped F-mount lens should offer superior stabilization on the Z 7 compared to a DSLR (where roll cannot be corrected).

Our initial impressions of VR performance are very positive with the native Z lenses, in both stills and video shooting. We’ll be thoroughly testing this feature as soon as we get hold of a reviewable camera.

Viewfinder

In on and off-record conversations with Nikon over the years, one thing has always been clear – the company did not feel comfortable replacing optical viewfinders with electronic versions until it could guarantee a truly comparable shooting experience.

It’s reassuring, then, that the Z 7 offers one of the best electronic viewfinders we’ve ever seen. A Quad VGA (3.6m-dot) OLED display and 0.8X magnification (compared to 0.75X in the D850) is augmented with a complex optical assembly within the finder (which includes aspherical elements and fluorine coating). The result is a bright, crisp and extremely detailed viewfinder image, even when shooting in low light.

Unlike the other cameras we’ve seen using comparable viewfinder panels, there’s no difference in perceived resolution when in preview and playback modes or during burst shooting and focusing, suggesting the Z 7 is making better use of its display by always displaying the sensor’s full resolution.

Touch-sensitive rear LCD

Like the D850, the Z 7 has a touch-sensitive rear screen, but the Z7 makes much more extensive use of touch control than any Nikon DSLR, with AF point positioning and all menus now touch sensitive. This includes a revised and now customizable version of the camera’s ‘i‘ menu. The touch panel can also be used in playback mode to zoom in, navigate around and scroll between images.

What’s missing, though, is the ability to use the rear screen as a touchpad to position the AF point when the camera’s held to your eye. This might not sound like a big deal, since the Z7 has the same AF point joystick as the D850 but its absence becomes an issue because of the way the Z 7 handles AF tracking.

The screen itself is lower resolution: with 2.1M dots rather than the 2.36M dots of its predecessor, but that doesn’t quite tell the whole story. The Z 7’s screen is 3:2, rather than the taller 4:3 aspect ratio. This allows the camera to be smaller but is also a match for the camera’s sensor. This means the Z 7 ends up giving the same 1024 x 680 pixel resolution for its live view display as the D850, it just overlays the settings on top of the preview, rather than having a stripe of settings taking up the bottom of the screen.

High-speed shooting

The Z7 isn’t being marketed as a sports and action camera, and it can’t compete with the likes of the Sony a9 for pure speed, but at a maximum burst rate of 9fps (12-bit Raw, with AE locked after the first shot) it offers decent high-speed performance.

Drop to 5.5fps and autoexposure will update between frames, and you’ll get a live preview in between shots, but the buffer depth only allows for around 23 compressed 12-bit Raw files. This isn’t terrible, but don’t go selling your D5s quite yet.

4K video

Nikon’s 4K-equipped DSLRs have a small but quite loyal fanbase among enthusiast videographers, but the Z 7 is Nikon’s first really convincing video camera. Full-width 4K video is possible at up to 30p, and in the DX crop mode (roughly equivalent to Super 35mm in filmmaking terms) full-pixel readout should offer optimal 4K quality. The ‘FX’ mode footage is produced by line-skipping, so will have a resolution and noise cost.

Unlike the D850, the Z 7 can offer focus peaking in 4K mode; we’re hopeful that this can be used at the same time as highlight warnings, but we were unable to test this on our pre-production loaner. As well as 4K, HD video capture is also an option, at up to 120fps.

In video mode, the Z 7’s in-body VR system is augmented by electronic VR, to help further smooth out vibration in hand-held footage.

Perhaps the biggest news for committed videographers is the camera’s 10-bit 4:2:2 ‘N-Log’ output over HDMI. This higher bit depth greatly increases the processing flexibility of Log footage and is a feature matched only by Panasonic’s GH5 models. This and the addition of timecode suggests Nikon is taking video pretty seriously.

Connectivity

The Z 7 comes with Nikon’s latest iteration of its SnapBridge suite of wireless features. These include 802.11ac + Bluetooth, and there’s now an option to Wi-Fi transfer images direct to a PC instead of just a smart device. The WT-7 wireless adapter can still be used.

Nikon Z 7: what you need to know about Nikon’s first mirrorless full-frame ILC

The Nikon Z 7 will be available at the end of September, body-only or in a kit with the new 24-70mm F4, for $ 3299 and $ 3999, respectively. As always, let us know what you think in the comments.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Nikon Z 7 pre-production sample gallery

25 Aug

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The Nikon Z 7 is here and we had the chance to shoot around with a pre-production model here in Seattle – you can read all about our first impressions here. Take a look through the gallery above to see JPEG samples representative of much of the camera’s ISO range. We’ll update with full production samples and Raw files as soon as we get out hands on a final unit.

See our Nikon Z7 sample gallery

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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The Nikon Z system: What we think, where it should go

25 Aug

Introduction

By the time you read this article, you’ll surely have absorbed most of the news, specifications and in-depth analysis related to Nikon’s new full-frame mirrorless cameras, the Z 6 and Z 7. And there’s been quite a bit of coverage, to be sure. After all, this is Nikon’s first new full-frame lens mount since 1959*.

But here in this piece, we’re hoping to convey some of our reflections of the new system; how it feels in the hand, how it responds when you’re out shooting. Not just what the customizations are, but how useful we find them. We weren’t able to perform any of our standard tests on our pre-production Z 7, but we came away with plenty of thoughts and hopes for the future. Let’s dive in.

Hits

We all agreed that the Z 7 feels great in the hand.

The build quality and hand-feel of the Z 7 were met with universal praise from the staff. Editor Dan Bracaglia, who’s been shooting with Nikon DSLRs for over a decade, said everything on the exterior of the Z 7 – grip, buttons, switches – feels built to the same level as a D850. I’m inclined to agree; the grip matches the comfort of the D850, and despite weighing less than a D750 (the lightest full-frame DSLR on the market), it feels even more solid than that camera. And your fingers don’t run off the bottom of the grip like some other mirrorless options. The top plate OLED is also much crisper and easier to read than the older LCD panels on DSLRs.

The viewfinder was likewise met with enthusiasm. The Quad VGA panel is bright and contrasty with a high refresh rate. Our Editorial Manager Wenmei Hill said that, in her opinion, it’s the closest you can currently get to an optical finder. Senior Editor Barney Britton mentioned that he started to find the viewfinder in the D850 a bit fuzzy and cool in comparison. It was important for their existing DSLR users that Nikon got this right, and it looks like they have. Unlike many competitors, the viewfinder also doesn’t drop in resolution during continuous focusing or burst shooting. That makes it a great viewfinder experience for anyone, not just users of optical viewfinders.

The viewfinder doesn’t drop in resolution during focusing or burst shooting

The touchscreen interface, even on our pre-production model, was extremely polished and responsive. That you can interact with every aspect of the camera via its touchscreen – including the customizable ‘i’ menu – is encouraging, and genuinely useful.

One rift between DSLRs and mirrorless cameras that persists even today simply concerns the cameras’ startup times. DSLRs are still nigh instantaneous; when you flip the on switch and mash the shutter, the camera will fire a shot right then and there. The Z 7 doesn’t get to quite that level of responsiveness, but it also doesn’t make you wait an age either. We’d say it’s on par with the likes of an Olympus E-M1 II or Panasonic G9, while some of Sony’s a7-series of cameras still takes noticeably longer to power on and and take an image.

Power-on time is an area where mirrorless cameras, including the Z 7, continue to lag behind DSLRs.

Lastly, we were disappointed by the CIPA rating of 330 images for the EN-EL15b battery that powers the Z 7. It’s not a woefully bad score, but it’s around the rating of Sony’s 1st and 2nd gen a7-series cameras for which we regularly recommended carrying a second battery, while Sony’s latest Z-series battery is rated for around 700 shots. All that said, Barney’s actual experience with the Z 7 put him at ease; over the course of a 12-hour shoot, he recorded 1500+ images and several 4K video clips before the battery warning kicked in at 10% remaining. He wouldn’t be opposed to venturing out for a full day in a new city with one battery for the Z 7. Not too shabby, but definitely something we’ll be looking at in detail when we get a reviewable camera.

Misses

As a team, we also agreed on a few aspects – particularly regarding autofocus – of the Z 7 that struck us as less-than-polished. And we should stress, the model we used was pre-production using non-final firmware, and there’s always a chance that some of these can be addressed via firmware updates later on.


Single point	Dynamic	Wide S	Wide L

The AF area modes (excluding pinpoint) that the Z 7 and Z 6 offer. One thing we really liked was how bright, red and visible the AF points were in all area modes.

The first is a lack of any form of touchpad AF, which we found strange considering how otherwise impressive the touchscreen interface is. Sure, there’s a joystick to move your AF area around, but we’d prefer Nikon give users the option to choose which method they prefer (plus, it’s already incorporated on the D5600 for that camera’s viewfinder autofocus system).

Continuing on the autofocus theme, we’re all puzzled regarding the new autofocus implementation. Considering the relatively seamless transition from, say, the D850 to the Z 7 in terms of menus and most of the direct controls, the AF system is less familiar. It’s closer to the autofocus implementation in their DSLRs’ Live View, rather than the much more familiar system through the optical viewfinder.

Barney said that he adapted to the new autofocus system quickly for his style of shooting

The autofocus tracking implementation is more cumbersome, and there’s no provision to change your AF mode with a single button press (AF Area Mode + AF-On) as there is on Nikon’s D5, D500 and D850 cameras. As our Science Editor Rishi Sanyal explains, this can make it difficult to adapt to fast-changing scenarios, like moving from a bouquet toss at a wedding to a candid portrait moments later.

Barney, on the other hand, said that he adapted to the new autofocus system quickly for his style of shooting (which didn’t include fast action), but he was a little more concerned about stop-down focusing. The pre-production Z 7 we used stops the lens down to the shooting aperture (down to a limit of F5.6) to give the user a live depth-of-field preview, but this also gives the autofocus system less light (and less phase separation) for the on-sensor PDAF system to work with. If you’re shooting in dim conditions but don’t want a paper-thin depth-of-field, you may experience slower autofocus or more hunting than you expect.

Just because you can shoot at F1.8 doesn’t mean you’ll always want to, even if the conditions are a bit dim.

In terms of handling, we miss the ease of the autofocus mode and area selector switch near the lens barrel on Nikon DSLRs, which is missing on the Z 6 and Z 7. And while we appreciate the Fn1 and Fn2 buttons between the grip and the lens mount, we do find them a bit difficult to press without shifting your hand uncomfortably.

Mixed blessings

There are also some aspects of the new Z 7 that we appreciate – with some caveats.

The first is the completely silent shutter; this is incredibly valuable in quiet or sensitive settings, and being able to fire at full burst speed in silent shutter is a welcome addition. But due to the sensor’s somewhat limited readout speed, rolling shutter is likely to be an issue, as is banding under artificial light.

While we like the move to XQD cards for the speed they offer, there’s no denying they’re more expensive and harder to find than good ‘ol SD cards.

Likewise, when shooting 4K video, Nikon’s added digital stabilization as an other method of reducing camera shake on top of in-body and lens stabilization. Unfortunately, while you might be tempted to turn it on for, say, walking while recording, it doesn’t deal well with more jarring movements. It results in soft or blurred footage during the steps themselves, and we find it less distracting to have less stabilization with the IBIS system alone.

Lastly, the Z 6 and Z 7 are only offered with single XQD cards, which promise incredible read and write speeds as well as better durability when compared to conventional SD cards. But some users will likely be turned off by the lack of dual card slots, and we found the buffer on our pre-production Z 7 to clear more slowly than we’d expect (it clears almost instantly on a D5 or D500 once you stop shooting). Additionally, XQD readers just aren’t as ubiquitous as SD, and the cards themselves are more expensive.

Looking ahead

In looking toward the future of the new Z system, we have to say we’re pleased by the lens roadmap that Nikon put out – more than one editor was hoping for a native 70-200mm lens sooner rather than later.

The combination of high resolution, expansive dynamic range, compact size, comfortable handling and great 4K video is hard to dismiss.

And most of the concerns we have – the lack of Touchpad AF, for example – we’re hoping can be addressed in firmware, or at the very least, in the next Z-camera. We’re curious whether Nikon has any plans for a D500-level APS-C interpretation for Z-mount, though the team has predicted that there’s likely going to be a D5-level mirrorless coming around in time for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Overall, the combination of high resolution, expansive dynamic range, compact size, comfortable handling and great 4K video with intuitive and decisive autofocus is hard to dismiss. We’re confident in saying that, as of now, the Z 7 is Nikon’s most well-rounded camera they’ve ever produced.

*This excludes the Nikonos mount on Nikon’s early waterproof film cameras and an F-mount variation with the Nikonos R-UW mount.

(Return to text)

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Nikon announces 64GB and 120GB XQD memory cards

25 Aug

Nikon made quite a splash in the digital imaging world this week with the announcement of its new Z 6 and Z 7 mirrorless cameras. In a much more quiet fashion the company also launched two new XQD memory cards on its Japanese website.

As you would expect, the cards can be used with the new Z-series camera models and with a lot of buzz around the new camera models Nikon is likely hoping to leverage the opportunity and get its foot into the memory card market.

Nikon offers a 64GB and 120GB card and both variants boast a maximum read speed of 440MB/s and a maximum write speed of 400MB/s. At this point there is no pricing information on the Nikon website but the Japanese camera rumor site Nokishita reported a price of ¥17,820 (approximately $ 160) for the 64GB card and ¥29,160 (approximately $ 262) for the 120GB version.

Nikon says both cards will be released in late September 2018, so hopefully more information on pricing outside Japan will be available soon.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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OPPO R17 Pro launches with variable aperture 3D triple-camera

25 Aug

For many consumers outside of Asia OPPO might not be a household name, but the company has an impressive track record in mobile camera innovation.

With the just-announced R17 Pro OPPO is continuing its camera-focused strategy, offering, after the Huawei P20 Pro, the second triple-camera equipped phone in the market. That said, while the new OPPO has three cameras, the concept is different to Huawei’s.

In the P20 Pro a main camera is joined by a monochrome variant and a tele-module. On the R17 Plus you get a 12MP main wide angle camera with 1/2.55″ sensor and a Samsung-like F1.5/F2.4 variable aperture.

OPPO hasn’t been quite clear about what the secondary 20MP unit is used for but it’s likely a monochrome unit for improving noise, detail and digital zoom, just like the Huawei system. The third camera is a 3D depth sensor. So far we’ve only seen those at the front, enabling the 3D face unlock feature. On the R17 Pro it is used for 3D photo capturing and also allows you to use the phone as a game console and connect it to your TV.

The front camera offers a 25MP sensor and F2.0 aperture and other specs look promising as well. Qualcomm’s new upper-mid-range Snapdragon 710 chipset is paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage (no microSD support unfortunately) and the 6.4″ AMOLED display comes with a 1080 x 2340 pixel resolution. The 3,700 mAh battery supports OPPO’s SuperVOOC charging technology and the company says you can achieve 40% charge in 10 minutes using the the provided charger.

The R17 Pro will start selling in China in October and will set you back CNY 4,299 ($ 625). At this point there is no information on availability and pricing in other regions.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Photography Challenge – Stunning Smartphone Pics

25 Aug

You don’t need the latest greatest top of the line full frame DSLR to take good photos. But you do need to have a camera with you and to make use of good lighting and composition principles.

This week it’s time to practice your Smartphone photography and share your images with us for the weekly challenge. But let’s take it up a notch, shall we?

Image by Beth Ringsmuth Stolpan

The image above is a macro shot done with a Smartphone, read more on how to do that here: How to Get Stunning Macro Photos with Your Mobile Phone.

Need more ideas? How about these:

Tips for Better Smartphone Photography
9 More Great Apps You Need for Your Smartphone
8 Ways to Use Your Smartphone for Photography

Weekly Photography Challenge – Stunning Smartphone Pics

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer, upload them to your favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge. Sometimes it takes a while for an image to appear so be patient and try not to post the same image twice.

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

The post Photography Challenge – Stunning Smartphone Pics appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Delkin introduces 48hr replacement service with new line of premium XQD cards

25 Aug

Nicely timed to coincide with the launch of the Nikon Z series cameras Delkin has announced its own line of premium XQD cards that come with a 48hr replacement service. The new cards run with write speeds of up to 400MB/s, in line with units sold by Sony, and are designed to complement camera models from both Nikon and Sony.

With read/write speeds and capacities aimed at intensive data rate products, the cards are suited to recording high-resolution images in high burst modes, and professional quality video.

The company is so confident of its quality control each card has its own serial number and lifetime warranty. Delkin also promises that should a card fail it will replace it within 48 hours. Obviously, terms and conditions apply, but it sounds a neat way to differentiate its cards from those already on the market.

Delkin says its Premium 2933X cards will become available in October.

64GB – $ 140/£190
120GB – $ 230/£290
240GB – $ 464/£580

For more information see the Delkin Devices website.

Press release

Delkin Launches New Line of Premium XQD Memory Cards

POWAY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Delkin Devices, a manufacturer of flash storage solutions and camera accessories, announced today the newest addition to their ever-growing line of memory-based products: Premium 2933X XQD memory cards. Version 2.0 compliant with speeds suitable for professional photographers and videographers, Delkin XQD cards are specifically designed to excel in the latest generation of cinematic hosts from both Sony & Nikon. As not all memory manufacturers are authorized to produce and sell XQD, Delkin is grateful for the opportunity to provide consumers another choice.

Utilizing a 2nd generation PCI Express interface and delivering blazing-fast write speeds up to 400MB/s (up to 440MB/s read speeds), Delkin Premium XQD memory cards are capable of capturing flawless cinema-quality footage, including DCI 4K & Full HD video at 180 fps, as well as RAW photos in burst mode. Each card has undergone extensive testing to ensure compatibility in today’s high-end XQD hosts, including the Nikon D5, D500 & D850, as well as several of Sony’s XDCAM Super 35 broadcast camcorders (PXW-FS7 & PXW-FS7M2).

As proof that Delkin’s XQD cards are built to the highest standard and full compatibility, each card is serialized, like your camera. This allows Delkin to offer the ultimate level of customer support, while providing customers additional protection and insurance for their purchase. Owners can register their Delkin Premium XQD cards at www.delkindevices.com/xqd/.

In addition to their “Lifetime Warranty” policy, Delkin also offers a unique built-in insurance policy for their XQD memory cards, called their “48 Hour, No-Questions-Asked Replacement Guarantee.” Not offered anywhere else in the world, Delkin will replace any non-working XQD card within 48 hours or less (not including weekends), prior to receiving your non-working card. Cards can also be replaced over-the-counter at any authorized Delkin XQD reseller.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Meike launches new 25mm T2.2 cine lens with ‘decent build quality’ for MFT camera systems

24 Aug

Hong Kong-based Meike has added to its collection of lenses with a new 25mm T2.2 cine lens for Micro Four Thirds camera systems.

The lens is entirely manual with a minimum focusing distance of 25cm/9.84in and a 77mm front filter thread. The optical construction includes ten elements in eight groups, which makes for a 49.7 degree angle of view.

The 25mm T2.2 cine lens weighs 560g/1.23lbs and features a pair of geared rings for changing its focus and aperture. Interestingly, even Meike seems hesitant on the quality of construction. In the product description on its Amazon page, Meike says the lens offers ‘decent build quality.’ Humble, sure, but not exactly reassuring.

Alongside the lens, which is currently available on Amazon for $ 340, is a rear lens cap, front lens cap, and a microfiber bag for safe transport.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Black and White Fashion Photography: The Set Up

24 Aug

Black & white photography: from training the eye to choosing your models, make up, →

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