Keith, I have to disagree with your statement about the size/weight argument. I had been shooting with a Nikon D850 and it and its heavy lenses had become too heavy for my aging back to take on hikes. The lower weight of both the Z7ii combined with the Z 24-120mm f/4 lens has made a world of difference for me, and was the main reason I went mirrorless. All the other features have not improved my images, but the lower size and weight have made my photography more comfortable.
I have a CFExpress in my R5 (Lexar 128 GB). The camera will shut down if the card gets too hot, and Iāve seen a lot online about that being a limitation, but Iāve only had it happen once in the 18 months Iāve had the camera, and that was with shooting video, and probably 8K. I rarely do video, so I canāt say how regularly it would occur, but I tend to shoot pretty enthusiastically with stills and have never had an overheat there.
What I do notice is the heat generated by the Lexar reader I got with the card. It is relatively slow to read and when I take the card out it is very hot, even if reading is long finished, so I trained my self to get the card our asap. Heat canāt be good for electronics. (Who knew that busy electrons generated heat?)
But I got the newer, MUCH faster Lexar reader and the card is not hot when I take it out, even if it sits in the reader for a while. I donāt know if the original reader should have been behaving the way it did.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1643021-REG/lexar_lrw550u_rnbnu_cfexpress_usb_3_2_gen.html
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Diane,
There are some CFExpress cards that can run cooler than the Lexars. The Delkin CFexpress Black 512gb Tpe B is known for its lower temps when writing data.
Good to know ā thanks! Iām always remiss in doing research.
Just a thoughtā¦the more we rely on technology the more we are dependant on it working properly. When I first started taking pics the only thing a battery controlled was a manual ttl meter, if the battery failed you could still take picsā¦then we moved on to shooting modes and autofocus all have a downside if the battery (or software) fails the camera is a brick.
With Mirrorless I assume the image you see in the viewfinder is a small screenā¦if so what if it fails?
Donāt get me wrong I think modern cameras are amazing, BUT with the massive investment needed to replace my multiple DSLR and Lenses system to go mirrorless, I really am not sure it is worth it, other than to have the newest cameras?
at the end of the day IMHO it is the photographer not the kit that makes the difference
Hi Dave,
Thank you for contributing. I see your point and electrical components can fail just like mechanical features of our cameras. Digital is here to stay and mirrorless is where the industry is taking us. For you, with lots of equipment and you are quite happy with it, it is certainly not worth switching over to mirrorless. I have 2 dslrās and the D500 will be traded in towards a Z9 and I can use all of my FX lenses with the Z9 plus adapter. The number of frames per second and autofocus technology with eye tracking will compensate for nerve damage in my hands. For stills and most macro work, the D850 is still king of my equipment bag. ā¦Jim
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Jim,
I have been using the z 7 and z7ii for a couple of years and I just got my Z9 last week. For me, I would never go back to a DSLR. There are many reasons, but the overall ease of use is much better. You always have a live histogram in your viewfinder and on the back of your camera which I find to be a game changer over a DSLR. The weight savings is huge as is the size in favor of the mirrorless. Are my images any better. Yes and no. In the Nikon system, I shot the D850 for quite a long time and that was an amazing camera. But I find I never, ever pick it up anymore because the z system is so much lighter and easier to use. I would miss the exposure frequently which I almost never do with the Z system because of the histogram. Are the images any better when exposed correctly? Again, yes and no. If you use the newer z glass then the images are better, sharper. The z glass is amazing. If you are not going to be using z glass then I donāt think you will find your images any better and this would apply mostly to pixel peepers or folks that print and print large.
Now, the Z9 is a whole different beast. Are the images better if you are shooting fast moving wildlife like birds in flight. Oh yeah. WAAAAAY better. There is absolutely no comparing it with any DSLR on the market at any price point. Your keeper rate will skyrocket. The eye tracking is from another world compared to a DSLR and makes even the D6 feel slow and incapable unless you are VERY proficient at keeping a single dot on the eye of a moving target, something the Z9 laughs at. For the most part, once you have locked on to your subject (which, by the way is significantly easier with the Z9) all you have to do is keep the bird in the frameā¦anywhere in the frame. The eye tracking will follow the subject even when it has left the focus area. My Z7 and & 7ii canāt come close to competing with the Z9 at tracking fast moving subjects and at best, I would say they are both fair to good but nothing close to what the faster mirrorless cameras on the market can do and no better than my D850 or even my D5.
Hereās the last thing. I also just got the new z100-400mm 4.5/5.6 and it can use both the 1.4 and 2.0 teleconverters and that lens is tack sharp and extremely versatile. I have the older 80-400mm lens which feels like a complete dinosaur in both weight and sharpness compared to the new 100-400. And, it only costs about 2600 dollars. It is almost as sharp as my 600mm f/4 even with the 1.4 teleconverter and this lens weighs less than 3 pounds. My 600mm weighs over 10 pounds and is largely unmanageable. Nikon has also just released the new Z800mm 6.3 for around 6000 dollars. It will be much sharper and handholdable at 5 lbs compared to the older 800mm lens. Thatās an insanely cheap lens for that focal length.
So in the end, I suppose it all depends on what youāre shooting. If landscapes and slow or non moving subjects are what you shoot, you can get the same image quality from your DSLR with maybe some misses on the exposure. If you shoot fast moving birds in flight or the like, a DSLR will not even come close to the new top end mirrorless cameras for focus tracking, speed, auto focus and consistency. Plus, you have that histogram which is a big deal to me and,you have focus points that extend corner to corner and cover nearly 100% of the frame.
Lastly, as has been mentioned, DSLRās are going away. I believe I read that Nikon will no longer have any DSLRās after 2025. So, you can start the switch over process now or wait if speed is not necessary for your image making.
Oh, one last thing. If you are a video shooter, apparently the Z9 just completely changed the game for folks that shoot video. Iāve read a couple of articles where they shot on a 2 terabyte card at full 8k, 60 frames per second and could not get the camera to get hot. I am not a video shooter and I donāt even understand all the terminology but the Z9 is apparently quite the beast and apparently the new benchmark.
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Thank you for the detailed review. It is all about keepers and I certainly will look forward to the Z9ā¦Jim
I have the Z9, still learning it. It is so quiet! I am getting used to it. When I first got it, I didnāt even realize it was taking photosā¦ Itās heavier than my D850 and D810, so a little adjustment there. I like it, I learn something new about it almost every time I take it out, it seems. I am a little careful with it because although itās insured, it would be hard to replace with the backlog.
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Well, I have a Z9 plus an FTZ adapter ordered and the wait has begun. I am an NPS member so I hope that the wait wuill be for a short period of timeā¦Jim
Donāt know if you are still looking for commentary on this. I will offer my .02 cents. I wasnāt going to switch from my D850ās to Mirrorless just to have mirrorless in my bag. I wanted to do it when it gave me something I didnāt have in my bag. Last year I switched to Sony A1ās. I did it because I wanted the FPS, silent shutter, incredible video quality, high-level tracking, but most of all for the three additional shutter speeds I could not get on a DSLR. My photography went to the next level because it has such low ISO variance and minimal color noise. I expanded my shooting recipe which gives me more versatility in the field. I get so excited when I can push shutters above 8000 of a second for bird action. This was how I arrived at the decision to switch and why I made a big change including all the lenses. My point of view is add a mirrorless that gives you the extra shutter speeds as that is the biggest game changer.
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