I agree with you that D780 with hybrid OVF/EVF would be perfect. I want EVF but I don't want to fool around with an adapter for my F lenses. How much difference does the Z6 joystick make?
Ralph, I personally never really like the joystick and dont really find it a big improvement compare to the direction pad. But that's just me. yeah maybe one day we will see a hybrid finder. Oh and thanks for watching the whole 30 mins video till the end!
I am a nikon user.. I just letting go my D750 and plan to have Z6 .. yet since D780 coming out ..I am now in a fence , doubt in getting Z6 or D780 .. infact I am still having my D810 now🙃🙂
@@darekm6859 Definitely recommend try out the 24-70 2.8 S.. go borrow, loan or steal one for a week and see whether you like it or not. The biggest advantage of the Z camera in my opinion is the new lens mount which seems to allow Nikon to create much better lenses.
Getting back into photography after nearly 10 years and seeing all these newer cameras is so interesting. I would love to upgrade my old D300s to a D780. My old friend still going strong though.
Even though I think the Z series is the future for Nikon, I believe that if they would have put the IBIS in the D780 and put the autofocus points from the D5, the D780 would have been Nikon's best DSLR of all times.
@Mr Tech Exactly .. Lol .. This camera will probably come down in price pretty quickly like the "ill received" D7500. Most people seem like they can't be bothered with the "upgrade" unless they really need the extra ISO (especially with that introductory price). The current $300. off plus "take any trade-in camera" offer is already proof of that. I guess the marketing dept is trying to get the field somewhat "seeded" with the early takers. Once this thing really comes down in price by the Summer sales or Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals then it might be worth a 2nd look.
Excellent work. Thank you. I've wondered about how the image sensors of D750 and D780 would compare at higher ISO settings. I think you nailed it. I also thought your comparison between D780 and Z6 was very informative.
Excellent review! I own both the Z and F mount gear. Both have their place. I purchased the new D780 for long distance travel due to the much superior battery life over my Z6 an Z7. The D780 appears to be a very underrated camera and I hope that it catches on.
It's still a very new camera, i have a feeling when more people get their hands on the camera and realise what it's capable of, it will be more and more popular
Richard, this is a fantastic and very thorough comparison. Your visual comparison is very helpful to anyone thinking about the D780, Z6 or D750. Thank you for posting this!
Great video, I can see you passion for photography! I better start saving for a D780! Been casually shooting for a year or two, and it's time to upgrade from my d5600. Many thanks Richard!
Best review of this camera l have seen well done Richard. Also great comparison with the D750 and Z6. Didn't know you were an old Nikon shooter BTW. Makes your insights all the more valuable.
Richard, I'm coming to this consideration of D780 vs. Z6. Your video is very helpful. I'm considering switching from Canon, after picking up a Nikon D7500. All the theoretical benefits of mirrorless seem like pluses to me, especially the IBIS and the Z mount's better lenses quality. Except, i still feel drawn to the D780. Decisions decisions!
Just found this video and thank you because you've answered some things I have been trying to find online around the low light capabilities of the D780. I am looking to upgrade from D5600 to a new camera and can't decide and I think this might have answered it for me.
Great review. Thank you for ISO examples. Personally for me it is a torture to shoot with mirrorless cameras. They are just too small. Been there, try it and I have to say I love my DSLR cameras.
Thanks for your video review. I went with the D780 as a work horse camera and I am not disappointed for portrait and product photos. However, I got a Z5 for personal travel and general walkaround. This was a good compromise. However I may sell the Z5 at some point to upgrade to Z6ii, however I will also keep the D780 as I like its handling for professional work. I just like the Z cameras for outdoor travel cameras. Lots of pros have more than one camera.
Great video! Exactly what I was looking for! That being said I would have loved some ISO comparisons at 3200 and 6400 as those tend to be the highest I ever shoot with. Thank you though!
you just sold me the d780 switching from my d610. Really pleasing to watch your review. Structured but smooth. And really loved the part where you mentioned the old love for DSLRs. Subscribed and liked. Looking forward for more content =)
There are inexpensive magnifiers like the Tarion TR-V2 that can attach to your LCD display that essentially turn it into a mirrorless viewfinder. It makes shooting video with my Nikon D750 so much easier. No need to buy a separate (and expensive) monitor or EVF.
Shockingly good. This could easily be a primary pro camera for another 5-10 years, or until smartphones and laptops are all 16K resolution. Great video!
It definitely could be. D750 is 5 years old and still being used as pro camera around the world. The funny thing is, I was shooting weddings with 36MP camera back in 2014. But now in 2020, my highest resolution camera is only 24MP.
This was the best review of this camera I've seen so far. It is also the longest review. (: But will all that I feel like the D780 would be a great camera purchase for me. Thank you Mr. Wong.
Hi, I have a Nikon D700 which I really love. I was thinking to upgrade to Nikon D850, then I changed my mind to Nikon D780 thinking it may have better autofocus on video than D850. Which doesn't happen. Both D850 and D780 have medium autofocus on video. Reading more carefully reviews on D750 and also listening a friend of mine opinion on D750, I finally decided to get a D750. I know it may be a risk with the shutter, but I am an optimistic person.
THANKS VERY MUCH for this tutorial on the D780...I have been using the D750 since it first came out and still happy with it, but am considering moving up to the 780 and keeping my 750 as a backup. Not looking to go mirrorless, but I admit I was looking serious;y at the D850 except for the price! :) Anyway, I appreciate this review! HG from Chicago
I have to say, from all the d780 reviews, this is the one that was as most use. I have been a D750 user since 2014 and also a D5 user. I want something in-between as my D750 just can’t give me the clarity at night of the D5, and the D850 is a lot more of a camera, but might not stretch to the night work I do. I hate that it doesn’t have a vertical shutter option, if it did I would have bought it on release, but your video has shown me there is a big reason to upgrade to the 780. And more importantly, there are improvements on the sensor over the Z6. Thank you for your comparison, has helped me make that decision of not opting for a D850 and going for the ‘lesser’ D780. I’ll just have to get used to no vertical shutter option!
If I were you, I would come back to D750. What lens did you use that you are not happy with the clarity in the night? A very good friend of mine gets a D750 and takes such nice wedding pics I remained astonished. Honestly, I wouldn't give up on D750 for D780. I had the same doubts, but I kept reading and reading reviews. I looked for those impartial reviews, honest ones. And those convinced me to buy a D750.
@@danalexandroaie3233 A year ago, I gave up on the D750 and got the D780, the D780 is sooo much better than the D750 in all but the official vertical grip. Everything else is better.
Thank you so much for this video. You put in the work to show test shots and side by side sample photo comparison. Excellent production quality and rigor. Other reviewers just rant and not show results, but you went above the crowd.
My thoughts to. Had the D780 had video and stills backup I'd have bought it. The Z cameras are just not good enough to upgrade to. If the A74 has the ergos of the A7R4 then I'm probably switching.
Mark Shirley The z6 is better than my D810 so its a lot better than the D750. I’m a pro wedding photographer and in the process of switching to the z system. Only f mount stuff I’m keeping is a D500 and the 200-400 f4. Honestly the z cameras are amazing and the z lenses are even better!
Well done! Thanks for the review Richard. One thing I would be interested in is seeing is the difference in handheld and brief walking video between a D780 VR stabilized lens and the Z6 with IBIS. I realize the Z6 will be better but this would be useful to see.
ah good point! Sorry I have already returned the D780 so can't really do a comparison right now. But will see if I have a chance to do a side by side comparison in the future! thanks for watching the video dinwa
Richard, that was an excellent piece of work. The ISO comparisons, noise, color shifts, etc. Very nice illustration with photographs. I noticed with a compliment from another viewer in their comment, you asked if you did something wrong. I guess in his country, as in mine, if you do something wrong, we just explicitly point to that. So, the compliment I started with is sincere and intended the way I put it. I can even thank you for saying ISO (eyeso and not I ass oh) or neekon instead of nycon and Zed Six instead of Zee Six) and you and I know that Nikon people visiting the USA, would mispronounce all these things, in order to stay polite to a foreigner. So let me add a contrasting piece of criticism. I don't like how you talk about sensors, as if they are very important. They are not. Look (Google) for a data logging digital thermometer for laboratory purposes. Say a Fluke 54 IIB. Now look for a matching thermocouple. The thermocouple comes in different flavors that determine temperature range, have a bit of impact on precision. Basically, the thermocouple (TC) is a piece of wire with a resistor at its end and this is a special thing in that its resistance varies with temperature. It may be optionally shielded and may optionally have a ferrite noise suppression. The big device presents the TC with a reference voltage that is precisely controlled and meters any change in resistance. The TC is analog, by the way. That resistance is analyzed in an section in the big box called Analog to Digital conversion. (AD conversion.) And the AD conversion's precision determines how many bits precision are used to determine temperature. That number of bits is not a TC quality but a quality of the big box. If it does reference voltage and resistance metering good, irrespective of temperature and the level of the battery, then this meter works very well. Now a digital camera. The sensor is like the TC. Just the difference is that it has 24 million resistors and these are not sensitive to temperature but to the level of light. Sensitive to means that it changes its resistance. As you can order TC for different temperature ranges and with different options, the same applies to sensors - this impacts ISO and dynamic range. The big Fluke box that takes care of one cell compares with the rest of the camera that takes care of the 24 million photovoltaic cells (PVC) in the sensor. In the way the Fluke box measures temperature in this single thing constantly, the camera scans the light level for each PVC in sequence. This means there is a difference in time between the first and the last PVC being metered. Which means, when you shoot a photo in an environment with a flickering light source, you can get brightness differences between first and last pixel, or a zone of the image, dependent on how fast the on/off rises and falls in the flickering. Higher MP cameras don't scan the entire sensor in one go, but run parallel PVC measurement sequences. Or, the 24MP sensor is treated as one band when the higher MP sensor are treated as several bands. And the difference in moment in time the first PVC is read from the last is called "time parallax". And note that the focal plain shutter already had time parallax, and so we can assume that the camera's computer that measures PVC must stay in sync with the focal plane shutter's opening rolling along the sensor. The camera must present a reference voltage that is consistent from the first to the last PVC measured, or else we are helixed. Note we have no pixels. A pixel has an R, G and B value and our PVC are monochrome. Each PVC (also called photosite) has a monochrome filter on top: red, green or blue. These color filters over the PVC are arranged in a regular grid, invented by Mr. Bayer. So the camera has measured all the PVC and buffered the light level for each. But these are monochrome light levels. The camera "knows" that the first cell on the first line has a red filter, and the second a green filter and that 6,000 PVC farther on the next line, the first PVC has a green filter and the second a red one. At some point, a program starts to compare light levels from the surrounding PVC in order to GUESStimate the missing green and blue values for that cell at the first coordinate. This is now repeated 24 million times. In this process, fine regular color patterns in the subject may cause strange color patterns, called Moiré, that remind of Newton rings in old color film transparencies mounted in glass frames (also called slides). Such Moiré patterns must be prevented in the first process, or removed in a second assessment of the data. The removal is called demosaicing or de-Bayerization. In some cameras, somewhere in the process, the data are reviewed for the presence of lens flaws and this leads to corrections again. When this is all done, the result is written as a raw file. For a JPEG file, the raw data are reviewed again by a program that does data compression. Here, the color profiles are applied that had been chosen with the photograph. This compression is not as simple as creating a Zip file. The camera may have been set to measure PVC resistance at 14 bits precision, but JPEGs can only have 8 bits per color channel in each pixel. So, two things need to happen: reduction in pixel depth and data compression of details in blobs in the picture. How is "sensor" relevant here? How is "the same sensor" relevant here? Between 0% and 5% relevant. What is relevant is first the hardware between the sensor and the raw file. More space and less weight constraints give more potential to build more robust reference voltage circuits and measurement circuits. Then second a determining factor is the firmware that helps to convert measurements to digital and invent pixels. One thing about generations of sensors. Older sensors have discrete AD conversion. This means the sensor is just an array of PVC with connections for the camera's mainboard. At some point a manufacturer started to integrate an AD conversion circuit on the sensor. My perception is that these newer AD-integrated sensors are all limited to 14 bits pixel depth. This means a company like Hasselblad must have an older sensor design that requires a discrete AD stage. Now don't feel embarrassed. The clever writers of the Nikon manuals make the same mistake and most reviewers in the interweb don't have a clue either. The people at Nikon who know this do not like to talk about the sensor as they buy them and don't make these themselves. If you have to explain it, they may think, it will start to live a life of its own and it may hurt us. The clever manufacturer of the sensor chips who also makes cameras now does not talk about it either because the ignorance builds their reputation as gurus of digital photography. In your case, I thought, I'd explain it to you as you do a very good job. [oh, a helix is a screw.]
Thank you for such a long in-depth reply. I guess I need a bit of time to digest all. But if I get it right you are saying sensor is just part of the equation for image quality. The processor and other steps also affect the results is that right?
@@TheRealRichardWong - yes but you are understating parts of the picture that are not sensor. Draw a block diagram of the functions in my story, hardware or software and assign what you think is the contribution of each to the "raw" file. The mainboard in the camera has dedicated circuitry for measuring a photovoltaic cell, one for a 24 MP camera, more for a camera known for banding (which is not the fault of the camera but of dimwit photographers). The analog metering is followed by AD conversion which could be discrete and autonomous or partly controlled by the CPU. We have arrived at a point where the top cameras (most expensive) in big bodies have invested a lot of money, relatively. Once the LV from all PVC - or a sufficiently large area - is measured, the image processing starts. Note that the cells in the sensor are measured by the mainboard and circuitry as the sensor is passive. The AD conversion must have circuitry to place the digital values that it derived from the analog measurement into some memory, likely dual gated so the CPU can read from it while AD conversion does its thing. And this must be multiple parallel circuits for a camera that needs to invent 30 or more MP because there is no time to do this for the whole sensor in one sequence anymore. Note that the seriously professional cameras with a flash synchronization of 1/250 sec have a lot less time to do the same thing and we must consider their MP limit in this light. Anyhow, mow AD conversion has caused or actively written LV for each PVC in a buffer. How much of this all is "sensor" where the sensor is a grid of resistors who's resistance is determined by the amount of light falling on them? The buffer for LV+color of each of the PVC now must be analyzed by the CPU on the basis of firmware. This CPU may have dedicated instructions that you would not find in a regular CPU and we can speculate that a CPU n a camera may have parts that are more like a GPU. If you understand the problem of depicting bitmapped fonts on a monitor display, you understand why TrueType and ClearType got invented and in the camera the reverse is going on in the detection of edges. Based on that, the firmware may decide to slightly alter the LV of a color channel or a whole "pixel" in order to influence the illusion of sharpness. In a mirrorless camera as well as in LiveView, the 14-bits deep RGB image must be presented to real monitor pixels. Real because a monitor pixel consists of three sub-pixels: one red, one green, one blue. But the monitor does not get anywhere near the 14-bits dynamic range. Also, the monitor has way less pixels. So, designing a camera, we might throw a JPEG machine into the mainboard that converts anything from the AD buffer into JPEG, in parallel with the raw engine, so we can send the JPEG to the camera's monitor each time we scan the sensor. How well the reduction in pixels is done, the reduction in bits, determines your impression of the eVF. If smart camera and application architects optimize along these lines into a couple parallel pipeline architectures, then we get more done in less time with less effort. Now imagine, the engine that does the viewfinder could do the JPEG file generation. Also imagine we could use a stage in the the JPEG creation for AF and image recognition. Because there is image recognition going on. Each sensor scan is analyzed for edges, edges combined to blobs and a guess is made as to what the camera sees by comparing these edge-blobs with a database. This in turn is used for automatic exposure, automatic white balance and image recognition used by e.g. face detect AF. The better you outline the block diagram, the more it becomes clear that the sensor is not even worth mentioning. About as important as the wheels of a supercar. Without wheels the car will not ride. But they are only a couple 10K on a total price of 1.5 million. If you now agree to this comparison, then we can see we get in the range I mentioned of between 0% and 5%. I'd say the wheels of a 1.5 million supercar are probably 3% of the price. Sensor. Almost insignificant.
Nice video. I'm hesiting between d780 and d850(i have an opportunity to get a d850 with just 200$ more than the d780 that s why i hésitate) can you tell me on this year for wich one should i get? For wesding portrait and low light event. Thank you
Thanks James for such detailed comparison. One thing I’m curious about the noise D780 would make under video/live view mode. The 2 of the VR lenses are 24-120G f4 VR & 70-200g F4 VR. And 24-120g makes a lot of noise with d750 when recording video.
I think you made this video for me. I've been trying hard to decide. Excellent comparison - you obviously know the cameras, the first really useful info I've found on the subject. I hope you don't mind, I posted a link to your video (on the Nikon D780 Facebook group).
Thanks Ralph! I just try to compare and answer questions I thought a lot of Nikon users would want to know. Sure thanks for sharing. Definitely don't mind sharing. Thanks
@@darekm6859 I have a D750. I also have an old Coolpix camera that I'll probably use to get the $300 tradein discount on the D780. It has enough new and improved features for me.
@@TheRealRichardWong Gone are the days when Nikon thought of users of older Nikon glass, sadly. However, engineering a screw drive into an adapter wouldn't be too difficult a task, and it is surprizing that a third party manufacturer hasn't thought of making one. As you say, it would sell very well. There is a lot of AF-D glass out there.
@@TheRealRichardWong I don't think they realize how many millions of AF-D lenses were sold, and unlike other kinds of AF systems, the screw drive AF lasts just as long as manual focus lenses. so there are millions of AF and AF-D lenses on shelves just waiting for a screw drive motor for Z-mount mirrorless to become really useful again. I can understand Nikon not wanting to make one, because they want to sell new lenses, but third parties don't need to worry about that. I wonder if, behind the scenes, Nikon is warning off the third party manufacturers, maybe not sharing needed camera AF communication IP, similar to the way Canon tried to stop third party lens manufacture? We need to keep asking. With luck, one day, someone will decide to try the needed reverse engineering. And Nikon is stupid, because I will continue to buy F-mount cameras and avoid Z-mount cameras as long as I cannot use AF-D on them in AF mode. I prefer Panasonic for video anyway. Both Canon and Nikon continue to work on the assumption that both Sony and Lumix (with their better and wider lens choices) are not there, and they will continue to watch people jump ship to alternatives that give users what they want. I jumped from Canon to MFT over two years ago, and am not going back. Nikon, though, I hang onto, because I use Nikon for 35mm film (both manual and AF) and so I will never replace my AF-D lenses, and every new Nikon camera that I buy better fully support AF-D or I ain't interested. Sorry Nikon, you lose a sale from me, and I am not the only one.
Thank you so much for this review ! What would you chose in terms of low light ability between the D780 and the D4s ? I like the D850 but 45MP is too much for me especially this high MP sensor is not optimized to shoot video
Hi there, sorry can't answer the question as it's been a long time since I last shot with a d4s. I would guess the two cameras would be very similar but it's really a guess
@@TheRealRichardWong thanks tot your reply, I really love the pro construction of the D850 but the silent live view mode on the D780 seems an amazing option to photograph classical concerts without disturbing the audience. The D850 offers a similar option but the D780 integrates an hybrid live view mode, AF seems way quicker in live view on the D780, is that right?
The Nikon D750 and Nikon D780 are both on my shopping list. The Nikon D750 first as it is alot cheaper and in like a year and a half time the Nikon D780 will be cheaper also. The Nikon Z6 I will get later down the line when XQD cards are more available
D810 user here. As far as dslr you feel the 780 is better than the 850? I want the D850 next & maybe the Z6 film makers kit & later with the 24-70 2.8 s lens dded in also. If my tax bracket was higher I would wait for Nikon to come out with S line widlife tely for their mirrorless & make the switch. Great comparison vid.
If you want high resolution I think d850 is still the king. But if you do video, want the newer features like eye autofocus, better high iso better liveview mode experience then d780 is better
The buffer on the Z6 is actually pretty small. I have the slower version XQD card from Sony (150MB/s) and I only get about 15 RAW+JPG images before I fill the buffer. The results that you are getting may be because of using the faster cards.
Not exactly surpassed d850. D850 still feel a bit more solid, has higher resolution sensor, supports fully functional battery grip.. etc. So it's not exactly a d850 replacement.
diamus100 it absolutely does not even compete on par with the D850... the D850 is a stills camera, so on this field it reigns supreme. The D780 is an appallingly minor upgrade to the D750, again in stills... for video, don’t even consider these, go full mirrorless, or even better a dedicated camcorder or blackmagic video camera.
Thank you for the great review. I have a d7000 and my telephoto lens broke, AF mode, so I’m looking on upgrading my equipment. I originally looked at the d750, but when I found out that it came out in 2014 I veered away from old technology. I’m leaning toward the d780, because I have 2 VR DX lens that will work. And with this video, you answered my questions about older lens that can fit this camera. Also when the service department opens I’ll have to get my telephoto lens repaired. (55-300mm) Enjoyed this vid keep them coming
Ola amigo, gostei demais da sua explicação, sou do Brasil... e estava muito na duvida D780 ou Z6, e agora vendo sua explicação, decido ir para a D780. Tenho muitas lentes, e não faz sentido sair da DSLR agora. Obrigado
I own a d750 but I m not happy with video. Is video AF of d780 and Z6 much more beter? I want to upgrade but i m indecide For video and stills, portret, landscapesand street life witch one is beter?
Is the D780 still relevant, given that the Z6 II with firmware 1.10 would have overcome a lot of the focusing issues with Z6? Also, is D780 due for any upgrade anytime soon? I want to upgrade from D750 but cannot get myself to give up the OVF.
I have the D750 and I think I would upgrade to the d780 unless another Dxxx comes out. I don’t need the 45 megapixels of a D850, and not sure about the Z6, I have a lot of F glass and don’t shoot video, so probably not a Z?
Richard Wong I think the Z6 is more for video? Plus I don’t want to have to start buying S lenses, I have great F glass. Z6 is cheaper then the d780, not sure why. I’ve been looking at both for a few months, I go back and forth.
No it doesn't go up/down like the older Nikon DSLR. It works pretty much the same as a z6 once you switch to liveview mode. Yes there is mech/ele shutter option for you to choose
We have the FTZ adapter, why not create a ZTF adapter? That way the D780 being that it has the same guts as the Z6, it can use Every Nikkor lens from the AI, AI-S, E, G, AF-D to the Z lenses. That would also make for the Ultimate Nikon DSLR of the future.
Hi Richard. Great review. I got the camera on day one of launch and agree completely with your review. Just a quick question. How are you able to process and show the RAW files, since LR still does not support the new NEF files. Would appreciate your guidance on this. Tq.
Hi Junaidi, since the D780 sensor is supposed to be the same (or almost the same) as the Z6 sensor, I used the tool called "Exiftool" to hack the raw file and trick Lightroom to think it's a Z6 raw file.
i have 6 lens F mount, i want shot wedding video this year for hobby, so should i sell d750 and i get or keep, and buy D780 or z6ii and sell all my favorite F lens :( i'm confius right now
I would say it's up to you if you want to buy the D780 or the Z6II. The D780 is most likely the last ever DSLR from Nikon so it's quite special. But either way, you don't need to sell your F mount lenses, they should work the same on the Z6 II, unless they are the older "AF" lens that rely on body autofocus motor.
@@TheRealRichardWong Z6ii price is like D780, autofocus for video work okay using DSLR hybrid ? If video autofocus work well smooth focus on D780, maybe I will get it... But I want too to taste The power of Z6ii huhuu but the auto focus work really well on Ftzii ? Now my mind keep asking what I want to do maybe I use 60% photo and video 40% , so what should camera I get it you think 🤔?
Ideally for best video perfomance and AF performance, you want the Z6II (or Zf actually) with the Z lens. Then would be Z6II with FTZ + F lens.. and last would be D780 with F lens. There is also a rumour Z 6 III that maybe announced very soon, as it's really due for a update.. So if you are not urgent, i would wait for that. That'll give you time to save up some money too as the Z 6II will surely be more expensive than the current Z6 II price
I am using z6 for the last 1 year. Its image quality beyond 3200 is bad. As per your review d780 is much better. Although, dpreview shows z6 & 780 has almost equivalent image quality. Pls check.
my review also said the high iso raw is virtually the same between these two cameras. High iso jpg is a bit different, not necessarily one is better but I personally prefer d780 even it's more noisy. . Only in the 6 stop raw push test the z6 is a bit better with less colour cast.
@@TheRealRichardWong Hi Wong, great video and description. Can I confirm that in raw with 6 stop push on the z6 and d780 that the z6 is better or is it the d780 better, less banding, please reconfirm as you said above that the z6 is better. ?
I was very excited about this camera until I realised it doesn't backup video. Plus one review said the rear screen wasn't very good in bright light almost unusable.
oh true about backup video. But there is a chance Nikon could make it happen with firmware upgrade? re Rear screen, I don't feel that way? At least it's at least as good if not better than the Sony A7III and Sigma DP which I was using at the same time when reviewing the D780.
@@TheRealRichardWong I really wish they would update the slots. I've a feeling it's out of Nikon's technological know-how as I don't think it is in the D780. It makes the second slot sort of only half useful.
@@markshirley01 I'm not Nikon's engineer so don't really know how hard it is, but since they can record RAW to both files, and they slots are both UHS-II, I feel it's something they technically could do. It's probably more that Nikon is still traditionally more a photo-centric company so haven't even think about doing that?
I have a bunch of recent and "old" Nikkor lenses... No need for me to go to mirrorless and spend a lot of money rebuying lenses (yes, I know there is an adapter but is not the same thing)
No lag with optical viewfinder, compatability with old AF / AF-D screw focus lenses, longer battery life, and now from this video we learn better jpegs. But there are some downsides as well (like no IBIS) . It might just come down to whether you prefer an OVF or EVF and only you can decide that.
No connector for a full functional vertical grip? Pretty poor. Who makes such crappy decisions? 1o years ago the D700 was the back up camera for the pro bodies D3 and D3x. But the D780 with such development mistakes is far beyond from that.
D780 should cost $1400 to 1600 out the gate. It's old out the door tech. They are not fooling me with this crap. Buy a used D750 if you are still hanging on to Nikon.
Are you a Nikon user? Would you be interested in upgrading to the D780? Or you would choose the Z6/7 instead and why?
I agree with you that D780 with hybrid OVF/EVF would be perfect. I want EVF but I don't want to fool around with an adapter for my F lenses. How much difference does the Z6 joystick make?
Ralph, I personally never really like the joystick and dont really find it a big improvement compare to the direction pad. But that's just me. yeah maybe one day we will see a hybrid finder. Oh and thanks for watching the whole 30 mins video till the end!
I am a nikon user.. I just letting go my D750 and plan to have Z6 .. yet since D780 coming out ..I am now in a fence , doubt in getting Z6 or D780 .. infact I am still having my D810 now🙃🙂
@@darekm6859 Definitely recommend try out the 24-70 2.8 S.. go borrow, loan or steal one for a week and see whether you like it or not. The biggest advantage of the Z camera in my opinion is the new lens mount which seems to allow Nikon to create much better lenses.
the continuous af of d780 for video will be noisy coz of af-s lens it's one of the reason that's holding me back on upgrading to d780
Getting back into photography after nearly 10 years and seeing all these newer cameras is so interesting. I would love to upgrade my old D300s to a D780. My old friend still going strong though.
Even though I think the Z series is the future for Nikon, I believe that if they would have put the IBIS in the D780 and put the autofocus points from the D5, the D780 would have been Nikon's best DSLR of all times.
Ahhhh .. Nikon had to leave some features out for the future D790 .. Lol .
@Mr Tech Exactly .. Lol .. This camera will probably come down in price pretty quickly like the "ill received" D7500. Most people seem like they can't be bothered with the "upgrade" unless they really need the extra ISO (especially with that introductory price). The current $300. off plus "take any trade-in camera" offer is already proof of that. I guess the marketing dept is trying to get the field somewhat "seeded" with the early takers. Once this thing really comes down in price by the Summer sales or Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals then it might be worth a 2nd look.
John Roth totally agree. I would have bought it in a heartbeat
They could be saving that for an upgrade for the d850 body.
They did it in the d6
I just upgraded from D750 to D780 :) i'm excited
wohoo James, congrats!!
@@TheRealRichardWong Thanks I agnoised over the Z Series and d850 but the d780 seemed the right choice.
@@JamesStonley how is it bro
@@ryantaylor5843 I don;'t use it as much because i use the Z6II but it's still a great camera
I’m more than happy with my D780!
Me too
Excellent work. Thank you. I've wondered about how the image sensors of D750 and D780 would compare at higher ISO settings. I think you nailed it. I also thought your comparison between D780 and Z6 was very informative.
Excellent review! I own both the Z and F mount gear. Both have their place. I purchased the new D780 for long distance travel due to the much superior battery life over my Z6 an Z7. The D780 appears to be a very underrated camera and I hope that it catches on.
It's still a very new camera, i have a feeling when more people get their hands on the camera and realise what it's capable of, it will be more and more popular
Have watched a couple of your video's and I like your no rubbish approach. Still searching my options.
Thank you very much
I have been watching comparison reviews for D780, and yours by far has the best test.
Wow, thanks Jonathan ! :D
Richard, this is a fantastic and very thorough comparison. Your visual comparison is very helpful to anyone thinking about the D780, Z6 or D750. Thank you for posting this!
Thank you for watching! Glad to hear the video is helpful 😊
Great video, I can see you passion for photography! I better start saving for a D780! Been casually shooting for a year or two, and it's time to upgrade from my d5600. Many thanks Richard!
Thanks for watching Gabriel!! Enjoy the D780 (when you got it!)
Best review of this camera l have seen well done Richard. Also great comparison with the D750 and Z6.
Didn't know you were an old Nikon shooter BTW. Makes your insights all the more valuable.
Thanks Peter!
I agree, excellent and interesting review.
One of the best and most fair comparisons between Z and F systems and of course about the D780 available. This video should have more views!
Thank you very much Christian :)
This is such a great review. Thank you for providing so much information about your analysis of these three cameras and the two Nikon systems.
Richard, I'm coming to this consideration of D780 vs. Z6. Your video is very helpful. I'm considering switching from Canon, after picking up a Nikon D7500. All the theoretical benefits of mirrorless seem like pluses to me, especially the IBIS and the Z mount's better lenses quality. Except, i still feel drawn to the D780. Decisions decisions!
D780 robust
same here
Just found this video and thank you because you've answered some things I have been trying to find online around the low light capabilities of the D780. I am looking to upgrade from D5600 to a new camera and can't decide and I think this might have answered it for me.
What did you end up getting?
Great review. Thank you for ISO examples. Personally for me it is a torture to shoot with mirrorless cameras. They are just too small. Been there, try it and I have to say I love my DSLR cameras.
Yes some like big camera some like small. Pick whatever you like and enjoy photography
Yes I like bigger💥❤️780
Thanks for your video review. I went with the D780 as a work horse camera and I am not disappointed for portrait and product photos. However, I got a Z5 for personal travel and general walkaround. This was a good compromise. However I may sell the Z5 at some point to upgrade to Z6ii, however I will also keep the D780 as I like its handling for professional work. I just like the Z cameras for outdoor travel cameras. Lots of pros have more than one camera.
Great video! Exactly what I was looking for! That being said I would have loved some ISO comparisons at 3200 and 6400 as those tend to be the highest I ever shoot with. Thank you though!
Awesome comparison. Can you also do 780 vs z6 ii?
The extra EVF for the D780 it's the best idea I've heard. It would be a great accessory. Great review Richard!
Nino Thanks! 👍
Best real-life D780 review around right now !!
Thank you!! Glad you like it :)
you just sold me the d780 switching from my d610. Really pleasing to watch your review. Structured but smooth. And really loved the part where you mentioned the old love for DSLRs. Subscribed and liked. Looking forward for more content =)
Thank you! Glad you like the review. Not sure if your wallet would thank me but I am sure you will enjoy it a lot :)
There are inexpensive magnifiers like the Tarion TR-V2 that can attach to your LCD display that essentially turn it into a mirrorless viewfinder. It makes shooting video with my Nikon D750 so much easier. No need to buy a separate (and expensive) monitor or EVF.
Thanks for this. Your breakdown of the iso and exposure was interesting.
oh why is it interesting? is it something i did wrong? or ? Would love to hear more feedback!
Shockingly good. This could easily be a primary pro camera for another 5-10 years, or until smartphones and laptops are all 16K resolution. Great video!
It definitely could be. D750 is 5 years old and still being used as pro camera around the world.
The funny thing is, I was shooting weddings with 36MP camera back in 2014. But now in 2020, my highest resolution camera is only 24MP.
This was the best review of this camera I've seen so far. It is also the longest review. (:
But will all that I feel like the D780 would be a great camera purchase for me. Thank you Mr. Wong.
Thanks for watching Ricky! :)
@@TheRealRichardWong Of course!
The best review ever! my only concern about the D780 is the small AF coverage through the optical viewfinder :-(
Hi, I have a Nikon D700 which I really love. I was thinking to upgrade to Nikon D850, then I changed my mind to Nikon D780 thinking it may have better autofocus on video than D850. Which doesn't happen. Both D850 and D780 have medium autofocus on video. Reading more carefully reviews on D750 and also listening a friend of mine opinion on D750, I finally decided to get a D750. I know it may be a risk with the shutter, but I am an optimistic person.
THANKS VERY MUCH for this tutorial on the D780...I have been using the D750 since it first came out and still happy with it, but am considering moving up to the 780
and keeping my 750 as a backup. Not looking to go mirrorless, but I admit I was looking serious;y at the D850 except for the price! :) Anyway, I appreciate this review! HG from Chicago
Great to hear! Thank you!
I have to say, from all the d780 reviews, this is the one that was as most use.
I have been a D750 user since 2014 and also a D5 user. I want something in-between as my D750 just can’t give me the clarity at night of the D5, and the D850 is a lot more of a camera, but might not stretch to the night work I do.
I hate that it doesn’t have a vertical shutter option, if it did I would have bought it on release, but your video has shown me there is a big reason to upgrade to the 780. And more importantly, there are improvements on the sensor over the Z6.
Thank you for your comparison, has helped me make that decision of not opting for a D850 and going for the ‘lesser’ D780.
I’ll just have to get used to no vertical shutter option!
Glad the video is helpful! You will enjoy the d780 for sure :)
If I were you, I would come back to D750. What lens did you use that you are not happy with the clarity in the night? A very good friend of mine gets a D750 and takes such nice wedding pics I remained astonished. Honestly, I wouldn't give up on D750 for D780. I had the same doubts, but I kept reading and reading reviews. I looked for those impartial reviews, honest ones. And those convinced me to buy a D750.
@@danalexandroaie3233 A year ago, I gave up on the D750 and got the D780, the D780 is sooo much better than the D750 in all but the official vertical grip. Everything else is better.
Glad I waited...almost got the D750...2014??? Nah...Ill pass..get the D780! Great review!! Thanks for sharing!!!
Thank you so much for this video. You put in the work to show test shots and side by side sample photo comparison. Excellent production quality and rigor. Other reviewers just rant and not show results, but you went above the crowd.
Glad you enjoyed it Kim! And really glad you appreciate the efforts I put in :)
El mejor reviews / comparación de todo RUclips! Muchisimas gracias por hacerlo posible.
Thank you
Nice detail review, i would still wait for another z mirrorless camera., still happy with D750.
Thanks for watching Singh
My thoughts to. Had the D780 had video and stills backup I'd have bought it. The Z cameras are just not good enough to upgrade to. If the A74 has the ergos of the A7R4 then I'm probably switching.
@@markshirley01 exactly.
Mark Shirley The z6 is better than my D810 so its a lot better than the D750. I’m a pro wedding photographer and in the process of switching to the z system. Only f mount stuff I’m keeping is a D500 and the 200-400 f4. Honestly the z cameras are amazing and the z lenses are even better!
@@Yosser70 Size have huge advantage of z series cameras, but for actions nothing beats D500, still appealing to me for wildlife.
Well done! Thanks for the review Richard. One thing I would be interested in is seeing is the difference in handheld and brief walking video between a D780 VR stabilized lens and the Z6 with IBIS. I realize the Z6 will be better but this would be useful to see.
ah good point! Sorry I have already returned the D780 so can't really do a comparison right now. But will see if I have a chance to do a side by side comparison in the future! thanks for watching the video dinwa
Rock solid review. Great work Richard!
Thank you Bill!
Richard, that was an excellent piece of work. The ISO comparisons, noise, color shifts, etc. Very nice illustration with photographs. I noticed with a compliment from another viewer in their comment, you asked if you did something wrong. I guess in his country, as in mine, if you do something wrong, we just explicitly point to that. So, the compliment I started with is sincere and intended the way I put it. I can even thank you for saying ISO (eyeso and not I ass oh) or neekon instead of nycon and Zed Six instead of Zee Six) and you and I know that Nikon people visiting the USA, would mispronounce all these things, in order to stay polite to a foreigner.
So let me add a contrasting piece of criticism. I don't like how you talk about sensors, as if they are very important. They are not. Look (Google) for a data logging digital thermometer for laboratory purposes. Say a Fluke 54 IIB. Now look for a matching thermocouple. The thermocouple comes in different flavors that determine temperature range, have a bit of impact on precision. Basically, the thermocouple (TC) is a piece of wire with a resistor at its end and this is a special thing in that its resistance varies with temperature. It may be optionally shielded and may optionally have a ferrite noise suppression. The big device presents the TC with a reference voltage that is precisely controlled and meters any change in resistance. The TC is analog, by the way. That resistance is analyzed in an section in the big box called Analog to Digital conversion. (AD conversion.) And the AD conversion's precision determines how many bits precision are used to determine temperature. That number of bits is not a TC quality but a quality of the big box. If it does reference voltage and resistance metering good, irrespective of temperature and the level of the battery, then this meter works very well.
Now a digital camera. The sensor is like the TC. Just the difference is that it has 24 million resistors and these are not sensitive to temperature but to the level of light. Sensitive to means that it changes its resistance.
As you can order TC for different temperature ranges and with different options, the same applies to sensors - this impacts ISO and dynamic range. The big Fluke box that takes care of one cell compares with the rest of the camera that takes care of the 24 million photovoltaic cells (PVC) in the sensor. In the way the Fluke box measures temperature in this single thing constantly, the camera scans the light level for each PVC in sequence. This means there is a difference in time between the first and the last PVC being metered. Which means, when you shoot a photo in an environment with a flickering light source, you can get brightness differences between first and last pixel, or a zone of the image, dependent on how fast the on/off rises and falls in the flickering. Higher MP cameras don't scan the entire sensor in one go, but run parallel PVC measurement sequences. Or, the 24MP sensor is treated as one band when the higher MP sensor are treated as several bands. And the difference in moment in time the first PVC is read from the last is called "time parallax". And note that the focal plain shutter already had time parallax, and so we can assume that the camera's computer that measures PVC must stay in sync with the focal plane shutter's opening rolling along the sensor.
The camera must present a reference voltage that is consistent from the first to the last PVC measured, or else we are helixed. Note we have no pixels. A pixel has an R, G and B value and our PVC are monochrome. Each PVC (also called photosite) has a monochrome filter on top: red, green or blue. These color filters over the PVC are arranged in a regular grid, invented by Mr. Bayer. So the camera has measured all the PVC and buffered the light level for each. But these are monochrome light levels. The camera "knows" that the first cell on the first line has a red filter, and the second a green filter and that 6,000 PVC farther on the next line, the first PVC has a green filter and the second a red one. At some point, a program starts to compare light levels from the surrounding PVC in order to GUESStimate the missing green and blue values for that cell at the first coordinate. This is now repeated 24 million times. In this process, fine regular color patterns in the subject may cause strange color patterns, called Moiré, that remind of Newton rings in old color film transparencies mounted in glass frames (also called slides). Such Moiré patterns must be prevented in the first process, or removed in a second assessment of the data. The removal is called demosaicing or de-Bayerization. In some cameras, somewhere in the process, the data are reviewed for the presence of lens flaws and this leads to corrections again. When this is all done, the result is written as a raw file. For a JPEG file, the raw data are reviewed again by a program that does data compression. Here, the color profiles are applied that had been chosen with the photograph. This compression is not as simple as creating a Zip file. The camera may have been set to measure PVC resistance at 14 bits precision, but JPEGs can only have 8 bits per color channel in each pixel. So, two things need to happen: reduction in pixel depth and data compression of details in blobs in the picture. How is "sensor" relevant here? How is "the same sensor" relevant here? Between 0% and 5% relevant. What is relevant is first the hardware between the sensor and the raw file. More space and less weight constraints give more potential to build more robust reference voltage circuits and measurement circuits. Then second a determining factor is the firmware that helps to convert measurements to digital and invent pixels. One thing about generations of sensors. Older sensors have discrete AD conversion. This means the sensor is just an array of PVC with connections for the camera's mainboard. At some point a manufacturer started to integrate an AD conversion circuit on the sensor. My perception is that these newer AD-integrated sensors are all limited to 14 bits pixel depth. This means a company like Hasselblad must have an older sensor design that requires a discrete AD stage.
Now don't feel embarrassed. The clever writers of the Nikon manuals make the same mistake and most reviewers in the interweb don't have a clue either. The people at Nikon who know this do not like to talk about the sensor as they buy them and don't make these themselves. If you have to explain it, they may think, it will start to live a life of its own and it may hurt us. The clever manufacturer of the sensor chips who also makes cameras now does not talk about it either because the ignorance builds their reputation as gurus of digital photography. In your case, I thought, I'd explain it to you as you do a very good job.
[oh, a helix is a screw.]
Thank you for such a long in-depth reply. I guess I need a bit of time to digest all. But if I get it right you are saying sensor is just part of the equation for image quality. The processor and other steps also affect the results is that right?
@@TheRealRichardWong - yes but you are understating parts of the picture that are not sensor. Draw a block diagram of the functions in my story, hardware or software and assign what you think is the contribution of each to the "raw" file. The mainboard in the camera has dedicated circuitry for measuring a photovoltaic cell, one for a 24 MP camera, more for a camera known for banding (which is not the fault of the camera but of dimwit photographers). The analog metering is followed by AD conversion which could be discrete and autonomous or partly controlled by the CPU. We have arrived at a point where the top cameras (most expensive) in big bodies have invested a lot of money, relatively. Once the LV from all PVC - or a sufficiently large area - is measured, the image processing starts. Note that the cells in the sensor are measured by the mainboard and circuitry as the sensor is passive. The AD conversion must have circuitry to place the digital values that it derived from the analog measurement into some memory, likely dual gated so the CPU can read from it while AD conversion does its thing. And this must be multiple parallel circuits for a camera that needs to invent 30 or more MP because there is no time to do this for the whole sensor in one sequence anymore. Note that the seriously professional cameras with a flash synchronization of 1/250 sec have a lot less time to do the same thing and we must consider their MP limit in this light. Anyhow, mow AD conversion has caused or actively written LV for each PVC in a buffer. How much of this all is "sensor" where the sensor is a grid of resistors who's resistance is determined by the amount of light falling on them?
The buffer for LV+color of each of the PVC now must be analyzed by the CPU on the basis of firmware. This CPU may have dedicated instructions that you would not find in a regular CPU and we can speculate that a CPU n a camera may have parts that are more like a GPU. If you understand the problem of depicting bitmapped fonts on a monitor display, you understand why TrueType and ClearType got invented and in the camera the reverse is going on in the detection of edges. Based on that, the firmware may decide to slightly alter the LV of a color channel or a whole "pixel" in order to influence the illusion of sharpness. In a mirrorless camera as well as in LiveView, the 14-bits deep RGB image must be presented to real monitor pixels. Real because a monitor pixel consists of three sub-pixels: one red, one green, one blue. But the monitor does not get anywhere near the 14-bits dynamic range. Also, the monitor has way less pixels. So, designing a camera, we might throw a JPEG machine into the mainboard that converts anything from the AD buffer into JPEG, in parallel with the raw engine, so we can send the JPEG to the camera's monitor each time we scan the sensor. How well the reduction in pixels is done, the reduction in bits, determines your impression of the eVF. If smart camera and application architects optimize along these lines into a couple parallel pipeline architectures, then we get more done in less time with less effort. Now imagine, the engine that does the viewfinder could do the JPEG file generation. Also imagine we could use a stage in the the JPEG creation for AF and image recognition. Because there is image recognition going on. Each sensor scan is analyzed for edges, edges combined to blobs and a guess is made as to what the camera sees by comparing these edge-blobs with a database. This in turn is used for automatic exposure, automatic white balance and image recognition used by e.g. face detect AF. The better you outline the block diagram, the more it becomes clear that the sensor is not even worth mentioning. About as important as the wheels of a supercar. Without wheels the car will not ride. But they are only a couple 10K on a total price of 1.5 million. If you now agree to this comparison, then we can see we get in the range I mentioned of between 0% and 5%. I'd say the wheels of a 1.5 million supercar are probably 3% of the price. Sensor. Almost insignificant.
Nice video.
I'm hesiting between d780 and d850(i have an opportunity to get a d850 with just 200$ more than the d780 that s why i hésitate) can you tell me on this year for wich one should i get? For wesding portrait and low light event.
Thank you
Hello. what do you think about buying a nikon d780 with a tamron 24-70 2.8 g2? I was thinking about z6 but I'm not entirely convinced
Thank you for a very good review!
Thank you for watching ❤️
Thanks James for such detailed comparison. One thing I’m curious about the noise D780 would make under video/live view mode. The 2 of the VR lenses are 24-120G f4 VR & 70-200g F4 VR. And 24-120g makes a lot of noise with d750 when recording video.
The autofocus noise from the F mount lenses is definitely quite loud. You can hear it if you using the builtin mic to record audio
Fantastic review. Subscribed.
With the D780 you can change the aperture settings in live view?
Fantastic and very thorough and informative! 👍👍👍👍👏🏻😁✌🏻📷
Hey im user of Nikon D750.
I think you made this video for me. I've been trying hard to decide. Excellent comparison - you obviously know the cameras, the first really useful info I've found on the subject. I hope you don't mind, I posted a link to your video (on the Nikon D780 Facebook group).
Thanks Ralph! I just try to compare and answer questions I thought a lot of Nikon users would want to know. Sure thanks for sharing. Definitely don't mind sharing. Thanks
@@darekm6859 I have a D750. I also have an old Coolpix camera that I'll probably use to get the $300 tradein discount on the D780. It has enough new and improved features for me.
exactly what i needed to see. thank you! :)
Glad it helped!
Regarding the buffer on continuos shooting; did you have the correct UHS-ll cards in place? Mine hasn't had any problems...
I was not using the fastest card in the market, but it's a UHS-II card
D810 is working perfectly fine still after year's.
Great to hear Jason!
The D810 is indeed a beast! I think maybe the D850 betas it on pure image quality, but the casual shooter would never see this
I would love to see an adapter for Z-mount that has a screw AF motor built in so we could have full use of AF-D lenses on mirrorless.
me too. if such an adaptor was released a few years ago, i think it would sell really well.
@@TheRealRichardWong Gone are the days when Nikon thought of users of older Nikon glass, sadly. However, engineering a screw drive into an adapter wouldn't be too difficult a task, and it is surprizing that a third party manufacturer hasn't thought of making one. As you say, it would sell very well. There is a lot of AF-D glass out there.
I've suggested that to a few companies and many of my contacts too. But nobody seems interested :(
@@TheRealRichardWong I don't think they realize how many millions of AF-D lenses were sold, and unlike other kinds of AF systems, the screw drive AF lasts just as long as manual focus lenses. so there are millions of AF and AF-D lenses on shelves just waiting for a screw drive motor for Z-mount mirrorless to become really useful again. I can understand Nikon not wanting to make one, because they want to sell new lenses, but third parties don't need to worry about that.
I wonder if, behind the scenes, Nikon is warning off the third party manufacturers, maybe not sharing needed camera AF communication IP, similar to the way Canon tried to stop third party lens manufacture?
We need to keep asking. With luck, one day, someone will decide to try the needed reverse engineering.
And Nikon is stupid, because I will continue to buy F-mount cameras and avoid Z-mount cameras as long as I cannot use AF-D on them in AF mode. I prefer Panasonic for video anyway. Both Canon and Nikon continue to work on the assumption that both Sony and Lumix (with their better and wider lens choices) are not there, and they will continue to watch people jump ship to alternatives that give users what they want.
I jumped from Canon to MFT over two years ago, and am not going back. Nikon, though, I hang onto, because I use Nikon for 35mm film (both manual and AF) and so I will never replace my AF-D lenses, and every new Nikon camera that I buy better fully support AF-D or I ain't interested.
Sorry Nikon, you lose a sale from me, and I am not the only one.
Thank you so much for this review ! What would you chose in terms of low light ability between the D780 and the D4s ? I like the D850 but 45MP is too much for me especially this high MP sensor is not optimized to shoot video
Hi there, sorry can't answer the question as it's been a long time since I last shot with a d4s. I would guess the two cameras would be very similar but it's really a guess
@@TheRealRichardWong thanks tot your reply, I really love the pro construction of the D850 but the silent live view mode on the D780 seems an amazing option to photograph classical concerts without disturbing the audience. The D850 offers a similar option but the D780 integrates an hybrid live view mode, AF seems way quicker in live view on the D780, is that right?
The Nikon D750 and Nikon D780 are both on my shopping list. The Nikon D750 first as it is alot cheaper and in like a year and a half time the Nikon D780 will be cheaper also.
The Nikon Z6 I will get later down the line when XQD cards are more available
It helped me to select D780.
D810 user here. As far as dslr you feel the 780 is better than the 850? I want the D850 next & maybe the Z6 film makers kit & later with the 24-70 2.8 s lens dded in also. If my tax bracket was higher I would wait for Nikon to come out with S line widlife tely for their mirrorless & make the switch. Great comparison vid.
If you want high resolution I think d850 is still the king. But if you do video, want the newer features like eye autofocus, better high iso better liveview mode experience then d780 is better
@@TheRealRichardWong Thanks for getting back.
The buffer on the Z6 is actually pretty small. I have the slower version XQD card from Sony (150MB/s) and I only get about 15 RAW+JPG images before I fill the buffer. The results that you are getting may be because of using the faster cards.
Peter oh Ok . I am not using a very fast card. (The normal Sony one) but got much much higher than that
Thanks for this helpful review. Has the D780 surpassed the D850? If so, why is it not called the D870?
Not exactly surpassed d850. D850 still feel a bit more solid, has higher resolution sensor, supports fully functional battery grip.. etc. So it's not exactly a d850 replacement.
diamus100 it absolutely does not even compete on par with the D850... the D850 is a stills camera, so on this field it reigns supreme. The D780 is an appallingly minor upgrade to the D750, again in stills... for video, don’t even consider these, go full mirrorless, or even better a dedicated camcorder or blackmagic video camera.
If i remember correctly my D200 had the battery grip that used the Battery holder to opporate camera
Thank you for the great review.
I have a d7000 and my telephoto lens broke, AF mode, so I’m looking on upgrading my equipment. I originally looked at the d750, but when I found out that it came out in 2014 I veered away from old technology. I’m leaning toward the d780, because I have 2 VR DX lens that will work. And with this video, you answered my questions about older lens that can fit this camera.
Also when the service department opens I’ll have to get my telephoto lens repaired. (55-300mm)
Enjoyed this vid keep them coming
Ola amigo, gostei demais da sua explicação, sou do Brasil... e estava muito na duvida D780 ou Z6, e agora vendo sua explicação, decido ir para a D780. Tenho muitas lentes, e não faz sentido sair da DSLR agora. Obrigado
e então, sempre comprou a D780 ?
Excellent video. Thank you.
thank you!
I own a d750 but I m not happy with video.
Is video AF of d780 and Z6 much more beter?
I want to upgrade but i m indecide
For video and stills, portret, landscapesand street life witch one is beter?
Z6's video AF is much much much better!
@@TheRealRichardWong also much much beter for photography or only video?
With firmware 2.0, you should get much more than 5.5 fps on the Z6 with autofocus and AE.
yes good point!! (even though that's still with electronic shutter which is not really good for most action photos)
@@TheRealRichardWong You should be able to shoot 12-bit at a higher frame rate with the mechanical shutter.
Would you see the Z6 is enough for tracking the kids
D780 for me. DSLR’s for life!
Is the D780 still relevant, given that the Z6 II with firmware 1.10 would have overcome a lot of the focusing issues with Z6? Also, is D780 due for any upgrade anytime soon? I want to upgrade from D750 but cannot get myself to give up the OVF.
Relevant of course. As you said. Some people prefer the OVF and the d780 is the best hybrid of DSLR and mirrorless tech from nikon
Does the d780 have a low pass filter?
I have the D750 and I think I would upgrade to the d780 unless another Dxxx comes out. I don’t need the 45 megapixels of a D850, and not sure about the Z6, I have a lot of F glass and don’t shoot video, so probably not a Z?
Hi Nancy Why not sure about the z6?
Richard Wong I think the Z6 is more for video? Plus I don’t want to have to start buying S lenses, I have great F glass. Z6 is cheaper then the d780, not sure why. I’ve been looking at both for a few months, I go back and forth.
Does the mirror go down each shot when taking D780 LV photos like the D750? Are there LV option for mechanical or electronic shutter?
No it doesn't go up/down like the older Nikon DSLR. It works pretty much the same as a z6 once you switch to liveview mode. Yes there is mech/ele shutter option for you to choose
We have the FTZ adapter, why not create a ZTF adapter? That way the D780 being that it has the same guts as the Z6, it can use Every Nikkor lens from the AI, AI-S, E, G, AF-D to the Z lenses.
That would also make for the Ultimate Nikon DSLR of the future.
Because of the flange distance of the Z mount is much shorter, it is not possible to create a ZTF adaptor and retain infinity focus
Didn't have time to watch the full review. How do low light pictures compare between the D780 and Z6?
Which one would suit the best for Real Estate and which lens would suit it
I would say Z6 because of it's much better liveview implementation. Re lens, it's much harder, there are soo many lenses for differnet needs
Hi Richard. Great review. I got the camera on day one of launch and agree completely with your review. Just a quick question. How are you able to process and show the RAW files, since LR still does not support the new NEF files. Would appreciate your guidance on this. Tq.
Hi Junaidi, since the D780 sensor is supposed to be the same (or almost the same) as the Z6 sensor, I used the tool called "Exiftool" to hack the raw file and trick Lightroom to think it's a Z6 raw file.
I have a Z6 and I hope to sell it soon cause I want to pass to D780.
The Z6 is ok but Z lenses inmy opinion are just trash
i have 6 lens F mount, i want shot wedding video this year for hobby, so should i sell d750 and i get or keep, and buy D780 or z6ii and sell all my favorite F lens :( i'm confius right now
I would say it's up to you if you want to buy the D780 or the Z6II. The D780 is most likely the last ever DSLR from Nikon so it's quite special.
But either way, you don't need to sell your F mount lenses, they should work the same on the Z6 II, unless they are the older "AF" lens that rely on body autofocus motor.
@@TheRealRichardWong Z6ii price is like D780, autofocus for video work okay using DSLR hybrid ? If video autofocus work well smooth focus on D780, maybe I will get it... But I want too to taste The power of Z6ii huhuu but the auto focus work really well on Ftzii ? Now my mind keep asking what I want to do maybe I use 60% photo and video 40% , so what should camera I get it you think 🤔?
Ideally for best video perfomance and AF performance, you want the Z6II (or Zf actually) with the Z lens. Then would be Z6II with FTZ + F lens.. and last would be D780 with F lens.
There is also a rumour Z 6 III that maybe announced very soon, as it's really due for a update.. So if you are not urgent, i would wait for that. That'll give you time to save up some money too as the Z 6II will surely be more expensive than the current Z6 II price
I am using z6 for the last 1 year. Its image quality beyond 3200 is bad. As per your review d780 is much better. Although, dpreview shows z6 & 780 has almost equivalent image quality. Pls check.
my review also said the high iso raw is virtually the same between these two cameras. High iso jpg is a bit different, not necessarily one is better but I personally prefer d780 even it's more noisy. . Only in the 6 stop raw push test the z6 is a bit better with less colour cast.
@@TheRealRichardWong Your 780 high ISO jpegs are much better but. dpreview shows almost similar.
@@TheRealRichardWong Hi Wong, great video and description. Can I confirm that in raw with 6 stop push on the z6 and d780 that the z6 is better or is it the d780 better, less banding, please reconfirm as you said above that the z6 is better. ?
Man I love that Baby Ackbar shirt!
haha yes I love it too :D
Great video ...
Thank you and thanks for watching Haim!
Excellent review. Thank you
Thank you Sammy!
d780 or 850? Mr. Wong, what do you think?
850 if you need resolution, otherwise the D780 is better i think
@@TheRealRichardWong thanks a lot, great informative video
All the D780 needed was a battery grip option, then it would have been a “legend.” Which is, a D750 replacement.
I was very excited about this camera until I realised it doesn't backup video. Plus one review said the rear screen wasn't very good in bright light almost unusable.
oh true about backup video. But there is a chance Nikon could make it happen with firmware upgrade?
re Rear screen, I don't feel that way? At least it's at least as good if not better than the Sony A7III and Sigma DP which I was using at the same time when reviewing the D780.
@@TheRealRichardWong I really wish they would update the slots. I've a feeling it's out of Nikon's technological know-how as I don't think it is in the D780. It makes the second slot sort of only half useful.
@Back And Fort had the Z6 or D780 backed up my work is be happy with either. As it stands I'll probably get a Sony.
Mark Shirley probably in 2030 !!😂
@@markshirley01 I'm not Nikon's engineer so don't really know how hard it is, but since they can record RAW to both files, and they slots are both UHS-II, I feel it's something they technically could do. It's probably more that Nikon is still traditionally more a photo-centric company so haven't even think about doing that?
I have a bunch of recent and "old" Nikkor lenses... No need for me to go to mirrorless and spend a lot of money rebuying lenses (yes, I know there is an adapter but is not the same thing)
If you do have the older manual focus nikkor lenses, the evf on the Z is a good reason to upgrade
Thank you .. its a great review ..
Thank you for watching!
Although all the advantages of live view on the D780 mean that you need to hold your DSLR like a phone...
Good point El!
That's why I was hoping to have an optional evf attachment (at the end of the video)
Richard Wong I get it but at the end of the day, I prefer my Z6 than my D750. Never going back :) Keep the great videos Richard!
@@eldiabolico3750 Thank you! Yeah I love my Z6 too. Thanks for watching and the comments! :)
Great review, Could you advise how is d780 compare to Z6 for sports?
D780 has better autofocus for sports. But z6 has bigger buffer for raw shooter
D780 vs D750 much darker look at the black and silver like they boosted the contrast
Is there a difference between the D780 and the D750 at 100iso?
Unless you push 6 stops in postprocessing.. but otherwise the difference if may would be so small that is virtually zero
you are paid from Nikon so that we buy the new mirrorless cameras, tha are not so good as the old dslr
does it have WYSIWYG from live view ?
Yes it does.
What are advantages of 780 over z6?
No lag with optical viewfinder, compatability with old AF / AF-D screw focus lenses, longer battery life, and now from this video we learn better jpegs. But there are some downsides as well (like no IBIS) . It might just come down to whether you prefer an OVF or EVF and only you can decide that.
780. And 6 years later: z6 mark 3
No connector for a full functional vertical grip? Pretty poor. Who makes such crappy decisions? 1o years ago the D700 was the back up camera for the pro bodies D3 and D3x. But the D780 with such development mistakes is far beyond from that.
RUclipsrs getting kickback to make consumers switch to mirrorless…. Lol. Everything is going to have a limitation, to include mirrorless.
Why is the comparison based on jpg? wtf
Hmmm.. there are jpg AND Raw comparisons in this review?
give the RAW files. Because dpreview.com has different results
D780 should cost $1400 to 1600 out the gate. It's old out the door tech. They are not fooling me with this crap. Buy a used D750 if you are still hanging on to Nikon.
This guy blinks everytime he talks.
D780 is a great camera, but most people don't like the product naming with 3 digit numbers, which is often perceived as a budget model.
I went from the D70 (2 digits) to the D7000 (4 digits) to the D750 (3 digits). For sure, nobody thinks the D850 is a budget model?
@@ralphwatson7036 Canon users and normal people who are not into gear a lot would think that.
Da fuq you taking about? That makes no damn sense.
@Back And Fort indeed.
Jpeg on a $2000+ camera? 😬