As a hardcore Sony user, I intend to purchase the Nikon ZF as my everyday shooter. I love my Sony cameras, and for work they are so far the best. But I find the ZF is able to slow down the photography process, and make me think of what I want to shoot. After renting the ZF for 3 days, it brings back those feelings of being a student photographer again, and like you, I shot in B&W. loved that experience.
Yes that’s my use case too! The other Nikon bodies haven’t evoked the same feeling, they’re really onto something with the ZF. I am also very impressed with their f1.8 S primes plus manual focus experience. What lenses do you have in your kit?
The 40 is a great lens! The 50mm f1.8 and 85mm f1.8 are amazing optically but quite a bit bigger. Adapting manual glass will be my next challenge, thanks for watching
Really enjoyed this video thanks. The immovable mind is a really interesting concept. As someone with ADHD, my mind will never be immovable. But that’s ok. What you’re describing here with your techniques aren’t ways to have an immovable mind, but coping skills that recognize that you will never have one. I love that.
Fantastic videos Jack, I've recently found your channel and have watched all your videos. Love the meaning/story telling behind your videos and the production. A lot of you resonates with me (I was also a scientist and street is my preferred genre of photography) and I hope to continue to watching and hearing more of your insights.
A fellow scientist! Great to hear from you, thanks for commenting. What have you been up to since leaving science in one way or another (if you don’t mind me asking)? Always interested to hear about other scientific pathways
The quality of your videos makes me speechless! Your videos are alle about photography it seems. But they gives me so much more... I hope that you keep creating because I'll keep watching.
Photography is a conversation starter for all the big issues in our creative community. Thank you so much for watching and your feedback - more to come soon!
great video and great images. Im a canon fanboy and hope canon comes out with either a medium format or retro camera or both, now that would be awesome. I'm the opposite, i turn off the viewfinder and only use the back lcd screen to compose as my vision is getting worse as i age
Interesting! I do get a lot of shots shooting from the hip with the LCD, but still prefer the viewfinder experience. I think you would be a lot more discrete as an LCD shooter - I found that out the hard way filming myself shooting in the streets. That’s the topic for next week’s video, thanks for watching!
Have you tried shooting with a Leica Monochrom? I bought an old M246 and it's been a great experience. The limitations are what make the camera special!
I tweak everything to taste but Nikon ‘s deep monochrome looks great! Can get away with SOOC unless you are very fussy (like me unfortunately). Thank you for watching!
Great video Jack! Philosophically and in terms of image quality, what do u feel are the differences between shooting with a Leica system vs Nikon Zf (with manual focus lenses)? I’ve been contemplating getting a M10, but also thinking about the ZF with old Nikkor AIS lenses or the z mount Voightlander manual focus lenses.
Thanks Andrew! Image quality wise the M10 had less dynamic range than the Nikon Zf, unless you go for the M10R (or M10 monochrom!). If you don’t need autofocus it is hard to beat the M10 rangefinder shooting experience though. I shoot with both, prefer the M10 when I don’t need to shoot any video. Get more keepers because I had to figure out more while shooting as opposed to in post. Let me know what you go with and if I can help with any questions!
If it’s in your budget just go with the Leica (assuming you like the rangefinder experience). Easy to spend a lot of money on other cameras trying to replace the Leica only to come back to the one you wanted to begin with. At least that’s what we can tell our spouses!
Ive been considering between the Nikon Zf w/40mm f2 and the Sony a7cii w/40mm f2.5 for travel and family documentary. Does the Sony a7cii beat out Nikon Zf in autofocus marginally or by a long shot? Also hows the low light performance compared? I have toddlers so great autofocus would be a great help 😅 but also compact form factor.
Low light is quite a lot better in the Nikon Zf - I wouldn’t shoot past 6400 or 12800 on the Sony, but the Nikon is usable up to 25600, 32000 if you’re good with denoising. AF is a bit less sticky in the Nikon, but totally fine for my use case. I have a 5 year old who is not as unpredictable in movement as she used to be, but still pretty fast. Hope that helps!
I have never used the A7S so can’t say - but 24.5 megapixels gives you more detail than 12 megapixels? I have a Sony FX3 and it’s usable but not great for photography
Would be interested to hear what this gives you that the A7CR doesn't. I've been really enjoying your A7CR content, and will be very sad to see it go if this stays.
Great to hear from you Mark - always good to try a different system to see what they’re prioritising. Still have my Sony kit, and that’s what next week’s video is about it. Hope you’re doing well!
Hi Russell, both are great cameras. Have you used both in person at your local camera store? For me Nikon has better low light performance and I really like its styling, but got great shots with either setup. Largely personal preference so please try it out first!
@@BokehTherapy thanks for the response. I’ve held both (the Sony in the camera store, the ZF from someone I met while out and about.) I’m being pulled towards the ZF. I started shooting film again on my dad’s old A1, and like using manual fast primes. I’m updating from my Canon 6D but also want to make sure the Nikon is a sold camera and not just marketing gimmicks. I believe Sony has extremely technical cameras but I’ve heard they lack “soul”. But IMO the range finder small package of the Sony is compelling as well. I’m so torn. Local camera shops don’t rent out either of those cameras.
The A7C is great for forgetting the camera is even there - spot tracking autofocus, all I am ever doing is pressing one button. The Nikon Zf is more fun and tactile, and I love their lenses - not as showy as the f1.4 Gmasters but the f1.8S line is fantastic and much more affordable. Size matters only if your camera bag doesn’t fit the Zf? Otherwise I don’t miss the smaller setup too much. That’s my perspective anyway, go with whichever lens ecosystem you like better because that will last longer than the bodies I think
I agree a lot with what you say. Shooting BW is great as I am not constantly nitpicking everything around frame. I take lots of photos of my kids and all the crazy colored toys can be distracting. And the beauty is I can have those bw jpegs on the micro sd and then preview the raws on the sd and make my decision then
A fellow Nikon Zf shooter! I am still very new to the camera so would love to hear your tips as I make more videos about it. Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@BokehTherapy sure! You give me your tip of how you are getting sharp shots at one second with the 40mm haha. I am trying but it really is a no go for me. I am probably too tall and wavy to do it. Even bracing is still kinda hard. I would say 1/10 is required for me if I am standing at least. As for tips. I am a big fan of auto iso. So the front and rear wheels are aperture and ss for me with auto iso on and I use the exposure comp dial to change exposure if necessary. There is a way to set it up where the top dial can be used as an iso limiter in auto iso. So you can put it to 6400 snd it wont go above that and so on. 3d tracking and eye af are an amazing combo but nikon needs a firmware update to make it so the function button or something else other than menus can turn off/ on eye af. Otherwise it can be very “sticky”. Meaning if say you want to focus on something someone is holding it tends to ignore your af point and just go for the eyes. It is a really customizable camera. When using the 40 I don’t use the grip, but with the 85mm or anything big I prefer the small rig or neewer grips. I have the same shutter button from Nikon. I love it though it is pricey for whst it is. I also enjoy having screen presets that Nikon evf has where you can cycle through what is in viewfinder. My favorite for that pure photography feel is closing the screen and having no info in the viewfinder- just the clean picture. If you half press shutter it just shows basic aperture, ss, and iso but otherwise clean I am a back button focus guy so I immediately detached autofocus from shutter button and assigned it to the ae button in back. I also detach preview from the play button in back (use for other things) and make the front button image preview, and a double click previews image and then zooms 100% to check critical focus. The zf lets you have functions with certain buttons in shooting mode and review mode. So it was nice to make the front button do this for ease with shooting one handed. My play button is either set for switching eyes or usually changing picture control (want to see if I can make presets which I miss from my fuji x100v) also lets you choose monochrome format. The video record button is either iso for when not in auto iso (rare) or for metering mode switch .
Super helpful! A lot of parallels in how we shoot I think. I love the back screen closed shooting experience, my nose doesn’t bump against a smudgy screen that way. I will have a play with all of the different button configurations and compare against yours. Great to connect here on RUclips - more Zf content to come!
Excellent. Yes it is a very fun camera to work with. Either slow with top dials completely or traditional button mapping. I would have a hard time recommending it as any working photographer only camera, but it may work depending on needs. I shoot with a d850 and d810 combo as well but the zf is soo good I will probably take it instead of the aging d810 which iso performance past 800 is rough and af subpar
Great video, I just switched from a Fujifilm XT-5 to the ZF. Great camera, but I miss my XT-5. At the same time I don't feel like the ZF is the kind of camera I will ever want to sell. So perhaps I'll go back to Fujifilm and keep the ZF. The x100vi will be a good second camera. Perhaps I'll bump into you when you shoot in Melbourne.
I love Melbourne as a photography city! I was all in on a Fujifilm X100Vi until I saw the price. I think the X-T5 (and the Zf) are much better value but it is all about the experience.
The one in the video is from Barton1972! Wotancraft make some great vintage leather straps too: www.wotancraft.tw/en/creations/camera-straps?rfsn=7872078.ab04e93. Thanks for watching!
Ah I think most things are expensive when shipping from Asia to UK. Wotancraft and Barton1972 offer free shipping above a certain order value? I’m very impressed with the leather quality in Wotancraft, whereas the Barton 1972 straps look a bit more distinctive
@@BokehTherapy ??? Only 24MP, ergonomic is poor and lens choices limited. For street I am using the Sony A7CR with Tamron 20-40/2.8 - the best como currently you can buy. By the way, before I used 40 years Nikon cameras.
@@KeAiFu I used that exact combo (A7CR and 20-40mm) - sweet setup. To each their own, there's a big enough market for both. Competition is good for the end users.
Inevitable that you'll soon face the dilemma: ZF or a7cR to bring out for the day while travelling. A good problem to have for sure. Curious how u've dealt with fomo vs weight management. There are shots I've missed and can still vividly recall - just because i decided to leave the larger systems at the hotel. Somedays u have all the gear at your disposal and just can't convince your aching back to continue lugging that extra weight.
It's a good dilemma to have - I think it'll be the Zf for this next trip because I need real reps to get used to the system and test it out. But the decision is not final - will be making that video in the next 2 weeks. Hope you're getting great use out of your X100VI!
excited to see that comparison as a previous Sony shooter and current Canon R5 and Nikon ZF owner. The A7CR/A7CII have been on my radar since they released and I'm finding myself wanting the A7CR more and more lately for it's ultra high res and access to Sony lenses like the 24mm f1.4 GM which I used to own and miss. I may even adapt one to my ZF in the near future.
The Sony A7C series are really great cameras, as are the Sony lenses. I have both systems for now, heard good things about the E mount autofocus adapters for Nikon. Thanks for watching
As a hardcore Sony user, I intend to purchase the Nikon ZF as my everyday shooter. I love my Sony cameras, and for work they are so far the best. But I find the ZF is able to slow down the photography process, and make me think of what I want to shoot. After renting the ZF for 3 days, it brings back those feelings of being a student photographer again, and like you, I shot in B&W. loved that experience.
Yes that’s my use case too! The other Nikon bodies haven’t evoked the same feeling, they’re really onto something with the ZF. I am also very impressed with their f1.8 S primes plus manual focus experience. What lenses do you have in your kit?
@@BokehTherapy so far I tested it with the 40 F2, am thinking of getting a 3rd party 15mm manual lens to enjoy some wide angle street shots.
The 40 is a great lens! The 50mm f1.8 and 85mm f1.8 are amazing optically but quite a bit bigger. Adapting manual glass will be my next challenge, thanks for watching
@@BokehTherapy most welcome! and thank you for such great videos!!
You should have 1000x more views. This is poetry. Well done
Hey thank you so much! Still a small channel, every bit helps when starting out
There’s something so calming and peaceful about your videos Jack… really well done 👏
Thanks Justin! They’re cathartic for me to make so glad you like them!
The black and white EVF to combat blockage is such a great idea, thank you.
Glad to hear it helped - happy shooting!
Really enjoyed this video thanks. The immovable mind is a really interesting concept. As someone with ADHD, my mind will never be immovable. But that’s ok. What you’re describing here with your techniques aren’t ways to have an immovable mind, but coping skills that recognize that you will never have one. I love that.
The process is more interesting than the final result for sure. Thank you for watching, happy shooting!
Fantastic videos Jack, I've recently found your channel and have watched all your videos. Love the meaning/story telling behind your videos and the production. A lot of you resonates with me (I was also a scientist and street is my preferred genre of photography) and I hope to continue to watching and hearing more of your insights.
A fellow scientist! Great to hear from you, thanks for commenting. What have you been up to since leaving science in one way or another (if you don’t mind me asking)? Always interested to hear about other scientific pathways
This video was faaantastic. Seriously, watching this several times over. Very inspiring.
Thanks so much for watching. In Japan now, more videos to come!
The quality of your videos makes me speechless! Your videos are alle about photography it seems. But they gives me so much more... I hope that you keep creating because I'll keep watching.
Photography is a conversation starter for all the big issues in our creative community. Thank you so much for watching and your feedback - more to come soon!
Another great, thoughtful and helpful reflection on finding one’s creative groove. Craig
Cheers Craig!
Love your work! Keep it up! 🙏🏾
Thanks for watching!!
Beautiful rhythm, beautiful images.
Thanks for watching!
@@BokehTherapyit was a pleasure!
Wonderfully made video, thanks a lot for this wide heuristic to approach photography
Cheers! Photography has many layers to the different approaches, plenty to discuss in future videos
great video and great images. Im a canon fanboy and hope canon comes out with either a medium format or retro camera or both, now that would be awesome. I'm the opposite, i turn off the viewfinder and only use the back lcd screen to compose as my vision is getting worse as i age
Interesting! I do get a lot of shots shooting from the hip with the LCD, but still prefer the viewfinder experience. I think you would be a lot more discrete as an LCD shooter - I found that out the hard way filming myself shooting in the streets. That’s the topic for next week’s video, thanks for watching!
Have you tried shooting with a Leica Monochrom? I bought an old M246 and it's been a great experience. The limitations are what make the camera special!
Yes the Leica Monochrom! I am lucky to have one in my arsenal, future video coming about it. Thanks for watching!
Love the look of the b&w images coming out of the Zf. Were they SOOC or did they have edits? Great images, all the same. Great channel.
I tweak everything to taste but Nikon ‘s deep monochrome looks great! Can get away with SOOC unless you are very fussy (like me unfortunately). Thank you for watching!
Great video Jack! Philosophically and in terms of image quality, what do u feel are the differences between shooting with a Leica system vs Nikon Zf (with manual focus lenses)? I’ve been contemplating getting a M10, but also thinking about the ZF with old Nikkor AIS lenses or the z mount Voightlander manual focus lenses.
Thanks Andrew! Image quality wise the M10 had less dynamic range than the Nikon Zf, unless you go for the M10R (or M10 monochrom!). If you don’t need autofocus it is hard to beat the M10 rangefinder shooting experience though. I shoot with both, prefer the M10 when I don’t need to shoot any video. Get more keepers because I had to figure out more while shooting as opposed to in post. Let me know what you go with and if I can help with any questions!
@@BokehTherapy Thanks Jack just saw your other video and yes I’m thinking of the M10-r as well.
If it’s in your budget just go with the Leica (assuming you like the rangefinder experience). Easy to spend a lot of money on other cameras trying to replace the Leica only to come back to the one you wanted to begin with. At least that’s what we can tell our spouses!
Ive been considering between the Nikon Zf w/40mm f2 and the Sony a7cii w/40mm f2.5 for travel and family documentary.
Does the Sony a7cii beat out Nikon Zf in autofocus marginally or by a long shot? Also hows the low light performance compared?
I have toddlers so great autofocus would be a great help 😅 but also compact form factor.
Low light is quite a lot better in the Nikon Zf - I wouldn’t shoot past 6400 or 12800 on the Sony, but the Nikon is usable up to 25600, 32000 if you’re good with denoising. AF is a bit less sticky in the Nikon, but totally fine for my use case. I have a 5 year old who is not as unpredictable in movement as she used to be, but still pretty fast. Hope that helps!
should beat my old a7s in terms of low light photography?
I have never used the A7S so can’t say - but 24.5 megapixels gives you more detail than 12 megapixels? I have a Sony FX3 and it’s usable but not great for photography
Would be interested to hear what this gives you that the A7CR doesn't. I've been really enjoying your A7CR content, and will be very sad to see it go if this stays.
Great to hear from you Mark - always good to try a different system to see what they’re prioritising. Still have my Sony kit, and that’s what next week’s video is about it. Hope you’re doing well!
I’m deciding between the ZF and A7Cii. Was switching to the Nikon a big creative unlock? Are there really intangibles with that camera?
Hi Russell, both are great cameras. Have you used both in person at your local camera store? For me Nikon has better low light performance and I really like its styling, but got great shots with either setup. Largely personal preference so please try it out first!
@@BokehTherapy thanks for the response. I’ve held both (the Sony in the camera store, the ZF from someone I met while out and about.)
I’m being pulled towards the ZF. I started shooting film again on my dad’s old A1, and like using manual fast primes.
I’m updating from my Canon 6D but also want to make sure the Nikon is a sold camera and not just marketing gimmicks. I believe Sony has extremely technical cameras but I’ve heard they lack “soul”. But IMO the range finder small package of the Sony is compelling as well.
I’m so torn. Local camera shops don’t rent out either of those cameras.
The A7C is great for forgetting the camera is even there - spot tracking autofocus, all I am ever doing is pressing one button. The Nikon Zf is more fun and tactile, and I love their lenses - not as showy as the f1.4 Gmasters but the f1.8S line is fantastic and much more affordable. Size matters only if your camera bag doesn’t fit the Zf? Otherwise I don’t miss the smaller setup too much. That’s my perspective anyway, go with whichever lens ecosystem you like better because that will last longer than the bodies I think
I agree a lot with what you say. Shooting BW is great as I am not constantly nitpicking everything around frame. I take lots of photos of my kids and all the crazy colored toys can be distracting. And the beauty is I can have those bw jpegs on the micro sd and then preview the raws on the sd and make my decision then
A fellow Nikon Zf shooter! I am still very new to the camera so would love to hear your tips as I make more videos about it. Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@BokehTherapy sure! You give me your tip of how you are getting sharp shots at one second with the 40mm haha. I am trying but it really is a no go for me. I am probably too tall and wavy to do it. Even bracing is still kinda hard. I would say 1/10 is required for me if I am standing at least.
As for tips. I am a big fan of auto iso. So the front and rear wheels are aperture and ss for me with auto iso on and I use the exposure comp dial to change exposure if necessary.
There is a way to set it up where the top dial can be used as an iso limiter in auto iso. So you can put it to 6400 snd it wont go above that and so on.
3d tracking and eye af are an amazing combo but nikon needs a firmware update to make it so the function button or something else other than menus can turn off/ on eye af. Otherwise it can be very “sticky”. Meaning if say you want to focus on something someone is holding it tends to ignore your af point and just go for the eyes.
It is a really customizable camera. When using the 40 I don’t use the grip, but with the 85mm or anything big I prefer the small rig or neewer grips. I have the same shutter button from Nikon. I love it though it is pricey for whst it is.
I also enjoy having screen presets that Nikon evf has where you can cycle through what is in viewfinder. My favorite for that pure photography feel is closing the screen and having no info in the viewfinder- just the clean picture. If you half press shutter it just shows basic aperture, ss, and iso but otherwise clean
I am a back button focus guy so I immediately detached autofocus from shutter button and assigned it to the ae button in back.
I also detach preview from the play button in back (use for other things) and make the front button image preview, and a double click previews image and then zooms 100% to check critical focus. The zf lets you have functions with certain buttons in shooting mode and review mode. So it was nice to make the front button do this for ease with shooting one handed. My play button is either set for switching eyes or usually changing picture control (want to see if I can make presets which I miss from my fuji x100v) also lets you choose monochrome format. The video record button is either iso for when not in auto iso (rare) or for metering mode switch
.
Super helpful! A lot of parallels in how we shoot I think. I love the back screen closed shooting experience, my nose doesn’t bump against a smudgy screen that way. I will have a play with all of the different button configurations and compare against yours. Great to connect here on RUclips - more Zf content to come!
Excellent. Yes it is a very fun camera to work with. Either slow with top dials completely or traditional button mapping. I would have a hard time recommending it as any working photographer only camera, but it may work depending on needs. I shoot with a d850 and d810 combo as well but the zf is soo good I will probably take it instead of the aging d810 which iso performance past 800 is rough and af subpar
The D850 is legendary - happy shooting!
Great video, I just switched from a Fujifilm XT-5 to the ZF. Great camera, but I miss my XT-5. At the same time I don't feel like the ZF is the kind of camera I will ever want to sell. So perhaps I'll go back to Fujifilm and keep the ZF. The x100vi will be a good second camera.
Perhaps I'll bump into you when you shoot in Melbourne.
I love Melbourne as a photography city! I was all in on a Fujifilm X100Vi until I saw the price. I think the X-T5 (and the Zf) are much better value but it is all about the experience.
Great video Jack , what is the neck strap you are using please ?
The one in the video is from Barton1972! Wotancraft make some great vintage leather straps too:
www.wotancraft.tw/en/creations/camera-straps?rfsn=7872078.ab04e93. Thanks for watching!
@@BokehTherapy thank you Jack . The wotancraft stuff is superb but expensive to get in the UK
Ah I think most things are expensive when shipping from Asia to UK. Wotancraft and Barton1972 offer free shipping above a certain order value? I’m very impressed with the leather quality in Wotancraft, whereas the Barton 1972 straps look a bit more distinctive
@@BokehTherapy thanks Jack
Is it suitable for beginners?
I think so! Exposure triangle is all mapped to different physical controls so makes sense to beginners
Black and white is chicken soup for my soul. It kill’s me when people tell me they would prefer color instead.
I love it too. Need to find more time to shoot monochrome only. Thanks for watching!
Switched from Sony to Nikon?
Not a full switch (at least not yet), testing out a different system for travel. Nikon did a great job with the Zf!
@@BokehTherapy ??? Only 24MP, ergonomic is poor and lens choices limited. For street I am using the Sony A7CR with Tamron 20-40/2.8 - the best como currently you can buy. By the way, before I used 40 years Nikon cameras.
@@KeAiFu I used that exact combo (A7CR and 20-40mm) - sweet setup. To each their own, there's a big enough market for both. Competition is good for the end users.
ONE hundred
Thanks for watching
Inevitable that you'll soon face the dilemma: ZF or a7cR to bring out for the day while travelling. A good problem to have for sure. Curious how u've dealt with fomo vs weight management. There are shots I've missed and can still vividly recall - just because i decided to leave the larger systems at the hotel. Somedays u have all the gear at your disposal and just can't convince your aching back to continue lugging that extra weight.
It's a good dilemma to have - I think it'll be the Zf for this next trip because I need real reps to get used to the system and test it out. But the decision is not final - will be making that video in the next 2 weeks. Hope you're getting great use out of your X100VI!
excited to see that comparison as a previous Sony shooter and current Canon R5 and Nikon ZF owner. The A7CR/A7CII have been on my radar since they released and I'm finding myself wanting the A7CR more and more lately for it's ultra high res and access to Sony lenses like the 24mm f1.4 GM which I used to own and miss. I may even adapt one to my ZF in the near future.
The Sony A7C series are really great cameras, as are the Sony lenses. I have both systems for now, heard good things about the E mount autofocus adapters for Nikon. Thanks for watching