Videomaker (2019-05)

contents

full screen

print

contents

full screen

print

8 VIDEOMAKER >>> MAY 2019

But, the sky’s the limit when it

comes to customization. This handy

menu can be customized to your

preference. Overall, we preferred us-

ing this menu over customizing actual

buttons on the body of the camera.

However, for those who want to use

the buttons, they also allow for lots of

customization to suit the user’s needs

and wants. This includes two function

buttons located where your fingertips

fall when gripping the camera. We like

these buttons, but those with small

hands may struggle to reach them.

The camera has all of the but-

tons and knobs you would expect an

interchangeable-lens camera to have.

It has a function control wheel for

quick shooting mode changes and in-

cludes three user programmed modes.

It has a very easy to read control panel

on top that switches depending on

whether you’re shooting photos or

video. Plus, it has a front trigger wheel

and a dial for your thumb to control

shutter and aperture.

Because this camera can do a lot

and allows for a fair amount of cus-

tomization, the usability of the menu

will affect a shooters ability to get the

shot — for better or worse. We didn’t

have any problem finding anything

in the menu that you would need to

change often or quickly. However, for

those features that you don’t need all

the time, you might have to dig a bit to

find them.

Here are the tests!

We put the camera through a gamut of

tests to evaluate its low light perfor-

mance, rolling shutter, moire, battery

life, overheating potential, image

quality at high frame rates, autofocus,

10-bit capture, N-Log capture and

vibration reduction.

Low light performance

Let’s start off with its low light per-

formance because our results were

impressive. We tested by capturing an

image at ISO 100 with proper expo-

sure and doubled the ISO for each

shot while adjusting the shutter speed

to counter the added light at every

stop. This gives us a view of when

noise is introduced into the image.

We shot in 4K in both in FX and DX

mode, noting a difference in perfor-

mance when the sensor is cropped. In

FX mode, noise starts at ISO 6400 but

is good all the way up to ISO 25,

before the image starts to be drastically

affected by the noise. When shooting

in cropped DX mode, noise starts a stop

earlier at around ISO 3,200. Still, the

image is usable until ISO 12,800. That’s

quite fantastic and definitely above

other cameras priced similarly.

Rolling shutter and moire

Next, we tested the rolling shutter of

the camera. We did the same test in

4K and HD in 24fps and in 120fps. A

rolling shutter exposes each pixel for

the same amount of time but doesn’t

capture the same moment in time.

This causes lines to appear to bend

when the camera moves quickly.

We tested this by panning the

camera starting at a slow speed and

ramping up to a whip pan while

focused on a vertical line, in our case

a c-stand. The Z6 has a rolling shutter,

so we expected to see some rolling

shutter effect. However, the effect was

slight, it was consistent in 4K, HD and

at 120fps.

Moving on to testing moiré, we shot

a DSC Labs sine zone chart to see how

well the camera captured fine lines.

Typically, a lens is at its sharpest at f/

or f/11, so we tested both. We panned

and tilted the camera to see if the fine

lines bounced around or danced but

saw no moiré issues at either f/8 or f/11.

Battery life and heat test

Next up was our test for battery life.

This is a relatively simple test: Set the

camera at its max resolution and frame

rate and capture video until the battery

runs out while keeping track of the

time. This is also a good time to observe

whether or not the camera overheats

along the way. We saw a long battery

life of two hours and 10 minutes or 130

minutes. The camera got warm over

that period of time but had no perfor-

mance change as a result.

Shooting at

high frame rates

The Z6 will shoot up to 120 frames

per second in HD, so we wanted to

see if the high frame rate video was as

good as standard frame rates. Cine-

matic slow motion is typically 60 fps.

With double that, the Z6 can extend

any action by a factor of 5 when slow-

ing 120fps to 24fps. The camera can

either capture the footage at 120fps

and keep that frame rate or convert

in-camera to allow for slow motion

playback. Many times, when a camera

converts internally, it affects the qual-

ity of the video, but not with the Z6.

Regardless of where the slow down

happens, the outcome is the same —

with one caveat. When the camera

slows it down for you, no audio is

Tilting rear display

Nikon Z

REVIEW

384 R02 Nikon Z 6.indd 8 3/19/19 2:06 PM

VIDEOMAKER >>> MAY 2019 9

captured. However, when comparing

the quality of the image at 120fps to

some shot at 24fps, we saw no quality

loss between the two. That can’t be

said about the Sony a7 III.

Autofocus

and vibration reduction

Good autofocus is a difficult thing to

obtain for video shooters. If it’s not

perfect, it’s not good enough. If the

camera struggles even a little bit, it

could ruin a shot. Though the Z6 has

quick AF when using tap focus on the

monitor, it struggles when shooting

a subject that is moving quickly. We

tested continuous AF and full-time AF

to track a toy. Instead of moving the

subject, we moved the camera on a

motorized slider. We started at a shal-

low depth of field at f/1.8.

When moving slow, the camera

kept up with the movement and kept

the toy in focus. After testing with

multiple speed and sensitivity settings,

we found full-time AF to be the best

option. Once we ramped up the speed,

the camera had a difficult time finding

focus on our subject. This is true even

when changing the AF selection area.

Single point AF worked okay, and so

did auto-area AF. However, Wide-area

AF (S) and wide-area AF (L) worked

best, though neither was great at f/1.8.

We then did the same test at f/4 and

found that the deeper depth of field al-

lowed the lens to track better. Though

we were not able to get it to continue

any track once the subject left the

frame or was obstructed by something

else. Overall, autofocus would work

in a situation where you had a deep

depth of field and the subject had a

strong contrast from its background.

Otherwise, we would say to stick to

manual focus.

Let’s move on to image stabilization

with Nikon’s five-axis vibration reduc-

tion in the Z6. You can use the sensor

stabilization either by itself or in coor-

dination with a lens with image stabili-

zation. Plus, you can add in electronic

stabilization for super smooth footage,

though electronic stabilization does

result in a slight crop. The stabilization

looked good and did not draw atten-

tion to itself, countering most of the

camera shake. Is it a gimbal replacer?

No, but when shooting handheld you

can expect to have usable footage that

isn’t shaky.

External recording

Because the camera can not capture

internal 10-bit, we used an Atomos

Shogun Inferno to capture 10-bit

externally via the HDMI. This is a

nice set up as it also allows for longer

than 30-minute clips. We don’t have

a LUT for N-Log and couldn’t find any

online. However, we found that a LUT

for Canon C-Log to REC 709 got us

close enough for a secondary grade.

N-Log is not too radical and fairly easy

to grade overall.

Marketplace

We did say that this is the best full-

frame camera for video shooters for

the money, so let’s take a look at the

competition, starting with the Sony a

III. The a7 II is $2,000, the same price

as Z6. It has good in-body image stabi-

lization and offers S-log3 with average

low light performance.

The Sony only captures 8-bit in-

ternally or externally, with no option

to capture anything higher. It has a

24-megapixel full-frame sensor with

693 point hybrid AF that uses both

contrast and phase detection. This

camera also has the same kind of tilt-

ing screen as the Z6, but offers dual

SD card slots

Next up is the Canon EOS R at

$2,300. It has the most flaws for video

shooters of all the full-frame mirror-

less cameras out there, starting with

its 1.7 times crop in 4K. This wouldn’t

be a big deal if you have the right

lenses, but you are paying for full-

frame sensor and you don’t get that

value when shooting in 4K.

Canon offers a decent selection of

native RF lenses, but they are on the

high end of the price range. The EOS

R offers C-Log and 10-bit output via

HDMI. It has average low light perfor-

mance and just a single media card

slot. This camera uses a higher mega-

pixel full frame sensor at 30.3MP and

has dual-pixel CMOS autofocus with

5,655 autofocus points. Lastly, its fully

articulating screen is 3.15 inches.

Last is the Panasonic Lumix S1 for

$2,500. Costing $500 more than the

Z6, it’s a formidable foe to the Z6. It

offers limited 10-bit internal capture

currently, with more promised in a fu-

ture paid firmware upgrade. It shoots

up to UHD 4K at 60 frames per second

to dual card slots for XQD and SD

cards. The biggest flaw of the S1 is that

it’s high frame rate mode only shoots

in auto exposure.

The S1 also has a 24 MP full-frame

sensor, along with a triaxial tilt screen,

which just means you get one more

movement over the Z6 and a7 III. It’s

still not fully articulated like the EOS

R. The S1 has a contrast detect 255

area autofocus system with in-body

stabilization called sensor-shift image

stabilization. The S1 doesn’t have a log

gamma, but that future paid firmware

upgrade should solve that as well. The

cost and release date of the upgrade

are still unknown.

Final thoughts

and recommendation

The Nikon Z6 has a very nice, high-

quality image, great low light perfor-

mance and a long battery life. We re-

ally like being able to crop your sensor

at will and shoot slow motion up to

120 frames per second. Plus, there’s

no quality loss at that higher frame

rate. If you shoot handheld, the Z6 has

you covered with five-axis vibration

reduction, perfect for keeping away

the shake. Add with the current 10-bit

output and 12-bit coming soon, it gets

even more exciting. The Z6 also has

Nikon’s first log profile with N-Log.

If you’re looking for an affordable

full-frame mirrorless camera for video

shooting — along with affordable

lenses and a rich feature set — you

should look at the Nikon Z6. We were

super impressed.

You can comment on this article by going on-

line: http://www.videomaker.com/?p=

Chris Monlux is Videomaker’ s Multimedia Edi-

tor.

Nikon Z

REVIEW

384 R02 Nikon Z 6.indd 9 3/19/19 2:06 PM