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full screenprintcontentsfull screenprint6 VIDEOMAKER >>> MAY 2019
Lens Mount: Z
Camera Format: Full-Frame
Pixels Actual: 25.28 Megapixel
Sensor Type/Size: CMOS, 35.9 x
23.9 mm
Still Images: JPEG, RAW
Movies: MOV, MP
Audio: AAC, Linear PCM (Stereo)
Bit Depth: 14-Bit
Memory Card Type: XQDThe lens selection for the new
lens mount is also impressive. Nikon,
Canon and Panasonic all announced
new full-frame mirrorless cameras
and new lens mounts last year, and
the new systems have all been rolled
out differently. Nikon, in contrast to
Canon and Panasonic, released their
affordable lenses for their new mount
first. This means you can get lenses
and a camera body at a lower cost
compared to other recently released
mirrorless camera and lens systems.Native lenses,
the adapter and
adapting lenses
For this review, we tested three differ-
ent native lenses and five non-native
lenses using the FTZ adapter. The
first lens we tested was the NIKKOR
Z 35mm f/1.8 S, which costs $850.
35mm is a great focal length for a
normal perspective. As a great walking
around focal length, expect to capture
what your eyes see when shooting at
35mm. Plus, this particular lens looks
great and offers a nine-blade iris. With
nine blades, the bokeh on the NIKKOR
Z 35mm is nice and round.
For less money, consider the NIK-
KOR Z 50mm f/1.8 s at $600. It’s the
most affordable Z mount lens current-
ly available. Like the 35mm above, this
lens also offers a nine blade iris. Theready for shooting handheld or on the
go. Because it has vibration reduction,
you don’t need to spend more to get
image stabilization on your lenses.
However, you can still use lenses with
stabilization in coordination with the
sensor stabilization on the Z6.
The Z6 currently offers 10-bit 4:2:
output via the HDMI. Outputting via
HDMI also gives you the option toTECH SPECSNikon Z
REVIEWshoot in N-Log. With the Z6, you can
output 10-bit with N-Log to an exter-
nal recorder for billions more colors
compared to 8-bit.
Additionally, Nikon has announced
in a future firmware update that will
give the camera 12-bit output via
HDMI. However, Nikon hasn’t an-
nounced yet when this firmware
update will be available.Image Stabilization: Sensor-Shift,
5-Way
Video Format:
3840 x 2160p at 23.98/25/29.97 fps
(H.264)
1920 x 1080p at
23.98/25/29.97/50/59.94/100/120 fps
(H.264)
Focus Mode: Continuous-Servo AF
(C), Full-time Servo (F), Manual Focus
(M), Single-servo AF (S)Autofocus Points: Phase Detec-
tion: 273
Interval Recording: Yes
Connectivity: 1/8′′ Headphone,
1/8′′ Microphone, HDMI C (Mini),
USB Type-C, Nikon DC
Wi-Fi Capable: Yes
Battery: 1 x EN-EL15b Recharge-
able Lithium-Ion Battery Pack
Weight: 1.29 lb / 585 g camera
body onlyCompact design384 R02 Nikon Z 6.indd 6 3/19/19 2:06 PMVIDEOMAKER >>> MAY 2019 7
NIKKOR Z 50mm is a great choice for
interviews because of its added focal
length. It will offer nice space com-
pression, bringing your background
forward and fl attening facial features.
When used with the DX crop, it has
an effective focal length of 75mm — a
superb focal length for portraits.
The last native lens we tested was
the NIKKOR Z 24 to 70mm F/4 S,
which is priced at $1,000. A maxi-
mum aperture of f/4 sounds like a
bummer, but the Z6 has a great low
light performance, so it turned out
that shooting at f/4 was not a burden.
Additionally, because it has the
same maximum aperture of f/4 across
the full zoom of the lens, you don’t
have to change exposure when you
need to change the focal length. The
one thing we didn’t like about the 24-
70mm f/4 is that you have to extend
it out a bit before you are able to use
it. This isn’t a huge deal, but it will
add a step before you can begin to
shoot. In situations where the camera
needs to be ready quickly, there will
be one more step between you and
your shot.
Because Nikon has a large collec-
tion of robust and high-quality lenses
for the F mount, they released an
F-mount to Z-mount, or FTZ, lens
adapter. For $250 — less if you get it
packaged with the camera body —
the FTZ adapter allows for those who
have already invested in F-mount
lenses to pair those with the new Z
mount cameras.
The fi rst thing we noticed about the
adapter is that it has a ¼” 20 screw
mount on it. It’s similar to what you
fi nd on larger telephoto lenses, like a
70-200mm, where the length will af-
fect the fulcrum point on the camera.
It’s a nice addition to minimize un-
necessary damage to the mount, but
it has a pretty big fl aw: It hangs down
below the cameras own plate mount-
ing point. This means you will likely
use the adapter’s mounting point
instead of the one on the camera.This seems fi ne at fi rst, but if you
have a plate on the adapter, you won’t
be able to remove the adapter without
removing the plate fi rst. The plate gets
in the way. This doesn’t affect how
well it adapts lenses, but it does cause
a rigging problem in some situations.
We tested fi ve F-mount lenses using
the FTZ and the Z6: the 35mm f/1.
G ED with a price tag of $530, the 14-
24mm f/2.8 G ED for $2,800, the 24-
70 f/2.8 G ED at $1,800, the 105mm
f/1.4 E ED costing $2,200 and the 70-
200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR for $2,800.
Outside of having the lenses extend
a bit further from the FTZ adapter, all
of the F-mount lenses worked fl aw-
lessly. Even when shooting at f/2.
at 200mmm on the 70-200mm, the
camera was able to quickly fi nd and
lock focus with the same performance
as the native lenses.
The one thing we noticed with na-
tive lenses is that the focus motors are
noticeably louder and have a different
sound. The F-mount lenses clicked
and the Z mount lenses did not.Using the camera and
navigating the menu
Like we said before, the size and bal-
ance of the Z6 body are nice. It sitsnicely in your hand and is ready to
be pulled up to your eye. Its size and
built-in vibration reduction make this
a great camera to shoot handheld for a
prolonged periods of time.
The camera body is not the small-
est in class, but it’s only slightly bigger
than the current title-holder, the Sony
a7 III. However, the Z6 is the lightest at
1.29 pounds.
We would have loved to see a fully
articulating screen. On top of being a
necessity for vloggers, more articula-
tion of the screen allows for more
adjustment against glare and odd
angles. The tilt of the Z6 screen is the
bare minimum and there will be many
shooting situations where it will fall
short. With that said, we did like the
way that the screen looked and how it
the touch interface operated.
While we were learning the camera,
the touch function for all exposure
controls was handy. With the i button
on the back of the camera, you can
customize what controls you want to
have at your fi ngertips. In two steps,
we were able to change the frame
rate, resolution, audio input gain,
white balance, autofocus (AF) control
and swit ch between full-frame and
cropped mode.Nikon Z
REVIEWN-Log output over HDMI384 R02 Nikon Z 6.indd 7 3/19/19 2:06 PM