Amateur Photographer (2019-05-31)

44 25 May (^2019) Iwww.amateurphotographer.co.ukIsubscribe 03303331113
the Z 6 ‘only’ has 273 AF
points compared to the 493
on the Z 7, the AF coverage is
impressively broad, with the points
spread across 90% of the width
and height of the image area.
You can choose between pinpoint,
single-point, dynamic area AF,
wide-area AF and auto-area AF
modes, and while eye-detection
AF will be very welcome when it
finally arrives as a firmware update,
its absence is not a deal-breaker.
Even more useful is the silent
shooting mode, which was a huge
advantage when working in
Japanese temples or taking street
candids; as with the self-timer
though, it should be easier to find.
On the subject of temples, the
Z 6’s high ISO performance really
shone through in dark interiors
and poorer light. I tend to use
Auto ISO and restrict the upper
limit so I can worry about other
things, and with the Z 6 I was quite
happy to set it at 6400, which is
probably very conservative given
the camera’s capabilities.
For Z’s a jolly good fellow
Nikon received quite a lot of flak
for using a single XQD card on
the Z series, and these cards are
certainly way pricier than similarly
sized SD versions. A quality 64GB
XQD card can gobble up the best
part of £200, which is annoying
when you consider the Z 6 is
otherwise decent value compared
to the premium-priced Z 7. Given
the speed of XQD cards, it’s
doubly annoying that the Z 6’s
buffering doesn’t take full
The sensor is lower resolution than the Z 7’s but is more than enough for
everyday photography, and you can crop in with confidence