Review Nikon Z7

I finally got my Nikon Z7 + Nikon S 35 /1.8 + Nikon S 24-70 / 4.0 and was able to test it for a few hours.

I took full risk in buying the camera and switching from DSLR (Nikon D850) to mirrorless. I sold my D850 a week before I got the Z7 because the earlier I sell it the more money I can realize. For me it is the right thing to do as I don’t need the speed of the D850 (fps wise) but I will benefit by the 90% AF coverage, the silent shooting (theater photography), WYSIWYG viewfinder.

My take on the Nikon Z7:

• EVF (electronic viewfinder): excellent. For my kind of work the EVF is a 100% replacement of the OVF. My wife noticed a slight colour variation to the blue but I was able to correct this in the menue.
• Camera body: the grip is much better than expected, the cam definitely has a “Nikon feeling”. I have no small hands and if the body was even smaller I would get a problem. What I miss? Dedicated buttons e.g. for AF, illumnated buttons (come on Nikon).
• To be able to control exposure compensation via the ring on the objective is an excellent feature, this way I’m much faster than using the +/- button. Caveat: still not sure if I will use it in real conditions, it’s way to easy to accidentally change it by touching the objective. It would be better if the ring was a bit tighter.
• Loudness: finally a silent camera, yeah! Not only the camera but also both objectives.
• 90% AF coverage: finally!
• AF speed in AF-S mode: for me on the level of the D850.
• Face tracking: seems to work, but not 100% – e.g. I had a case where it detected a hand as a face. I will see if the hit rate is high enough that this will prove as a useful feature
• EVF blackout: no problem for me but I don’t take pictures of racing cars.

Verdict: it will take few days to get used to the Z7 but for my kind of shootings it will be perfect. No showstoppers, it seems Nikon got it right a the first try (if you dont count the Nikon 1).