Nikon Z f ... ohne c! Vollformat Retro-Kamera im Test! 📷 Krolop&Gerst

Here in my hands I hold the Nikon ZF without the C. C stands for compact. For this purpose the Nikon ZF is a full-smart camera. And it is rumored that the Z6 III could be a pre-decessor. Maybe with corresponding improvements. I had this camera with me non-stop for the last few days. As a kind of making-of-reporting-camera. We had our workshop about people photography here in Fuerteventura. I was constantly filming with this camera. And gained a lot of experience with the camera. Both positive and negative. And this video is about who this camera is for. And what the camera can do and what it can't do. Let's start right away. It is a beautiful retro camera in the design of the Nikon Z. I can show you a picture from Thilo's private Nikon collection. It is a beautiful camera in different colors. Among other things also orange. Interesting for Kolob Gerst. If we look at the exterior, we see that there are a lot of buttons. Compared to the Z6 and Z7 models, the top display is missing. There are two large buttons for exposure time and ISO. The mode is on the outside. It is very well done. It is engraved and filled with white. It is not only printed, it is also milled. The buttons are relatively high to touch. A trigger with a silver screw thread. So you can attach retro triggers. There is a small digital display at the top, where the aperture is displayed. This is a tribute to the old cameras. And the exposure wheel with the video button. The whole thing is garnished with a new display design. I remove the pick design. This is a rotating and swivelable display. The whole photo community is arguing about which display design is right or wrong. Whether it folds back or forward. Here you can see yourself while looking into the camera from the front. Without the need for a mirror. The camera has become relatively stable, large and thick. It has micro HDMI connections on the side. A headphone output and a microphone input. As well as a USB-C connection for PD charging. There is also a small LED lamp inside. A diode to display the charging. Then there are the usual buttons on the back, which are always found on Nikon. And then there is a relatively large battery compartment, where the memory cards are also inside. And that's my first point of criticism. You have to know that. For example, if you attach larger boards or have the camera on the tripod more often. For them, a memory card and battery change are no longer that easy. For example, with the video boards that we often use, you can no longer reach the battery compartment. And by the way, there are two memory card slots. And for the very first time I see that in addition to an SD card, a micro SD card is used instead of a CFexpress. So a very small slot. I think it's pretty cool to just put in a 1000 gigabyte micro SD card for JPEG backups. Just to make small backups. The buttons are only lockable in one position. So you can turn and move the buttons as you like. Only if you go to C, you can hear that too, then it clicks. So there was the one click. The others don't click. I find it a bit dangerous because you set it manually here. And then you come to the side for a moment and you have adjusted it directly. And why should you have the buttons? We have always regulated everything with other buttons. The setting of the exposure times is exactly the same. Everything is movable and rotatable. But the moment you go to the third step, it clicks again and you can't get it away from there. X for the X-Synchronization time for flashing is specially marked. I think it's nice. But it shouldn't have been. There is only one function button at the front. The other is to change the lens. And otherwise the camera is relatively basic in terms of buttons. So what you know about Nikon cameras. But no 3, 4, 5 extra function buttons. Which brings me to the first everyday feedback. I took pictures in AV mode because the lighting conditions change all the time. Then I turned on the ISO automatic and worked nicely with the exposure correction. Point number 1. Ergonomics. The camera really can't be switched on well. You always have to make a relatively strong bend from the hip. The on-switch button has a very small nubsino on it. And that's a bit dangerous. It's hard to get it on. And what I also noticed. You can't really work on single third steps with just one finger. The pressure that has to be overcome is so strong that you move the whole aperture or one and a half. So if you just want to make it a little brighter or darker. And I really went to the point that I always have two fingers on it when photographing. And then I partly solved it with the finger. Because it's really like that. You can try it out in the store. You have to have an incredible amount of feeling to just fade a third. I can't do it. One. That was a third of the aperture. But it's so sensitive that you can hardly do it without using two fingers. So that should have been different. That's really a difficulty that you can't make it brighter or darker with one finger. And then you have to find workarounds like that. A special feature that can also be found here is that there is now its own BW mode. So that means the mode, whether photo or video, that you set up up here. It now also has a BW setting. So black and white. So there are different BW settings. So picture styles that you can do now, that you can set up. So normal monochrome mode and slightly contrast-rich monochromes. And that's nice, of course, that you can switch directly to BW. And then you have everything in black and white mode right away. And you can continue photographing undisturbed. However, it is the same exposure that you have in the recording mode. So that only changes the picture style. Let's get to the points that I have changed immediately after one or two days. I actually changed all the buttons. First of all, I did one thing. And I released the entire display on the video recording button. This is a nice thing that you have with Nikon. The moment you press it, the focus field on the display is only found. Everything else is faded out. Everything. So everything. Even the battery can no longer be found. I think it's wonderful that you can release the entire picture with just one button. It's so much nicer to frame, to enjoy photography. Then I put the ISO button on the AEL and AFL button. So the ISO button that used to be or that is normally available with Nikon cameras. Because what you see up here, you can't tell between ISO automatic and non-ISO automatic. There were moments when I wanted to flash with it or do something very special. And then I have to go to the menu first and turn off the ISO automatic. That means I sacrificed the AFL button as an ISO button. Because if you press the ISO button on Nikon and at the same time move the pointer wheel, you can switch from normal to auto ISO and back again. And the last button I made is, I have the lower function button, which is here in front, which is assigned to the white balance as standard. I assigned it with the silent recording. Means I can now switch here with a button between the electronic shutter and the mechanical shutter and then have a silent recording. Click, click, click. Or I go on it once. Then I have a normal mechanical resolution again. ISO 100 is the minimum, by the way. 0.008 is the shortest shutter speed. Could be a little better, especially with the electronic shutter. But you actually only have the problems, as we have seen here, partly also the participants, that 0.008 can be a bit bright in Blende 1.2 in Full Ventura. Especially when the sun is really shining. What can be said about the camera in terms of performance? So, there is a 24.5 megapixel sensor in here and it's new. It doesn't have as many autofocus points as, for example, the Z7II or Z8 or Z9, but only about 300. But it has something else. Namely, it has the best image stabilization that a Nikon camera has. And that's really impressive what can be achieved with it. Nikon writes, oh, Blende, I honestly don't give it anything. But it's really good. It's just better than any other camera, even with the Z8 or Z9. And what also came with it is the fact that the autofocus algorithms were programmed by the Exceed 7 processor, CPU, of the Z8, Z9, so to speak. So that means the Z6II, Z7II, they all have no recognition of cars or any insects or anything else. I get confused again and again because, to be honest, I actually only photograph people and need facial recognition. But here, too, you can clearly see that the facial recognition and also any motif recognition are on a different level than with the Z7II or Z6II. This means that ZF gets an extremely good autofocus when it comes to low-light performance. And because it only has 24 megapixels on the full-frame sensor, the noise and the color neutrality are really incredibly beautiful. So it's a beautiful report camera that brings great features. I put the video recording button away. I'm usually someone who says video is important. And with all other camera reviews, we say, hey, video is super important, you need it too. But with this camera, somehow not at all. I didn't record a single video. I think this camera is really for enjoying and photographing. And to be honest, the video recording button is worth it to me to make the display completely blank. We can briefly list the video functions here. But they are also better than in the previous Z6II, Z7II cameras. And you have to say, the price of 2,499 euros or so, I just saw, UVP, new camera. So prices are always very variable depending on when you watch. And the video doesn't change in a year. I still say the same thing here in the video. But the price will have changed. Of course, this is also a good thing that Nikon has actually built a really great camera with a lot of innovative features. But at the same time, the price is very close to that of the Z6II. And that's actually not a big decision for me, whether you get this camera or, for example, the Z6II. In my opinion, this camera puts the Z6II in the shadow of performance. Only the operation, you have to get involved. It's a bit like the Fuji X-T5. We also have them here in Fort Ventura. That's just, I would say, pain in the ass. So now everyone who loves Fuji and photographs Fuji, they may forgive me. I am also a lover of Fuji cameras. But the thing is just hindering. So of course you can document everything in such a way that it is different, but then you waste a lot of buttons. And that's just like here. You have a beautiful wheel here for the ISO values. But I can't turn off and on ISO automatic without going to the menu or documenting an extra button. That's a really beautiful example. Why don't you just have a... I don't even know what the C should be. I didn't find it. I don't know. So you can't change that via the menu. The things are set. I don't know what C means. But I want to be able to turn on and off ISO automatic without any problems. And that's why I just gave up the one button here. Whatever. 40mm 2.0. The most beautiful lens ever by Nikon. Here in the retro version. So there is one in the chic version and one in the old version. I think it just fits like a glove. It's a great camera combo that you can have and use at any time. And it's a lot of fun to take pictures with this camera. 10, 14 pictures per second. That's even better. You could also take pictures of action-packed situations. The tracking is brilliant. The camera can do more than what the exterior suggests. And I think the dynamics and the effect of the 4x sensor with 24 megapixels is really beautiful. I took pictures during the workshop. Of course, you have to ask if you can always show them, because there are strangers on it. But they are just incredibly aesthetic. Not the model photos, but the side photos. What's left to say? It has become a great Nikon camera that, in my opinion, is looking for the same thing. So everyone who always says Fuji has the only beautiful cameras, that's not true anymore. Nikon is now at the start and has a full-frame camera that looks super cool. And for all those who want to be a little self-punishing when it comes to operation, but who really want to have the highest performance in this price segment, what Nikon builds, this camera is really great for them. Maybe just a little thing I would have wished for. I think it's all very flat in the back. And I'm someone who doesn't have a small steering column. I think you could have put the seeker a little backwards, because then there would have been a little more space for the nose. But I find the nose very often very flat on this camera, because it is a very flat back of the camera. Otherwise, I didn't even have a charger with me. There is also a nice story. I took the camera from Fotopia directly from Hamburg. And there was a battery in here and the camera just didn't charge. And at some point I thought, now the camera is broken, pre-production. Oh, hashtag transparency, right? Fly in. Hashtag transparency. Press sample, Fotopia approved. Our flyer is already back at the next YouTuber, or review, or at the next magazine. This battery that was given to me was an EN-EL15. And neither a C, nor a D, nor a B, not even an A. It was an ancient battery. And these batteries cannot be charged in the camera. And I was there and couldn't charge my camera, because I didn't have a charger with me, because you actually charge the battery via the camera. So the NPS gave me a non-chargeable battery on the Fotopia, which doesn't belong to the camera at all. So you don't get it like that. Of course you get it with a battery that can be charged. But now I talked to a participant of the workshop to give me his battery, and it works wonderfully with it. So it's interesting that it was screwed up in that respect. But do you know when I noticed that I couldn't charge it anymore? On the day of rest, the third day. So that means I took photos for two days, photographed next to it, and I also forgot to turn off the camera. So I didn't need a new battery and also didn't need a rechargeable battery. You're supposed to get 420 pictures after this cheap-cheap-cheap-cheap-cheap-cheap-testing. I just followed the whole workshop for two days and then I had to charge it. So luck in disguise, because I wouldn't have noticed how long this camera lasts with one battery. That would have been a longer review now. Nice camera. Just nice, I have to say. Very, very, very, very potent.