I have been an avid photographer (subtext - amateur) with some forays into professionalism (event photography, product photography) for the better part of 39 years. Wow.. Thats a long time. I've managed to transition from manual focus to autofocus, and then from film to digital slr's, and now the latest transition, from DSLR's to Mirrorless. While waiting for Nikon to get it's act together, I experimented with the Sony A7RIII full frame Mirrorless camera, and then just as promptly dumped it, as it wasn't for me. The philospohy of the two camera makers couldn't be any more different, and my acquired muscle memory of Nikon controls meant that I was constantly fighting with a camera that would simply not co-operate. Plus the colours looked terrible.
Nikon then did the inevitable and caught up with everyone else and released their Z6/Z7 duo, and I was invited by Nikon to one of their launch events in Australia. I was mightily impressed, although like many I was also perplexed at the glaring omissions to the camera's functionality, like dual card slots. I voiced my concerns with Nikon, and strangely for once, they seem to have listened, and barely 2 years later released an update, the Z6ii/Z7ii duo. Or maybe they listened to the tens of thousands of other photographers clamouring for the same things.. I can't be sure.
Aaaanyway, in the mean time I'd sold off the Sony, and was back to using my Nikon D3s, and really felt the need for a higher megapixel camera capable of using all my plethora of lenses from various mounts. I finally took the plunge (again!) into mirrorless and bought a Nikon Z7ii. The camera felt reassuringly similar, yet also strangely different, and this was immediately apparent when I tried to control the camera. Pro level controls were not present - more "prosumer" controls รก la D600 or D750 were in their place. Strange omissions still continued, like the two-button format option present on just about every Nikon DSLR since time immemorial.. Gone.. I discovered much to my dislike, that they had removed the manual DX lens selection option. And the final cherry on the cake (not!) was the fact that they'd removed the Picture control option for scanning negatives.
Now don't get me wrong.. I undestand all about marketing tiers and creating levels of products for customers to oogle at. That's all fine. And as Mirrorless stands today, it is clearly positioned by Nikon to be inferior to their pro DSLR offerings (D6, D850 and D500). Those cameras have a totally different design philosophy and their differentiated controls echo that. However right now the Nikon Z7ii is MORE expensive than the "equivalent" D850, with which it shares an important attribute, the sensor. So different controls, different viewfinder, but same image quality, and comparable in price, though with a clear pecking order. The "cheaper" camera.. is the better camera. Yes, I know, the D850 is near the end of it's life and hence price is lower, and the Z7ii is at the beginning of it's 2 year product life. The two cameras have very different Autofocus capabilities, with one sharing the AF of the flagship D6 and the other a newer though (currently) less capable AF technology, Mirrorless. Nikon WANT you to buy into Mirrorless, however it is still not as good as DSLR in that important category. Instead of sweetening the deal though, they have arbitrarily taken out features much the same way Canon or Sony have done for centuries. Well, ok, years.. Once upon a time this would have been anathema for the more engineering oriented Nikon... Well, I guess we all have to grow up and stop playing with our meccano sets and start selling houses in Monopoly.
You see, to put this all into context, Nikon was the bastion of pro photographers for many many decades, and though Canon and Pentax and Leica and Minolta (now Sony) and many others tried to compete, it was the accepted wisdom that Nikon was the best. They made camera bodies that were tough as nails, and lenses that could be used through successive generations of bodies. But times change, and technology changes, and small advantages turn into big differences down the line. And essentially two big changes destroyed Nikon's dominance in the imaging business.. AutoFocus and Full-Frame digital sensors. Their delay in adopting and offering viable options in both those areas meant that they went from Nr 1 in the 1970/80's to Nr 3 in the 2020's.. Yes, even consumer electronic giant Sony sells more cameras than them.
(Arguably a third technology, communications, has dealt all camera makers a blow, as in reality the Nr 1 spot is not Canon, but Apple with it's iPhone... But let's not muddy the waters and keep it Camera body centric discussion).
Out of all this comes a newer more modern Nikon, finally releasing full frame (FF) Mirrorless cameras to an awaiting public, and trying to recapture some of their past successes. In so doing though, they have adopted many of the consumer electronic tricks that the older Nikon, the engineering Nikon, the Nikon with a thousand and one accessories for the Pro shooter, would never EVER have considered. And in so doing, Nikon has become what we hoped it wouldn't.. a Canon or Sony! Before any fanboys from either brand make any comments about my impartiality, I do have to mention that I have used Canon SLR's and DSLR's EXTENSIVELY before finally moving to Nikon, and I much admired Minolta SLR's and later Sony mirrorless cameras (though disappointed with their A7RIII). I know my stuff with them. Seriously. Don't try me!
So whereas the "old" Nikon gave us hit's like the Nikon D3 and D700, the D810 and D500.. and lately the D850.. all great pro-level cameras (not to mention D4, D5 and D6), they are treating Mirrorless like the consumer animal it is.. whilst still charging "full price" for them.. Notwithstanding their "firmware updates" that are improving the sorely lacking AF of Mirrorless, they are not really increasing the usefullness of these cameras as they had implied they would. And they are really just getting us used to the endless treadmill of two steps forwards one step back upgrade path that Canon and Sony have been practicing for 20 years, and have gotten down to a fine art.
So to summarise this rant.. I am REALLY UNHAPPY with my Nikon Z7ii. Notwithstanding the fact that it produces truly spectacular images, the fact that it's framerate is superior to my D3s, the buffer is amazingly deep, there are two card slots making it easy to get images off it, and surprisingly compact and well made. How could Nikon improve this? Give us back what you took away!!!! Give us the negative scanning profile, make DX imaging area user controlable and not automatic, give us the quick format option that EVERY Nikon before had. And this will become a truly great (prosumer) mirrorless camera!
Come on Nikon. Please! It's just firmware!!!!
Footnotes:
1) The format card option via button press is a unique feature to Nikon DSLR's! For everyone else it's a menu-dive.
2) The Negative image profile is a feature unique to Nikon DSLR (singular, only the D850 has this option)!
3) The manually selected DX/FX area is NOT unique to Nikon (Sony also allows it), however Nikon DX lenses (unlike Canon, for example) mount on all Nikon F mount cameras and adapters (FTZ) and some DX lenses have imaging circles that cover the FX sensor in some or most situations. I was on safari some years back and had just ruined a 80-400 lens, and my ONLY option was a loaner 18-200 DX lens on my D700 full frame camera. I was able to manually select FX image area and used the lens at infinity and actually created a competition-winning image. There IS a usefulness to having that sort of manual control of your camera. WHY did you remove it Nikon.. Why?!
4) MF lenses are supported with a 20 bank memory that are user controlable EXCEPT for the focal length, which are pre-fixed to Nikon specific focal lengths.. You cannot manually select 90mm for example (eg. using a Leica M mount lens).. it either goes to 85mm or 105mm! How idiotic!!!
And an afterwards... after checking with an Internet Luminary who shall remain nameless (Hi Thom).. apparently all the above items are well known and have been discussed ad infinitum amongst Nikonians/Nikonistas/Nikophiles... So I am just late to the party is all...
