The Nikon Zf - a perfect mess for daily photography
Preamble and context
First things first - I bought my Nikon Zf used, and these are my unfiltered, unsponsored thoughts after using it for the past four months on a daily basis.
Context for the type of kit I typically employ - I have used a mid to high megapixel body as my “main” camera for the past six years, and then have a lower megapixel, less capable body for my EDC. For the last few years, my EDC was the Fuji X100V and then X100VI (VI review here!). My EDC shooting is more personal…family life, and lots of stuff that really never sees the public light of day. The X100 is a great, small package for sneaking in and out of stores, restaurants, venues, and just blending into every day life, but one that comes with its caveats.
As of the time of writing this review, my digital kit consists around 3 major pillars:
Fuji GFX 100S for dedicated landscape and portrait shooting
Nikon Z9 for workhorse/commercial and action shooting
Nikon Zf for EDC/family documentary photography, talking head/A/B video, and B cam for landscape
A bit of history…when the Nikon Zf was introduced, I very loudly proclaimed across the internet:
“Literally all I want is a Z6ii in the Zfc body. I don't need Z8 tracking. I need a great full frame sensor with good low light so I can use it for light travel day or night. It would be cool if it were a metal build more like the old Nikon film cameras or Fuji cameras, but that won't happen. It'll be plastic for sure. There's no way to put the IBIS element in its current form in a Zf sized body.”
Well, let’s start with some long overdue crow eating. The Nikon Zf is assuredly not plastic. The Nikon Zf is assuredly not simply a reskinned part-binned Z6ii like I insisted it would be for the better part of a year. And…it’s has a great IBIS unit.
No, what Nikon did for inspiration was a shot to left field, a noble attempt to harken back to the film-era heritage I love so much. Solid brass knobs, classic aesthetics. Square angles. At first glance, it’s an incredible reply to what Fujifilm has been doing for years, and an extension of Nikon’s 70+ year film lineage. Then, on second glance, I began to notice the digital-era doo-dads…A PASM switch…an aperture display panel (due to lack of aperture rings on Z)…a black and white dial…and oh my GOD, a flippy screen? Are you kidding me? Suddenly I had many, many questions about what this bastard chimera was truly trying to be.
I resisted for months. I continued to lambast this somewhat kludgy design that was trying so hard to marry old and new. I pointed to the glut of quickly-listed used Zf bodies as proof that Nikon had flopped on this one.
Slowly but surely, however, there were signs of life yet in this unholy Frankenstein’s Monster. It took a bit for the Zf to find its way into the right hands, folks that could suss out the true capabilities of the camera. Was it a stills camera? Was it for vlogging? Was it simply a heavy fashion accessory for confused apostles of the Nikon glory days?
Well…it’s sort of ALL that.
Alright, so here’s where my ownership starts. The X100VI is out and in my hands, but somewhat of a disappointment compared to my X100V. The market demand is so hot for the VI that selling even a used copy nets a profit, so I start looking around at my other options, one of which is a used Zf. I end up exchanging my VI for a Zf + 40 SE kit and make a few hundred bucks on the deal. I’ll just rebuy an X100V if I hate this, I tell myself.
The good, bad, and ugly of the Zf
June 2024 and the Zf is finally in my hands. The used kit I bought included a SmallRig grip/dovetail plate…immediately I wasn’t a fan of the texture of the SmallRig grip, so I tried the camera sans grip. That lasted for about 3 minutes. As predicted by simply gazing upon pictures of the Zf, the tiny “grip” on the body is functionally useless and the camera feels like trying to wield a brick thanks to its hefty build materials, so the SmallRig goes back on. I quickly get used to the shape and size of it, but continue to not get on with the texture to this day. I have tried many other grips, but none are as close to a full package of usefulness as the SmallRig, so that’s what I’ve settled on for now.
Now, after four months of use, here’s what I love, hate, and wish could be improved.
Love
+ The files. I was not prepared for how different the files are from the Z8 and Z9 files I'm used to. It's hard to quantify. I've seen people talk about Z6iii files being "painterly", and I think I'm leaning that way myself. These files take post processing completely differently than my Z9 files (in a good way). I'm still wrapping my head around what I'm seeing, but the IQ is great and processing is a joy
+ Build quality. There is a reassuring heft to it, the dials feel well crafted and all parts of the camera have very little slop and gapping. It's reminiscent of how the X100 series feels like it's cut out of a single piece of material. The only nit is the bottom of the camera, like so many other cameras. The materials switch to the cheapest feeling plastic on the planet that are easily scratched. It's already a heavy camera for its size...I'm not sure why Nikon didn’t bite the bullet and just put a more robust base on it
+ The leatherette feels nice especially on the back of the LCD
+ Round eyecup (a negative coming later, though)
+ Fantastic IBIS
+ Great noise handling at higher ISOs
+ 1/8000th shutter easily allows F/2.0 shooting midday
+ Handling/weight distribution with most lenses is better than you would think; the largest/longest lens I am comfortable using is the Z 24-120, which starts to feel like a bit of overkill for this camera. The Z 24-70/4 would be an excellent alternative
+ Video is EXCELLENT. I’m shooting so much 4k/30 on the fly compared to before owning this camera, and using it for talking head work is perfect
+ Completely serviceable battery life, and charges quickly via USB-C
+ I like the black and white switch more than I thought I would, if only to help me visualize how a particular scene might look in mono in post and which color filter is most appropriate for a scene
Hate
- Button layout. I get that Nikon wanted to match the Zfc. Stupid move! They could have had the 5 way combo of the Z50ii/Zf/Z6iii/Z8/Z9 all with the same button layout, even if they left the joystick off the Z50ii and Zf. It's inexcusable to have the play button on the left requiring two-handed operation, which then basically forces you to waste one of the 3 right-hand-buttons you might want to re-use for that. Worst of all, Menu is in the "wrong" spot compared the other four bodies mentioned above. No one at Nikon asked my opinion, and it shows. It's a damn shame too, given what a nice B cam this is for Z8/Z9 users.
- Shockingly poor AutoISO workflow - you must menu dive to toggle AutoISO on and off instead of the ISO wheel having a setting for it. Auto ISO tends to lose its mind in certain configurations which I have demonstrated on Youtube
- Missing AF-ON button. Plenty of room for it, inexplicably absent
- D-Pad location could be a bit higher now that it's pulling double duty for the joystick. I don't think they had room for both, and I'm fine without the joystick, but the D-Pad isn't in a natural spot while shooting for AF box repositioning. No, I'm not enabling touch on the LCD, because the LCD is staying closed while shooting 95% of the time.
- Ergonomics without a grip. This camera is unusable without a grip IMO. It's a weird thing to say, but it's absolutely true. Most post-release chatter about this camera isn't about the images it makes, it's about which aftermarket grip feels the best. Your grip is going to add depth and height. This camera, one that started pretty large and heavy for what it is, gets even bigger with this mandatory augmentation
- The black paint looks...bad, compared to the classic film SLRs, X100, and other recent cameras. It almost looks like its thickness is uneven at points, and isn't quite matte enough to pull the look off. However, I have yet to experience any actual paint scratching/degradation anywhere but the plastic base plate
- The pentaprism lacks the bulkier shape of the modern cameras (since the Zf is trying to play dress up as a film camera) and the result is that with a shallow, round eye cup, sunlight has a much easier path to create really eye bad glare in certain shooting conditions/angles. This makes the EVF pretty darn tough to see at times, and I find myself wearing hats more than I want to to try and relieve this issue
Other feelings
~ LCD doesn't open completely 180 degrees. It's so close that I can't understand the design decision behind that. It's annoying, but not a hard con.
~ Manual focusing aids aren’t all they are cracked up to be, and the subject detection can be easily fooled and auto zoom into the wrong person or worse, something that’s not a person at all
~ The front custom button is dangerously close to my ring finger and I suspect there are shooters who accidentally hit that button. If it was moved towards the lens a few millimeters it would help a lot. You end up putting a lot of weight on these fingers due to the bizarre ergos and the last thing you want is a button by a pressure point.
~ Micro SD is a dead format. This should have dual UHS-II slots. The Fuji X-T2 had this 8 years ago in a much smaller camera. Regardless, you'll almost never remove the Micro card if shooting it in backup mode. I would recommend you go into playback from time to time and make sure the card is still readable for sanity's sake.
~ The full size SD card becomes rather cumbersome to remove once you have a grip installed. I've seen some people claim they have to use tweezers and I can understand why.
~ The command wheels could stand to be pushed a bit further out, as they are nearly flush with the body, making it a bit hard to quickly zing them to a much different setting
Deeper dive on selected points
I feel a few of the above points deserve a little more context and explanation, so here we go.
Look and feel of images
As said, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact differences of these files vs something coming out of the Z8 or Z9, but the Zf images have a more pleasing look all around to me. The resolution is of no concern to me personally, as modern scale-up methods are so good now you can easily blow an edited file up for large printing. So far my largest print off the Zf was over 46” wide and looked stunning.
I like a few of the built in picture controls, specifically Deep Tone Mono, Sunday, and Pop when configured to taste for JPEG output, and have also been using a Velvia simulation from the popular Nikon Picture Controls website.
Overall, the IQ and color coming out the Zf pleases me in a way the Fuji files rarely could.
My only “complaint” comparing to Fuji is that Nikon’s Active D Lighting is not nearly as effective as Fuji’s DR200 and DR400 options (shoots at a higher ISO while underexposing the image and then immediately raising exposure in cam back to +-0 to elicit a more filmic look and softer high-contrast transitions). I would like to see Nikon refine this, as this feature hasn’t been improved since the DSLR days.
Manual focus aids
The styling of the ZF cries out to have a manual focus lens mounted, and the Zf is touted at having a unique feature set among its peers in marrying subject detection with focus confirmation. The main feature here will find a face, let you grab critical focus, and pop the shot off. In my testing, more often than not, the subject detection flittered all over the frame, jumping person to person, or finding a distraction in the bokeh that it thought was a face, requiring a constant zoom out and recompose to try and get the right face to take hold.
Not ideal.
Ok, so we’ll just use focus confirmation, meaning you have a small AF-style box that turns green when I focus my MF lens on the right spot. Well, the Zf is missing a crucial menu item from the Z8/Z9 that allows you to thicken up that box, and by default it’s VERY thin and not particularly bright, so it’s easy to lose it in frame. This is my most wanted firmware add, still waiting on Nikon as of November 2024 on this one.
Have a glut of older Nikkor Ai-S lenses? There is no focus confirmation for any of these lenses that lack electronic contacts, meaning you will have to lean on the fall back of focus peaking instead of any sort of focus confirmation. Ironically, if you adapt an F lens to a Leica M adapter, and then put that mess on an M to Z adapter, you CAN start to use these features even on non-chipped Nikkor glass.
That Nikon doesn’t support this natively is a true head-scratcher.
Black and White switch
I have come to love the stills/video/black and white hardware switch. I shoot RAW + JPEG and have a custom stylized mono preset that I like very much. It’s fun to switch back and forth as the light calls for it and get great JPEG output. If I goof in the field, I then have my RAW file I can fall back on, just the way I used to shoot my Fuji X100 cameras.
Flippy vlogging screen
This is the most complicated of my thoughts. I loathe these screens for stills compared to the dual tilt style on the Z8/Z9, but they are exceedingly useful for talking head work. I also LOVE the leatherette they have on the rear of the Zf screen…it’s just so much more elegant than a cheap plastic like on the Z6iii, and I have come to enjoy shooting the Zf with the rear screen closed nearly exclusively unless I’m shooting at a strange angle.
This has wound up being a total 50/50 item for me. I love it, I hate it, I don’t mind it all at the same time, but it existing in this form makes the Zf usable in ways I didn’t expect it to.
And the worst offender of all…the PASM switch/manual controls
While I’ve gotten used to the PASM switch existing, it simply doesn’t belong on a camera like this. It kills the aesthetic and then leads to some very odd scenarios where your dials can directly contradict your current settings.
The Zf is trying to live in two worlds at the same time, and ends up stepping on itself by offering manual controls next to a PASM switch. Fuji including A (automatic) settings on each dial is the way to solve this elegantly and why Nikon didn’t simply copy their proven formula is beyond me. Even my FM3A film camera has an A on the shutter speed dial, and yet it’s missing here on the Zf.
Ok, Scott, we get it…you sort of hate the Zf, just buy something else!
But here’s the thing. I just gave you a laundry list of grievances, annoyances, bugaboos, braindeadsies, and absolute mysteries from the deep crevices of Nikon’s engineering and product development teams…
…and yet…
…the Nikon Zf is one of the most inexplicably fun, satisfying, rewarding, and inspiring cameras I’ve owned in a long time.
I will attribute this to one small detail I have as-of-yet not discussed: the exceptional Voigtlander 35mm and 50mm APO lenses for Z mount. Call me a sucker, but when I saw these were getting discontinued, I scooped both up out of an abundance of caution, only to find out they are simply getting Mark II releases with revamped external designs. Regardless, these are the two finest compact prime lenses I’ve ever owned.
Myself, I’m a 35mm guy. I know a bunch of 50mm adherents. Doesn’t matter, Voigtlander has a lens for us both. Paired with the Zf, these lenses take on a level of microcontrast and 3D pop that constantly impresses me. There’s a special sauce here that doesn’t exist when mounted on my Z9. It’s almost like the lens coatings mesh with the sensor’s inherent color profiles in a way that creates magic.
Now, granted! These Voigts aren’t weather sealed…they are manual focus only…they don’t have hard stops at infinity. They take some work to get used to, but my goodness are they worth the work.
And now that I have a handle on them, the Zf and in particular the 35mm APO has become my favorite EDC kit I’ve had. It’s bulkier than others, it’s kludgy-ier than others…but it has the magic somewhere in there. The 35 APO blows the house down when compared to the noisy, slow focusing, mess of a lens on the X100V and VI.
And…if and when you want AF, the Nikon Z 40/2 is a perfect lens for the Zf. It feels like it came out of Cracker Jack box, sure, but it gets the job done in a way that’s hard to convey in words. It punches leagues above its price. It has more pleasing rendering than the Fuji equivalents. It’s fast and quiet enough for video. Just an insane value.
Parting thoughts
So yeah, the Zf is a mess. It’s an imperfect mashup of old and new, a shockingly well-built kludge of a camera that tries to do everything all at once while looking like a film camera, and somewhere in there, opens a little box of magic with the right lenses mounted. It represents one of the best value bodies on the market for all it can do, even in such a strange external package. With a few quality of life improvements with hopefully upcoming firmware, it can enter a shortlist of truly great cameras from a company that has made more than a few.
The one thing above all else that could get me into a Zf II would be a revamp of the physical controls to match the current gen of cameras. The rest is all gravy…and I’m loving every day that I pick this thing up and make magic with it.
