In general, the default is fine in most situations. EFCS is used at slow shutter speeds to help reduce motion blur from "shutter shock." But, you do still hear the sound of the shutter closing, so the only time I force something different from the default is when I'm shooting in a quiet environment (like a church) and need a silent shutter. The drawbacks of using fully electronic shutter (silent shutter) are the possibility of rolling shutter effects distorting objects in motion, a slower flash sync speed, and (with the Z5-II) the possibility of inducing more noise in the shadows. So, outside the use case of needing a silent shutter, there are reasons to prefer EFCS. I haven't found a situation yet where I wanted to force fully mechanical.
Keith Snell wrote:
In general, the default is fine in most situations. ... So, outside the use case of needing a silent shutter, there are reasons to prefer EFCS. I haven't found a situation yet where I wanted to force fully mechanical.
Got my Z5 II. I come from the Z5 mk 1 and the mk II feels like an entirety different camera (in a good way). First off the AF is incredible. On the original I used to run into "low light" warning fairly easily. Nothing of that sort on the II. In fact the new camera can practically see in the dark. Fantastic. For someone like me who shoots occasionally, this camera offers far beyond beginner capabilities. Couldn't ask more for what I paid.
ronno wrote:
This is long… But interesting. The Nikon outperforms the competitors in just about every way…
I know I'm late to the party, having just recently discovered this Z5-II thread. I just watched that video. It taught me a few things besides the obvious point that my camera choice was a good one. I saw some technical things I wouldn't have noticed on my own (and which probably don't matter to me). It clearly demo'ed some key differences between the three cameras.
But I had a less than great reaction to that video because it does the same things so many YouTube bloggers do: It wasted my time. The first minute was nothing more than a drum track overlayed on content-free introductory video. Then it spent 10 minutes telling to me what it was going to tell me, then seemingly another 10 minutes explaining (and repeating frequently) how the tests were done to make the comparisons unbiased, and also to make the comparisons unbiased what was done to make the comparisons unbiased. Some important points were shown so rapidly, for example that onelenswas24-120f/4andotherswere24-105f/41plussomepicswerewitha50mmf/1.2,Ithinkhesaid, that I was still internalizing that content and thinking about how it might affect the result when he moved on to the images details.
Once the content started it would show a set of images and start explaining the differences but just as the explanationmadesensechangetheimagesandsubjectsothat I didn't have time to study what he had been talking about. After all the demos and explanation the final summarizing repeated much of what had been said, and then said it again. Frustratingly, so... much... of... what... he... said... he... said... so... s.l.o.w.l.y when he could have spoken at a normal pace and been less redundant. It was as if he started with the goal of filling up two hours and by golly made sure he did.
paparazzinick wrote:
How are the 3rd party lenses? Specifically the autofocus 3rd party like viltrox, artisan and Venus optics?
I see that no one has answered.
Sorry, I can't help you much. The only 3rd party lens I have is a Tamron 90mm macro, F-mount with FTZ. I bought it cheap and use it primarily to scan slides but have used it once or twice to photograph dragonflies. It works just fine but I have little to judge it by. It's manual focus, aperture-priority only, well maybe manual mode too but I've never tried it.
Thanks. I jumped in and just bought a couple. Viltrox 135 1.8, viltrox 16 1.8, Sirui aurora 85 1.4, 7 artisans 24 1.8. Also got a Neewer Q6 and 2 Q4's.
I got the TTA 75mm f/2 over Black Friday. $154 well spent! The lens is way sharper than what the price suggests. The AF is fine for my purposes.
My only other Z lens is 40mm f/2 and compared to that, the AF on TTA is noticeably lagging especially in low light situations but in good light its acceptable even on moving subjects like pets.
The colors are not as "warm" as my 50mm F mount lens or the 40mm for that matter but with bit of LR magic, the photos turn out excellent.
This thread needs more pictures!
I posted these in another thread but what the heck, I can post them here too.
All with Z5-II, FTZ adapter, vintage F-mount lenses, manual focus, minimal editing..
Amol Thorat wrote:
Got my Z5 II. I come from the Z5 mk 1 and the mk II feels like an entirety different camera (in a good way). First off the AF is incredible. On the original I used to run into "low light" warning fairly easily. Nothing of that sort on the II. In fact the new camera can practically see in the dark. Fantastic. For someone like me who shoots occasionally, this camera offers far beyond beginner capabilities. Couldn't ask more for what I paid.
Same. That was my reason to upgrade from the Z5 to the Z5II. Hit the low light AF many times when I was indoors which caused me to miss focus, especially on people. The Z5II finally brings AF well beyond what I had in the DSLR days in challenging lighting
paparazzinick wrote:
How are the 3rd party lenses? Specifically the autofocus 3rd party like viltrox, artisan and Venus optics?
I have the Tamron 70-300 and the new Viltrox 85 F2. Both AF great, even with eye mode (used the 85 for a couple portraits already). Sold my 85 1.8G for the Viltrox and it was a huge upgrade
I got a chance to handle a Z5 II yesterday and though I followed along with the coverage on its release and knew it to be good, I am astonished by this little camera. The feel is great, the screens are great, the performance for its price is astonishing, and as someone who does very little video, it almost embarrasses me to have so much invested in other systems when I could get a mint/refurb'd Z5II for like, less than $1300. If I lost every bit of camera equipment I owned tomorrow, I would be hard pressed to not buy one of these and an S series prime or two. I remember spending nearly two years of savings in undergrad on the D500 when it launched, desperate to get my pictures above the fold on my university's student newspaper. To think that kids in the same position 10 years later could get so much more for less money makes me incredibly happy.
Very happy with my new Z5II. I have extensive professional use on a couple Z6II's. I tried a Z5 awhile back and never really got along with it and moved it along. It is making a great combo with a Z7!
When I got home from work today my sweetie and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. On a whim I grabbed the camera which has the manual-focus 105mm f/2.5 mounted. Someone in a different thread had said point it at everything, so I did.
Stark trees, blue sky, low sun, a common sight this time of year.
Not going anywhere for a while.
Too far away for a great shot. I needed my 300mm. Immature Coopers Hawk, to judge by the coloring and the rounded tail. It's been around the neighborhood for quite a while now.
So I picked up a Z5 II a couple weeks ago when my Z6 III was in for EVF repair, and so far I'm really enjoying it. One interesting thing, that I didn't even really notice until my Z6 III came back....the Z5II's sound from locking the IBIS unit is SO much quieter and less obtrusive than the 'thunk' sound that comes with the Z6III and Z8. And in silent mode it doesn't happen at all (seems they just keep it engaged during image review in silent mode). It's a small thing, but quite nice.
Only had a little bit of time to shoot with the Z5 II so far, but I'm hoping to take out out shooting this weekend.
Jman13 wrote:
One interesting thing, that I didn't even really notice until my Z6 III came back....the Z5II's sound from locking the IBIS unit is SO much quieter and less obtrusive than the 'thunk' sound that comes with the Z6III and Z8. And in silent mode it doesn't happen at all (seems they just keep it engaged during image review in silent mode). It's a small thing, but quite nice.
That clunk annoys me SO much on the Z9. I've read that there are some IQ gotchas with running Silent mode even on the fully electronic Z8 and Z9, but I can't stand the clunk so I'll live with it. Nikon has never explained what all is affected.
