Richard Haw's Classic Nikon Repair and Review

Hello, everybody! Do you know “Nong Toom” (ปริญญา เจริญผล)? She is a legendary Muay Thai champion that’s known for her skills, but mostly known for being a “ladyboy”. Her story is so famous that there is a movie that was made about her titled “Beautiful Boxer“, where the tagline reads – “She fights like a man, to be a woman”. It just shows her dedication to her art and her wish to become a real woman. Inside the body of a fierce fighter is a woman trying to break free. An amazing paradox like no other. Today, we will look into Nikon’s latest classic, and just like Nong Toom, it is something that lives between different polar opposites, with a “big surprise” if you aren’t expecting it.

Introduction:

The Nikon Zf is the much-awaited FX version of the popular Nikon Z fc. The development of the Nikon Zf began not too long after the little Nikon Z fc was introduced, driven by the favorable response of the little brother. For those of us who are waiting for the true successor to the beloved Nikon Df, this is the closest thing we have, but in a mirrorless format.

It has the look of a film camera but it really is a state-of-art machine, even having features that advanced cameras like the Nikon Z8 and Nikon Z9 do not have. It is what I would call a “hobby camera”, something that you take out to shoot with because it’s fun, but it’s also capable of taking amazing photos thanks to its amazing sensor and processor.

Since many people have already covered the spec and other technical details, I will not repeat them here. I will focus on my impression of it instead, with an emphasis on handling and how it feels like when using it with manual lenses. I will also share some comparisons with the Nikon Df.

Comparisons with Other Nikons:

This is not an exhaustive comparison between cameras, it’s just a simple illustration so you will know the most noticeable differences, and the most obvious visual difference are the dimensions and form. Since this camera is supposed to be the equivalent of the Nikon Df, but in mirrorless form, I will also add some commentaries about the differences between them.

The Nikon F3 is much smaller and lighter, obviously. I was hoping that the Nikon Zf will be just as small, it is probably impossible to make this even smaller. Maybe if we just wait for 2 more generations we might be able to get a smaller camera as miniaturization gets even better.

In terms of size you can think of it as a larger Nikon Z fc. It’s bigger, heavier and feels denser. This makes sense because it has an all-metal construction compared to its smaller counterpart which uses plastics for some of the bigger parts such as the bottom plate and aluminum for the dials as opposed to brass for the Nikon Zf. The layout is identical in nearly every manner except for small details at the back. One big thing that I hated about the Nikon Z fc is the inability to thread a soft-release button for the shutter.

Let’s see how it looks like when we put the Nikon Zf beside the Nikon Df. The difference isn’t entirely that big, with the volume being almost similar, but the dimensions are definitely different.

The Nikon Df is larger, with a more awkward shape (specially with the grip). Apart from the look it isn’t fair to compare both cameras because they represent different paradigms. Despite that, the Nikon Df is now a classic, with prices staying the same because nobody wants to let go of their beloved units.

This is a more detailed comparison with the Nikon Df:

• A pentaprism still feels more natural and less stressful to the eyes.
• The Nikon Df is obviously better with F-mount lenses in terms of handling/use.
• The layout of the dials of the Nikon Df make more sense.
• The Nikon Zf has better image quality.
• The Nikon Df doesn’t have in-body stabilization.
• The Nikon Zf records videos, obviously.
• It feels like the Nikon Df has better metering, at least to me.
• The Nikon Zf has a second card slot.
• The Nikon Zf has much better build quality.
• The Nikon Zf won’t be able to drive the autofocus drive of AF-D lenses.
• You can change the screen of your Nikon Df.

This is not as detailed as some might expect, it’s just a brief outline of the things that I’ve noticed. I have used the Nikon Df for a very long time and I believe that I have given you a fair comparison.

Shooting with Adapted Lenses:

This is my main use-case, I mainly use older lenses so I need to have a great platform aimed at adapting lenses that uses other mounts. The Nikon Z-mount is perfect for this, it is the shallowest one that I know of. As of writing, it is the only full-frame option that has the retro-style that makes it a great match when shooting with vintage glass.

Using F-mount lenses is possible with a Nikon FTZ adapter (or others). The setup looks awkward since the lens is situated further from the camera. It feels strange just to turn the rings of the Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 Ai-S because they aren’t situated at their expected positions. It will take some getting used to.

The Ai AF-S Zoom Nikkor ED 28-70mm f/2.8D (IF) has a built-in motor so you’re able to use it without any big setbacks at all, AF-D lenses don’t have an internal motor so you’ll only be able to use them manually.

My main reason for using mirrorless cameras is to shoot with older non-F-mount lenses such as this shiny Nikkor-H•C 5cm f/2 (Leica Thread Mount). Adapting these lenses with digital cameras opens up new doors for your creativity, this recent phenomenon also gave rise to the popularity of the said vintage lenses, it is even responsible for starting several related industries.

The excellent viewfinder is very useful when shooting with a lens with such a thin depth-of-field like this Nikkor-N 5cm f/1.1. Having the ability to quickly magnify your view with a single button is very handy for confirming your focus, I have set up the AF-lock button to function as the magnify view button. It’s really convenient and has saved me a lot of time.

I am happy with how this turned out, things work better than expected. The amazing in-body stabilization helps a lot, it enables me to shoot with a much-lower speed. The biggest convenience for me is the latest feature available only with this camera (as of writing), and we will discuss that in the next section.

Subject-Detection (Manual Focus):

This is the most advanced Nikon for shooting with adapted lenses, it has a very helpful feature wherein it uses the power of its amazing processor to help track your subject when using manual lenses. I guess it’s merely decoupling the code that does this with autofocus lenses, enabling you to use it with manual glass adapted with a dumb connector (mount adapter).

As you can see, the system is amazing! It makes things a lot easier for me, no need to focus-recompose. I do not even need to move the focus points manually, the camera does that for me. It will also add more eyes or faces when the camera detects them. This is a game-changer, no other company offers this, only the Nikon Zf does this as of writing.

Warning: To make this work, one must go deep into the menu to enable this.

• Go to “PHOTO SHOOTING MENU” from the menu’s root.
• Scroll all the way down to “AF/MF Subject detection options”, select “People” or “Auto”.
• Go to “MF Subject Detection Area”, then select “All”.

I am not the only one to notice this, but you won’t be able to adjust this using the i-button, and I added the said options above to my custom menu. This appears to be a bug and should be fixed soon!

JPEG & Monochrome Mode:

I don’t plan to shoot JPEGs with this at all, just curious about how the new monochrome mode works, and since I’m at it, I will see how good the JPEGs are. If you’ve missed it, there’s a new monochrome mode, it’s a thin implementation, I was hoping for something substantial. You can access it with a lever that’s under thee shutter speed dial, it allows you to switch between stills, video and monochrome (labeled as B&W). I say that the implementation is thin because it simply gives you a quick-access to the profile, something I think that a little button customization will be able to do sufficiently. I guess it was included to pander to the hipster demographics of another brand, I’d like to see Nikon expand on this feature in the future, it’s just a waste of development and material otherwise.

The JPEG conversion using the SD (standard) profile looks natural, faithful to many other Nikon cameras that came before the Nikon Zf. The “Nikon colors” is something that every Nikon shooter is familiar with.

(Click to enlarge)

These were shot with the new monochrome mode, we have three options as of writing – Monochrome, Flat and Deep Tone. Look at the photos above to see how they look like.

(Click to enlarge)

I think it gives us good-looking pictures, with a lot of character, this is definitely more than just turning a dial to convert a color picture to a monochrome one, there’s some stuff being to th curves.

This thing is not for me, I think what will make this even better is a true lineup of film simulation settings that you can download from a Nikon website, created officially or by other people. We should also have the possibility of adding a mock grain layer just to make things look more interesting, this is not difficult to do at all, you can even find the recipe for that online.

Autofocus and Metering:

Well, here’s a little bonus. I said that I will focus more on using the Nikon Zf with adapted lenses, but I will also give a few short commentaries about its autofocus performance with Z-mount lens. I’ll also give you some observations about its metering and how accurate it is.

I mounted the Nikkor Z 40mm f/2 (Special Edition) to it just to see how good the autofocus performance is. The combo feels nice, as if everything went well together. If only we could have a functional aperture ring with it, but that will be asking for too much.

The face-tracking feature is excellent, it is able to track an energetic child playing at the playground. I got a lot of keepers but I did have a few misses, maybe around 20% of the time. Now, the autofocus speed is totally reliant on the lens and its motor but the accuracy is mostly on the side of the camera. In my tests, I felt that it has more to do with the speed of the Nikkor Z 40mm f/2’s (Special Edition) motor than that of the Nikon Zf’s autofocus performance. Perhaps mounting something faster to it will give it more chances to focus on your subjects more accurately. Throughout my simple tests, the box for face-tracking worked great, sticking to the faces of my subjects even if the face was covered or went out-of-frame for a short while. I’m impressed.

Unlike a DSLR, with the autofocus module tied to the metering module, a mirrorless camera will enable it to track your subjects up to the very edges of your frame. This is impossible for a DSLR so I found it very helpful.

I am not impressed at al with the metering, I feel that it’s one of the weakest traits of the Nikon Zf. It has become so predictable that I already knew that it won’t meter for my subject’s face in this photo. Just to be fair, a lot of cameras that I’ve used did or will do this, I was just hoping that Nikon will give us a smart camera in 2023 that’s intelligent enough to avoid this, but alas, things are to remain as they were.

Even when using spot-metering (focus point at the face), I was not able to expose this photo to my liking. Maybe it’s because I was shooting in monochrome mode, but I was expecting that the camera will adjust for it automatically.

This part is a bit of a disappointment for me, all of this can be fixed by a future software update and I will remain hopeful that we will get that update in the coming months. It’s such a shame because this camera has so much potential.

Critiques:

We all know that I’m a huge Nikon supremacist but I won’t holdback on my opinions here. I love using the Nikon Zf a lot, there are things that they got right and there are things that never make any sense. We are going to look at both now so please bare with me.

First, the good. The camera feels dense, the body is all-metal, with full weather-sealing. The two big dials are brass, subtle detail that makes it feel great when operating them. You can change the size of the view to a smaller coverage, mimicking the “high-eyepoint” finder of the Nikon F3, allowing eyeglass wearers to view the entirety of the image more comfortably. It has a dedicated digital monochrome mode that I will never use, but hipsters may find it nice. The back screen looks great, you can move the focus point using your right thumb, only if you’re peeping-through the finder. It accepts the common Nikon en-el15 family of batteries, but ships with the new Nikon en-el15c. You also have another memory card slot but it’s only for a micro SD card, which I find to be so annoying. There is an overlay in the viewfinder for visualizing an area that corresponds to the “center-weighted” metering circle, very much like what you’ll see with older film Nikons. It feels well-built, rivaling Leicas. It is a full-frame retro camera, no need to pretend that you’re happy shooting with a retro camera that has a smaller sensor and justifying that there’s no difference. The autofocus appears to be excellent with Nikon F-mount lenses. Amazing features for video, which I’ll never use, but nice to have. Nice focus-peaking implementation. It feels very responsive. You can now disable the in-body vignette and distortion correction like some pro Nikon Z cameras. The hype is real.

Now, for the bad. It’s bigger and heavier than I expected! The operation of the dials are a stepdown when you compare it to how the dials operate in the Nikon Df, this one is a simpler implementation. While the Nikon Z6’s finder felt great to me, this one feels kind of “unnatural” despite having the same, if not better components, perhaps it’s the settings? It’s louder than the Nikon Z6, but that may be intentional. There’s a weird feeling when you hold it, your right pinky finger will feel sore from the edge of the bottom plate. The battery door felt a bit cheap, it should’ve been a twist-lock type instead. There won’t be a functional grip from the looks of it. The threaded plunger only seems to accept a soft-release button, and it will not work with a threaded release cable. The only gadget to trigger it remotely is the Nikon ML-L7, or use your phone to trigger it via Nikon’s stupid app, which is annoying to setup. There is no charger that ships with it, purchase the new Nikon MH-34 separately, I find this unreasonable and an insult to Nikon supporters. There’s a tiny grip reminiscent of the Nikon F3, but the design is based on the Nikon FM/FE series, a lost opportunity. As of writing, I find that the performance feels a bit unreliable, the camera locked-up 4x on me so far, there’s also the issue of the exposure looking weird when shooting with manual lenses at times, specially when it is transitioning from bright-to-dark as you stop the iris of the lens down from wide-open to a smaller iris opening like f/16. The D-pad does not feel good to operate, it feels cheap and difficult to press. The dial for exposure compensation shouldn’t have been installed, it could’ve been adjustable with a custom button. I also do not like the fact that I needed to update the firmware of my Nikon FTZ in order to use it with this camera.

This is how I imagined it to be, I do not know who the main industrial designer is nor who makes the main decisions, but you have failed in this part. It’s a lost opportunity, you also didn’t give it the option to use a separate battery grip, one that is shaped like a Nikon MD-4. I’ll give you a B+ for the effort, it could have been an A- if the little grip is absent, it’s just there for no real purpose, it just makes you hold it in a weird way, hurting the pinky finger. We all love how the little Nikon Z fc has no grip, I understand that the newer Nikon Zf is a lot heavier, which somewhat justifies the addition of a little grip but that could be handled in a more elegant way, like what we see with the Nikon FA.

My opinions are scathing, that’s because I am very passionate about this topic. Many share my views and I hope someone listens to them and gives us a better camera next time, with a charger, of course!

Conclusions:

This camera is very new, despite the brain-dead implementation of some things, I believe that it is a good camera with solid features. The main platform seems good so I’ll look forward to the next updates coming in the near future, addressing some annoying issues that me and some other owners discovered.

What can be improved with future firmware releases:

• A split-prism simulator for manual mode.
• Focus-confirmation indicator like what we used to have with older Nikons.
• Make sure that the menus and buttons work, such as the one for subject-detection (MF).
• Fix the center-weighted metering issue, it underexposes my photos by a stop or more.
• When you’re in monochrome mode, the viewfinder still shows a colored image (in “starlight view”).
• Other reliability/bug-fixes.

It’s still a pretty good camera, maybe I’m too harsh on it. I guess spending a few thousand dollars +tax is something that will affect my judgement. I probably won’t be this upset if they’ve included a charger, this is unacceptable if you ask me.

Will I recommend this camera to other vintage lens users? Certainly, but not without reservations, please read my article carefully and make that decision yourself. The issues that bug me may not be important to you at all, I am just disappointed with a few things that I did not expect to see from a camera in this price range. Other than that, I think this is a wonderful camera overall. If you want to buy this thinking that you will be able to finally find a replacement for the venerable Nikon Df, then I am sorry to say that it’s better to just stick to your camera. The Nikon Df, with all its faults, ugliness and quirks will still be the best option we have if we want to obtain the closest experience to a digital “35mm film camera” experience, complete with a real pentaprism. Now, if you just want to have a good time with adapted lenses then this is what you may consider to be the best option available from Nikon at this time. The competition do not have a direct answer to this yet. Yes, the hype is real, unlike the other option which is mostly hot air and inflated prices.

That’s all for today’s article, I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading this. While there are other articles around about this camera, I try to offer you something different, and that’s from my perspective as a vintage lens lover. See you guys soon!

Help Support this Blog:

Maintaining this site requires resources and a lot of time. If you think that it has helped you or you want to show your support by helping with the site’s upkeep, you can make a small donation to my paypal.com at richardHaw888@gmail.com. Money is never my main motivation for this blog and I believe that I have enough to run this but you can help me make this site (and the companion facebook page) grow.

Helping support this site will ensure that it will be kept going as long as I have the time and energy for this. I’d appreciate it if you just leave out your name or details like your country’s name or other info so that the donations will totally be anonymous. This is a labor of love and I intend to keep it that way for as long as I can. Ric.