Nikon Z7 – I am a Bad Idea and a waste of YOUR money!

And NO – this title isn’t meant as clickbait!

I love Nikon cameras for many reasons.

I HATE Nikon as a company.

I dislike Canon cameras for numerous technical and ergonomic reasons.

I LIKE Canon as a company.

The Nikon D5 was THE FIRST Nikon camera I’ve used that I dislike and thought was like the proverbial bag of spanners.

But now there’s a new Nikon that takes over the mantle of Nikon at its very worst – and I’ve not even clapped eyes on one yet let alone handled one.  I don’t need to play with one to know just how much of a rip-off this pile of rubbish really is.

This camera is £4000 at Wex here in the UK – yes, that FOUR THOUSAND of your hard-earned spondoolicks (for our overseas friends that’s ‘slang’ for pounds sterling).

We’ve already harangued the Z7 for its single media slot – and Canon followed suit with the EOS R, is that a coincidence?

But here’s the kicker, and the MAIN reason why the Nikon Z7 is a crock, and the indicator lies at the foot of page 57 in the Nikon Z7 user manual:

And for those with bad eyesight:

You can see/download the manual here: NIKON Z7 USER MANUAL

I think the first to show the AF problems with the Nikon Z7 was the ‘afro haircut idiot know-nothing from Philedelphia’ – you know, the guy who never knew how to use Photoshop until the other month when Matt Kloskowski showed him how – live on YouTube.

Lot’s of people are jumping on the DISS THE NIKON Z7 AF bandwagon as I’m typing this, but none of the morons are pointing out WHY the NIKON Z7 auto focus is so crappy.

So I will tell you why!!!!

There is no way to have any control finesse over the AF functionality.

Above is the main control functionality for the D5/500/850 MultiCAM 20K AF system.

You will see controls for Blocked Shot Response and Subject Motion.  These roughly equate to Tracking Sensitivity and Acceleration/Deceleration Tracking on the controls for the Canon 61 point Reticular system found on the likes of the 1DX Mk1 and Mk2 and 5DMk 3 and Mk4.

The two controls on both Nikon and Canon dictate the auto focus SOLUTION spat out by the PREDICTIVE AF ALGORITHMS contained in the cameras AF engine processors.

The subjects degree and type of motion RELATIVE to the camera position DEMAND different setups within this control panel.  It’s all to do with the camera AF resistance to MINOR and MAJOR changes in subject position between one frame and the next.

If you want a definitive understanding of all this then go and purchase my Autofocus Guide to Nikon and Canon AF for Long Lenses and Birds in Flight by clicking this link.

So this is the problem with the Nikon Z7 – because it’s utilizing so-called ‘on chip phase detect’ – which isn’t phase detect at all in reality – you cannot get control of these variable functions because they don’t exist in the cameras menu/firmware.

As far as I’m aware these sorts of controls are not available on the Sony cameras either.

But there is still a form of predictive AF algorithm at work in all mirrorless cameras, and it would appear that the one inside the Nikon Z7 is really poor in the way it’s balanced out with regard to it coping with moving subjects – especially those that move somewhat erratically and towards the camera.

Understand this people, the Nikon Z7 is a glorified D5000 that is not worth half the price you’ll have to pay for it.

Mirrorless systems have certain advantages over traditional dSLR systems:

• Reduction in Shutter Lag times
• Removal of Mirror Slap vibrations
• Reduction of Weight leading to Greater Portability

But on-chip phase detection isn’t real phase detection, and it will not (for the foreseeable future) be anywhere near as fast or accurate as CORRECTLY setup phase detect autofocus on a top flight dSLR.

A sequence of 77 raw files that are all tack sharp and cover around 12 seconds of time – no mirrorless system is capable of doing this to the same degree of consistency as a correctly set dSLR.

The dSLR is NOT DEAD!

Don’t believe me?

Licensed Formula 1 pit and circuit access photographers make a very good living, and they stand or fall by the reliability of their camera gear.  But they are all business people at the end of the day.

If a Sony A9 and that fancy 400mm Sony lens was as reliable as the Sony fanboys claim it is, then why will we not see a plethora of Sony rigs at Suzuka on Sunday?  Just a thought…

But for heavens sake folks, if you have a hankering for a Nikon Z7 then PLEASE think about it – make yourself aware of the FACTS before you blow your wodge of wonga!

It’s NOT a professional camera in any way shape or form, and Dirk Jasper of Nikon Europe even says that – watch the video below at 19mins 48sec:

NOTE TO NIKON:  If you want to try and get me to change my mind then all you have to do is send me one guys!

I promise I won’t lick it or sniff it like that Jared Polin idiot!