Of course, you can't attach a DSLR lens directly to the mirrorless Z7 II. For this, Nikon made an optional FTZ adapter (F mount To Z mount, get it?). Another article on this site goes into the details of the FTZ adapter, so I won't go into too much detail here. Suffice it to say that almost any AI-S or P manual focus Nikkor and any AF-S, AF-I or AF-P autofocus Nikkor performs as you would expect when mounted on the Z7 II via FTZ. adapter. That's good news, because while the Z-mount lens selection continues to improve, at the time of this review we only have 17 Z-mount Nikkor FX lenses, and many of them overlap functionally (four mid-range zooms or three 50mm lenses, for example ). Even with nine more FX lenses on the road map coming soon—Nikon says before April 2022—there's still a limited selection of lenses in Z-mount versus F-mount that will take some time to disappear. Most of you who pick up the Z7 II after reading this review will be using at least some of your existing DSLR lenses via FTZ for some time.
The exception to the FTZ adapter is D-type autofocus lenses, which use a screw mechanism to move the focus elements. This screw drive was powered by a motor in DSLR cameras, which the Z7 II does not have (nor does the FTZ adapter). It's not clear why Nikon chose to omit this capability; maybe it would use more power and make the FTZ adapter more complex. Additionally, screw-type autofocus lenses were the poorest in terms of focus speed (only the D3, D4, D5, and D6 bodies had high-powered motors that could drive them quickly and large batteries to keep them powered up quickly).
Tested Features of Nikon Z7
- slow-mo
- 4k video
- iso
- grains
- color tone
- W.B
- picture style
- blur
- bokeh
- low light
- picture quality
- touch screen
- auto light optimization
- burst shoot
- autofocus
- Sharpness
Nikon Z7 features a rating in Photography
- iso range: 10\10
- color tone: 9\10
- white balance: 9\10
- background blur: 10\10
- bokeh effect: 10\10
- grains coverage: 10\10
- highlights & shadows detail: 10\10
- autofocus: 10\10
- jpeg quality: 9\10
- continuous shooting speed: 10\10
- depth of field: 10\10
- live view photography: 9\10
- eye tracking: 10\10
- flashlight photography: 10\10
- HDR mode: 10\10
- Touch Screen Focus: 9\10
- sharpness: 10\10
- image stabilization: 9\10
Key features of Nikon z7
- Sensor: 45.7 MP FX BSI Sensor, 4.35µ pixel size
- Sensor Size: 35.9 x 23.9mm
- Resolution: 8256 x 5504
- Native ISO Sensitivity: 64-25,600
- Boost ISO Sensitivity: 32, 51,200-102,400
- In-Body Image Stabilization: 5-Axis
- RAW Formats: 45.7 MP (RAW), 25.6 MP (mRAW), 11.4 MP (sRAW)
- Processor: EXPEED 6
- Dust Reduction: Yes
- Weather Sealing/Protection: Yes
- Body Build: Full Magnesium Alloy
- Shutter: 1/8000 – 30 seconds
- Shutter Durability: 200,000 cycles, self-diagnostic shutter
- Storage: 1x XQD slot
- Viewfinder: 3.69 Million Dot OLED Electronic Viewfinder
- Viewfinder Coverage: 100%
- Viewfinder Magnification: 0.8x
- Speed: 9 FPS (JPEG or 12-bit compressed RAW), 8 FPS (14-bit RAW)
- Built-in Flash: No
- Autofocus System: Hybrid PDAF, 493 Focus Points
- AF Sensitivity Range: -1 to +19 EV (-4 to +19 EV with low-light AF)
- LCD Screen: Touch-enabled 3.2″ Tilting LCD with 2.1 Million Dots
- Slow Motion HD Video: Yes
- Movie Modes: 4K UHD @ 30 fps max
- Movie Output: MOV, MP4
- Movie Video Compression: H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding
- HDMI Output: 10-bit 4:2:2 N-Log
- Silent Photography Mode: Yes
- Intervalometer: Yes
- Focus Stacking: Yes
- In-Camera HDR Capability: Yes
- GPS: No
- WiFi: Built-in
- Bluetooth: Built-in
- Battery Type: EN-EN15b
- Battery Life: 330 shots (CIPA)
- USB Standard: Type-C 3.1
- Weather Sealing: Yes
- Weight: 675 g (1.49 lbs) with battery and card5
- 134 x 100.5 x 67.5mm (5.3 x 4.0 x 2.7″)
- Price: $3,399.95
You're probably wondering about the autofocus system at this point, as I just mentioned that most F-mount lenses work as expected on the Z7 II with the FTZ adapter.
Nikon uses phase detection spot masking on the Z7 II sensor. Photo sites on these lines can provide both focus and exposure information. Basically, every twelfth row has this dual function. Nikon claims 493 autofocus points, but these are user-selectable individual points using the camera's controls. There are actually many thousands of autofocus points in the camera, as with most mirrorless cameras that use on-sensor phase detection. One thing though: none of these autofocus detection points are cross-type like you'd find in a DSLR. This means that the focus is much more responsive to details on only one axis (the long axis).
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Focusing performance with the latest firmware extends to -4EV with the f/2 lens attached. That's with the low-light focus feature activated; normally it is -3EV. These numbers are at least equivalent to the Nikon D750, one of the best low-light focusing digital SLRs. I would actually call them state-of-the-art numbers. (Note that some other manufacturers use faster lenses to get higher numbers;~). That said, if you need the fastest low-light focusing performance possible, the Z6 II is the better camera for that (-4EV and -6.5EV, or two stops better than the Z7 II).
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The thing with phase detection on the image sensor is that the accuracy with which the current focus position can be calculated is less than with a DSLR (at least in the central positions). This is mostly related to geometry. This is why virtually all mirrorless systems will by default use a subsequent contrast-detect focus step when set to what is known as single servo focus (AF-S on Nikon cameras; that is, it only focuses once and does not track the subject). However, the Z7 II does not normally perform contrast detection steps (except in Pinpoint AF mode and set to Low-light AF). Somehow, Nikon has achieved the same level of precision without having to take the extra step in many cases.
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In continuous-servo (AF-C in Nikon parlance), the Z7 II usually only performs single-phase focusing. Note that no matter what AF area mode you choose in AF-C, much more than one primary focus sensor (pixel) is used to determine focus. This both helps and potentially reduces AF-C focus accuracy. I'll get into accuracy in the Performance section below.
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You should also know that the Z7 II respects apertures up to f/5.6. In other words, viewing and focusing is done at f/2.8 if you set to f/2.8 while viewing and focusing is done at f/5.6 if you set to f/5.6. When you set the aperture to f/6.3 and smaller, the camera scans and focuses on the scene with the lens set to f/5.6 (or the maximum aperture of the lens if it's physically smaller than f/5.6). A unique aspect is that the EVF displays DOF directly up to f/5.6. In addition, you have to call up the programmed button or pull the trick I mention in my book to see the exact DOF in the viewfinder.
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The main concern for Nikon DSLR users considering the Z7 II was focus speed. They needn't have worried. Phase detection is essentially instantaneous - ok, there's a delay to be expected in the electronic stream, but that's quite minimal - so it really depends on the performance of the focus motor in the lens whether the actual focus speed is good or not. The focus motors in Z-mount lenses tend to be very fast (and generally quiet).
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DSLR users were concerned that no other adapter mirrorless could achieve adequate focus speed with existing F-mount Nikkors. So let me say that focus speed with AF-S lenses mounted on the Z7 II's FTZ adapter is also excellent, perhaps with a small a caveat, which I'll get to in a moment.
I don't see any major difference in how the AF-S lenses work on the FTZ adapter (yeah, confusion of concepts that AF-S is not single servo, but the lens motor designation), although in a few cases I can measure it as slightly slower on initial focus than the same lens on my D6. I actually think the AF-P lenses may work a bit faster on the Z7 II than on the DSLR, but the "slight" is so slight that I can't really measure it accurately and you have an apples and oranges problem. deal with trying to do such a test. Suffice it to say that AF-I, AF-S and AF-P Nikon DSLR lenses mounted on the FTZ adapter almost retain their performance characteristics on the Z7 II. Fast focusing lenses on a DSLR still tend to be fast focusing lenses on the Z7 II.
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What's missing from the Z7 II's autofocus are some of Nikon's traditional AF-C AF-C area modes, plus the ability to quickly switch the AF area mode. You can't assign AF-ON+AF-area mode to anything like the D850 and other D5 generation DSLRs. There is no Group AF mode and no size variation for Dynamic AF mode. But now we have Wide-area AF (L-people) and Wide-area AF (L-animals) mode (yes, those names are clunky).
Meanwhile, the manual focus lenses shine on the Z7 II. That's because we have a plethora of "helpers" to help you focus your nails. Full list - which requires a chipped lens that reports focal length and aperture.
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