Nikon Z 6II
One of the best new full-frame cameras of recent times gets an incremental upgrade, including dual image processors
There’s a pair of user-definable Fn buttons on the front; but most people will be happy with the defaults of selecting white balance and focus mode/area.
The Z 6II’s 24.5MP image resolution is unchanged from the Z 6, although twin processors boost the shooting burst rates.
For video, the camera currently maxes out at full-readout 4K 30p, but will be receiving 4K 60p (albeit with a 1.5x crop) with a firmware update in February. Everything else here is exactly as it was with the original
Z 6, from the 24.5MP sensor to the resolution of the electronic viewfinder and rear screen.
Build & handling
The camera control layout is identical to the original Z 6. The deep grip makes the body comfortable to hold, and the scrolling front and rear dials are in easy reach of the forefinger and thumb, as are all the other essential controls such as the shutter, ISO and exposure compensation buttons.
The rear LCD and electronic viewfinder are unchanged, which is a bit of a missed opportunity. Likewise it is curious that Nikon has decided to stick with a tilting rear LCD, rather than taking the opportunity to add a fully articulating screen – something that hobbles portrait and video shooting. Like the original, the Nikon Z 6II possesses weather sealing for all-purpose shooting.
Rival cameras
Canon EOS R6 £2,499/$2,499
The EOS R6 is a versatile camera that can shoot pretty much anything, as long as you’re content with fewer megapixels. Reviewed: issue 234
Performance
A fast frame rate is nothing without snappy autofocus – and the hybrid AF system, which spreads 273 AF points across the entirety of the image sensor, locks onto subjects with unerring accuracy. It’s still a half-step behind the phase-detect systems employed by other cameras, but it’s not far off.
The face and eye detect modes are impressive, locking onto two- and four-legged subjects even against the busiest of backgrounds, and switching automatically between faces or individual eyes depending on their proximity. Again, it’s a hair behind Canon and Sony’s AF systems, but it’s still remarkably good.
Although the performance of the in-body image stabilisation system feels largely unchanged, Nikon’s system is right up there with Canon and Panasonic, leaving Sony in the rear-view mirror.
We’ll have to reserve judgement on the promised 4K 60p shooting until it arrives, but it’s disappointing that this will invoke a 1.5x crop.
Adam Waring & James Artaius
Panasonic S5 £1,919/$2,299 With a strong AF system and up to 6.5 stops of image stabilisation, the S5 is tough to beat in this category. Reviewed: issue 235
The 3,690k-dot EVF is clear enough, but its 60Hz refresh rate feels creaky next to the 120Hz offered by rival bodies.
The choice of a tilting rear LCD, rather than a fully articulating screen, will disappoint vloggers.
There’s a joystick for precise autofocus, although you can obviously still select your focus point by tapping the touchscreen.
Sony Alpha 7 III £1,749/$1,999
The A7 III has the same resolution as the Z 6II. Its video specs lag behind, but its autofocus is good in movie mode. Reviewed: issue 203
Despite having almost the same megapixel count, the Z 6II isn’t quite able to resolve the same amount of fine detail as the A7 III. For reference, the original Z 6 was able to equal the Sony in this test.
e’ve been impressed with Sigma’s previous 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro lens, aimed largely at Canon and Nikon DSLRs but also available in Sigma and Sony A- and E-mount versions. This new macro lens is something completely different, designed from the ground up for Sony E- and Leica L-mount lenses.
The 105mm DG DN has a maximum magnification ratio of 1:1, enabling small objects to be reproduced on the camera’s image sensor at life-size. Fully internal focusing means the barrel doesn’t extend as you near the shorter end of the focus range. The result is a comfortable working distance of 14.5cm between the front of the lens and the object you’re shooting.
Like many modern macro lenses, the 105mm DG DN also works well as a fast, short telephoto prime for general shooting. With a fast, near-silent stepping motor autofocus system, it’s good for shooting wildlife or sporting action, even in dull light, where the f/2.8 aperture enables fairly fast shutter speeds without having to bump up your camera’s sensitivity settings too much.
WPerformance
Autofocus is fast and utterly reliable, while manual focusing is a joy. Due to the incredibly tight depth of field in macro photography and the need for ultimate precision, manual focusing is often preferred to autofocus. The electronically coupled ‘fly-by-wire’ focus ring enables a supremely fine level of manual focusing adjustment.
The lens lives up to Sigma’s image quality claims, with superb sharpness across the whole frame, throughout the aperture range. Colour fringing is very well controlled, not only for lateral chromatic aberrations into the extreme corners, but also for longitudinal or ‘axial’ chromatic aberrations, which typically present as green or magenta fringes around high-contrast edges within scenes that are slightly in front of or behind the point of focus. All in all, this macro lens is a top performer. Matthew Richards
As with most macro prime lenses, the 105mm DG DN has a ‘flat field’ design so that field curvature is minimised. If you shoot something flat from head on, the whole of the area captured by the image circle should be in focus.
There’s an onboard AF/MF switch plus a customisable function button, which is nominally set to Autofocus-Lock by default.
A physical aperture ring enables precise aperture adjustments for stills in one-third f‑stop increments, or stepless aperture control when you shoot video.
Even when you shoot wide-open, the lens is extremely sharp in the centre and mid-frame regions. Sharpness is a little more average at the corners.
Lateral chromatic aberration is consistently minimal throughout the aperture range; you’re unlikely to spot any fringing in real world shooting.
There’s modest pincushion distortion, but it’s not so severe as to be distracting, and it’s easily correctable.
A best-in-class product
For revealing ultra-fine levels of detail in anything from insect and bug photography to extreme close-ups of all things small and smaller, this is a fabulous macro lens. It’s super-sharp and delivers stellar image quality in all respects, while the feature-rich, high-quality build ensures wonderfully refined handling. The lens also works well for portraiture and general short-telephoto shooting with Sony E- and Leica L-mount cameras, making it a truly versatile optic.
£279
£144 (excellent)
hink light, affordable, fixed-aperture super-telephoto prime, and you’re probably thinking along the lines of a reflex/mirror lens like the Rokinon/Samyang 800mm. They used to be quite popular a few decades ago, but image quality was mediocre at best. The other option has more recently been a conventional super-tele prime – like the Canon EF 800mm f/5.6 L IS USM, which is big and heavy, and costs around £13,200/$13,000, putting it beyond the reach of most of us. At a fraction of the weight and cost, Canon’s RF 800mm f/11 lens aims for an ideal compromise.
Let’s get the most glaring ‘feature’ out of the way first, in that this lens has a fixed aperture of f/11. Many might consider that rather too narrow, while others might be unimpressed that you can’t alter the aperture in any way. However, the modest f/11 rating enables a relatively compact build with smaller-diameter lens elements, and you’re unlikely to want to stop down to a narrower aperture anyway.
Another significant feature in the downsizing of this lens is that, like its smaller sibling the Canon RF 600mm f/11 IS STM, Canon has deployed its Diffractive Optics. Also known as Fresnel or Phase Fresnel lenses, these are optical elements with a ridged surface laid out in concentric circles. They’re typically used to focus lighthouse lamps and theatrical stage lighting, but can dramatically shorten the length of telephoto lenses.
The lens features a 4-stop optical stabiliser, the performance of which can be further enhanced if you use an EOS R5 or R6, the only EOS R models to support in-body image stablisation.
TPerformance
An f/11 lens would really struggle on a DSLR in terms of autofocus during regular viewfinder-based shooting, if AF was even possible. With a mirrorless EOS R-series body, however, this lens’s autofocus is rapid and consistently accurate. The 4-stop stabiliser lives up to its billing and we found we were able to get consistently sharp handheld shots with shutter speeds as slow as 1/60 sec. Image quality is actually quite fair. Matthew Richards
A control ring can be customised to give control over the likes of ISO setting and shutter speed.
There are switches for Stabiliser On/Off, AF/MF Focusing and Autofocus Range Limitation, which locks out the short end of the range between 6m and 20m.
A twist-action locking ring enables you to shorten the lens for storage, or to extend it to its full length of 352mm for shooting.
Sharpness is respectable in the centre, and pretty good right to the corners. Many of Canon’s RF-mount zoom lenses can produce superior sharpness, though.
The RF 800mm f/11 produces marginally more fringing than the RF 600mm f/11, but the amount is still negligible.
The RF 800mm f/11 produces minimal pincushion distortion that should not be visible in real-world shooting unless you shoot very geometric subjects.
Excellent
DIGITAL CAMERA 131
t’s a blissful late summer’s day in 2020, and I’m on the Thames River Walk at Canary Wharf, London. I’m waiting to catch a first glimpse of Quintin Lake, who is just about to complete an epic 11,000km photographic walk around the UK. With just six kilometres to go, I feel honoured to share these last few steps with him.
A few hours later, along with a pack of journalists, a TV crew and a horde of loyal followers wearing ‘The Perimeter’ T-shirts, we arrive at the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral. It’s an emotional moment as Quintin embraces his wife and two children, and his father. There are yet more friends and followers, champagne and balloons to conclude his five-year walk around the UK, which he started on the very same steps on 17 April 2015.
A few weeks later, after he’s had a welldeserved rest, I catch up with Quintin over lunch to reflect on his adventure.
IWell, it does feel like a bit of a death in some ways. It’s difficult to not have a mission anymore. Editing the pictures and re-living the experience is a good thing, but I’m not missing the physical burden.
I have always done long walks throughout my life. I walked from John O’ Groats to
Glasgow with my mum when I was 10 years old. I walked from Lands End to John O’ Groats when I was 21 over three continuous months during winter, sleeping in a bivvy bag. But I’d never combined my walks with the art of photography.
After being seriously ill with meningitis about 10 years ago, I had difficulty walking. When I got better, I did a gentle walk from the source of the Thames to London. I brought a camera to take pictures, just for myself, but it felt like they were the best I’d ever taken. So then I walked from the source of the Severn to the sea, and found the coastal section to be even more interesting than the river part.
That’s when I thought I was starting to produce work that I was proud of, and the process of walking seemed to make the pictures come to me. The amount of inspiration I was getting for the amount of time I was committing was the best I’d experienced in my life, so I thought that this was the way I wanted to be working.
It tells the story of Britain. I found a greater number of moments of inspiration on the coast; they can come in quick succession, and are also very different from each other. I was starting to get pictures of Britain that I was proud of; previously in my career I’d only found those moments by going abroad. I associated finding the exotic and unique with going away, but the British coast seemed to open my eyes to a new