NIKON Z6
The Z6 is The 24Mp opTioN of NikoN’s full-fraMe Mirrorless caMera pair – caN iT live up To iTs ‘all-rouNder’ billiNg?
How does this mirrorless ‘allrounder’ fare in our testing?
Nikon’s full-frame 24.5MP Z6 was announced at the same time as the 45.7MP Z7, but we’ve had to wait a little longer for it to go on sale. Now that it’s arriving on retailers’ shelves, it’s going head to head with the popular Sony a7 III, with both cameras having an ‘all-rounder’ billing and being pitched at enthusiast photographers.
Although the Z6 has exactly the same build and much of the same specification as the higher-resolution Z7, there are a few key differences, all of which relate to the fact that it uses a different sensor.
As with the Z7, Nikon has paired the Z6’s full-frame sensor with its Expeed 6 processing engine. However, the lower resolution of the Z6 means that it is able to achieve a faster maximum continuous shooting rate of 12fps (frames per second) as opposed to 9fps. The Z6’s burst depth is also deeper than the Z7’s. The number of images you can shoot in a continuous sequence varies depending upon the type of file you choose to shoot, but you can shoot up to around 44 large fine JPEGs with the Z6 and 25 with the Z7. This means you don’t need to be quite so mindful of the burst depth when you’re shooting sport as you do with the Z7.
Having a different pixel count from the Z7 also means that there’s a difference in the on-sensor autofocus system. While the Z7 has 493 AF points, the Z6 has 273 points covering 90 per cent of the image frame. Naturally, the Z6’s photo sites are larger than the Z7’s and this means that its AF points are 1EV more sensitive. We found this makes the Z6 a little more responsive and better at keeping pace with moving subjects than the Z7. It also copes a bit better when light levels fall. However, the AF tracking system isn’t quite up to the standard of the Sony a7 III’s, but it’s not far behind and we found it very reliable when photographing football.
Like the Z7, the Z6 has a 0.5-inch, 3,690,000-dot electronic viewfinder (EVF) that’s paired with a 3.2-inch, 2,100,000-dot tilting touchscreen. Both provide a very crisp, clear view. The 60fps refresh rate of the EVF also ensures there’s no tearing or lag visible when you’re following moving subjects.
The tilting screen is also very useful for shooting landscape-format images (or video)
“The 60fps refresh rate of the EVF ensures there’s no tearing or lag visible when you’re following moving subjects”
at high or low angles, but it can’t help when shooting in portrait orientation – that calls for a variangle screen.
Nikon is now fully on board with touch control and it’s very well implemented on the Z6. This means that although there’s a hefty covering of buttons and dials, you can also access key features and adjust settings using the screen. It allows intuitive control over the camera. We’re especially pleased that Nikon has made the i-menu customisable, and that when ISO is assigned to it you can switch Auto ISO on and off quickly without having to go into the main menu.
Although the Z6 and Z7 have a new lens mount, the FTZ mount adapter (£269/$250 or £100/$150 when bought with the camera) allows Nikon F-mount lenses to be used. We found that the Z6’s AF system performs very well with lenses mounted via the adapter, and the image quality is every bit as high as you’d expect with a Nikon DSLR.
Nikon has given the Z6 a standard sensitivity range of ISO 100-51,200 and an expanded range of ISO 50-204,800. We’d recommend keeping below the standard maximum if you can as out-of-focus areas can look a bit vaguer than they should. We would aim to shoot at ISO 25,600 or lower wherever possible.
As usual, there’s a range of Picture Control modes that enable you to fine-tune the
JPEG images from the Z6. There are also the three Auto White Balance settings (A0
– keep white, A1 – keep overall atmosphere and A2 – keep warm lighting colours) plus a Natural Light Auto setting, and these have an impact on colour. We favour Natural Light Auto and A2 the most, but A1 is useful in artificial light. When the EVF is set to preview camera settings it does a good job of showing images as they will be captured, so you can select the white balance option you want by looking in the viewfinder.
Overall, the Nikon Z6 really impresses, but it would be remiss to not mention Nikon’s memory card choice. Like the Z7, the Z6 has a single XQD card slot and the lack of an in-camera back-up option makes some photographers nervous. It’s a particular issue for wedding photographers. However, XQD cards are more robust that SD media and they should be more reliable.
Finally, Nikon’s SnapBridge system still needs prompting if the paired phone and camera are separated at any time, but the automatic image transfer is handy.