Nikon Z6 III Review: A Little Rough Around the Edges!

[@robert_may]

I think my first comment might have gotten clobbered by the filters 😅 I just wanted to say thank you again for taking the time to actually do your own testing and respond to my report of the flickering issue - you weren't the only larger channel/publication I contacted but you were the only ones to reply, and I respect that a lot. Here's hoping Nikon can figure out a fix or workaround for it 🤞

[@robert_may]

For anyone interested in this subject further, testcams has a much more detailed look at what's going on than what I produced. Also, as he's noted in a comment on this video already, the issue is actually prevalent throughout the ISO range. It's essentially always there under the surface, which is a bit of a pain if you ever need to raise the shadows. Yes I have had a few comments of "just expose correctly", but when you're being rad and filming extreme, dynamic, scenes like me walking past a hedge - sometimes you might get it wrong; and it's nice to be able to have a bit of leeway in the footage to correct it 😛

[@_o__o_]

onion farts

[@sandros94]

The noise (not flicker) is a known hardware limitation (the way the signal needs to be calculated after the 12-bit amplification output of the sensor). It is something that Arri, RED and Blackmagic (on older cinema cameras) solved by using both ISO gains while recording and then combining the signal effectively giving you something similar to a 16bit noise floor. This is why I'm so exited for RED's aquisition by Nikon

[@ClintGryke]

Having had a couple of weeks of further testing, mainly with 6K NRAW, since I first heard about this flickering on your channel, I have to say one would have to really mess up the exposure by several stops before this becomes visible at all. Yes it is possible to see its effect in Resolve's (or other NLE) waveform scopes under less extreme conditions than +5EV but I really don't believe this to be an issue at all in most real world situations, particularly as it is easily corrected by a small amount of Resolve's temporal noise reduction - not enough to have any effect on sharpness or detail. This can be verified using the scopes - the flickering is dampened so as to be effectively non-existent. Moreover, if one is going to open up shadows to a degree where the flickering is visible to the eye, it's definitely going to require noise reduction anyway. As far as I can see, there is no need to use Resolve's Deflicker as well. I genuinely think this is a non-issue in the real world

[@robert_may]

​@@ClintGryke I did first bump into it in a real world scenario with normally exposed footage though - that footage of me walking through the hedge in my original video shows it without any lifting of the shadows. Yeah it's not going to show up all the time, but that wasn't a particularly awkward shot; just bright sunlight with dark shadows in the hedge, and that's a normal shooting situation for me. I did try Resolve's noise reduction for that scene and it didn't fully fix it, it required Deflicker as well. I'd say the issue popped up in about 25% of the footage I filmed that day, basically anything with a very wide dynamic range like standing in the shade with bright sunlight in the background.

[@matthieuzglurg6015]

Now you guys need to make a comparison with the Zf, especially on the video and dynamic range fronts

[@johnbanks9392]

Agreed

[@quite1enough]

I was expecting them to do so in this video at least partially 😭

[@michaelst.9055]

none of the reviewers did this so far, maybe Nikon doesn't want them to do so. I would be interested in an AF comparison, as the Zf should have gotten the one from the Z8 also as people told last autumn.

[@lukaszszsszsz]

Agreed

[@MarcAdesso]

Upvote, agreed

[@steventhomas231]

Im hoping they bring out a z5 ii with the same spec as the zf. I dont want a faster shooting camera like the z6iii, camera just better af.

[@johnbanks9392]

I'm 100% with you on that. The ZF seems just about perfect apart from the gimmicky retro design and poor handling. I have my Z9 for speed & video, I just want a great everyday camera with the latest AF that Nikon has to offer and without the DR compromises that stacked/ semi stacked sensors bring. My 6 year old APSC Fuji XT3 beats the Z6iii in DR at lower ISOs... go figure!

[@kjltube]

I’d say you have a VERY good chance of getting what you want eventually

[@kermitrehab]

Me, using a Z5, looking for better AF, esp in low light, been looking at Z6III for a bit now, but this talk about dynamic rang being this bad scares med a little. :(

[@johnbanks9392]

@@kermitrehab Yeah me too, your Z5 is actually nearly a full stop better than the Z6iii in DR at base ISO!

[@lukaszszsszsz]

just buy a ZF and a smallrig and get used to the ergonomics. I did that, today I have two ZF cameras and I forgot about the Z6III, I don't need a stacked sensor, I prefer better DR 

[@alandyer910]

I’ve been testing the Z6III for Astro work and it’s performed very well. It less forgiving of under exposure than its predecessors, so no more than about -3EV under exposure in the shadows. Any more and lifting the shadows produces quite a bit of noise. The Z6 could tolerate -4EV under exposure. The features for night use - Starlight View and the red menu option - are great. And it’ll autofocus on stars. So expose well and the lower dynamic range isn’t an issue.

[@engineer4862]

What are the other cameras you had before? How they are compared to Z6III?

[@mwaithephoto]

I just got my Z6III a few days ago. and Ive genuinely enjoyed it. Love the video Ive gotten out of it and the images are very clean even SOOC jpgs. I havent taken it out for every condition ill find myself in but i see myself sunsetting my z7II and getting a second z6III despite the HDR not being as good but realistically im not pushing my shadows or highlights anything crazy so noise hasnt been a issue at all

[@gosman949]

haha wait until you come up on a scene with extreme contrast! You will hope for the old Z6!

[@NeXMaX]

I own both as well and so far, the Z6III is proving to be a perfect companion to the 7II as it basically is almost the opposite of that camera (Z7II is better at low ISO DR and resolution whilst Z6III is better in high ISO, autofocus, and overall speed), which is exactly what I've been looking for. Using it for a while and even shooting high contrast scenes, I think the concerns over the lower DR is overblown. Yes, it is notably down versus the Z6II (and Zf), but the files are still workable. You won't get the same latitude to pull shadows versus the Z6II (and Z7II) but on a visual level, it's not nearly as bad as it sounds, like it's nowhere near as bad as the 6D2/RP. Like if you can get about 4 (maybe 5) stops of shadows before noise really becomes rough, I think that's fine. It is also apparently able to handle roughly 3 stops worth of highlights before clipping, so that's good to know. And from experience using the Z7, even its mighty sensor can be tripped up shooting ultra high contrast scenes (sunrise and sunset), so you'd want to exposure-bracket anyways. The Z6III isn't ideal for landscape photography, but it's not nearly as bad as people make it out to be (and I have a Z7II if I really want all of the DR).

[@Zacheldridge]

I think this is a great camera as an upgrade for Z6ii. That said I chose to get a 2nd z8 instead of waiting for z6iii. I’d highly recommend waiting til z8 hits a good sale and go that way instead.

[@Juventinos]

Mate .. some people need high iso Performance. As stupid as that sounds. This camera is a beast in that regard

[@BGildea412]

what i have been debating upgrading from a D750. go with the Ziii, or get the Z8 because i found it on sale for $3200. . .

[@Zacheldridge]

@@BGildea412 $3200 is a great price! I'll say, having been a D750 shooter myself I really appreciate the 45mp sensor. Z6iii will be great too.

[@Juventinos]

@@BGildea412 the z6iii has the same dna as the 750. Great file size too. The z8 is more in the realm of the d800 line + d3-d6 line

[@csc-photo]

I have the Z8 and the Zf, I love shooting with both 45mp stacked and 24mp non-stacked sensors in different scenarios. Super combo. But there are also situations where having 2 identical bodies is a big advantage.

[@testcams]

@12:42, The Z6 III video flicker issue that Robert May discovered and reported is not unique to High ISO. It occurs at base N-Log ISO of 800 and is visible on Resolve's scopes without any shadow pushing. It starts to become visible in the shadows at approximately +2EV of boosting, and gets progressively worse from there. It's not a noise issue - it's an issue with slight variations in the black level between frames, which manifests as random brightness changes, which we perceive as flickering. I do a technical analysis of this in my Z6 III vs Z8 N-RAW Noise comparison video, where I demonstrate how the Z8 never exhibits the issue even with extreme levels of shadow adjustment. This problem is new and unique to the Z6 III's sensor.

[@joshkiddfilms1295]

Exposure of this issue on these videos is a good thing. Hopefully Nikon will take notice and try and fix it. That being said, sticking to the base ISOs and ETTRing in my experience, I haven't really seen it show up in my footage unless I'm intentionally underexposing and driving up the ISO from the base...I find it interesting tho you saying 2 stops up from 800 and you see it...I feel like I occasionally underexpose 800 to protect the highlights, and then bring it back up later, and haven't really seen this issue in any of that footage, and the noise that results in this process seems to suck out really easy in resolve. Still not convinced there isn't some bad units floating around.

[@g00nther]

@@joshkiddfilms1295 It seems to be replicated when users test for it. I don't think it's an issue of a bad batch of sensors, but I may be wrong. We'll see what Nikon says eventually.

[@joshkiddfilms1295]

@@g00nther yea I just mean the severity seems to be a little inconsistent. Like I see the flicker at 5000, but feel like I don’t at 800 even when I underexpose. I’ve seen some say they see it at a stop or two under at 800. Def hasn’t been my experience

[@b34k97]

Sandisks are known to run hot. You Delkin Black is a known cool running card. There’s a lot of other new cards on the market (eg all the PcieG4 stuff) that I don’t know if people have tested temps while recording video, so that might be interesting to look at.

[@kjltube]

Yup the Delkin Black is the temperature king, or at least was a year or so ago

[@rubendarilov]

Yeah!! I kind of wonder why he went ahead and used SandDisk cards to run the video timing test. It is widely known that those cards overheat very easily!!

[@jimpack9622]

@@rubendarilovCanon pays them more

[@rubendarilov]

@@jimpack9622 Could be!

[@jimpack9622]

@@rubendarilov They have to know there’s a difference 🤦‍♂️

[@livejames9374]

Pro Tip: If you’re worried or having issues with about blocked shots, get out of 3D tracking. The blocked refocus settings (delayed) don’t take affect in 3d tracking. Oh and don’t use sandisk cards.

[@roweld4399]

Agree 100%.

[@hanssvenssn2516]

What exactly is wrong with sandisk. I have them for years and never had any problems with them?

[@livejames9374]

@@hanssvenssn2516 they overheat easily compared to other brands and don’t have the fastest speeds - I’m specifically talking about CF Express B cards.

[@CamcorderHomeVideos]

​@@hanssvenssn2516 I don't understand that either. What do other brands offer? Marketing?

[@dan4vt]

What card would you recommend, @livejames9374 ?

[@supergearland]

I would love a direct comparison to the original Z6, I think many people like me skipped the second gen and are considering a potential upgrade now that this one is out

[@cy9nvs]

As a wildlife shooter, I couldn't care less about the hit on DR at lower ISO levels, but the lack of bird detect AF is a bummer. That option really lifted my Z8 from good to great for when it comes to birds. Hope Nikon will deliver it at a later date, but kind of odd to have that missing at launch, since most reviews will be based on how the camera was launched.

[@JoeMaranophotography]

As someone that's been using the G9ii for a month or so having bird AF isn't the be all and end all. Yes it's nice but I could still get shots of birds without it. It just makes it easier :)

[@JohnMayfield-NS]

My understanding is that it does have bird eye AF, it's just rolled in to the other detections, not a separate option. Makes it slightly slower to pick up bird eyes but the overall reports are very good

[@cy9nvs]

@@JohnMayfield-NS Sure, but that's how it was in the z8 and z9 prior to the update as well. They always detected birds, the dedicated bird AF is much better though, in most situations.

[@kjltube]

I disagree, in most situations it is NOT and issue. And yes I own the camera. Bird eye detect in animal detect mode is very impressive.

[@cy9nvs]

@@kjltube that's totally fine, I and a lot of other people have had significantly more success with bird subject detection, especially when shooting BIF. For long neck birds like herons and storks, the old animal eye detect tends to be better.

[@salamanca871]

The lighting does make for superb footage in this video. Excellent job, Chris and Jordan!!

[@aldiosmio]

About damn time! With people upgrading to the Z6iii, I can finally get a used Z6ii/7ii with its 900s extended interval for my astroshoot.

[@grossieone3683]

How did we ever manage to shoot with Velvia 50? My point is, DR is SO wide nowdays that complaining about it seems to be scrapping the bottom of the barrel for content. All current cameras are Ferraris compared to 2 generations ago cameras and we’re complaining about windscreen wiper blades.

[@CarlosLemans]

So, don't complain about your car max speed, how people manged to drive a Ford T's max speed of 72km/h isn't it?... Forget about analog, now things are different and yes, one stop makes a difference in my case shooting landscape and was something I checked when I bought my R6MKII at the time Z6III was released. I agree with Petapixel

[@ShaunakDe]

Valid point. But these days your photos are compared agasint others that do have the high DR or computational HDR - and you risk not having your work seen. But I do agree with you, sometimes we get too caught up on gear.

[@Flamamacue]

Amen. It's just a sad reflection on the camera community that a camera as good as this gets all these absurd headlines about being a failure and controversial camera because it has 1/3 less stop on a chart than the Z6ii or flickers when boosted 5 stops at 6400 - both things with next to no relevance in the real world. Guarantee these specsheet peepers are the type that post 3 photos of their dog or cat as sample shots and barely touching it ever again anyway

[@grossieone3683]

@@CarlosLemansnothing you produce with your digital camera can come close to a contact print of my 7x17” black and white FILM (not “analogue”; you don’t get the naming rights for something that has been around for a century before you decided to rename it). If you’ve never seen such a print, test yourself and chase one down. Perhaps then you will understand that I don’t need to forget it.

[@vincentbach8570]

I’ve upgraded my z6ii one month ago, and am happy. The viewfinder is very nice, and the autofocus definitely worth the switch, for street photo, and for bird photography with the 3D tracking. I’ve not seen much difference in image quality

[@kaisergan]

SanDisk is notorious for poor heat management, please use best CFB card in the future tests.

[@ReflexVE]

Where are you getting this? I haven't read that anywhere nor seen more heat from sandisk vs other brands in my gear.

[@ElGrecoDaGeek]

@@ReflexVE Check out the B&H reviews. I stopped using SanDisk years ago for this reason. Same size Delkin card is much cooler after recording.

[@ElGrecoDaGeek]

@@ReflexVE To boot, their USBC drives also get insanely hot (their extreme line). I invested heavily in those (2 4TB, 1 2TB, and 2 1TB). They're great but even when idling they get very warm. When in use its next level and they gulp battery. Seem to get hotter when plugged into my Mac than on my Windows Desktop. I may switch to Samsung next and see how those go when I bump up to a 6 or 8TB. I keep a backup of my entire catalog RAWs on one drive and the videos on another so switching between mobile and desktop is seamless in terms of how things are mounted.

[@ReflexVE]

@@kaisergan Aha this is about their CFe drives, got it. I thought this was about their SD cards. I use ProGrade and Delkin CFE cards. Never tried a Sandisk one.

[@noenken]

11:45 The Sandisk cards get extremely hot, yes. I don't buy those anymore, I have 1TB and 512GB Sabrent cards in use and they hardly get hand warm. Something is wrong with the sandisks, I think.

[@ItsWillLee]

Sandisk needs to be forgotten and never spoke about again. Their products have gone to shit. The competition is producing higher quality products, for less money.

[@danielvilliers612]

They really drop the ball with the CF standard. They went from gold standard of cards, to some of the worst at least for CF express.

[@iggy880]

I will second Sabrent. I switched to them when Sandisc had their drives failing issue and I didn't want to support them, and I'm not going back. I've seen no issues with my Sabrent cards, and they are cheaper too

[@MrBazReviews]

SanDisk do give a lifetime warranty on their cards, so do Delkin, and Lexar Gold All the others are 3 or 5 years only.

[@danielvilliers612]

@@MrBazReviews So what, you get lifetime shitty card, that overheads like mad.

[@bill5067]

It’s about time there was a “buy me a coffee” option to reward you two (and now three) for all your great work over the years

[@Interbeing_CDN]

One thing that I have found with Nikon is that they are very aggressive when it comes to firmware updates with the Z9 and Z8 cameras, hopefully this trend will continue with the Z6III.

[@gosman949]

firmware will not help the poor dynamic range!

[@ClintGryke]

@@gosman949 But good technique will - ETTR using the base ISOs and intelligent post-procsssing. The so-called poor dynamic range is only at low ISO and is about 1 stop lower than the Z6II. A real world non-issue.

[@tubularificationed]

The Z6 III DR is by 0.64 stops WORSE than my 9 years old APS-C DSLR in the back of my drawer, the D7200. While the Z6 III is in full frame mode. To me, this puts the Z6 III into Olympus MFT territory. Of course, there are enough MFT fanboys who say "my Olympus has more DR than I'll ever need", "DR is owerblown", "nobody sees this in the final image", etcetera. I'm surprised though, that the Nikon Z6 III fanboys now copy the Olympus fanboy talk one-to-one 🙂 I'm not going to spend a hell lot of money for a fullframe system, which DR is significantly inferior to a 9 year old APS-C camera. It is OK to have lower requirements, but to me, that's not fullframe territory (at least not where image quality is a driving consideration for camera choice). What's a non-issue and overblown marketing, that is irrelevant video corner cases, and irrelevant sensor read-out speed nuances. These don't matter, as they are only for 0.1% of the market (which is already occupied by better cameras for that, with fully-stacked sensors).

[@gosman949]

@@ClintGryke not for us landscape shooters! Pulling up those shadows in LR is important to us.

[@lilnape2604]

@@gosman949the good ones don’t pull 5-6 stops. Lol bracket

[@carlos_saba6701]

Regarding the shutter mode issue, it should be pointed out that it is not exclusive to the Nikon z6 iii, but to some lenses. For example, the z24-120 does not let me shoot with full mechanical shutter below certain speeds on my z7ii, z6, and zf, as opposed to my z50 1.8, which lets me shoot MS at all shutter speeds.

[@g00nther]

That is such an interesting decision by Nikon. I really don't see the point of limiting this 🤷‍♂

[@vlcheish]

5:30 LMAO the westcott add inserted into the middle of the video reminds me of waynes world with the add reads

[@molybdnum]

petition for the PP crew to do a legit waynes world send-up ad read

[@pacheaco727]

Sounds like a ‘Wooden Niccols’ request

[@kart182]

You should have included the lumix S5ii as well to complete the full frame comparison

[@NotAnotherChannel_Channel]

Still seems like a pretty amazing camera. I am seriously considering the Z8 but this one seems to tick a lot of the same boxes for my use. But I do love cropping though. Great review.

[@vinhsanity]

So far I haven’t found any limitations in the real world with DR. I’m doing a sunset, and arcade shoot later this week so I’ll have a chance to push it a bit more. Autofocus I’ve had similar experiences with Canon and Lumix where the camera can be spoofed by foreground elements. But these are limited cases where I’ve been the 2nd shooter, and perhaps I’m just not used to the gear. All in all the z6iii has been good for me, and now I’m looking to see if it’s good enough for me to part with my FX3 & ZV-E1 for video because I like the idea of having 1 mount… but so far no regrets with dropping the Sony a7iv from the kit for photo. And so far, it’s doing great on the video side too. I might be back on team Nikon… something I haven’t done since the DSLR days!

[@jbtubman]

Great review; the comparisons to the Canon and Sony competitors seemed fair and balanced to me. (BTW I saw Jordan at the Calgary Folk Music Festival and was hoping to see some more video from that event; I guess there was a couple of seconds of The Roots that looked good.)

[@audamus6452]

Nikon Z6 iii in Germany is priced at 3000€. Z8 was 3900€ at that time. Buying the Z8 instead of the Z6 iii was a nobrainer for me.

[@garykinard7553]

Cha Ching, you guys have evolved into the best. Enjoy your success. Cannot wait until the Canon R5II review is ready.

[@Abc1987]

Nikon had the best DR sensor (in the Z7/Z7II), and was still losing market share. So I think it’s not surprising that they listened to the market and are making these cameras for speed/video rather than absolute IQ. Having the “near-APSC” connotation is rough, but anyone who has used a modern 26MP APSC sensor knows that it’s very good.

[@FawfulDied]

Also APS-C doesn't necessarily mean bad DR at low ISO just like FX doesn't necessarily mean good DR at low ISO. The D6 has substantially lower DR at ISO 100 than any Nikon Z camera.

[@shamaldeare5576]

The Z6iii is pretty solid for current needs, but I don't shoot landscape or architecture that much anymore. Even so A) I'm likely doing flambient or HDR B) I would have no reason to upgrade if that's all I shot. I'm usually in lower light, higher iso situations so haven't noticed the hit or any glaring differences from my Z6II files. I'm also not planning on pushing the iso to 51K for video or raising anything by 5 stops. I feel like there's a difference between real world use and the charts. I shot 3 events in challenging condition the past weekend and have had a positive experience. Every brand has great cameras, I'm just already invested in nikon glass and glad they finally caught up. 33mp is nice but could also means slower readout speed and worse rolling shutter or heat issues, I'm sure I'd be happy with Sony but prefer Nikon ergonomics and QC.

[@logtothebase2]

Its shame that Image quality is taking a hit in order to accomodate frame rate and video specs

[@jimstirling7223]

In real life use for the vast majority of scenarios "the hit" is trivial we are way beyond the more than good enough level. The YT clickbait channels which PP is very much an example of are about trivial nitpicking of "features" that generate views. To be clear I have no interest in the Z6III .

[@NickErickson]

@@jimstirling7223I was about to make a similar comment. This “hit to image quality” are for the absolute extreme scenarios and the average professional will most likely never have to fight this. There are plenty of techniques (that a professional would know and utilize) that take of these “flaws.”

[@iggy880]

​@jimstirling7223 this is far from clickbait, it's a review and when you review you go into detail like they are and mention shortcomings. Just because you don't use it in a way that will be affected by this, nor may most casual shooters, some people might and is it's important it's mentioned. They don't write off the camera for it or anything, they just explain it's weaker than some competition and showed how that looks in comparison.

[@falxonPSN]

Video specs have nothing to do with image quality. The dynamic range hit is simply due to this being a stacked sensor. I'm not quite sure what you're complaining about because that's the only way one gets a fast burst rate which most of us want. If you want max dynamic range and slow burst rates you have plenty of other options.

[@JimVajda82]

The Zf has the older sensor with better base ISO DR and Expeed 7 if you want a slower, stills-oriented Nikon camera.

[@astrobotnautics5291]

I really appreciated Chris's dive into those weird record limits. From Nikon's marketing, they made it sound like record limits weren't going to be a thing with the Z6iii, useful to know that they are.

[@ericlarson6180]

The only limit was the 120 minute for standard 4K. The weird limits were card overheating. Chris even admitted it could be from the sandisk card. I can say it definitely was. I have one 128 gb sandisk card which performs terribly in my Z8 due to heat. My other branded cards are fine. I would never test a camera for video performance with a Sandisk card. They are garbage

[@yawningmarmot]

​@@ericlarson6180Well, that's the problem. They don't openly mention the arbitrary 2 hour limit anywhere in their marketing (just like the good old Canon), and yet it's there.

[@danielvilliers612]

@@yawningmarmot I would like to know how much people shoot 2+ hours continuously.

[@astrobotnautics5291]

@@ericlarson6180 4K H.265 25p is the format I'm most likely to want to shoot 2+ hours in. I'm quite disappointed they didn't mention this in it's marketing.

[@yawningmarmot]

@@danielvilliers612 I don't see what that has to do with arbitrary limits and companies being cagy about it in the marketing. If they don't clearly disclose it and you don't know about it, you could end up taken by surprise when you least need it (filming an event, concert, podcast etc.). For instance, I had a gig offer years ago where they wanted us to film for 6 hours straight uninterrupted, and we had to turn it down because those were the T3i days (12 _minute_ limit) and we didn't have a camcorder :)

[@GeoffKirby]

I have shoot one wedding so far on my Z8 and my 6iii and I can honestly say I have noticed very very little difference in DR in the real world!

[@davetv8171]

I guess that’s the only way to find how good it is. I’ve used mine quite a bit and am shooting it again this weekend with the Sony 50 1.4 via the megadap beside the a9iii with the 20 1.8 for lowlight salsa work. I have implemented flash into the scenes with 1/4s shutter. Still waiting for dxo to support the raw files but it’s been great so far. It feels like a z8 (I used to have one but had to sell it. I will get another one next year)

[@manilamartin1001]

Looks cool anyway. I am still in love with my sony A74.

[@autoexoticswestcoast]

I had high hopes for the Z6 III, but at this point, waiting for the R6 III or A75. The color shifts and flickering are absolutely a no go

[@JET-Photo]

A better CF card would have been nice, but I think this is fair. I would like to hear Nikon's response to the flickering issue. I probably won't have that issue in most cases, but it is a problem for some. Hopefully it's a firmware issue that can be fixed easily. If not, I'll still be ok with this camera. I've taken a few low light, high ISO shots since I got mine.....phenomenal. The grain is so small and cleans up easily with standard NR, without having to use AI NR. Much better than any of my Fuji's in the past, granted those are APSC sensors.

[@cinematools]

I hope Nikon will allow us to upload custom LUTs for preview in firmware updates. The curve on the current N-Log LUT and view assist is terrible.

[@danielvilliers612]

That view assist made me nearly lose a ton of footage once. I was lucky I was really at the edge, it makes you greatly underexpose your footage.

[@roweld4399]

Those differences that was pointed out in dynamic range are so tiny and at specific conditions. I doubt that vast majority of average user will ever experience or notice when videos shooting video or looking at a processed video and shared online or given to a client.

[@starbase218]

Mmmmm so regarding the dynamic range comparison against the competition, did you forget to mention that the R6 II bakes noise reduction into its RAW files?

[@falxonPSN]

Does the photons to photos site call that out in any way on its data? After you mentioned it, I did remember people saying this, but I had since forgotten. It would be good to put some sort of a disclaimer within the charts when a camera that is doing that is shown.

[@danielvilliers612]

@@falxonPSN No F one knows who and what those people or one people does. On digitalcameraworld they use the very high end Dxomark analyzer software , and they got the z6 iii just a little lower than the z6ii and still higher than the Canon R6ii and Sony A74 and about equal to the Panasonic S5ii. So these people posted their result first and everyone went with it as a gospel. I have seen people test the z6ii and 3 side by side and it was not massive at all.

[@mbravos]

​@@falxonPSN yes it does, it uses a different marker to indicate ISO values where the camera is baking in noise reduction (can't remember now the details but it's on the chart caption).

[@romanpul]

@@mbravosYeah, NR ISO steps are marked with a triangle, ‘real’ RAW gets a dot

[@nightowlnzab]

As others said, PhotonsToPhotos shows forced NR with downwards arrows on the charts. You can also look at the R6II results in ES/electronic shutter, because that is the only way to disable its low ISO noise reduction .

[@rfezzie]

Finally invested in the Nikon Z ecosystem with the Z5 and the 24-120. Hard to see myself ever upgrading to the 6III with the kinks, but Nikon seems to really go all in with firmware updates. They need to make a better impression right out of the gate though.

[@jorgepinogarciadelasbayonas]

The differences in dynamic range are vastly overblown because it's an extreme edge case. Who the hell is taking absolute dark pictures and trying to recover the shadows for more than 5 stops? This is a unrealistic case even for landscape photography.

[@woubaey]

When it switched to the shot at 2:26 I immediately could tell the westcott shoutout was coming. The lighting looked so good.

[@RandumbTech]

Same!!

[@EnerGeezerSquirrel]

Nice flip-flops there: Ticks just LOVE those! (but you only need to avoid walking in fores..oh! Never mind...)

[@Simalacrum]

That Westcott light in the forest looks great - hope you guys keep using that in future videos even after the sponsorship ends (or at least a competing product 😂)

[@_rhapsodist]

As a happy A7IV user I am so curious to see in what ways the A7V will wipe the floor with the competition, hopefully soon 🤞 A stacked sensor would be amazing finally

[@FireImageFM1]

That was a great review I learned more than I knew about the camera but the science behind it is that no camera is really without flaws. I say if it's perfect to use and it just needs a little tweaking and adjusting I say use it. My workforce doesn't require a lot of work that it does and I'm still addicted to my Canon autofocus. Awesome review I love hearing it but I think I'm still sticking with my Canon EOS 90D.

[@hishamosman4341]

For the price and what features it has, to me its fair. In general, it could do everthing. For beginners and amateurs, this body is just perfect

[@Chrispytravels]

the high ISO flickering is unlikely to affected most users getting the Z6III. In my years of shooting (11 going on 12), I can count less than 20 times when I needed to push the ISO above 25600, even less for video. Those situations were when I wanted to see what was going on at night in the forest, when I was looking for animals in the dark. Most people will be more than satisfied with the camera sensor's performance

[@FawfulDied]

The issue is not high ISO, but ISO just before the dual gain (which is 6400 in N-Log). Above the dual gain point there is no issue and the Z6iii is state of the art for stills and video.

[@ScottJWaldron]

7:50 I'm not into wrestling now, but as a kid Brett Hart was one of my favorites. 👍 The Z6iii looks pretty nice, though the price jump compared to the previous models and low ISO downside are a consideration.

[@peterkleinschmidt5025]

I have gone through the Z6, the Z5, and the Z50 (which I liked but traded up to a ZFC, which I eventually traded in). My goto camera became the Z6ll, which I liked but was not great in low light and focus. The Z5 could not keep up with my speed, and the Zfc was nice but not as good as the Z50. Then I got the Zf and behold my dream camera. It focuses fast and accurately, I might have no more than a handful of out of focus shots out of 500. I added a half case to aid the grip; this is the Z I have been waiting for shooting portraits, weddings, and events. My Z6ll is my backup camera.

[@vidthreenorth4007]

How does the Z6iii compare to the Lumix S5iiX?

[@robertleidner9703]

I don’t need every camera to be a sports camera. I would have loved the old sensor with better autofocus. No DR hit.

[@faocisco]

Zf

[@JimVajda82]

Good news! You just described the Nikon Zf.

[@r-3675]

Z7 or Zf

[@anirudhtd7193]

Would you prefer Lumix S5iix or the Nikon Z6iii for video?

[@zfisher]

As a Nikon shooter I'm very happy with my Z8 and Zf and don't need an upgrade now, but I'd feel better if Nikon could keep pace in autofocus so that in 5-10 years if I want to upgrade I don't need to consider switching systems again. The Sony a7iv is three years old at this point, and Nikon's latest autofocus can't keep up?

[@rcauich8095]

Will there be a video comparison between the Z8, Z6III and the Z f?

[@tubularificationed]

Here is the rewiew: "Just buy the Z8". End of review 🙂

[@rcauich8095]

@@tubularificationed Z8 doesn’t perform well in low light unlike the Z f… expensive doesn’t mean it’s better in all aspects

[@tubularificationed]

@@rcauich8095 Sure, it was a joke. The elephant in the room is, that... the Z8 is an elephant in the room 😉 Its weight, size, heft, bulk is unacceptable for many use cases and preferences. Especially when it comes to suitability for travel and trips. Including the avoidance of heavy tripods with a matching weight. Or a need for being inconspicuous (to avoid intimidation or any attention in street or social / events photography). Or to avoid grabbing robbers' attention anywhere outdoors.

[@markdecoveny1785]

SanDisk cards are known to be crap for video, especially high demand modes. Try a Delkin Black or Prograde Cobalt

[@mjkarger89]

As someone who really pushes DR in my photos, seeing it perform a full stop worse than competitors in low ISO situations is pretty disappointing.

[@wilkbor]

This was an excellent overview and one which was very enlightening to me. I was under the impression that Nikon files, as a whole, offered better dynamic range than its competitors. The charts in this video, however, show this is not true. Still, I'm happy to see that Nikon is competing with the best in the business.

[@TrevorEMayo]

Some Nikon cameras do offer the best DR in the industry, but not this one.

[@r-3675]

The Z7 does.

[@TheFlyingDogFish]

Thanks, because of the DR hit I'll consider Z8 instead of Z6III when my Z6 dies.

[@Tompie913]

I would suggest doing the video overheating tests with different brand CFExpress cards. My Sandisk gives overheat warnings even from shooting burst photos in my Z8, while my Angelbird never gives me any trouble. The Sandisks tend to run quite hot in my experience.

[@danielvilliers612]

Sandisk is so SSSSS ht in the CF express era, it is unbelievable that they used this. It has been notorious for most that their CF express cards are below average for some time now. How do reviewers don't know that.

[@MrBlubb80]

Nikon made some video-centric decisions here, unfortunately for photographers. I can’t see why reducing rolling shutter slightly is worth the cost and additional noise. A 24 Mpix sensor could have set new standards in terms of low light / high iso / dynamic range performance. This would have made the camera more appealing to me. Also, a more moderate price would have helped. This camera is not worth 50% more than the Sony a7m4 or twice the price of the Z6II.

[@ConnorHoak]

Agree with others, I think testing overheating with a Delkin Black or similar card would be more useful as it’s well-known that SanDisk runs hot

[@bsc001]

Yep, I’m strictly using Delkin Blacks on my Z9 nowadays, it is ~35°C cooler when doing extensive 8k60 video vs the Sandisk cards.

[@ConnorHoak]

@@bsc001 shit, I even use Delkin Power G4 on my Z7 because I simply don’t trust SanDisk as far as CFExpress goes

[@funtaril]

This dynamic range is still nothing to sneeze at. Yes, 2/3 to full stop less than other FF model of last 10 years, but you get a lot of speed in exchange. I believe it's pretty well rounded compromise, especially if you shoot video too. +5 stop shadow boost is pretty extreme, and landscape-oriented photographers would probably want something with higher resolution anyways. Also - plenty of people are perfectly happy with APS-C DR - there's no reason to talk about it like we should bury it.

[@Ildskalli]

A 1/60 readout is not "a lot of speed", at least not for me. That's a bit over twice as fast as the bog-standard Sony 24MP imager, but paying the penalty of a stacked sensor. Without at least a 1/180 readout it doesn't seem worthwhile.

[@tubularificationed]

This is insulting to APS-C 😅 In the back of my drawer, I have a 9 years old Nikon D7200 APS-C DSLR. It has 0.64 stops HIGHER dynamic range, than the $2500 / €3000 Z6 III in full frame mode. I wouldn't want to make a large investment into full frame + expensive lenses (expensive due to monopoly = lack of decent 3rd party support), only to have same resolution and worse dynamic range than a 9 years old APS-C DSLR.

[@Rashadmcka]

I’ve noticed this videos sharpening is a bit much, it could just be my personal taste though, Is this sharpening from the camera or a creative decision? Thanks for the review !

[@ared18t]

The improved autofocus makes it better for action and movement. But for action and movement the most Dynamic range possible is super important since you can't bracket or Take HDR photos in those situations.

[@ПазарджикПет]

now they need to update the firmware to offer redundancy recording in video mode, and they have a winner! I waited so long for this camera, that I gave up and got a fuji X-H2s, and I am so happy with it, that I would not switch right now, but Nikons future looks bright right now! Would always keep up with them, and at some point would love to get back into the system. After all the original Z6 made me fall inlove with photography and film making, and I was extremely sad when I sold it.

[@romanpul]

When you look at the DR from the R6 mk2 (ms) you can actually see that every single data point in the lower ISO range has noise reduction applied to it. So that‘s not really an apples to apples comparison, since NR boosts dynamic range

[@Photomeike]

Very well done! Great review!

[@victorlim5077]

Great review. The Z6iii looks like a great all-rounder. Action, video, etc.

[@ae981s]

For video recording at 6k60p nraw, your CF card is def the limiting factor. With my AngelBird CF express card B, I am able to record 36mins continuously until it's full. I did not get any "hot temp" warnings at all.

[@2cats1guy]

Just tuned in to see if it’s better than the a7iv. Sigh of relief.

[@Jason_Hermann]

Excellent review!

[@TheAerozot]

What setup did you guys use to film this? Image quality was phenomenal

[@BarryJohnson]

Jordan, typically films the episodes on a Lumix. He filmed this one on the Lumix GH7 and the Nikon Z6III.

[@TheAerozot]

Yeah i was wondering if the forest shots were done with the Nikon or Panasonic.

[@blade1535]

The previous video they did on this camera was filmed with it and the footage was amazing.

[@marklambert5262]

Interesting that Jordan compared it to the GH7 with its smaller sensor. Any particular reason it wasn't compared to the S5ii (x or normal)?

[@melihadalim]

Or the APS-C Fujifilm X-H2s?

[@Ildskalli]

Because only the GH7 offers things like oversampled 4K/120, the S5II has a sensor that's slow as molasses, although it's a better landscape photo camera.

[@DreadsOfAmbition]

@@Ildskallia7iv has an even slower sensor.

[@JohnMayfield-NS]

I'd like to see the video record time done with something other than a Sandisk, because they overheat badly. It'd be more responsible to do that and report if it's the camera or the card (it's the card).

[@Tom_Graham]

Great video, guys! I do have a question. Is it me or does Chris look as if he is standing in front of a green screen? The background looks surreal to me. Or, is it just the wescott lighting being used.

[@iggy880]

I kinda felt the same. Not green screen necessarily, I felt a bit more like a backdrop. I think it's a trick of the even lighting from the Westcott and the level of defocusing of the background. We're not used to that even of lighting in that setting so it made me think of a forest backdrop in a photo studio at first

[@jlwilliams]

Looking at the forest shot at 02:45, I agree it looks odd and I think it's a combination of the supplementary lighting and the hard-edged bokeh of the background. If you look at the catchlight in Chris's right eye you can see he's being lit by a nearby soft source; doesn't look like outdoor lighting at all. On an interior set it wouldn't have bothered me because we expect artificial lighting there, but against a forest backdrop it seems fakey...

[@Tom_Graham]

Great! Thank you all.

[@xchump]

Why would you use SanDisk for the video tests? I kept reading reviews on how they run really hot. Ended up with ProGrade instead and couldn't be happier.

[@nipamshah3581]

How does Chris hike in flip flops - I do not understand how his feet aren't destroyed

[@B9scrambler]

Well, he did take a nail through the foot a couple years back. He's got battle scars from the flip flops, lol

[@POVwithRC]

Goat feet

[@PillsGrabber]

Dad energy

[@ItsWillLee]

Canadian 💪

[@niccollsvideo]

Just pure ruggedness. Also I got bad blisters from my water shoes and bad socks so I’ve had no choice. I did fly fish and wade across the river in said flip flops and that is even more exciting than hiking.

[@unn4medfeel1ng]

They should've released the Z7 III alongside it, because downgrading the DR is not a good trade-off for some

[@danielvilliers612]

Just listen to people who don't even do their own test. I have seen other test which shows very very little DR difference.

[@BobN54]

Beware, Bill Claff''s 'Photographic Dynamic Range' is not 'Dynamic Range'. Unless you like displaying your work at around one megapixel and think that you need four stops of DR below the deepest shadows, it doesn't mean very much.

[@JohnSmith762A11B]

The high-ISO flickering in the shadows is kind of a deal-breaker. Hopefully a firmware update can address that. Otherwise, it's a pretty nice option.👍🏻

[@nickwilliams7867]

what are you videoing in complete darkness, just interested

[@JohnSmith762A11B]

@@nickwilliams7867 Complete darkness? Yeah nice straw-man argument in defence of poor high-ISO performance. You ever shoot an independent feature film? If you have you know that unavoidably poorly-lit scenes are essentially unavoidable.Cameras that create flicker when in high-ISO are fortunately avoidable.

[@nickwilliams7867]

@@JohnSmith762A11Bwow you are a very angry man . I just asked as I was interested to know, no need to be rude🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

[@joshkiddfilms1295]

@@JohnSmith762A11B if you are shooting your independent feature film at 51K iso you are doing something wrong. In my experience when I expose the base isos well, I don't see the flicker...but even still I am sure Nikon will address the issue.

[@RJPhotographics]

Some really nice footage from this. Having shot these cameras side by side I'm saying they are playing catchup with the OM-1. It meets it's objectives without caveats - and achieves focus in any light conditions where the FF competition falters. The S5ii seems to have a high ISO advantage, so I'd bring that along to take over from OM-1 when the light gets too low. Perhaps R3/Z8 tier cameras are optimal here, but they cost a lot of money and have silly high megapixel images. FF needs a ~24mp camera that can focus accurately in low light, keep the DR advantage of FF, and shoot as fast as OM-1.

[@speedbumpmedia9584]

Returned mine and chose to stick with my Zf as I have a Z9 for heavy work. I do not get why folks think the ergos on the Z6III are good and outside of the 240p option… I don’t see anything overly enticing about the Z6 over my current options.

[@danielvilliers612]

You are funny, I have a z9, so why to the peasants get exited about a camera that puts raw video and very fast autofocus in their hands. Even as a fellow z9 user, I find this camera to be exiting. For once it can focus in low light from what I saw where my Z9 would never be able to. I had the bad experience of seeing how mirrorless camera have difficulty focusing in low light as they can't use the infrared light of the flash. Having a 6k rather than a 8k video format is also much better for the file size. And it is also smaller. Yu are comparing a z9 plus a Zf to someone that can afford only 2500 Usd. LO

[@romanpul]

Maybe because the Z6III is less than half the price of a Z9?

[@speedbumpmedia9584]

I’m not talking price, I’m talking about the feel of the camera. It feels like a freaking block of wood with a finger grip and the thumb rest juts out the side. I find the ergos weird and unnatural feeling. The Z9 and even the Zf with the Smallrig grip has a more natural feel when holding the camera.

[@romanpul]

@@speedbumpmedia9584 I like the feeling. But to each their own I guess

[@joshmcdzz6925]

@@speedbumpmedia9584 all you privileged rich kids complaining.. smh

[@fotokrabbe530]

Has everyone forgotten about bracketing for shooting hdr situations? This is a great camera.

[@jovis3084]

Now we are really wishing for the full nikon zf review that never came!

[@LukaszFrankowski]

Great review as always. Thanks! Would love a Nikon 35mm F1.4 review. Looks like a great lens.

[@108u9]

Sony definitely dropped the ball on the A74 coming from choosing the make the big leap with the A73. The Z6III will force an actually good A75 or basically take over that category with little to no competition from Canon and Sony

[@benoittissier58]

Is the hit rate "excellent" as per Jordan’s experience, or "very good" as mentioned at the end ? What are the percentages ? Chris thinks the A7iv has better real time tracking for action. I have experience with the A7iv for sports. Tracking is excellent... in the EVF. Tracking on the pics is awful when conditions are not bright and sunny. The only reliable solution is 6 FPS and fixed spot.

[@livejames9374]

Slower shutter speeds always helps out hit rate. But 75% hit rate at 20fps will still be 2x more in focus shots than 100% hit rate at 6fps.

[@benoittissier58]

@@livejames9374 I know about shutter speed, sharpness problem solved with the A1.

[@waveland]

The spec sheet is great for the money and I thought the Z6III would make a great hybrid companion for my Z9, except this first batch has a lot of sensor issues which caused me to return four of them. I hope to try again in the future, but for now the sensors have a lot of quality problems.

[@POVwithRC]

Ok yacht man, but having googled around there is no mention of qc or qa issues along the lines of what you are talking about. Send me an external discussion that isn't just you not understanding what you bought

[@NonApplicapable]

Can you specify what sensor issues you faced?

[@shang-hsienyang1284]

Four? The shop you are shopping at must have a very good return policy to allow you to do that!

[@romainplagnol882]

Can you explain what kind of issues you experienced?

[@Ildskalli]

I'd like to know which problems you encountered, too. Nikon have been known for occasional shoddy QA, especially on midrange bodies.

[@dfinlay587]

Good review... as always. Good balance, and remarks on it's performance. It's hard to put the right superlatives in a review of a camera that isn't Flagship level, nor is it trying to be. I have always shied away from anything bigger than the Z6, since I do a lot of hiking and travel photography, and don't want it to be a burden to lug around. The Z6 is a great camera, can't wait to upgrade.

[@geoffreybassett6741]

Great detailed review addressing some of the image quality concerns. The shadow issue in video made me return the camera. I was tempted to switch over from Panasonic S5IIx and my Panasonic lenses, mainly to potentially use the fantastic 24-120, the high frame rate options, and the fantastic AF. But if you are bringing up your shadows at all when grading the flickering shows up. For me, that completely negates the benefits of RAW video, I might as well shoot in LOG in .mov and the Panasonic VLOG is a much more efficient codec. I'm really hoping the next Panasonic brings at least 60p 4K in the full width of the video and better rolling shutter performance so I can stick with them.

[@CraigEggleton]

Nice balanced review guys. Thx!!

[@cornellouis]

Would be interesting to see from a practical POV when this will matter. E.g. bracket + merge in post for more detail in highlights and shadows.

[@photojournalists]

No IBIS comparison for video?

[@bsc001]

Lols. Reading through the comments before watching the video, I thought WTF PP…. Well, happy to see a balanced review of this body, cheers Boyz. You highlighted strengths and weaknesses, and for sure, there’s room for improvement in future FW updates. But it seems a thoroughly competitive body overall. Thank you for a good review, appreciated. And yes, for those that wonder, I am a Nikon shooter.

[@DAVISION-YT]

You need to test other Cards for RAW I had two that didn’t work good at all. A modern Angelbird 1TB worked perfectly

[@JamesJohnsonthe4th]

Oh cool, Black Thought!

[@brians.1357]

If it was $2k USD I’d probably pick one up as a knock around. Maybe this holiday season (guessing -$200 sale at the most for the remainder of 24’). Great review as always !!

[@qamstel]

I’ve been waiting for this camera for 4 years and now I consider Z8 😅. I just shoot a lot of events at low light and forgiving dynamic range is important for me. I would love to see some low light event samples.

[@kermitrehab]

Same, was so close to getting Z6III today, now watching this video and dynamic range being bashed like this, makes me want to wait :(

[@shamaldeare5576]

I shoot low-light events and have been pleased so far with the total experience compared the Z6ii. I often underexpose a lot of shots (protect highlights, how I use flash, accidents) and haven't had issues pulling up 3 stops or even more and having a clean pic. The video shows the dynamic range is along competition at higher iso, it just as a penalty at lower iso. I got a pic at 40K iso that looks clean with little noise NR done in post.

[@g00nther]

@@kermitrehab I wouldn't say it was being bashed. The DR is better in the other cameras below 800ISO, but the number of shots where this would be an issue in real world use is unlikely to be high unless your photography involves shooting high DR scenes on a regular basis. Have a look at some of the photos taken by the Z6III and see what you think. There's no perfect camera, so you have to weigh the pros and cons and decide if the cons are significant enough to give it a pass.

[@qamstel]

@@shamaldeare5576 you have a point about the higher iso performance. This will fix a lot of my issues. Do you share photos somewhere like Instagram or something where I can see some of your photos taken with the camera?

[@BronzeHarbour]

Dude, save money and get a Zf. Same auto focus, same image quality for events

[@loihpatli]

Hey Jordan, who's your favorite high flyer wrestler?

[@ItsWillLee]

Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka Your welcome Jordan 😅

[@filipesantanalopes4771]

I am considering purchasing this camera primarily for landscape, waves, sunsets, and astrophotography. However, I occasionally engage in wildlife and people photography. I would like to know if you recommend this camera for astrophotography, as I have heard conflicting opinions regarding its noise performance in low-light conditions. Your expert feedback would be greatly appreciated in making an informed decision about this purchase.

[@danieldougan269]

Eh, I don't care that much about dynamic range at low ISOs. This camera is a terrific all-arounder. Please please please Nikon, if you do nothing else, enable dual video recording to both cards. Even if you can't do it in every video mode, you should be able to do it in some modes and still get decent output. I don't care if the backup is 1080p, just so long as it looks halfway decent and you don't risk completely losing your footage due to a card failure. Perhaps the Lumix S5 II / IIX could be a better choice for that kind of videography, but the photo burst rate is not nearly as high, the 4K 60p is cropped, and the rolling shutter is an issue. Having a backup is at least as important in video as it is in stills. I could see this a nearly perfect event videography camera except for that. Then add that as a firmware update for all of your cameras with dual card slots: Z5, Z6 II, Zf, Z7 II, Z8, and Z9. I'd love to be able to use the much less expensive Z6 II for event videography, but it also has a 30-minute recording limit and still no backup video recording. I know you can use an external recorder to get around these issues, but you shouldn't have to.