Nikon Z6ii for real estate photography? 10 things I love about this camera!

[@davidl8639]

Great video. I have been doing real estate photography for a few years now, and have been using a Lumix G9. Great camera, but now I use HDR, I really need to be able to bracket 9 frames at 1 EV, which my G9 can't do (7 frames max). I have invested in a Z6ii, and also a Nikon 14-30mm lens, so was delighted to see you use one. I was torn considering a Laowa 10-18 as it is cheaper and wider, but eventually decided on the Nikon, and having seen your video, feel that was the right choice. Delivery in few days, then setting up and practising. Can't wait, and thank you again.

[@Sarahlee52106]

Why are you using 9 frames in HDR?

[@funkyboogiee]

I typically use a 2 sec timer 5 AEB, but snapbridge sounds nice. also more battery use on the phone on a full day of shooting, hahah!!

[@vickifrancis8568]

Thank you!!! It’s all making sense 😊

[@funkyboogiee]

I shoot a lot of Real Estate currently on my Fuji Xt-4. I have to switch for an employer and I am probably gonna go to Nikkon w/ Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4. I'm torn between the Z6ii (older and no articulating display) and Z6ii (which is obviously overkill for RE work alone, but has the display I am use to). I'm use to a fully articulating screen for the last 4+ years for tight spaces shooting interior real estate. Does the normal tilt screen make it difficult for you? I'm also 6'3" tall. If I got the Z6ii, I'd likely upgrade to z6iii eventually, simply so I can enjoy other forms of photography work, but ultimately the z6 iii is overkill for real estate alone. I likely would not upgrade for many years if I got the z6 iii to start with but I think i could make the z6ii work, but I may really miss that dang fully art screen!!

[@aqibx]

How do you access flat profile? I can only find neutral?

[@ZacharyEldridge]

Keep going to the right

[@tracynicholas2849]

I am just starting and have gotten a single paying client yet but I not giving up. So excited to use Z6ii and learn more as I go.

[@ZacharyEldridge]

How’s it going now? Been a few months since your comment.

[@Fesoj111]

I’m about to start , hope to get some beginners tip @tracy

[@davidl8639]

Hi Zachary. Further comment on Laowa 15mm shift lens with the Nikon Z6ii. A replacement lens arrived, and it is brilliant, very very sharp. I thought that the ability shift would be useful only for exterior shots, to get rid of acres of drive and get the get some sky in above the roof. I couldn't have been more wrong. I use it all the time for interior shots, very useful for those shots where you have too much ceiling and chair legs cut in half - just shift the lens a bit. The only restriction is that you cannot shift the lens to its maximum without getting some distortion and also lack of focus at the edges of the frame, but apart from that it is invaluable. I usually do 5-frame bracketed HDR, and even with 5 frames merged (Photomatix Pro 6.3), the images are really sharp.

[@ZacharyEldridge]

Very interesting! I'll have to look into it. Have a great day!

[@francoisdugois3634]

Great tips! Thank you Zachary! Your setting caption indicates 100-400 ISO. Is this a range that can be defined in the Z6ii, or is it the range you usually work with, adjusting ISO between 100 and 400 on the fly?

[@funkyboogiee]

I also use auto ISO for real estate work. the camera decides between 100-400 ISO for each bracket, etc.

[@davidl8639]

Quick follow-up, Z6ii with 24-200mm and 14-30mm arriving tomorrow, and also I am getting a Laowa 15mm shift lens, which may be a real estate winner.

[@ZacharyEldridge]

Congrats! Enjoy the new gear. I’ve been eyeing the 24-200 myself as a grab and go setup.

[@davidl8639]

I bought a Laowa 15mm shift lens and returned it, as it was not nearly as sharp as necessary, particularly with 5 shot bracketing. Disappointing.

[@splootan]

A great and very helpful video! Quick question would you buy a Nikon D800E or the Z6 For Real Estate? Thanks in advance

[@ZacharyEldridge]

While both will get the job done I’d probably go z6 if you plan on adding video work at some point.

[@hectorapodaca5737]

What type of editing do you do? HDR bracketing like photomatix? Or ambient flash?

[@ZacharyEldridge]

Hdr bracketing with Aurora HDR. I batch edit and tweak the color/exposure in lightroom.

[@Huntocrates]

Great video man, which focus modes do you tend to use for real estate videos? Autofocus? If so then which selection modes?

[@ZacharyEldridge]

Usually wide area af or manual focus

[@keithstewart8613]

Great video! Thank you for sharing! I was thinking about picking up a Nikon Z6ii and the lens you recommended. But after research I have found a lot of complaints that it is not compatible with Lightroom or Photoshop. What is your work around for this?

[@ZacharyEldridge]

I've had no issues with either photoshop or light room.

[@Screamus]

How is the z6 for real estate VIDEO? Do you shoot RE video in 10bit via an external recorder? Or the in body 8 bit?

[@ZacharyEldridge]

10 bit is better for sure. Since making this video I got a Z8 and mostly shoot video with that now. 10bit h265 4k60 are my go to settings. You can absolutely get by with 8 bit though as most clients wouldn't be able to tell a difference. Still shoot z6ii for photo only listings though!

[@autoexoticswestcoast]

At this point, the Z6 III has you well covered in color bit depth (12-bit Internal) so less weight for your gimbal.

[@straitjacketstudios7884]

I recently purchased a z6ii and really struggling to get my flash operating. Do you ever use flash and if so do you share these issues? I am using the Godox X2Tn and Godox AD200 and AD400. (FYI using this for real estate photography). Here are a few issues I am experiencing.... 1) I can't seem to get LIVE VIEW to display real-time changes I am making when changing shutter speed when the trigger is ON. If I turn the trigger OFF, I can alter the shutter speed and my view lightens/darkens in real-time. However when the trigger is on, it has no effect, nor does the histogram change either. 2) When I turn the trigger off and set my optimal exposure, and then turn the trigger ON (thinking this is my only option), the flash fires, but provides the same brightness regardless of how light or dark I set the exposure (fast or slow shutter speeds). Flash and Trigger are all set to MANUAL (not TTL). 3) (Sometimes) it seems that the display DOES provide real time views of shutter alterations and I can't for the life of me figure out what is changing. Just when I think it is working, I return to find that randomly it is not. I appreciate any help I can get. So frustrating.

[@ZacharyEldridge]

Curious, are you shooting flash/ambient AND brackets? What's your flash release set to (rear curtain sync/fill etc?) Mirrorless definitely acts differently when using flash. When I use strobes, I just go back to my dslr days and turn off apply settings to live view and rely on my light meter to get the job done. Keep tinkering and let me know if you find a fix! Sounds like there's something in the flash or camera that's trying to automatically expose the image for you. One last silly question, you're in Manual Mode, right? For flash you want total control. No auto iso either.

[@straitjacketstudios]

@@ZacharyEldridge Thanks for the response. Flash is set to FILL and yes in (all) Manual mode. I think I have finally figured out some of the issue, most is realizing that using flash with a mirrorless is NOTHING like false with a DSLR :)

[@ericbarkhurst2951]

@@straitjacketstudios Hey I know its late - but when in flash mode with the godox transmitter you wont be able to see changes. You need to disable flash - make changes then enable flash again.

[@straitjacketstudios]

@@ericbarkhurst2951 Yeah....this is a bummer. especially when you are trying to reduce camera touches/shake for clean bracketing.

[@nathanjimenez1562]

Snap bridge has actually improved alot since it's release it now has 4+ stars on Google play.

[@ZacharyEldridge]

I use it all the time! The auto xfer feature is so useful for social media posts and quick sharing.

[@nathanjimenez1562]

@@ZacharyEldridge the fact you can transfer raw images and videos wireless is really cool to although it takes a bit longer.

[@McCawPhotography]

I'm curious... are you still using the z6ii for REP? ...or are you using the Z8?

[@funkyboogiee]

z8 would be unnecessary for only REP work! Honestly, there's APS-c cameras and lens combos that do great REP, 5 AEB bracket type work. stack in photomatix or something, quick edit, and send hi res JPG to client. The only time I got involved with RAW's and more time editing was for commercial; hotels, offices, which were shoots for brokers not residential agents.

[@joneric777]

are you still shooting real estate? I'm using my z6ii for real estate and z30 for video real estate. Also, what city/area are you in?

[@ZacharyEldridge]

Mid Missouri between KC and STL. Yes still shooting!

[@McCawPhotography]

@@ZacharyEldridge Do you still use your Nikon Z6ii for REP?

[@joneric777]

@@ZacharyEldridge using Z6II or the new Z8?

[@florin.filipescu]

What budget lens I can use with this camera for Real estate? the 14-30 f4 is a bit expensive for me

[@ZacharyEldridge]

Man... there's not really a budget ultra wide lens out there for full frame cameras. You might look into an F Mount lens and an ftz adaptor. There's also a few super wide primes from 3rd party manufacturers out there but I can't speak on how they perform. That being said... if you have an in with a realtor to do some shoots this 14-30 will pay for itself pretty quickly.

[@florin.filipescu]

@@ZacharyEldridge hey! Thank you for your fast answer! I do have a ftz adaptor for my z5. I'll have a look on your recommendation!

[@Fesoj111]

New subscriber

[@ZacharyEldridge]

My man! Welcome 🙏

[@Nottoday3033]

Can you PLEASE make a video on how to do the settings!? I ca not start my business because I have no idea how to set it up 😭😭😭😭😭 anyone that know can we chat? I meed help!!!

[@davidl8639]

Had the Z6ii for a few days, and there is no reason not to love the camera. Even the transition from the Panasonic menu (which is the best I have ever used) to the Nikon menu was painless. The only downside, and this for me is a pretty big nuisance, is that the shutter release mode always defaults to the single mode, whatever you were using when you turned the camera off. Even if you have a different mode in your User settings, and you save them, the release mode isn't saved. Ridiculous. I shoot real estate, and use HDR pretty much all the time, so the shutter delay release mode in conjunction with AEB works really well, but it is a pain to have to reset the shutter release mode every time. Still, at least it makes me check my settings! The body, in conjunction with a Nikkor 14-30mm lens is great. I bought a Laowa 15mm Zero-D shift lens, but had to send it back as the images it produced were unusably soft. Shame, as it is a nice idea, and maybe I just got a poor sample, but my clients would not (rightly so) accept soft images.

[@ZacharyEldridge]

Perhaps something wrong with your unit or settings! I’ve shot Nikon for a long time and it has always remembered my shutter release mode when powering the camera off/on.

[@davidl8639]

Thanks for the reply. I checked and double checked, saved settings with shutter release mode set to 5s self-timer delay and 5 shots, change from U1 to M and back to U1, and it reverts back to single frame. Will ring Nikon next week to get a definitive answer.

[@skypicssolutionsllc2547]

@@davidl8639 I read somewhere else about people having this issue. What did Nikon say about it?

[@davidl8639]

Have spoken to Nikon Technical Support, and they advise me that this is the designed default setting which is not user-changeable. The reason is that users might forget to reset the shutter mode when turning the camera on. Weird logic, because Nikon could allow users to save their preferred shutter mode to user settings, but have the shutter default to single release for all non-user-saved settings. Nuisance, but at least we all know now.

[@davidl8639]

@@skypicssolutionsllc2547 See my reply to Zachary. Annoying, but the camera is still awesome!

[@ZachEldridge]

What has your real estate photography career been like? Made some extra $$$ let me know!

[@455LT1]

I'm attempting to get started. Thanks for the video and motivation. I have a Z6 and 14-30 as well. Which gimbal to you recommend for video walkthroughs?

[@ZachEldridge]

@J Jones any gimbal that supports the weight of your camera will work! Personally I use DJI Ronin SC and it works well. I haven't tried any other brand so I'm hesitant to say one is better than the other. You can pickup a 2nd hand Dji ronin S for around $250. You may look into that as an option.

[@McCawPhotography]

Yes I started and am going all in with REP. Lots of money to be made. Using my Z6ii and D850