Nikon Zf Review for Portrait Photography and Video

[@chengyuan7658]

Nice to see that you officially begin to test all the new Nikon gears.

[@juliatrotti]

Thank you!

[@VIDEOVISTAVIEW2020]

Nikon Nailed it again with this camera, perfect for vloggers and retro afficionados. A very affordable retro camera with most of the bells and whistles of a flagship camera, another big win for Nikon.

[@hugomouteira7015]

Pros can also use it

[@chongtentcreator]

Julia including cats in animal AF test are an underrated part of a camera review

[@ElementaryWatson-123]

Did you notice, how noise reduction works? She turned it off and the cat disappeared. 😅

[@juliatrotti]

The girls love participating in these reviews 😂

[@vandalton4948]

Finally, some real life tests on AF. Mysteriously other reviews do not show AF performance.

[@dcwaku]

Unlike other channels you did a great review showing how the camera actually works. Plus, I could listen to your voice forever. 😊 Supposedly Nikon has a grip coming out too.

[@annarakannan6620]

Fantastic work on reviewing this camera . You are the only one to truly test the AF capabilities of this beautiful camera. I will be watching this again. Bravo!!

[@williamsolis1]

Looks great. I think the z6III will be a winner The IBIS surprised me with how nice it was. The warping was reasonable imo Also the video looked really good.

[@askethom04]

Good little competitor to the a7c /ii . Awesome

[@aratafreecs3445]

THANK YOU for this review! This is what I've been looking for. KZbin search is completely broken. The best reviews of this camera didn't show up AT ALL when I searched for them... What did show up were all the videos where the reviewers read the whole spec sheet to me. Thanks, I've already done that myself.

[@ZakWilson]

I love that the noise reduction feature adds a cat to the image. Very innovative, Nikon!

[@JeDxDeVu]

If the Xpro4 doesn’t hurry up…

[@paprhat]

Say. It. Again.

[@tiarebowman]

my thoughts exactly!

[@CianMcsweeney]

Same here man, have a nasty feeling Fuji have dropped the ball over the last year or so, hope I'm wrong and it's just around the corner

[@paprhat]

@@CianMcsweeney I already sold ALL of my Fuji gear. This is super enticing. This and a cheapy 28f2.8 and 85f1.8 and you’d be set.

[@StuartWeir]

Yep exactly.

[@datdudeinred]

Love the af speed tests. The only af tests of zf out there currently ❤️👏 This thing is gonna be a beast so little to handle 25mp vs 40+ with same processor as z9. Wow. I can't even imagine the low light prowess this thing gonna have.

[@juliatrotti]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed my review :)

[@drchtct]

It’s not small at all, it’s huge

[@BoiseTDI]

@@drchtcthe was referring to the smaller mp count not the physical size.

[@strippedlist]

Iso 6400 is butter, and - 10 ev focus and eye detectetion in manual lenses! And vr is linked to focus points, even on the side of the sensor

[@marcel9568]

Butter?

[@strippedlist]

ma-ta@@marcel9568

[@strippedlist]

ca untul taranule@@marcel9568

[@fjaajf]

Finally a review of Nikon gear without bias.

[@PhotoGearFun]

Watched your review of this camera first and I'm glad I did! Thanks for the great video. Love seeing the kitties again. I started with Nikon in the DSLR days but don't own any Nikon gear right now that may change soon.

[@juliatrotti]

Thank you, I really appreciate it

[@israelmacario3853]

gorgeous camera definitely will look into getting one. thanks for the review on the af and low light performance

[@itsjustme77]

Great video! I'm so glad to see that Nikon has caught up with the AF, and the high ISO is on point. If this is any indication of what 's to time, I'm quite looking forward to the Nikon Z6 III.

[@CINEMAWORX]

“Hey everyone” I love it!! 🙌🏼

[@ronmortimer252]

I want to upgrade from my D7100 and I was waiting the much talked about Z6iii. But your results from this Zf with a couple of good lenses would suit the sort of walk-about amateur photography I do. So thanks for the very informative video - well done and cheers from Aus. :)

[@michaelmills2926]

great video, most Nikons have a grip available, so hopefully there will be one soon for this one....and also like your Cats.

[@asamendigorin1512]

Love that youre testing Nikon gear now also 👌

[@22welcome]

I love this amazing Camera’s specification , will preorder it when they release it 📸💞

[@Michael-qv7pn]

Just for information because of the grip issue, there is a smallrig grip that adds a arca swiss metal base plate and a more comfortable grip With that it might be also well useable for weddings and such

[@marcel9568]

Did the photos show focus on the eyes or the lashes? Some cameras put a nice rectangle on the eye, but then the eye is still out of focus.

[@fthprodphoto-video5357]

5:00 to 6:00 we can clearly not distinguish any difference between the camera used to film this video and the pictures from the Nikon DF : the reason is that every sensor is similar today…I am really looking for something new and different with better color tonalities

[@PavSZ]

I love your reviews! I don't know how you do shoots by the trees and long grass without checking for spiders and snakes all the time

[@jayrajsinhgohil2705]

Those portraits were so awesome 👌

[@juliatrotti]

Thanks so much!

[@abchappell01]

That was a fantastic video presentation. Your model is absolutely beautiful!

[@carlz3955]

I always imagine a full frame with retro design I always was, if Nikon put some film sims in Zf, I would buy without questioning.

[@jpdj2715]

In the film days of decades ago, I could say what photographic material had been used with about 80% confidence level and today I find the film sims unrealistic. Relative to digital with excellent dynamic range and colour space (depends on raw processing though) "film sims" are a limitation or exaggeration of qualities in the sense you loose something. You see, the Fujichrome of 1980 was ideal to shoot the desa (rice fields) in Indonesia but anywhere else it was too green. Kodachrome was ideal for the Masai, their terracotta soil, their jewellery and skin tones, but not as good for a Caucasian portrait in the studio. One thing that always stood out: Cibachrome prints. Now to a digital Nikon. In-camera "film sims" only make sense if you shoot SOOC JPEG. So if you shoot raw only, forget about it and do it in post. Any setting you make, like white balance, ends up in met data as a number and changes nothing to your raw image. When, if, you do in camera raw processing for SOOC JPEGs or movie based on JPEG frames, then you have a selection of "Picture Controls" like "standard", "neutral", "vivid", "monochrome", "portrait", "landscape", "flat". These are the basic Nikon profiles and stay near true-to-life photographic ideals. Then they have a set of "creative" profiles with fancy names like Dream, Morning, Pop, Sunday, Somber, Dramatic, Silence, Bleached, Melancholic, Pure, Denim, Toy, Sepia, Blue, Red, Pink, Charcoal, Graphite, Binary, Carbon. These make alterations. The trick with these "Picture Control" profiles is that you can create your own in camera, save them to card, and then import them elsewhere, provided compatible. Interestingly, Nikon's free raw processing app "NX Studio" allows you to work with these Picture Controls as well, irrespective of what you did in camera. I guess you can create a Picture Profile on your PC, save it to a memory card and then load it into your camera. NX Studio lists the following "Picture Control" profiles that I would call "film sims": "Tri-X" (Kodak B&W film - I should ask Nikon if they mean the 135 or the 120 version), "Kodak Kodachrome 2", "Kodak Ektachrome P", "Kodak Portra NC", "Kodak T-Max 400". The "ColorNegReversal" Picture Control may just offer what happens in a D850 (IIRC) when you shoot colour negatives and do the reversal in camera. In NX Studio, you can find these in the Basic Edit Palettes in the Picture Control RAW sub-panel.

[@GM-ju4co]

​@@jpdj2715tldr

[@TheDeltaMoo]

There are some community made picture control film sims that can be downloaded to a memory card and used in camera. Don't remember the site and there's not nearly as many and likely not quite the quality of Fuji film sims, but they're there

[@-AtomsPhere-]

Having used both the Zf and A7Cii, which did you prefer? I’m having a really hard time deciding.

[@kibaespada6001]

Me too, hard time selecting one

[@nicolaiecostel]

you forgot to say that there is a grip available from the get go, they thought that some might be inconvenienced by the retro styling so they designed an aditional grip in colaboration with smallrig being uninformed might hurt the gear you are testing

[@babyboy1971]

Julia, I just got this camera and it’s great but I’m finding that the colors are leaning warm with Nikon (I shot Fuji before). Is there a preset pack or packs that you make for lightroom that you’d recommend for Nikon specifically?

[@JochenHeyd]

Great Review, thank you! Good mix of technical details and personal experience I like your voice. I think, I need this cam :D

[@MrModerate_kane]

09:46 as soon as you shot with that 85 1.2 it was beautiful images, that 1.2 just makes lush images 10:45.

[@dhrubo9140]

Nikon has the. Best sensor ❤

[@lifeofdang92]

Do you think using Zf as wedding photogrpahy gear is too hard to hold? Not sure if they are same as Fujifilm XT system 🤔

[@wcleong5584]

I have 2 Nikon cameras now. D3s and D3.both are working well.both are the top of the line many years ago. How ?? spend money to buy this Zf ?

[@babyboy1971]

I just got this camera. It’s BRILLIANT!

[@saxinat0r]

Best review of this camera yet

[@trandinhhuy1844]

how to see Nlog to 709 on the camera,or you edited,if that's true where i can find lut 709

[@danfarmer_photo]

Julia, can you explain the no joystick/drag with your thumb thingy? My question is not about moving the focus point around with the touchpad with your thumb while your eye is up to the view finder. That makes sense. However, when you’re shooting through the LCD, can you still move the focus point around via the touch screen? Or do we go to using the D-pad? I thought naturally this would be the way, but I was watching one of the Nikon rep videos, and he confused the situation by stating that when you’re using the ‘drag to change focus point’ thing, it will only work when you have your eye to the viewfinder. So if that is the case, how do you move the focus point when shooting with the LCD? Sorry if that is a confusing way to ask.

[@trym2121]

Use the d-pad or touch screen. Otherwise just use the tracking

[@norfolknonsense7578]

I was hoping the IBIS for video will be better as it is rated for 8 stops.

[@stanleygabrel5279]

Awesome review, thanks for posting. It's obvious this camera is much faster than Z6 ii.

[@andrzejjaniak6849]

85mm f1.2 portraits look great.

[@juliatrotti]

That 85mm is insane! Bokeh heaven lol

[@lifeofdang92]

Does it have dual native iso in NLog Julia?

[@hugomouteira7015]

You can buy a smallrig grip or order a nikon branded grip from japan if the grip is an issue

Hi Julia, great impression. Regarding the grip (or lack of it) of the camera then. From what I understand Nikon will also bring out a small rig grip that fits onto the camera body and which will improve the grip if needed for long wedding days. I have seen it mounted and I asked myself why they did not put it up there permanently for the beginning. But that is something fro them to answer.

[@jpdj2715]

Small Rig is a third party company that already sell this grip. The reason it is not on the camera is for retro-design purposes. Way back, no camera had a grip. That's what Nikon are copying. We did not complain about our F2 or Leica not having one. But then, considering the cost of film and the absence of AF we would not handhold a camera all day long and we would have learnt to see a photograph without looking through the viewfinder. And in absence of hi FPS frame rates would have learnt to better anticipate "the decisive moment".

@@jpdj2715 I know, since I became a professional photographer back in 1993. I just wanted to give a solution for when you need to shoot all day, as you brought that up mentioning the wedding day example in your video. I was under the impression you were not aware and therefore wanted to help. Regarding the retro look, on other days, when you are on holidays and want to look retro, you just leave the grip at home 😄 Best wishes and keep up the good work!

[@paulmuadib68]

I love your video and your kindly approch. i have only one question not only for you but the relative young photograper .why did you choose, for the composition, to put, in portrait mode, that much space free in the upper parts of the shoot and in the low parts cut the important parts like the hands? I wuold put a pic in example but is no possibile thanks

[@naten2462]

Best review yet

[@himalayareaders]

So,what's the surprise of Nikon in coming Oct.？ 😊

[@thedondeluxe6941]

Very much appreciate the cat af test😻

[@4982boja]

I'm using z8 / What is the purpose of the cable connected to the camera?

[@admiralaa2997]

may I ask how do you record the POV of the camera, or the camera screen?

[@artsbyag]

I didn’t the video yet but how long does the battery last

[@pitushing93]

I am thinking of switching to a7iv from D750. And now Nikon comes out with this😅

[@dpedrosoliano]

julia thanks for shooting alot of pics! i enjoyed this review n shootouts! love from Malaysia😊

[@HankeAJ2014]

Love the video! Always love the professional quality you put into your videos. 😊 Would it be possible to do a review of the Nikon 135mm f 1.8s Plena? Maybe with the Zf and Z8 cameras. They just announced this lens right after the Zf and I immediately thought you would do a great portrait test on it!

[@vaclav_krizek]

Hi, very nice review, great video edit too. Well done! I have not found it anywhere in comments, please, could you tell me what system do you use to record your screen while shooting? In the portrait session, is seems like some USB cable is going to your pocket. Phone? I use Camlink in studio, but maybe it is something else. Thank you

[@olivervitze3753]

Thank you for the test with the Zf, Julia! Nice to see you testing a Nikon camera. The AF performance makes me think about buying the camera, even though I'm so skeptical about the handle. Would you personally buy it given all the features and the image results? And another question about the Z 40/2, Are the image results considered good to very good?

[@actionvip1]

May I ask, what do you use to record screenshots?

[@marksnellingphotography]

Shutter sounds nice.... It's the little things 👍

[@eisenschweinchen5354]

Doesn't the ZF have a prism viewfinder too?

[@ernest4483]

nice review time to dive in to the mirrorless world a worthy replacement to my D750

[@RajAvishekProduction]

is it btter than canon R8 and r6 II ? can you suggest me a best cam

[@photomorti]

Awesome camera but this vlog style lcd screen is a bummer for me. Dont like that it has to stick out to the side of the camera if i want to use it horizontaly

[@rdjmontalvo]

Does this have blackout-free shooting in any mode?

[@Probrophoto]

Ok this is a camera that will be on my wish list

[@williamebert6047]

Should I buy this camera (Zf) I have 2 Nikon D750 or wait to buy Z8?

[@julianmclean3869]

Many thanks for sharing Julia; just checked out the price for the body; approx $2,000!; will have to stick to my old Nikon D 5500 and Tamron 18 - 270 mm lens for now !!!!

[@lsaideOK]

Nice that you mentioned the con of discomfort from shooting all day with it. That is my biggest concern. But then you mentioned that it wouldn't be such a problem if you shoot sporadically through the day rather than constantly. And then as a backup to a more generalized camera. That helps alleviate some of my concern. Plus there's always the third party grip.... Great review!

[@paknam536]

Thank you for the best review 🎉

[@kjltube]

I hope you have the grip for your next video. Some great footage there, thank you.

[@legolas147]

Another great camera from Nikon✌

[@ArnilTv]

Best review I’ve seen so far, one question did you color correct or color grade the cat videos? Or even better a dedicated video about the video specs of the ZF

[@juliatrotti]

Thanks so much! No colour grading on those clips, just standard PP sooc

[@smallbatchsessions6892]

For vlogging there is a lot of edge wobbling. That Tamron made lens has a lot of chromatic aberrations. I’d use a real Nikkor lens for vlogging . But overall the video seems great. You do a very good job at reviews I think . Just found your channel. Congratulations

[@jonassergio4493]

no silver top? sad but nikon never disappoints!

[@thomaschamberlin2485]

Nikon is going to have an accessory grip and bottom plate that is Arca Swiss compatible. I imagine third parties like small rig will have one, too.

[@pauka13]

Its already out! Actually Nikon gives it for free in the next few weeks in many countries.

[@savkovelinov147]

Great review, Julia! The best one! And how would you rate autofocus reliability compared to Canon - for example R6 mark Ii?

[@ferrylm4091]

Beautiful wow

[@jasonhalaykophotography]

Great review, thanks! Looking to pick this up as a second camera for my event shooting as well as maybe a vlog camera to upgrade from the GoPro and stuff like that. Great info! One quick question, what are you using to record your EVF. Thought that was a very good idea to show that in the corner while you were shooting. Cheers!

[@MeTube3]

I’ll wait to see if Nikon do a silver/black version.

[@1bozina]

"...Review for *Portrait* Photography..." Does the Zf have a fully functional vertical grip available for portraits taken in portrait orientation? If not then other than better AF and full frame this camera is like a Fuji X-T3/X-T4 with some added bells and whistles - minus the grip.

[@thejsrstudio]

Wow amazing ! On which camera you shoot this whole video?

[@lanzarotepersonaltraining1563]

Great content as always 👌🏾

[@A-RA-N]

J’ai tout le premier ZF de 2014, il fonctionne toujours avec un très bon focus les iso comment avoir du bruit à 6400 , je suis une personne qui fonctionne toujours en manuel donc même les anciens appareil photo aucun problème à l’ancienne

[@MountainGurkha14]

very good and nice Camera Nikon ❤❤❤

[@tosin.junaid]

Brilliant review, I’d be getting one at some point. What did you use to record the camera screen?

[@shinkunAvi]

The best review

[@Ahm.photos]

I'm excited to try this out!

[@MD-ge1ni]

The way you pronounced Nikon❤

[@GavinDavidson]

Looks like a nice camera ❤

[@andresbedoya155]

Con que cámara grabaste el vídeo?

[@stefanusadrian8398]

what do you think about zf vs a7cii in term of skintone sooc, high iso performance and af?

[@OkwyUgonweze]

I can tell you now as a shooter of both system that Nikon is leap and bound better than Sony for anything portrait and skin tone .

[@strippedlist]

Iso 6400 is butter, and - 10 ev focus and eye detectetion in manual lenses! And vr is linked to focus points, even on the side of the sensor

[@monetarnie3841]

A7cII is better for filming as it was designed for that

[@strippedlist]

@@monetarnie3841 i don't need video at all

[@professionalpotato4764]

A7Cii for lens options, ZF if you prefer SLR style manual controls. In terms of AF they both look great. If people can still earn money with A7iii and 5DM4 in 2023, surely this is enough.

[@cptmuffy]

Love it 👍 Great video !

[@KienVirak_]

Very nice work I love it 🥰 thank you sister for sharing this video

[@nghiatran-tl2jq]

Bạn có thể cho tôi xin file phim được không?

[@AntonioAcai]

Very resourceful video, Julia. Any more plans for shooting with medium format film?

[@juliatrotti]

Thanks and yes! I did a MF film photoshoot recently actually, just need to finish off editing my scans and then the video too. But it will be coming soon!

[@AntonioAcai]

@@juliatrotti best of luck with the editing! Looking forward!!

[@jivi77]

You can convert the files to dng and then it can be processed

[@BenjiSamosir]

so is it better than z6 ii? can it do sport photography?

[@monetarnie3841]

Not better. It's just different. Zf is not a sports camera. You can shoot sports with it but it's not a camera for 90 minute football matches

[@zephxiii]

@@monetarnie3841 It's better than the Z6II for sports because it's running on Expeed7 from Z8/Z9 thus AF and overall processing speed is far superior. This is NOT a repackaged Z6 II.

[@monetarnie3841]

who says it`s the repackaged z6II? I said that it`s not a camera for sports and that it is different not better. Battery life, ergonomics and few other things prove my point. Z6III will be better than z6II not zf which is a very capable but retro camera which is quite small to hold for longer periods of time. You can shoot sports if You`re a soccer mom but sports pros will not use it as such. Has it got dual UHS II sd card slots? No it hasn`t so stop saying that it has got processing power of z8. No stacked sensor either.@@zephxiii

[@chengyuan7658]

ZF has like 14 frames per sec. Combined with the good focusing system, I think sports shooting should be OK on ZF. Expeed 7 processor is much better than double expeed 6 on z6II.

[@BenjiSamosir]

@@chengyuan7658 thankyou for the reply and the input :) i think i will be saving my money for a zf nikon

[@ferrylm4091]

Can i exchange my z6 with your zf this camera is so amazing