It’s started. First, we had the Internet hype that followed the Z6/7 announcement, which seemingly cleaved the photo world into two camps: a) those that declared all F-mount cameras to be allosauri peering up at the approaching meteor, and b) those that decried MILCs as feeble-focusing toys for people with more money than brains (the words “cold, dead hands” spring to mind). At the time, there were few cameras in the hands of independent testers, and most of the discussions centered on the characteristics announced by Nikon. Now, we’ve got cameras trickling out into the world and lots of folks will be finding out what they can – and can’t – do.
So here comes phase two, where people discover the quirks and foibles of the new camera, and for each we will again have two camps:
- The xxx on the Z7 is a fatal flaw. The images are ugly. You can never know when and where it will occur, and all the fixes are a PITA and impair quality. Don’t buy this camera, and everybody who says something different has a hidden agenda.
- The xxx on the Z7 occurs only under an extremely rare set of clearly-identifiable circumstances. In the incredibly-unlikely circumstance that it should occur, there are fixes that will remove it perfectly. It’s a nearly-perfect camera, and everybody who says something different has a hidden agenda.
OK, I’m overstating. But not by much.
Eventually, we will get to stage three, where the hard technical work has been done and most everybody who’s serious about the subject understands the idiosyncrasies of the camera, where there are issues, and how to work around them.
Calm will reign once more.
But first we have to go through phase two. There will be heat. I and others will attempt to bring light. But it won’t be pretty.
Sigh.
Hi Jim
True words about Internet-Hype. There should be a lwa for Internet (I am overstating, but the freedom Intenet gives us all is not easy to carry by some, even “well-known experts”)
D850 right now. Everything is OK. As soon as I am able to lay my hands on Z7, I will look at it (and through the viewfinder for instance, “missing” second slot is nonsense from my point of view). Maybe I will buy it, maybe not. Do not know yet.
I have a question: What do you mean by heat – what do you expect? (Please, excuse my english, I am writing from the deeps and Beautiful mountains of Switzerland)
Take care, Robert
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“More Heat Than Light” is an idiomatic expression used to say that something or someone causes anger without making something (such as an issue under discussion) better understood.
The Fuji X-trans worms problem is a perfect example. Even mentioning it on some forums will result in a torrent of abuse.
I have try the Z7 two times for a short time. One of the man problems is in my mind the AF by vertical lines. Yesterday at the Photokina i try this against the D850 and my Sony R II. The Z7 don’t find the focus in 80% of the time. The other cameras work fine.
It’s like you say Jim we are in time to finde out wat is useable and it will take time and a lot of work until we know with we can trust.
Thanks Jim for your every time inspired view of our topic.
Jürgen