Tag Archives: Nikon Z system

Articles

Utah Road Trip!

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Exploring landscapes and the Milky Way in the Desert Southwest

Last week, I took a quick getaway to eastern Utah with my Image Doctors podcast partner, Rick Walker. Rick and I have been photographing together for years, and we had a fun opportunity to do some night photography in a dark sky location in Utah.

We packed up our gear and made the drive from Colorado Springs to Green River, Utah, where we spent the night. Our plan was to do some location scouting the next morning in Capitol Reef National Park, and then spending the night in a yurt at Goblin Valley State Park.

Capitol Reef National Park

The next morning , we made the 100 mile drive to Capitol Reef, which is a really underrated National Park. While there aren’t the majestic overlooks like you get in some of the other Utah parks, there’s tons of color and textures to be found within and among the rocks there. Conditions were a bit tricky that morning due to the spate of wildfires in California and Arizona, and we quickly realized by about 10am that we were going to be facing a very long day in 100+ degree temperatures if we just hung out until check-in time at Goblin Valley.

Rock formations at Capitol Reef National Park, UT.
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Podcasts, The Image Doctors

The Image Doctors #98

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Nikon 105mm & 50mm Z macro lenses

This week Nikon announced two Z-mount macro lenses, in 105mm and 50mm focal lengths. We take a look at the specs, pricing, and whether we’ll consider replacing our F-mount 105mm VR micro-Nikkor lenses. We also take a quick peek at DXO’s newly updated Nik Collection 4, which we’ll review more in depth next week.

Preorder the new Nikon macro lenses

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Reviews

Nikon Z 24-200mm Lens Review

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The all-purpose zoom lens that’s perfect for travel and walkabout photography

The Nikon 24-200mm f/4-6.3 lens (left) isn’t much bigger than the 24-70mm f/4, but packs an 8.3x zoom range that is perfect for general-purpose and travel photography.

Earlier this year, Nikon announced the 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR zoom Nikkor for full-frame (FX) Z-mount mirrorless cameras. Despite its variable aperture design, I was intrigued by the idea of having a native Z-mount lens for travel and general purpose photography. During my international photo tours, I typically used my 24-120mm f/4 VR zoom Nikkor as my primary lens.

When I moved to the Nikon Z mirrorless camera system last year, one of the challenges I faced was coming up with an appropriate travel kit. When I’m traveling, especially internationally, the size and weight of my kit are more important than superior optical quality. The Nikon 24-70mm f/4 S lens, which is the Nikon Z “kit” lens, is very good but has a limited zoom range, meaning I’d need to add a longer telephoto zoom to my bag.

I considered using my 24-120mm f/4 with the FTZ lens mount adapter, but I found that it was a little clumsy to use and frankly, quite heavy. That left me with the following travel kit:

This kit worked well on my photo tour of Scotland in the fall of 2019, but it was still a bit cumbersome compared to having a good all-purpose zoom lens. With the addition of the 24-200mm to the Nikon Z lineup, I could theoretically have a two-lens kit, with the 24-200mm being my go-to lens in most situations. This change would save me nearly a kilogram of weight from my bag!

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Articles, Tips and Tricks

Bird Photography with Nikon Z mirrorless cameras

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Autofocus settings for birds in flight with Nikon Z cameras

Brown pelican in flight, captured with a Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera and 200-500mm f/5.6E VR zoom Nikkor lens.

I’m back from my third annual San Diego Birding & Wildlife photo workshop, and this year I decided to use the workshop as a testing ground for the Nikon Z6 mirrorless digital camera. Ever since the Nikon Z6 and Z7 cameras were released, the general consensus seems to be that their hybrid phase/contrast autofocus system was great for everything except fast moving subjects, like flying birds. I decided to test the Z6 myself and see how well it could perform in the field in real-world conditions.

Update: I now have the Nikon Z9. See my recommended Z9 autofocus settings here

For four days I put the Z6 through its paces, and came away with the conclusion that by tweaking the autofocus settings, you can nail BIFs with this camera almost as well as I could with my tried and true Nikon D850 DSLR. The trick is to customize your autofocus settings to something other than the defaults, and the settings I chose will actually seem counter-intuitive. More on that in a moment.

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