Why I pre-ordered the Nikon Z7
Over the last few years I have been looking for a decent alternative to my trusty Sony A99II, which has been a fruitless task of trying Nikon and Canon as well as repeated attempts to love Sony’s own mirrorless system.
Yes, I think that mirrorless will dominate if it isn’t already over the next 5-10 years to the point where DSLR will remain the defacto platform of choice for certain professionals until they get bored of no new glass being released. Saying all that I think Nikon are on the right path with the new Z Mount for their new mirrorless platform and there are a few reasons why.
{update Jane 2020} You can read a full review of the Nikon Z6 after I came back from Alaska
Mount and Flange
The most exciting thing about both Canon and Nikon new mirrorless is the size of the mount itself, the larger flange brings so many opportunities for lenses in the future as well as large sensors that it almost highlights the limited appeal for future glass on Sony’s platform. Will that become an issue for 3rd party OEM’s when they have to make a much small mount for the E-Mount that producing something entirely different from Nikon and Canon becomes expensive ? I have zero skills in engineering but its an interesting thought nonetheless, if anyone wants to put me right then please do.
Buttons and Ergonomics
Although I haven’t even picked up a Nikon Z7 and played with it, I have had years of experience of Nikon from my pre Sony days that I know the button layout is already an advancement. Having those EV buttons and ISO at the front is something I love about my Sony A99II as that has a similar layout, and for good reason. It works.
Ergonomics seems to have been thought about with a nice deep grip and larger body that will sit in my hand well, well I hope that’s the case. Judging by previous Nikon bodies I shouldn’t have to worry. As I mentioned before in my mirrorless most wanted post a few months back having a larger body is really really needed to win over the professional that likes to have buttons and not dive into a menu system to set the camera in a speedy fashion. Nikon have thought about their layout and while its changed a little from the DSLR range Nikon have taken some cues from their DSLR platform that works, Sony ignored that.
Oh and another thing, I won’t be doing any heavy lifting with the Nikon so the lack of dual memory card slots doesn’t bother me in the slightest, the XQD slot does interest me as they have better reliability than standard SD Cards.
waiting game
So I’ll await the reviews to come in and see what they say as well as my delivery hopefully sometime before Christmas. Might be an expensive travel camera for me but still I’ll enjoy it’s format and maybe grow a decent cupboard full of Z mount lenses.
Will Nikon drive innovation from Sony and Canon, yes no doubt but have they got some catching up to do; yes indeed.
2 Comments
Ryan Eda
Excited what reviews you’ll give us when you get your hands on the new camera! Great write up!
Annie
Interesting article! Can’t wait to see what you do with it!