The Nikon Z7 II

Nikon Z7 II with 14-24mm f2.8 S lens

Nikon released the first generation Z6 and Z7 cameras in late 2018. These first generation cameras were generally well received but there were some reservations regarding the autofocus system’s ability to track moving subjects and the lack of dual memory card slots. I bought my Z6 in May 2019 and spent the next two years enjoying the camera, so much so that my DSLRs remained in my camera bag for most of these two years. I found the camera to be fantastic, despite the negative comments on the internet.

I recently decided that I would switch over to mirrorless and sell off my DSLR cameras and lenses to get the smaller, lighter and better performing Z-mount system. I had previously used a Nikon D850 for landscape work due to its high pixel count, and a Nikon D5 for other photography based on its speed and great high ISO performance. While the Z6 took over as my general purpose / high ISO camera quite well, I really missed the high resolution images from the D850.

I was about to purchase a Nikon Z7 when Nikon announced the second generation Z6 II and Z7 II cameras. I made the decision to trade in the D850 and D5 for the Z7 II and trade in most of my F-mount lenses to switch to the new Z-mount system.

I have found that the Z7 II is just as good as my previous D850 for the type of photographs I take and coupled with the Z-mount Nikon Trinity of f/2.8 zoom lenses I am getting sharper images that were previously possible with my DSLRs and F-mount lenses.

The Z7 II is almost identical to the Z6 so I have concentrated this post on the differences between the new camera and its older sibling.

Build and Ergonomics: 
The Z7 II button layout is identical to that of the Z6 and will be easy to navigate and familiar to Nikon DSLR shooters. Build quality is again extremely good and is certainly on par with the professional DSLR cameras. The camera is basically the same as the earlier versions but there are a number of tweaks that improve the system and pave the way for future upgrades.

The second generation cameras have an additional memory card slot, allowing for both CF Express/XQD and SDHC memory cards. The can be used in a variety of ways including overflow where the second card is used after the first card is full, duplicate, where the files are recorded on both cards simultaneously, raw on one card and jpeg on the other, or stills on one card and video on the other. This customisability should allow the camera to be set up to suit most photographers.

The EVF and rear LCD panel are the same specifications as the original Z6 and Z7 cameras. The Z7 II appears to have less viewfinder blackout compared to the Z6, possibly due to the increased processing power in the newer camera. The Z7 II has dual Expeed 6 processors while the Z6 has only one.

The LCD screen on the rear of the Z7 II has a new display mode where it is possible to remove all information allowing a full sized clutter free image to help in composition. This will be extremely useful for landscape and macro shooters as the information display tended to hide the edges and corners of the screen making it difficult to spot unwanted distractions at the edges of the photo. The only issue, however, is that this option cannot be selected using the DISP function button and has to be assigned as a custom control to one of the other function buttons.

A further tweak is aimed at the sensitivity of the automatic proximity detector that switches between the EVF and rear screen when you hold the camera to your eye. On the Z6 this was quite sensitive and could be fooled if the rear screen was angled or you touched the screen close to the EVF housing. The new camera will not switch to EVF if the rear screen is moved from its home position.

The dual processors also increase the maximum release speed of the camera, up by 1FPS in both 12 and 14 bit raw modes. The image buffer has also increased so now the camera can acquire bursts of up to 77 raw images compared to 23 in the original Z7 (and 35 in the Z6).

Nikon Z7 II Menu System for Customising Camera Buttons

Menus: 
The Nikon Z7 II is highly customizable and offers 3 dedicated profiles for stills and 3 for video modes. These U1, U2 and U3 modes are more like the settings on Nikon’s consumer cameras rather than the Custom Settings Banks on the pro DSLRs, but after a little while I became more comfortable using them - I never really got into the habit of switching between the different settings on the D850. The menus are almost identical to the Z6 / Z7 systems but there are additional menu items to address some of the new features of the camera.

One option to note, particularly for landscape photographers and astrophotographers who need to use long exposures for creative or noise reduction purposes is that the Z7 II now extends the shutter speeds available in the camera. Previously the shutter speed was capped at 30 seconds (unless Bulb was chosen and manually timed). The Z7 II features timed shutter speeds of up to 900 seconds (15 minutes) and provides a count down timer in the top panel OLED display so you can see how much time is left before the image capture completes. This Extended Shutter Speeds option must be enabled in the menu and is only available in Manual exposure mode.

Battery Life: 
The Z6 II and Z7 II come with an uprated battery, the EN-EL15c. This has a higher capacity than the b version shipped with the Z6 / Z7, giving roughly 10% more shots but they are compatible so that any EN-EL15 battery version can be used in any camera. The b and c versions of the battery can be charged in camera using a USB lead. Additionally, the Z7 II can be powered via USB to enable constant operation without draining the battery.

The Z6 and Z7 cameras were able to use two batteries in an MB-N10 battery grip, but this didn’t add any functionality to the camera. The Z7 II (and Z6 II) can use this grip, or there is a new MB-N11 grip available that also takes the two batteries but adds on additional shutter and control buttons for portrait/vertical operation of the camera. This MB-N11 grip is not backwardly compatible with the original cameras, however, as they lack the in body electrical connections required.

Image Quality:
The Z7 II has a 45.7Mp Back Side Illuminated (BSI) sensor that provides outstanding images with exceptional sharpness, clarity and colour. This is a significant upgrade from my Z6 and unlike the Z6, this camera is not fitted with an anti-aliasing filter so can provide the maximum detail available. The images it provides are extremely detailed and vibrant. The images I have taken with the Z7 II are easily capable or printing at 60” x 40” without any degradation of quality.

Nikon Z7 II with Nikkor AF-S 105 f/2.8G VR Macro lens and FTZ adapter. 1/125th second at f/5.6 ISO 900

Nikon Z7 II with Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S lens at 31mm. 1/200th second at f/8, ISO 64

Nikon Z7 II with Nikkor AF-S 300 f/2.8 IF ED VR II lens and FTZ adapter. 1/320th second at f/8, ISO 80

I have been more than happy with the images generated by my D850, widely regarded to be the best all round camera on the market, and can honestly say that the images from the Z7 II are every bit as good as the D850. Images are vibrant, clear, and sharp and I would be hard pushed to be able to tell the difference between the images from the two cameras, even when pixel peeping.

The ISO performance is also exceptional. I use auto ISO without fear of too much noise. Low light performance is very good, possibly slightly better than the D850 but not up with the performance of the Z6 or Nikon D5,. The native ISO runs from 64 up to 25,600 although I have only shot up to 7200 so far. At this level the images do show some noise but preprocessing the images with DXO PureRAW and its DeepRAW AI noise reduction system provides extremely clean and noise free images. PureRAW also applies distortion and lens sharpness correction to achieve even better results.

Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor AF-S 70-200 f/2.8G ED VR lens on FTZ adapter at 150mm. 1/150th second at f/5.6, ISO 7200

Vibration Reduction: 
The In Body Image Stabilisation (IBIS) works very well. This is not changed from the first generation cameras

Focus Performance: 
I have read a lot of posts on the internet that state that focussing with the first generation Z6 / Z7 is poor compared to the competition. The updated firmware (version 3.0) provided significant upgrades to the autofocus systems on these first generation cameras, but the system used on the Z7 II is much improved, particularly once firmware 1.2 has been installed. I am mainly a landscape photographer and found the Z6 focus performance for landscapes to be as good as any of my DSLRs but the eye and animal eye detect system on these second generation cameras is outstanding.

The selection of eye detection and animal eye detection has been made much easier than the Z6. On the initial camera it was necessary to enter the menu system to turn eye detection on or off, and this only worked when auto area AF was chosen. This meant taking the camera away from your eye, scrolling through the menu screens and selecting the option. The new interface allows eye detection and animal eye detection to be selected through the AF mode buttons and is much quicker. Eye detection now works within wide area large AF as well as auto area AF, allowing more control over which faces and eyes are chosen by the camera. In the little testing I have done so far the eye detection rapidly locks onto eyes at quite large distances and tracks them as the subject moves. If the subject turns away the tracking will lose the eye, but as soon as they turn towards the camera it requires the focus almost immediately.

Focus tracking can now be achieved with a custom button setting, rather than the previous method of selecting tracking, then focusing, the selecting the OK button, then selecting Ok again to exit tracking mode if the camera lost the focus. Now I can start tracking simply by pressing the FN2 button without having to lower the viewfinder from my eye!

Video:
The additional processing power has also increased the performance of the video system which can now acquire 4k video at 60 frames per second allowing slow motion effects to be captured without having to lower the resolution to 1080p. The 1080p mode has also been increased to support 120FPS.

Video now includes full time eye detection autofocus.

Conclusions:
Based on my experience, the Nikon Z7 II is a significant improvement over the already excellent Z6 camera for landscape and macro work where high resolution images reign. The Nikon Z7 II matches or outperforms all of my previous DSLRs. In fact, I find it much better in many regards especially for macro and landscapes where the EVF and focus peaking offers significant advantages. The ability to use focus points across the whole frame (rather than concentrated towards the central areas) permits subjects to be located right at the edges of the frame without the need to focus and recompose.

My Nikon Z6 experience has been very pleasant and I expect that this will only improve with the Z7 II, The camera is easy to work with and a pleasure to carry. It offers quick access to its many highly customisable features that can address most photography needs. and its compatibility with Nikon's CLS flash systems and F-mount lenses means that you can switch to the new Z system without having to get rid of your previous equipment. Undoubtably, the new and future Z mount lenses are superior to the older F-mount versions, but these F-mount lenses are still extremely sharp and excellent lenses even on the Z system cameras.

The Nikon Z7 II builds upon an already fantastic camera.