New Nikon Z full frame mirrorless

[UtwigMU]

Nikon announced Z6 (24MP) and Z7 (45MP) full frame mirrorless. New huge 55mm mount with adapter for F lenses, new video features (good AF, 10-bit, N-log, HDMI, headphone and mic ports) but no flippy screen. For stills there is 90% AF coverage and 3MP EVF and high framerate. There are no dual card slots but I think Nikon knows, the pros will not switch until there are more native lenses and are happy with D850. Lack of dual card slots is not a deal breaker for prosumers. (Canon also put single card slot in 6D mk2).

DPreview: Nikon Z 7: what you need to know

Canon is rumored to announce only development at Photokina and the actual full frame mirrorless next year.

The main advantages of mirrorless is EVF, picture preview, low light shooting, silent shutter, higher frame rate, more AF points, better video. A mirrorless full frame with good lens has little size and weight advantages. Worse battery life is a disadvantage for mirrorless.

[VJ]

Makes my 3 year old D7100 obsolete... but then again there already was a D7200 when I got it...

Still, I don't fully get the size argument: these cameras are too big to just put in a pocket so you will need to get some camera-bag of sorts, particularly if you want more lenses. In that sense, the Nikon 1 series made more sense as they were very compact.

Image-quality wise of course it is a different thing: I'm still amazed how well my D7100 manages in low light, and that is just a DX sized sensor. I can only imagine what a FF sensor can manage. Although I've noticed a risk: it can distort reality. I can make a photo in a church which gives nice detail and colour, but it is much clearer than the reality. There is a point, as you can see things that you can not see normally, but at the same time it is not an image that reflects the real situation. Of course you can set the camera settings not to yield such a clear image, but the default settings have that effect.

QCD cards are a weird choice, but I suspect there will be QCD-micro SD adapters in time.

O, the screen does flip up.

[UtwigMU]

D7100 is far from obsolete, it's still 24MP, can use older cheap but good screw-mount lenses and has good performance.
There is hardly any size advantage to mirrorless - you can convert any DSLR into mirrorless. IMO the phones have displaced compact cameras and are starting to encroach on M4/3 and APSC. The prosumer cameras are moving to APSC and full frame and pro cameras are going medium (like in the times of film).

The screen does flip up but not to the side (useful for vlogging or to show talent how she looks). I flip the screen to the side when doing video.

[VJ]

Yeah, obsolete is too harsh a word, but I did not know a better English word. Of course it is still a great camera!
(and it has a liveview function, so you can take photos using the lcd and you can film with it, no need to hack the mirror )

True about the phones: most of the photos I take are with the phone (but they are not photos that I need/want to keep, rather just "hey, look at this"- or "remember this"-type of photos). I still carry my D7100, but sometimes wonder if I would not have been equally happy with e.g. a prosumer camera with a big zoom lens. Because I lack a big zoom on my D7100 but am not considering one as I won't take it for most occasions (too bulky/heavy). The DSLR is a heavy thing to carry around and as such you sometimes wonder whether the effort is worth it just for private photos that rather serve as memories than anything else. But then you see the photos and think... well... maybe it still is... But for sure the time will come when smaller cameras will suffice for me. I bought the D7100 with the mindset that it may be my last DSLR.

[UtwigMU]

Here is my advice for carrying camera - I bought this on day 2 of owning DSLR.
Peakdesign slide

The anchor goes in tripod mount on the camera (compatible with anything made in last 50 years) and is Arca swiss compatible but you can buy Peak design dual plate which is both Arca Swiss and Manfrotto compatible.

Thus you carry your DSLR behind your hip and really don't feel the weight and it doesn't hurt the neck. You can pull it to eye level quickly or you can put it on tripod immediately without removing the strap. And you can also remove the strap quickly. It's a bit silly to have 2000€ equipment carried on a 5€ strap.

[VJ]

I have seen a professional photographer use something like that and it looked very convenient. One criticism would be that you cannot carry extra lenses or other accessories (the professional photographer used a harness that carried 2 cameras in a similar way ). But... most often I don't carry extra lenses, so it would suffice for me...
Usually, I use a small camera bag in which I store an extra battery; I tend to use the bag for other stuff when the camera is not in it. But still, the weight is always there (I'll check again though, thanks for reminding me!)

[Marshmallowman]

A strap?

I am missing something, this quite similar to the strap that came standard with my pentax and even the one the bundled with my big sigma lense

[VJ]

I don't know your pentax, but for most cameras the strap attaches to the camera on the left and right sides. The standard strap is usually quite thin. Some of these third party straps/harnesses attach differently and have a sliding mechanism so it is easier to move it from a "carrying position" to a "shooting position". That being said, I can manage it with the strap that came with my Nikon, but not with the strap diagonally over my head (so in that sense it is less secure). It also has to slide over the clothes to do it, which goes better over some clothes than over others. So I get the appeal of a better strap mechanism, but at the end of the day it is still a strap...

[UtwigMU]

Normal strap, the lens sticks out to the side when carried and it's not long enough to shoot when carried diagonally (strap on left shoulder, camera on your right hip) Interesting how T70 which was at the time a large SLR is comparable in size to today's mirrorless cameras.


Strap anchored in tripod mount, the lens is facing ground when carried

[VJ]

The solution (with the standard strap) is to hang it on your shoulder with the lens facing your body. If you have a heavy lens, the lens will point down (almost parallel to your leg) with the bottom of the camera facing out. Any swing of the lens occasionally bumps against your butt. You can easily grab the camera with your right hand to start shooting. It only works with a heavy lens, as the only reason the lens faces the ground is its weight compared to that of the body. With my 17-55/f2.8 on the D7100 it works perfectly, with my 24-85/f2.8-4 it works but I have to point the lens down.

But you cannot hang it diagonally as the strap is too short. So while that is the way I carry my camera in a safe environment, it is not really the way to do it for a walk in most cities.

It also does not change the fact that the strap only allows you to carry the camera without accessories (at best the strap might have a holder for some memory card). The current mirrorless are almost at the size of a small DSLR, but with worse battery performance. So you are likely to carry an extra battery, probably an extra memory card and maybe an extra lens. So while the weight is maybe less, it still is a hassle if you want to do stuff. When I compare with my girlfriend's Panasonic (some lumix dmc-fz model with long zoom range), there is something to be said for even more compact: a camera-bag not bigger than my D7100+17-55/f2.8 fits the camera, memory cards, extra batteries and even the charger.