Are you keeping track?  Because if you are then you know this is my second major camera purchase in 2018.  Back in March, I started blogging about my Fuji X-H1 purchase.  I have been using a Fuji x100 series camera for personal images since 2014 so when Fuji announced a new hybrid camera for those who do photo + video I took a leap and faith and bought it on the first day it was available.  I am not going to rehash all the reasons I love my Fuji here, but when Nikon when they released their full-frame mirrorless cameras I bought one for two reasons:  image quality + ease of use.  

Image Quality

In recent sessions I found myself reaching for my D750 to take a picture over the X-H1, particularly in low-light situations.  I cannot say if the difference in image quality is crop vs full-frame or if the sensor on the D750 just outshines the X-H1, but I am always happier in the edit if it is a Nikon image.  The Fuji always requires more attention to sharpening values to avoid seeing artifacts in the images and noise reduction was cleaner from the D750.  In an abundance of light, I reach for the X-H1 because I love the EVF and the image quality between the D750 and X-H1 is very similar in good natural light.  I have absolutely no complaints there. 

Ease of Use

There is one thing the Nikon D750/D850/Z7/Z6 has that Fuji doesn’t, separate saved settings for video and stills.  There are workarounds for the Fuji discussed in this post, but 8 months later it still bothered me enough that I said if the Nikon z7/z6 had separate settings I would buy one.  I constantly switch back and forth between stills and video in 90% of my sessions, so I need this to be as flawless as possible. 

During this holiday-themed (half) Day in the Life session, I had no trouble toggling between them.  Wondering about the quality of the video?  Check out sample footage (4K @ 30fps) in the sneak peek video below.

A few other noteworthy differences between the z6 and my other two bodies, D750 and X-H1.

Manual Focus – One of the amazing things about the X-H1 is the auto-zoom when you are manually focusing to assist you in nailing the focus.  This is not available on the z6.

Taking an image during video – I am not sure how useful you will find this, but you can take a still image while the camera is filming video and it keeps rolling.  The downside is the dimensions are the same as the video.  So if you are currently shooting 1080p the still will be 1920 x 1080 pixels.

LCD screen – Unfortunately the z6 did NOT inherit the full tilting screen of the D750.  ::cries:: The screen does not tilt up to a full 90 degrees when you hold it above your head.    It was one of my major disappoints in the Fuji X-H1 and I didn’t realize the z6 was virtually the same as the Fuji until after I pre-ordered.  My perfect mirrorless would have the touchscreen of the D850 full 90 degree tilt, but I guess I can’t get everything.

ISO button – One of the biggest complaints I had about the D750 was the lack of a dedicated ISO button.  It was so easy to accidentally hit QUAL when trying to adjust your ISO, which can lead to some bad situations if you are suddenly shooting basic jpeg instead of RAW.  The X-H1 allowed you to have the front command dial adjust your ISO and I LOVE it.  The z6 has its ISO button, but I keep hitting the video record button instead of the ISO button. I am sure once I use the camera more I will be able to adapt, but this is one of the only issues I have at the moment.

Editing RAW – As of Dec 10th there is still no Lightroom/ACR support for the z6 RAW images.  You must convert to DNG first before using an Adobe RAW editor.  Of course hours after I hit publish the Lightroom + ACR was updated for the z6.

Final Thoughts

If you are a Nikon user and looking for your first mirrorless camera you have all the reasons to stick with your brand and invest in a z6/z7. In a follow-up review, I will address using the FTZ adapter,  the focusing system, and a discussion of z7 vs z6.