“在没有Z6III的情况下,ZF将成为尼康最受欢迎的相机”

摄影师Richard Butler的初步评价结果：最经典的无反相机？

摄影师的第一印象

When Nikon introduced the smaller-sensor Zfc model, it made very clear that it was a camera designed for social media content creators, hoping to attract some of the younger photographers who’ve perhaps learned the craft on second-hand 70s and 80s film SLRs. But Nikon can’t have missed the number of established photo enthusiasts who said they wanted a full-frame version.
That said, Nikon is also likely to remember that the initial buzz generated by the teaser videos for its last retro full-framer (the rather half-baked Df) didn’t turn into the sales success it was hoping for.
However, where the Df was a rather misproportioned lump that commanded a significant premium over the D610 on which it was heavily based, the Zf is an altogether more handsome affair (and if you’re aiming to attract a style-conscious audience, that matters), and one that out-specs the Z6 II while selling for the same price.
In fact, in the absence of a Z6 III, the Zf becomes the company’s best-specced camera around the high-contested $2K price point. It still seems to use the same image sensor as the previous Z6s but features the newer Expeed 7 processor from the Z9 and Z8, which brings updates such as the mirrorless camera implementation of the company’s ‘3D Tracking’ system.
These days we can simply call it ‘tracking,’ as the majority of brands have now adopted a comparable approach of simply following whatever is under your chosen AF point (or near to it, in the case of most subject recognition systems). It’s such an obvious approach that for once the term ‘intuitive’ might almost be appropriate, but the idea of integrating tracking into the main AF interface really started with Nikon, so it’s great to see the Zf catch up to the ‘best practice’ approach that Nikon itself pioneered.
Multiple multi-shot modes
In a more reactive manner, Nikon has also become one of the last brands to add a multi-shot high-res mode to its camera. Multi-shot modes that try to cancel-out the effect of the Bayer filter or oversample the scene to produce more detailed images have become increasingly common as engineers look for ways to exploit the presence of in-body stabilization mechanisms.
In many instances, they’re not terribly useful: often requiring tripods and near-static subjects, with combination of images often requiring proprietary desktops software. There are clearly lots of patents protecting different implementations, as almost every brand appears to take its own approach (in terms of the number of shots, degree of in-camera processing).
The Zf offers a range of modes, including one that takes a staggering 32 images, collected in around four seconds, to deliver a 96MP final image. That’s a long time during which your subject might move, which undermines its usefulness, but there are at least other options if your subject doesn’t include much motion. So, perhaps primarily in the interest of people who like to wage brands wars over the obscure ends of the spec sheets, Nikon now offers the feature.
In use the Zf was enjoyable during the period I got to use it. The distinctive styling was something of a curse, given Nikon’s concerns about it being seen out in the wild, but from today onwards, it’s more likely to be an asset. The camera I used was the all black version but six other leatherette color schemes will also be available. There’s no news of a silver/black version. It’s not clear whether this is because of the challenge of delivering matched silvers across different materials, to maintain the camera’s premium character, or because Nikon plans a special edition at some point in the future.
The pre-production camera I was using started to show temperature warnings after around two hours of stills shooting, but it should be noted that I was shooting in 32°C (90°F) conditions, often in direct sunshine. It didn’t get warm enough to start a countdown to auto shutoff, though.
AF tracking isn’t as sticky as with the Z8 and Z9. This isn’t a huge surprise but, for instance, when I tried to pick out a particular part of a flower, the Zf’s tracking target would sometimes wander off the specific detail I’d been wanting it to track. Performance with a recognized subject appeared excellent, though, with seemingly unerring tracking of eyes, for instance.
Ultimately, though, the Zf moves things forward from the Z6 II and finally seems to deliver the camera that so many people hoped the Df would be. Now if only the barriers to Sigma introducing its compact, aperture ring-sporting i-series primes for Z-mount could be overcome, then things would get very interesting indeed.