The shock of the new?

It was always going to be a shock. Having spent two decades using DSLRs, the Nikon Z 7II was my first mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera. So while Nikon had been noticeably late to the mirrorless party, I felt like I had, too. In a lot of ways though, it meant I was lucky. After all, as a second generation of Nikon’s full-frame mirrorless flagship, the Z 7II promised to iron out several kinks in the original model, adding greater speed with its dual processors, while preserving its more attractive features.

Buying the camera in December 2020, my D850 went in the opposite direction. That was necessary: first to pay for the new body; and second because I knew that having old faithful around would make me less likely to embrace the brave new world of the EVF. I needed to dive in without the water wings and get used to its benefits.

So, after almost ten months of shooting, what have I learnt? Well, not only that it’s a great camera, but that it delivers on the general promise of mirrorless photography. And in that way, I genuinely think it’s changed the way I shoot for the better.

Out with the old

One of the trumpeted benefits of mirrorless cameras is that they’re smaller and lighter than DSLRs. I’m not sure there’s a better example of that than comparing the D850 with the Z 7II: the latter is a camera that’s very similar in spec, but at 705g