Nikon Z converts - any regrets selling Z system?

[ejg1890]

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I have a Nikon Z6 along with the Nikon Z mount 24-70/4 and 14-30/4 lenses. I recently purchased a Leica M10R and M2 along with a Q2M. For a number of years I have used M mount lenses on the Nikon Z, I can remember the last time I used the 2 Nikon lenses mentioned above. The 2 Leica M cameras are much easier to manual focus than the Nikon Z6. As a result, I am thinking of selling the Z6 along with both cameras. The only think preventing immediate selling is the video option; however, truth be told I don’t use video frequently and when I do its the iPhone. Moving forward I would have the BW video of the Q2M.

For any of you who are converts from Nikon, Canon and Sony DSLR/mirrorless who has sold their previous equipment? Have you had any regrets selling it?

Thanks

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[microview]

I liked the auto focus of the Nikon and the 50mm lens was not too big. Disliked complexity of menu even though it allowed tiffs rather than having to process from RAW. But went back to the M system and now have 10R (with VC apo-lanthar 35 & 50mm lenses; just the telescoping 90 f4 as a Leica M lens). No wish to return to the Nikon system albeit when I look at my Lightroom catalogue the Nikon pics do stand out for colour rendering and 'punch'!

 

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by microview

[Jon Warwick]

1 hour ago, microview said:

I liked the auto focus of the Nikon and the 50mm lens was not too big. Disliked complexity of menu even though it allowed tiffs rather than having to process from RAW. But went back to the M system and now have 10R (with VC apo-lanthar 35 & 50mm lenses; just the telescoping 90 f4 as a Leica M lens). No wish to return to the Nikon system albeit when I look at my Lightroom catalogue the Nikon pics do stand out for colour rendering and 'punch'!

 

 

Good choice on lenses! …..the nice thing these days with the M system is the access to the really (really!) good lenses from Voigtlander in the form of their APO Lanthars, both in terms of mechanical use and image quality. I have the 50mm APO Lanthar (after previously owning the M 50 APO Summicron) and plan to get a Voigtlander 35mm APO Lanthar too. Versus so many alternatives out there, I’m still amazed at the image quality on an outright basis of the APO Lanthar, and even more so when considering its price to get that exceptional image quality relative to many alternatives.

Edited April 3, 2022 by Jon Warwick

[erniethemilk]

I’ve had a Z6 along with a 24-70 f4 & 14-30 f4 for the best part of a year now. In fact, I’ve recently bought the little ZFC along with the 28mm as I’ve always been a big Nikon fan. 
 

However, it feels like using a domestic appliance after using the M10-P, which I’ve owned for close on 3 years. 
 

I’m of the opinion as good as the Z6 is for what I want, whenever I’m out shooting with it, I’m really missing the M10 as it’s far more engaging so I’m thinking it’s time to move it on and invest more heavily in my Leica gear. 

[ejg1890]

19 hours ago, erniethemilk said:

 I’m of the opinion as good as the Z6 is for what I want, whenever I’m out shooting with it, I’m really missing the M10 as it’s far more engaging so I’m thinking it’s time to move it on and invest more heavily in my Leica gear. 

That is my thinking as well. While I have used the Z6 body in the last year it was before acquiring the M10R and it was always with the Voigtlander VM lenses. However before doing anything rash I wanted to ensure I would not regret selling it if I did so.  Another item holding me back is the investments in accessories - batteries, QXD cards, larger mm filters, larger backpacks, etc that one usually can’t sell for much in return.  

[ejg1890]

23 hours ago, microview said:

No wish to return to the Nikon system albeit when I look at my Lightroom catalogue the Nikon pics do stand out for colour rendering and 'punch'!

The items I am concerned I’ll miss are:

1. The color rendering as well. I do like the punch of the colors, but red can frequently be a little too much
2. Lossless file consolidation. The files for similar MP w/ canon or Sony are much smaller with Nikon due to the lossless compression. The other systems including Leica require more storage. (Yes I can convert from Leica DNG to the adobe dng to save space but haven’t tested yet.)
3. Video - this one is ridiculous as I have VERY rarely used video but the thinking its there if I want video. However, for “its there” means I must carry it which I don’t, but I always could if I wanted too, which I couldn’t if I no longer had it!!!  It’s actually the dumbest reason to keep the Z6. 

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by ejg1890

[erniethemilk]

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1 hour ago, ejg1890 said:

Another item holding me back is the investments in accessories - batteries, QXD cards, larger mm filters, larger backpacks, etc that one usually can’t sell for much in return.  

Exactly my thoughts too. And for what it’s worth the Z6 is simple for long exposure and filter use - something I struggle with on the M10-P. 
 

I’d also add in the annoyance of a simple L bracket which isn’t simple to find for the M bodies either!  
 

Almost all of what I shoot I convert to mono…. Maybe I’d be better off selling everything and buying an M Monochrom (but that’s a whole different story) 😂

[awk]

Personally, I am two steps behind your decision making. I use a Z6ii and have gotten into using my old FD lenses which led to the recent acquisition of two Voigtländers [50 APO, 35 1.7] (And it brought me into the decision making process about buying an M10-P or -R, but that's a little bit off topic here...). While I love my old D750 and selling it is out of question, I realized that can imagine to sell the Z6ii. I also thought about the reasons why I would keep it, and these might interest you:

1. Video: I never cared about video. Until I became a father half a year ago. Since then, the Z6ii paired with a Sennheiser directional mic is used for video all the time. It has played no role in buving the camera but almost every day I am happy to have the option, and fromt time to time I do some other filming, too.
2. 24-70 f/4. I did not need this lens, since I have the 24-70 2.8. But it is light, sharp and has nice contrast and rendering. The package is attractive, for video and all leisure time photography.
3. Image Stabilization for my 105 1.4. Instead of shooting 1/500 I can often use 1/125 for potraits. So ISO can be reduced by 2 stops in many situations. Sometimes even 3 stops.

Nice to have are the excellent EVF and silent shooting but I could live without both. What I do not like: The body feels slightly too small for my taste. Position of the exposure correction, ISO button, and rear dial position are not as perfect as it felt with Nikon DSLRs. And then there is the AF system that still is not as good as it should be. Eye AF sometimes problems regognizing e.g. closed exes, toddler eyes, people in lying positions, eyes when there is some foreground. So I am always prepared to quickly adjust focus manually, and that let me wonder if a rangefinder would be a nice addition to my camera shelve, but that is a little off topic, again...

And since this is my first post here I think I should also say hello 🙂

 

[ejg1890]

On 4/4/2022 at 1:09 PM, erniethemilk said:

Almost all of what I shoot I convert to mono…. Maybe I’d be better off selling everything and buying an M Monochrom (but that’s a whole different story) 😂

The solution is obvious - you keep the M10-P and by either the M10m or Q2M.

[ejg1890]

20 hours ago, awk said:

Personally, I am two steps behind your decision making. I use a Z6ii and have gotten into using my old FD lenses which led to the recent acquisition of two Voigtländers [50 APO, 35 1.7] (And it brought me into the decision making process about buying an M10-P or -R, but that's a little bit off topic here...). While I love my old D750 and selling it is out of question, I realized that can imagine to sell the Z6ii. I also thought about the reasons why I would keep it, and these might interest you:

One of the BIGGEST cons for going the M10-p or M10-R route over Nikon Z system is the lack of IS.  Do NOT under estimate that luxury and must be evaluated in any decision process. With the 24-70/4 lens I could shoot at 1/15 thanks to IS. The M10 does not have IS; with a 35mm the slowest I can go is 1/30 and that's concentrating. Zooming in over 100% the photo isn't as sharp as the Nikon at 1/15. I'm an old guy so my kids are grown up and out of the house so not the need to capture ay of the growing up stuff.

Another route to examine is the Q2 while that has a fixed 28mm lens it does have IS, a fast lens and video, along with the advantage of paying the premium price for a Leica branded camera!!!

[awk]

vor 6 Stunden schrieb ejg1890:

One of the BIGGEST cons for going the M10-p or M10-R route over Nikon Z system is the lack of IS.  Do NOT under estimate that luxury and must be evaluated in any decision process. With the 24-70/4 lens I could shoot at 1/15 thanks to IS. The M10 does not have IS; with a 35mm the slowest I can go is 1/30 and that's concentrating. Zooming in over 100% the photo isn't as sharp as the Nikon at 1/15. I'm an old guy so my kids are grown up and out of the house so not the need to capture ay of the growing up stuff.

Another route to examine is the Q2 while that has a fixed 28mm lens it does have IS, a fast lens and video, along with the advantage of paying the premium price for a Leica branded camera!!!

Thank you for the advice, much appreciated.

For the latter mentioned road I have a Ricoh GRiii in my pocket almost anytime.

You certainly have a point with IBIS but I never missed it on the D750 with normal focal lengths. It's different with a 105 though.

[fotografr]

On 4/3/2022 at 12:42 PM, Jon Warwick said:

Good choice on lenses! …..the nice thing these days with the M system is the access to the really (really!) good lenses from Voigtlander in the form of their APO Lanthars, both in terms of mechanical use and image quality. I have the 50mm APO Lanthar (after previously owning the M 50 APO Summicron) and plan to get a Voigtlander 35mm APO Lanthar too. Versus so many alternatives out there, I’m still amazed at the image quality on an outright basis of the APO Lanthar, and even more so when considering its price to get that exceptional image quality relative to many alternatives.

Do you actually prefer the 50mm APO LA that to the APO Summicron? If the price for them was the same, would the Voigtlander be your choice?

[Jon Warwick]

1 minute ago, fotografr said:

Do you actually prefer the 50mm APO LA that to the APO Summicron? If the price for them was the same, would the Voigtlander be your choice?

In terms of image quality and mechanical feel - I’m pretty neutral between them. I use an M10 Monochrom and print to 55-60” wide, so I’m pretty demanding on the lenses. But where I do acknowledge a benefit of the M APO is it’s a bit smaller and with the convenience of a built-in hood. Although I do like using the Voigtlander dedicated hood (it reminds me of a more compact version of the one I had years ago that came with my M 50 Summicron v3) my pick would be the M APO due to that built-in lens hood and slightly smaller size, more than much else that I’ve personally noted. For the 35mm APOs from Voigtlander and Leica, those I haven’t tried yet, but so far I have read Reid Reviews’ very detailed study of them.

 

[WvE]

Still love my Nikon D500, when for example I need that extra reach. It gets pretty well along with my M10-P.   

[M Journey]

I bought the Nikon Z6 at launch and have a collection of 7 lenses (24-70 2.8 and 4, 14-30, 35/50/85 1.8 primes).  I was strongly considering purchasing the z9 along with a few more lenses (50 1.2, 70-200 2.8).  I purchased my first Leica this past January and one lens (35mm).  I have not picked up my Nikon kit since.  I am still tracking Nikon news and lens releases but have no gas for them.  I look forward to my next trip where I can get some shots with the Leica.  I really enjoy the manual aspects of the m system and will usually shoot full manual.  It's like cooking.  Sometimes I'll go buy $40 in ingredients to make a meal that would cost me $15 bucks.  Most of the time what I make will taste worse as well, takes a lot of time to prep and cook, and results in a ton of dishes.  Still, I get more satisfaction in making my own meal, as long as I have the time to do so.  The M is the same way.  I miss a lot of shots I would have gotten with my z system, but I take greater satisfaction in the shots I do get and have much more fun in the process.

I have no plans to sell the Nikon system.  I'm sure I will go back to it for the convenience of auto focus as well as the ability to use more lenses without breaking the bank.  But for now, and the near future, I am totally happy with the M.