I just added the Z 8 to my kit.
I started digital times with FujiFilm FinePix S7000 Zoom then Nikon D80, D300, D800 and D850.
Thank You.
D7500, 10-20mm, 18-300mm, 35mm f/1.8 and 105mm macro. Most of these I plan on giving to a party where they would be an upgrade.
Z50 w/16-50 + 50-250mm for a small walkabout camera/lens combo. The 16-50 pancake is great for something tiny that will just about fit in a pocket.
Z7ii: first full frame camera, now my backup and general purpose travel camera I take when hiking.
Z9: For action of any kind
Full frame Z lenses:
14-24mm f/2.8
24-70mm f/4 (damaged, need to send it in for repair now that I'm back)
24-200mm f/3.5-6.3 (first full frame lens, and still frequently finds itself on the Z7 when I don't want to bother with changing lenses)
105mm Macro
100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 (I probably take 70% of my shots with this lens now)
On order:
180-600mm because I want more reach!
I was thinking of adding the Z8 to the collection since it's Z9 performance in a much smaller body, but after incurring a huge unexpected credit card bill that might need to wait for next year.
@3percent After shooting a D700 I fell in love with athe D8XX series and now own a D850...My son invited me on an overnight boat trip to the Isles of Shoals - so I brought my wife's light weight D7000 w/16-85mm G zoom that I gave her over 10 years ago, that had only 700 activations. I guess she didn't like using a DSLR but I shot the series in RAW and really like the results.
Alas, the theft issue is probably one to keep in mind. Fortunately (in its way) along with living out in the boondocks, most of my equipment is old. So thieves, don't bother. My F's are beat up and dented, my F3 is brassed, my F4 looks as if someone buried it in the yard for a year, my D3200 is broken, my D7100 has the lettering worn off all the buttons and bare metal showing on the corners, and even my lovely 16-80 lens has a scratch on the front element. I have a lifetime treasure trove of lovely Nikon equipment, and you'll probably spend more on gas taking it around to the fences than you get for it. I travel a lot and though it would make me very upset if my equipment were stolen or fell in the ocean, my main regret would be loss of the pictures.
But yeah, in this crazy world with the ability to trace just about anyone just about anywhere, be careful out there!
Some changes since I last posted to this topic. I traded in my Z 6II to get a Z 8. I also consolidated my lenses, keeping my zooms but getting rid of three primes while adding two. I sold off my 28 f2.8 (SE), my 50 f1.8, and the 85 1.8. In return I purchased the Viltrox 28 f1.8Z, and just received the Z 135 f1.8S Plena.
@kwongphotographyhotmail-com Point taken. Of course at least some thieves will take anything and not think about it. I once had a car broken into and they stole a conspicously worthless and broken TV. But I think shabbiness helps in the sense that the initial attraction is less. If they do steal the stuff, it will probably end up in a dumpster instead of a store, and be gone forever anyway. But the loss will also be a bit less.
About three years ago I decided to switch from MFT (Panasonic) to full frame. The Nikkor Z-Mount-lenses promised superior quality. So here I am, investing in lenses and trying out bodies. Recently I sold my Z7II for a Zf (because of EXPEED7). The Z8 was tempting, but too expensive. I was priorizing lens (Z17-28) + Zf over the Z8.
Camera: Zf***
Zooms: Z17-28*(?), Z24-120**, Z100-400***, TC1.4**
Primes: Z50**, Z105MC***, NoNikkor 35mm F1.4 MF
Stars indicating my liking (Z17-28 is my latest, no clear opinion yet)
My Nikon lineup:
Nikon FM2 (1993-1997)
*
Nikon D300 (2008-2022)
Nikon D500 (2022-now)
I don't own mirrorless. No experience with it at all.
My Nikkor lenses:
50 1.8D
DX 18-70 3.5-4.5G
70-300 4.5-5.6G
DX 10-24 3.5-4.5G
DX 40 2.8 macro
50 1.8G
DX 16-85 3.5-5.6G
70-200 2.8E
* Pentax Z-1p (1997-2005)
I keep thinking I've posted here but must not be remembering to push the button. Anyway that's a nice lineup, but I can't help but notice the 70-300 G lens, which if it's the older non -VR one, is said to be about the least worthy one of the long line of these lenses. Since my wife had the old 70-300D, and later the 70-300 AFS-VR, I was able to race both of those against the latest 70-300 AFP (the FX version) which I got for my D7100. The new lens not surprisingly outshone the old D, but also, more surprisingly, was noticeably better than the very good AFS-VR one, which was noted in its time for being decently sharp and fast focusing. The AFP is distinctly sharper at the long end, and focuses literally twice as fast (and silently). If you're using that focal length a lot and like to do things like birds in flight, you might want to consider this.
I also have both the 16-85 and the later 16-80, and the latter is also distinctly better, but perhaps not so radically. But if you have some money burning a hole in your pocket, and plan to keep that great D500 for a while, it's something to think about.
@formerly-bruto Thanks for advice. My 70-300mm is a VR one (red VR logo). I plan to keep that great D500 for a while, but sadly I don't have some money burning a hole in my pocket.
Like others here, i have owned most of the Nikon DSLRs, plus a few 35mm Nikons going back to the 1970s—notably a Nikkormat, Nikon FM, Nikon FE and FE2 and my favorite of the time, the F2AS. My first DSLR was a D100, then a couple Canons, the 6D and 5D MkII, but mainly continued with Nikon DSLRs: D3s, D4s, D5, D6, D610, D750, D800E, D810 and D850. I loved them all.
When the Z7 first came out I couldn't resist trying it. I believe I bought it from B&H with the Z 24-70mm f/4. I unboxed it, put the battery in, attached the lens, turned it on, looked through the viewfinder, and promptly returned it to B&H and bought the D850 instead.
I don't think there's any doubt that the D850 is one of the best, most versatile DSLRs ever. I used mine to digitize 2500 negs and slides. And everytime I took a photo with it I wondered if it was possible to take a bad photo. Only two other DSLRs rank with it or slightly above as far as magical qualities go: the D5 and the D6, and I have to say both are incomparable as far as IQ in low light goes. Having a long held preference for pro bodies, I acquired both soon after buying the D850.
It wasn't long, though, before I decided to give mirrorless another try when i got a good deal on the Z6. Turns out, I loved it, even the EVF. I liked it so much I went ahead bought another Z7 and wound up liking it, immensely the second time around. It became my main landscape camera for a couple years.
And then came the bloody Z9. Well, I almost bought it three times but kept backing out, until finally at the beginning of 2003 I couldn't resist it. I had some mixed feelings about it at first—especially in low light; I was used to the D6 being able to capture something like a crow in the shadows up in a shade tree and get a fantastic image out of it. Still, as time went on and the firmware updates kept improving the Z9, I decided to go all in on mirrorless. Over the second half of 2003 I divested myself of all my F-mount gear, even my most cherished lenses and three FTZs. After a couple months of shooting with the Z9, my Z7 was gathering dust, so I sold it. At that point I also had a Z6 II and decided to keep it, as it is better in low light than the Z9 (and, most importantly, my wife loves it).
Finally, having gotten rid of the F-mount gear, I bought the best Z lenses I could afford, to suit my needs: the 14-30mm f/4, the 24-70mm f/2.8, the 70-200mm f/2.8 (the best 70-200mm ever), the 400mm f/4.5, the 50mm f/1.8, the 85mm f/1.8, and both the Z TC-1.4x and the TC-2.0x. I still have the Z 24-70mm f/4 from a few years ago and keep it on the Z6 II. Still, there was one more body that kept giving me GAS—the Z8. So when Nikon had it's latest refurb sale I took advantage of it. I couldn't be happier. The Z8 with the 400mm and the TC-14x is the perfect walkabout rig. And I think I'm done buying gear for a while.
I've got a longish history with Nikon cameras, film and digital. It started with a Nikon F2 in high school, followed up by a D70, and then I added a Nikon FA (sadly stolen). Eventually I came across an N90. Eventually swapped to another system, then to a D200, then another system (I'm indecisive). A few years ago I settled on a Fuji X-T30, but wanted something a bit more rugged I wouldn't need worry about and picked up a heavily used D700 with Tokina 17-35mm f/4. I eventually added a Tamron 24-70 f2.8 VC (and a Fuji X-T4 to that side of my kit). I still kick around with the D700 when it's not so pretty out. When I moved here to Florida I started photographing something I never thought I would- Wildlife! Especially birds, there is so much around down here. I was never one to really shoot with anything other than short telephotos so it's been a learning experience, and I quickly found limits to my Fuji kit maxing out at 200mm. Needing a longer lens I investigated options for my Fuji; I was pretty quickly sold on the Tamron 150-150mm as a great value without being a size beast like the Fuji 150-600mm.
Alongside this, I'd been looking at going back into full-frame cameras (newer than my D700). I was finding the limits of my Fujis in difficult lighting conditions and some of the limits to their AF system when it comes to tracking. Great accuracy in a number of conditions, but can definitely get hung up on smaller objects in the frame and in low and low contrast light light. A little basic in terms of options for how the focus points end up working within the frame. This is when I saw that the Nikon Z6 II was on sale. I went to the local shop and played with the Tamron 150-500 mounted. The AF options are a bit more diverse than the Fuji (though miss having an AF mode switch), and while there isn't a specific bird intelligent AF mode it seemed like with some practice I'd be able to get what I want out of it. I picked up the Z6 II with the 24-70 f4 S and the Tamron 150-500. I couldn't be happier after getting through the steepest part of the learning curve. The RAW fiiles are so easy to work with, metering and white balance is always on point so not much fiddling in LR, and the AF system (while it isn't as easy to just make do the thing as some others) I've been able to grow into. The Z6 II isn't much of an upgrade from the X-T4 on paper and being released in the same relative time period, but in practice and with what firmware upgrades have done it's giving me much more. I'm not going to get rid of my Fuji system completely, but I'll likely get rid of the X-T4 and keep the X-T30 to take advantage of it giving me something truly compact to carry around. I'm looking forward to building upon what I've already got, but I'm already not finding many holes for my current focus.
In 2016 I bought my first DSLR and this beloved D7200 does still a great job.
On my camera bag there’re these lenses:Samyang 10mm f2.8 ED AS NCS CS
Nikkor AF-P DX 10–20 mm 1:4,5–5,6G VR
Nikkor AF-S DX 18-105 mm 1:3,5-5,6G ED VR
Nikkor AF-S DX 35mm 1,8G
Nikkor AF-P DX 70–300 mm 1:4,5–6,3 G ED VR
Sigma 150-600mm F5-6,3 DG OS HSM | Contemporary
I've already added the Tokina atx-i 11-20 mm F2.8 CF to my DSLR lineup some months ago.
And last thursday my Nikon Z6 III was delivered along with the Nikkor Z 24-120 mm f/4 S and the Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 for some low light and night shots.
My lineup is:
Nikon Z8, with Nikkor 14-30mm, 24-120mm and 180-600mm
Nikon Z fc, with Nikkor 16-50mm, 50-250mm, and assorted TTArtisan manual lenses
Nikon D700, with Nikkor 70-200mm VR and 105mm micro.
Sold all my DSLRs except for the D700 (just cause) and picked up a Z fc to see what all the mirrorless talk was all about ... then got the Z8.