วีดีโอ

I also use the Z8 for street photography. It’s so quick!

I could not quite catch your verdict regarding low light versus between z8 and z6iii. Do bigger pixels of z6iii really shine in those scenarios?

Hi Jack , this was the original video that brought me to your channel as I had just purchased a Sony A7CR. I note now that you are primarily using Nikon. I was also considering the Zf and Nikon as an option . Would you be able to give your recommendations having used both extensively? Thank you and great channel 🙏🙏

Interesting

Mix Nikon /sigma court problem with the review made me stop viewing the video

Love your video style! Look forward to even more in 2025. And I got a Z8 (after years of the D850 and Sony A7Riii that I also loved). I’ve considered getting a complimentary Zf, but just find the dials and custom buttons so good on the Z8

Hola. es mejor el de montura Leica M o el de montura Nikon Z? Creo que tienen ambas y no se por qué elejiste la montura Leica M con adaptador pudiendo adquirir el de montura Nikon Z para tu Zf. (quizás no lo tenían aún?)

If you're looking for a classic that comes close to matching the Plena but that is high quality vintage Nikon that has all the old school charm look no further than the pre-AI (i.e. non-AI) Q series 135mm 2.8. I have 2 copies both from the mid to late 1960s - A non-AI and a converted version. They are leaps and bounds better than the E and the Bokeh is oh so creamy. Richard Haw has a number of write-ups on the lens (namely repair and use).

Hi, great video! I'm actually considering if upgrading my Z6 to the Z6iii or Z8. I have some M-mount lenses I really cherish, so the MF assists are something important for me. Do you know if you have the same MF assist in the Z8 as they have in the Z6iii and Zf? (basically the eye/subject detection that helps when MF and focuses 100% to the right area of the image). Thanks a lot in advance!

I rarely comment on TH-cam, essay coming up. Congrats on 10k Mr. Jack. I remember the algorithm pushing your Impostor Syndrome video to me after my first trip to Japan last year. I remember snobbing it at the time because all Instagram and TH-cam algorithm gave me at the same time were just another low effort, cookie cutter "JaPaN" content as I put it. But after watching your Impostor Syndrome video, it hit a little too close at home. I'm still working on my self mentally and physically which learning Photography is helping with for the past year. Again, thank you and congrats!

35 1.4 vs 26 2.8. My current conundrum. Well, one of them. lol, thoughts?

I just got into the Nikon Z system and have an f4 zoom at the moment. I fave always had a 50 on my Leicas as it's my favorite focal length. so I tested a 50 1.8 S today and mt jaw dropped when I saw the quality of the image. I am se4lling the zoom for this 50...

actually i did almost the same switches and now I have z8 and ZFand probably will use them for many years. Awesome channel, you have very good photographic eye, congrats !

Imagine photographers of the past and their large cameras. Graflex and each shot was 4"*5" (about 10cm*12.5cm) negative with a lot of camera around, and a lot of lens on, it. That was the press journalist's and paparazzo's camera for a long time. Hasselblad 500 series. Rolleicord and Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex cameras. Ansel Adams may have shot his landscapes with a 12"* 17" camera. Note that the equivalent to your full frame's nifty fifty for an 8"*10" camera has a focal length of some 300 to 350 mm. Co-founder of the Magnum collaboration, that considers its members artists, Henri Cartier-Bresson shot a relatively tiny Leica. His motto: "sharpness is a [petit] bourgeois concept." He meant that pejoratively, implying that the less wealthy less educated layers of citizens had no taste. He did not need detail in the pores of people in his images for the sake of these people, nor did he need it for his images printed in magazines or books (because the resolution was too bad to show such detail). My least sharp lens (say DxO Mark) is still sharp enough to reveal such detail. I may grab that lens if I need its softness to mask detail that I want to hide. As therapy for the fear of a large camera, look at this story about Vivian Maier that has a couple selfies shot in a mirroring window: www.dostreetphotography.com/blog/vivian-maier Her camera, here, is a Rolleiflex that shoots 120 film (vertically through the camera) and its frame size is 56mm*56mm (2.2"*2.2") - real medium format. The "flex" was the upmarket sibling of the "cord". Better lens and more sophistication in its technicalities. She carries the camera in a camera bag that when opened makes the carrying and using a camera more obvious. Being a woman that does not stand out in the crowd will have helped her. These cameras are called twin-lens reflex (TLR) and predate the single-lens reflex (SLR). The viewfinder is the "chimney" on the top where the brightest of the two lenses projects the view of the finder. The mirror turns the upside down of the lens around, but it still is left-right swapped. You bend your head down to look into the viewfinder and frame and focus. The selfie in the "~mirror" is like the TLR's hip shot. Why this detail? Well, shooting with the chimney viewfinder, that we also see on the Hasselblad SLR, means the photographer does not look at the subject as they would do with a Leica, Graflex, parallax-viewfinder in general. The looking down to frame and focus and press the shutter release at that, simply is not noticed intuitively by the street crowd. The leaf shutter in the Rollei is almost silent and not heard by the crowd, while SLR cameras have their flipping mirror. A Hasselblad 500 series adds to that an auxiliary shutter and the leaf shutter needing to close first, open auxiliary shutter, flip mirror up, fire shutter. That's a noisy process. It was possible to flip the mirror up and shoot leaf shutter only at the moment you press the shutter release, but you lost your viewfinder. The Rolleicord and Rolleiflex compensated the parallax in the viewfinder (but there is a subtle difference in perspective that cannot be compensated). Japanese alternatives to all this existed. What does this mean today? Well, if you shoot a photo with your smartphone, you hold it at face height and while looking at the display shoot images. There is no "below the radar" in there. Now take the, say, Z 8. Flip the mirror at 90 degrees. Have the camera set to "tap viewfinder means focus on that point and shoot a frame". You now hold the camera at belly heigh and bend over to look at its rear display as viewfinder. The contemporary variant of Vivian's now anachronistic chimney viewfinder. For modular cameras (modular viewfinder) pentaprism replacements of the chimney existed, but the pentaprism is a heavy piece of glass and the eyepiece moves to eye height and the camera in front of your face. And you are in the radar alarm zone again. If you have great empathy (if you lack the gene, you already know that) and if you have charisma with easy social interaction, then in street photography you can shoot anything. I suggest you carry a bunch of yellow and red tickets, though. Depending on the negativity in people's reactions to your shooting images, when they confront you, give them a yellow or red one. In (most or all) countries in the world, shooting in public space is free (except when it is not, e.g. when militarily important infrastructure or space is involved). Shooting being free does not automatically mean that publication is also free. To large extent it may be, but e.g. underage people may be excluded from that freedom. In these fee cases you do not need permission to shoot someone's image. It's polite to do so, but not necessary. And a model release (contract) may not be required. Explain a bit on the yellow ticket and red ticket, and issue the red for cases that became too aggressive. Confidence, knowing your rights, and the above, are more important than a small camera. Mirror the dress code of people you want to shoot, so as to blend in. Don't be a peeping tom, but shoot natural behaviour. Posed shots can always be asked and you should learn to direct the "sitter". If, as a Nikon Z shooter, for your personality, you really need a small camera, then try the Z 50ii. Its recognition AI AF is really good, also in low light. A very sharp Z 50/1.8S becomes a fast portrait lens. Leave the lens hood at home and it looks small. Check weather sealing.

1.4 fast? (1) Are you familiar with "T value"? Do you know what it is for the lenses you compare? Imagine the "slow" 1.8 has a T value of 1.8 and the fast 1.4 T=1.7. That's possible and "legal" in photography. This has to do with how much light is transmitted by the glass and its coatings. (2) Because the 1.4 or 1.8 defines the entry pupil as fraction of effective focal length, aperture may not be a fixed number even when shown as such. Are you familiar with "effective aperture"? Do you know how it works between the two in the comparison? The aperture numbers on your lens's mechanical aperture ring are a lie. The DoF scale on your lens is a lie. (3) shallower Depth of Field (DoF), maybe the reverse? Are you familiar with the Circle of Confusion (CoC) in the DoF formula that your app steers clear from? It combines 6 factors that influence how we see DoF - in it 3 relate to shoot time, 3 relate to image display time. At shoot time, assuming the same camera/sensor/film/processing, the lens resolution plays a role in the CoC. More sharpness makes the CoC smaller and hence DoF shallower. If you can see the difference depends on how you display and view the images. notes ( [1] relates to (1), etc.) [1] Go to DxO Mark and find the T-value of a previous generation 1.2L prime (it has 1.5 light transmission at f/1.2 effective aperture) and compare to e 1.4G prime (it has 1.5 light transmission at f/1.4 effective aperture). If you replace a crystal clear glass element in an f/1.4 lens by the same shape and perfect glass of however ND 10 neutral density, then it still is f/1.4. Try shooting large format without knowing this, using a handheld lightmeter. You will fail. [2] Both lenses in the Note [1] have focus breathing and the effective aperture number is only what is displayed when the lens is set to infinity. With these lenses set to fully open and at their shortest focusing distance they easily are 1 EV slower. On top of the T-value. Compare this to an f/1.8 lens with T=1.8 and no focus breathing. Which is "faster"? Try shooting large format without knowing this, using a handheld lightmeter. You will fail. [3] Both lenses in Note [1] differ enormously in sharpness, say DxO Mark. The difference is so big that we can expect the 1.2L to have more DoF relative to f/number than the 1.4G. As these testers use a brand camera, part of the softness of the 1.2L may be caused by the 1.2L brand having an OLPF in the camera, over the sensor, at the time they tested the 1.2L. That's also part of CoC [4]. Try shooting to the DoF requirement of your art director, without knowing this. You will fail. [4] CoC combines the following contributors to DoF (no app [5] deals with this properly): 1- film/sensor sharpness - better -> smaller CoC -> shallower DoF 2- lens sharpness - better -> smaller CoC -> shallower DoF 3- sharpness following from processing - better -> smaller CoC -> shallower DoF 4- display/print sharpness - better -> smaller CoC -> shallower DoF 5- display/print size - larger -> smaller CoC -> shallower DoF 6- viewer distance to display/print - shorter -> smaller CoC -> shallower DoF [5] Some cameras will display the effective aperture in the viewfinder. My Nikon Z 105/2.8S macro lens has its own display and can show the effective f/number. Set the lens to f/2.8 at infinity and at 1:1 reproduction ratio (shortest distance) it becomes f/4.3. As f/2.8 references the effective focal length of 105mm we know the entry pupil to be 105mm/2.8 = 37.5mm. Focusing closer by, the entry pupil doesn't change, so at the closest distance with effective f/4.3, we now have f/4.3 = 37.5 mm. so the effective focal length now is 4.3*37.5 mm = 161.25 mm. (Aside, I smirk when the naive macro shooter tells me that they cannot live without a 200mm macro lens. Shallower DoF likely and less fast. and not a lot farther away from the subject.) Try shooting to the DoF requirement of your art director, without understanding the CoC. You will fail. Oh, you are a dilettant or amateur - well you will fail your art director self. [6] Peeps in the interwebs can go on and on about focus breathing. And in cinemato-photography this breathing may be seen as such a Pain In The Art direction that it gets you panting. In a slow focus change between foreground and background, the focus breathing may be less of a PITA than the associated "aperture breathing" that nobody talks about. Changing focus to closer by would get the image darker when you likely, in most cases, need it to become a subtle bit lighter, IF you need an exposure change. This is why "the industry" designs "cine primes" that suppress focus breathing. How does that work? Simply by these primes being zoom lenses, but without zoom ring, and that compensate focusing closer by than infinity, by widening angle, by shortening focal length as compensation. This keeps the effective focal length the same and so it also keeps the f/number the same. As your average pro movie director of photography uses handheld lightmeters, they want to know the T-value of a lens, so they can transfer one light meter reading to the exposure setting of different cameras with different lenses. And that's why proper cine lenses display T-value rather than or next to an f/number. [7] In Nikon's Z series lenses, some of the "S" class lenses suppress focus/aperture breathing.

At night scenes the video lens gets much more flare and ghosts than the Nikkor's Also the AI-S lens having big coma aberrations on corner lights

35mm is my favorite focal length but I love the format of the 40mm much more. I have a collection of old Nikon and Pentax glass from the 70’s and 80’s the lenses are so small and light compared to most modern lenses.

Maybe we'll see that Z 28mm f1.4 instead of the 24mm.

Keep up the great narration every time I view your channel..!!!

Congratulations on 10K subscribers! This is an incredible achievement in just one year, but it truly shows how you have created and connected with your audience through your thoughtful and authentic approach as well and clear vision and style.

Hi Jack, I am glad you found your path to the Z8 (I have had a similar path). I changed from Fuji (many years) to the Z6 II, then the Z8 & ZF. I did it for the superior lenses and the superior price/IQ ratio. But I also noticed the huge change from the Z 6 II to the Z8. The sheer quality of the camera, the IQ, speed, EVF, Screen, AF, Options/usability. I do enjoy the ZF for the "retro feel", but there is no doubt that the Z8 is the main camera. The Z8 is a tool old street photographers can only dream of. You can get so many useable shots from a single day or two on holiday (as I have in Venice this year). Are you on any photo-sharing site? (I'm on Flicr). The Z8 with the 105 Z Macro and the Plena or the 85 can suddenly "make you" into a pro product/marco photographer or portrait artist. It is incredible. Continue please!

I know exactly what you mean and feel - there are cameras which you connect with and makes you want to shoot and shoot better. And it rarely had to do with specs, but the haptics and how the controls fall to your hand and how you see. Looking forward to your videos in 2025.

I've subscribed as I have spent a fair bit of time over the holidays catching up on your content. Im a Sony shooter who is very seriously considering Nikon to replace my A7R2. I will keep it as my Batis Primes are gorgeous lenses, that I will never stop using, but I have a large collection of vintage glass which means the MF assist functions on the z6iii and ZF have really caught my eye. Thank you for all the invaluable info you have been posting, and I too really appreciate the little bits of photography history that you bring into the videos. I'm leaning towards the ZF, but the extra resolution of the z6iii EVF is making me reconsider. I have purchased some adapters and I will visit my Nikon shop and try them both out before I decide.

Hey Jack. Firstly just want to say I love the videos you are putting out. Looking forward to what you have in store in 2025. And also just wanted to see how you went with your recent trip and if you were happy with your lens choices? I may be going to Japan in 2025 and thinking about what I might take. Right now it would be the Nikon zf with 40mm f2, and possibly adding the 26mm pancake you chose. And I was thinking of maybe taking my Olympus OMD EM5 with the 75mm f1.8 (150mm focal length equivalent in FF), just because it is a stunning lens that I haven’t used much so thought it might push me a bit. Plus the OMD could be my backup body just in case. Only reservations I have are like you I will be travelling with family so will be doing a lot of night photography, so hoping the 40mm and 75mm are up to the task at night (might do some low light test with the omd as I know the iso performance isn’t as good as the zf). Happy New Year!

Rewatching this, I kind of want this lens. Man!

I’ve used the Z8 for Street since launch.. it’s bun fat the best camera I’ve ever used.. always out with friends and they will miss a shot and I’ll get it

Jack, your channel is one of my favorites on all of TH-cam. Your attention to detail, the quality of your writing and your commitment to creating engaging videos shines through every time. Thank you for everything you do! Wishing you much success in the coming year!

I found your channel because of the Zf. Really enjoyed the Zf but never "loved" it. I tried a Z8 and it was instant, I was in "love"...I think mainly because it reminded so much of my old D300 (had to sell all my camera gear back then and when I started over, I went Fuji, then tried Sony & Canon mirrorless and now back to Nikon after about 17 years away). Anyways... Sold the Zf, bought the Z8 and have not regretted it for 1 second.

Agree on everything. I found my old Z6 files were good at underexposing and lifting in post, the Z8 can do the absolute highest iso's and look better. If you are able to reach middle grey or better with even iso 24,000 you'll get a perfectly clear image. The viewfinder is MUCH brighter and better calibrated than the R5II, I personally found it difficult to notice the resolution difference when shooting. Everything about the Z8 feels quick and snappy like nothing else does. Its amazing what Nikon has done with tech released in late 2021.

I bought a Z8 on a great discount in Japan, and I'll be honest I disagree that it isn't street photography capable. I very much thing it absolutely is great for street photography. I had so much fun using it while I lived in Japan, and have brought that fun back to the states with me.

After waiting for the Z6 III for more than a year, when it finally came out its not-for-photographers display articulation mechanism, its ludicrous initial price tag and a simultaneous nice rebate on the Z8 sealed the deal for me and I got the Z8 as well - and I'm extremely happy about it. There are only one and a half disappointing things about it: My previous Z6 felt a lot better built - both when initially handling the Z8 and now being used to the Z8 and getting to hold my old Z6 (sold to a co-worker) again from time to time. And the top LCD sucks compared to OLED that was built into the Z6.

Jack, Another super enjoyable video/story you've made here. But a Z8?...I did not see that coming! ;-) I'll be interested to hear your impressions of it as you are able to use it more. One question if I may - Do you actually see finer detail/resolution in the photo files (whether due to lack of anti-aliasing filter or higher MP), or does it just allow one to print larger/crop more? I've only used 24 MP full frames (Canon and Nikon), mostly due to the expense of the 45MP models. But having that much cropability would allow me to make the move from apsc for my birding, to use the FF for its other benefits. And congratulations on your first year's growth here on TH-cam. You are making some unique and especially interesting videos. Craig

It's funny, I just went the other way - Z8 to Z6III + vertical grip. And I have the Zf as well (love!). That said, I see it as a temporary move and I plan on adding another Z8 back in the mix next year when I get the 180-600 for my wildlife setup. IMO the Z8 is the most powerful, capable, and versatile camera on the market for the money. I have a few issues with Photo Shooting and Customs Settings banks, I kind of prefer the simpler U1-2-3 approach. Banks really just need an option to be "linked" so both don't need be changed separately (I never change one without the other, for my setups). And I always keep a "clean" save of my settings so I can revert back quickly, any time I experiment and change a bunch of settings. I also really want Nikon to give us back the option of sizing down the 45mp RAW files to say, 36 and 24. Like we could in some earlier Z bodies. This is one of the main reasons for moving to the Z6III as my primary body, less file weight in post, and so clean in lower light. Plus I needed a vertical grip and the Z8's grip experience just makes for a huge and cumbersome body. All that aside, the Z8 and Zf I feel are an ideal pair that covers all scenarios.

Congrats on 10K! I wound up with the Z8 instead of the 6iii because it wasn’t in stock when I wanted it! Crazy how our Zf and Z8 team is the same! No regrets on either; just have to figure out what to do with the 6ii I don’t use anymore! 😄

absolutely no analysis here

I switched to Sony back in 2013 from Canon when I bought the first Sony A7 Mark I. It sparked something in me back then, and over time, I’ve expanded my Sony collection adding more lenses and gear and I’ve loved the system throughout. There’s just something about the Z8 and Zf - it’s hard to put into words!, but it’s like rediscovering why I love photography. I’m keeping my Sony system, but the Z8 and Zf have reignited a passion I didn’t realise I’d been missing. Sorry, getting a bit emotional.. hahaha!

Congratulations on the 10K subs mate, well deserved and all the best!

I really like your channel. Your format is really unique. Keep it up, And if you're ever back in Brisbane say g'day

z5 user here, adore the z8,, im waiting z8 become usd 2000 to get it hehehe

Nikon Df incoming. Nice!

Congratulations to get into 10K subscriber club. I'm a keen follower of your channel. Due to budget constraints I had to go for Z6iii and not Z8. Hope I'll find out the magic in Z6iii soon.

I already have the AIS 50mm f1.2 and i want to buy the AF version for my z6. Should i go for f1.8S?

I had a Nikon Z8, when it first came out my experience was very negative in terms of image quality, especially at high ISO the camera above 1600. ISO was producing very messy files with very strange details and something I would never have expected from a modern camera. And therefore it returned it, I don't know if you also had this feeling, but as you got on the high iso the camera produced really ugly files.

I like the Zf, adjusting the dials, and shooting manual focus (though they still have to simplify / fix the ISO features)

Awesome! Make new friends and improve quality of life

Hey Jack, my name is Johnny and I'm that freelance logo designer who reached out to you awhile ago, congrats for your milestone/kilometerstone! I know you mentioned about monthly income you had for the channel last time hence wasn't ready for it, I hope it's better now but overall a logo isn't an expense of the month but a long term investment for your channel plus you can use it as merch print to sell to your fans and also trademark logo which will help to spread more words for your channel and hence more income each month too! I already have a great logo idea in mind that match well with your bokehtherapy direction and your back and forth storytelling method, let me know if you interested and I would love to design it for you! :-)

Can't wait for you to try 28mm f1.4 ED

Thanks for another great video Jack. Funny enough I have a Z8 and got a Zf because of your videos. The zf w the voightlander 50 is so much fun. It’s been great seeing your images this past year, and learning from you. Excited to share more of your journey. Happy holidays to you and your family.

Still far too big and heavy for me. That's the main reason we switched to mirrorless from DSLR. That's why, even in late 2024, I just sold off one of my Z6ii's and got a mint Z7ii. Absolutely love this combo (6ii for all my paid gigs and low-light, and 7ii for personal stuff and travel). AFC, is still fine (if you get the right settings and know your shtick). images from the 7ii good as any from the Z8 (many TH-camrs have said this), and I got this body for 3K instead of the 6K here new in Australia. Many photographers don't get it that Nikon got things pretty right with the 6ii's and 7ii's, and for many of us working pro's, they are still a great option to the newer 'more fantastic' models. Great video Jack as usual and we are waiting for a great 2025 with you. Can you still let us know if you are still shooting with the Z26mm pancake? I just bought this to take with me for my current 5 weeks in NZ - am lovin this combo with my Z7ii!