Imaging Resource interviewed three Nikon managers and here are some key informations shared by them:
- The Z7 JPEG quality is higher than the one from the D850
- It does seem that the Z7 loses a significant amount of its low-light AF ability when shooting with lenses slower than f/2.Whether this is a limitation of its PDAF system or an overall limitation of the Z7’s hybrid AF system is unclear.
- While their AF systems should be quite fast, the engineers said that the D850 and D5 would still likely be photographers’ first choice for sports photography. As to the future? Who knows, but it’s clear that mirrorless technology is still in its early stages, especially for Nikon, so there’s likely to be considerable improvement going forward.
- On the other hand, video AF performance is drastically better than that of any previous Nikon DSLR body.
- I asked how many of the Z7’s AF points were cross-type, and was a little startled to hear that none of them are; they’re all single-axis. When I expressed my surprise at this, the response was that they didn’t feel that they needed cross-type points, given the enormous number of points they had to work with, and the fact that the points were still quite sensitive to diagonally-oriented detail.
- Z-mount: Having larger-diameter elements so much closer to the sensor surface means that light rays can strike the sensor surface more straight-on (telecentric), and that it’s much easier to control things like lateral chromatic aberration.
- The amazing f/0.95 aperture of the coming 58mm lens is the starting point for super-aperture lenses, versus an end point! When I mentioned the f/0.95 aperture as a goal for the new mount, Mouri-san said that their goal was actually more ambitious than that, and that the 58/0.95 lens was just a “current point”.
- Cheaper lenses coming in the future
