A Fall Photo Walk and Some Thoughts

 

X-T3, XF 10-24/4 R OIS v1

I took the X-T3 and the new lenses out for a small photo walk on Sunday, to grab some of the limited fall colour we've seen so far. Colour has been extremely slow to change this fall due to the warm fall and we're around 30% change here in Toronto in mid-October. Normally we'd be just past peak colour at this point. It was a really fun walk and I shot over 150 images on the X-T3, at this point I've now shot more on the X-T3 this week than on the Nikon Z bodies over the entire fall. 

I shot primarily with the 10-24 and 16-80, but I did also have the 16/2.8 with me as I wanted to try it for 1-handed shooting after I completed a short shopping errand. 

I was quite impressed with both zooms. The 10-24, of which I have the original version, nicely addresses the lack of a consumer-priced UWA at the current used pricing. Of course Fuji also has its 13-33 (essentially a 20-50mm-e) now which can be used as a UWA or the Selfie lens it's intended as. I'd knock the 13-33 for the same basic issue as Nikon's 12-28, it's just not that wide by modern standards for a stills lens but it fills the same basic hole and is quite usable there. Still would love to see a compact XC 10-18 or 9-18 from Fuji. The closest answer from Nikon for the 10-24 would be their F mount 10-20VR or the Tamron 10-24VC on an FTZII, which is a little awkward. Build is very good, and the only real complaint is that despite being a constant f4, the aperture ring is the usual experience for the variable aperture zooms, that's probably to be consistent with the 18-55 and 55-200 zooms, which were its intended companion set and are both variable aperture. Note the updated version of the 10-24 loses the OIS and Aperture/A switches but gains the usual marked aperture ring with A position, consistent with the other fixed aperture zooms.

The 16-80 really impressed me. This is a very well built lens with great handling. I don't mind giving up the OIS switch to get weather sealing. Frankly, I'm very glad I got this lens rather than getting yet another 16-50 OIS (which has been my go-to Fuji zoom over the years, a cheap and excellent little lens, but not nearly as nice as the upscale 16-80). I've never owned the legendary 18-55 solely because 18mm is not wide enough for my uses, I tend to live at 16mm most of the time with my normal zoom. This is another case where there's a gap in the Nikon offerings, Nikon does have the Tamron 17-70 f2.8, which is faster, but is less range at both ends plus a fair bit larger and heavier (albeit less so than the 24-120/4S is on FF, which is around 400g heavier when packaged with a Z5ii vs the X-T3/16-80/4 combo, and of course is larger than the Fuji combo)

Filter thread for both zooms is 72mm, which is nice as that matches several other recent lenses I've owned (including the 10-20VR I still have for the D7500) and I have a high quality polarizer for it, although I do need ND filters, my current set is 67mm. Sadly both of the options I'm looking at seriously for telezooms are 67mm (the XF 70-300WR and the Sigma 100-400 Contemporary), but a step-up ring solves that. My 67mm filters work on my Tamron 17-50 for the D7500, so they still will get used. 

The 16 was a fun little wide 1-handed shooter, I snapped a few shots after running my errand, with one hand full of shopping. It worked well in that use, as I'd expected. With Nikon the Viltrox 15/1.7 is the closest replacement, but it's bigger and less well built, plus lacks an aperture ring (which would be very desirable on the Zfc in particular). 

All three of these lenses don't have really good alternatives in Z DX, and form the core of a very usable kit when added to the Sigma C 30/1.4. It really goes to show how limited the Z DX system is for any uses that aren't based around the super-consumer trio (12-28, 16-50, 50-250), the 18-140 or the 16-50+FX telephotos. 

Clearing Out the Closet

X-T3, Sigma C 30/1.4

I bit the bullet Saturday morning and did a massive clear out of gear from my closet, as well as the rest of the Z mount gear. Took it all in to Downtown Camera and brought 3 lenses home in return.

What went?

Nikon Zfc with 28/2.8SE, grip and spare Smallrig EN-25 battery

Nikon F2a

FTZII and TTArtisan M-Z 6-bit adapters

Nikkor 24/2.8 K (pre-AI), 28/3.5 P.C AI'd, 28/3.5 AI, 105/2.5 AI-S, 200/4 AI

TTArtisan 25/2 Z, 7Artisans 35/1.4 II Z, 7Artisans 55/1.4 II Z, 7Artisans 75/1.25 M

Super-Takumar 35/3.5 and 135/3.5 and an old Smallrig A7RIV L-bracket I had lying around and spotted.

What stayed:

Nikon D7500, Nikkor 10-20VR, Tamron 17-50/2.8, Nikkor 85/1.8G, Tamron SP 90/2.8 Macro, Nikkor 80-400G, Nikkor 300/4D

Fuji X-T3, Sigma C 30/1.4

Nikkor-s.c 5cm f1.4 LTM, Micro-Nikkor 55/3.5 AI (My two 'cold dead hands' lenses, both with serious sentimental value as well)

And my Nikon FE (gift from my Aunt, won't sell) and a Canon AE-1 setup that I was gifted by a friend of my wife's, I don't use it currently, but I won't sell it either. 

What came home?

Fuji XF 10-24/4 LM R OIS

Fuji XF 16-80/4 LM R WR OIS (new in box, a kit split)

Fuji XF 16/2.8 LM R WR

This gets me two fully working kits, one wide/compact biased (X-T3), 1 tele biased (D7500) but I'm 1 tele zoom away from the X-T3 working across the board. All lenses in the core kits are native, the only adaptation here will be the two cold dead hands lenses to the X-T3, and maybe also the Tamron 90 to the X-T3.  And it gets rid of a bunch of stuff I kept assuming I needed, but just hadn't been using, even the 7Artisans 75/1.25 and the Nikkor 105/2.5 AI-S (both lenses that I love the results from) hadn't been used in anger since 2025. At the end of the day, I was holding onto stuff that neither had a true sentimental value nor was seeing active use. 

Also worth noting that none of the lenses I bought have an equivalent in Z DX mount (the zooms would approximate the 14-30/4 S and 24-120/4 S, but there's no prime comparable to the 16/2.8, IE a tiny 23-24mm weather sealed prime)

Also at 161 frames so far, the X-T3 has now seen more use than the Z7 did in 2026. Next goal for it is to break the 568 shot mark that is all the use the Zfc got, after which I'm chasing the 2500 shot mark which would exceed the use of all the Nikon Z bodies I've had over the last 2 years. The D7500 however is at 2633 shots and the next goal for it is the 5000 shot mark.

Fujifilm X-T3 First Impressions

 

Fujifilm X-T3, Sigma CONTEMPORARY 30mm f1.4 DC DN

Sigma really needs to shorten their lens names ;-) The name is longer than the lens, which is rather compact for an f1.4 lens even in APS-C. 

Yes, it's a little ironic that in acquiring a Fuji system to get access to a much broader selection of APS-C lenses than Z mount offers, I start with a lens that is available in Z mount, the 30mm f1.4 is one of 4 Sigma lenses available in Z mount (the 16/1.4, 56/1.4 and the new 16-300 are the other ones), but there's an additional 6 such lenses from Sigma in their Fuji lineup, including the 100-400 Contemporary that I had in Sony mount last year and liked aside from the apparently Sony-specific OIS issues. 

Likewise, Tamron just announced a new 16-50/2.8 in all 4 modern APS-C mounts, but their 11-18/2.8 that I am far more interested in is not offered in Z mount, in fact it's the sole lens on Tamron's Fuji lineup that isn't offered in Z mount (Tamron offers a total of 14 lenses for Z mount, including 3 APS-C lenses, and 5 in Fuji mount, but the fifth Fuji offering is the 150-500 which is a full frame lens also available in Z mount). Tamron does not offer a particularly broad set of APS-C lenses in general.

I've had the X-T3 now for a day, and had it out for one short outing and it's already shot 65% as many frames as the Z7 did this year. That's more a showing of just how little the Z7 has been used since I got the Z5ii, and it didn't really pick up at all when I got the Zfc or replaced the Z5ii with the D7500. 

Now as to the X-T3 itself, it's pretty much exactly what I expected, an improved X-T2. AF is definitely better than the X-T2, I was expecting it to be slightly worse than the EXPEED6 bodies, but I'd rate it as a bit better, but a little finicky. Mostly that's just that it's different and I need to get used to how to control it, just like some of the other UI differences between the two bodies. 

Ergonomics are generally better than the Zfc, notably the little thumbrest on the X-T3 that the Zfc lacks, but also the grip extension on the front, I had to get a 3rd party grip for that on the Nikon and it's good but not great. That grip addition actually makes the Zfc and X-T3 just about the same size and weight, which doesn't hold up well. The X-T3 also gives me better port covers, a much better EVF, proper sealing and more robust build, and the threaded cable release/soft release that the Zfc inexplicably lacks. Both suffer from Chiclet buttons, but the X-T3 has a joystick for AF points which is a win. The X-T3 also has more controls available to customize. Finally, the X-T3 offers both a wired remote port and a headphone port to the mic, USB-C and Micro HDMI ports on both bodies. The flip-twist screen on the Zfc is better for my video setup, but inferior for still use where I continue to prefer the dual-tilt setup on the X-T3. The X-T3 was instantly comfortable in my hands, much like the D7500, and that is a good place to start. The only real annoyance is that Nikon's Delete/Play buttons on the EXPEED6 and older bodies are the same spot as on the Fuji X-T bodies, but in reverse order. I have to check regularly that I'm hitting the right ones. Expeed7 moves the play button to the other button cluster so it's not the same disruption. But my Z7, Zfc and D7500 all have this issue compared to the X-T3, same as my D750 had with the X-T2 when I had that pairing. Neither is right, but it's way to easy to hit delete by mistake when swapping between Fuji and all but the newest Nikons. 

Frankly, I would have bought an X-T3 in preference to the Zfc back in April if one had been available, and now I have done so and unsurprisingly I prefer it overall. 

In hindsight, I wish I'd waited for an X-T3 to show up rather than jumping on the Zfc, although I have enjoyed the Zfc experience, it's a lot better than its reputation, but the DX lens gripes are very real. Unless the specific set of DX +FX lenses work for you, look elsewhere than Nikon for an APS-C system. The real question I think is do I trade the Zfc for a b-cam in Fuji mount or for glass. 

Zfc at 6 Months

 Nikon Zfc, 7Artisans 35mm f1.4 APS-C

I bought the Zfc in April, so I've now owned it for 6 months. 

I've not used it as much as I'd hoped, but that's not its fault. In fact when I've been shooting, it's definitely been enjoyed, enough that it drove my hard look at APS-C working for me as a primary system meant in terms of system choice (see my recent posts pondering a serious swap to Fuji, to make Zfc style bodies my primary set).

Overall, I'd hoped the Zfc would be a digital FM10 and it has delivered spectacularly on that promise. The Zfc is similar in size (slightly taller and thinner) and weight (about 25g heavier) to the FM10. Throw a roll of film in the latter and weight is basically the same. Some have complained about build, well frankly a ~450g camera of this size is always going to feel as it does, somewhat light in build. That's due to the density more than anything else.

But can it be a main body? Maybe. I need to spend some time shooting with the Zfc and zooms to validate that. It's 100% a capable EDC body for me, but it lacks IBIS and has a notably worse EVF than the Z7, as well as the worse battery life. Given the relatively small size of the Zfc, I would need to move to a native zoom option (probably one of the 16-50/2.8 options). In terms of capability and IQ, aside from IBIS, it gives nothing up to the Z7 in DX mode. It's slower than the D7500, but trades AF speed for accuracy, and of course has usable handheld live view. 

Now that I have the X-T3, the Zfc's biggest challenge to staying in my bag is the system split issue. I don't have much in the way of native Z glass (1 AF lens and 3 manual lenses) so swapping it out for a Fuji body to complement the X-T3 starts to make sense, or even for Fuji lenses, getting me down to 2 bodies total. But the flip side is with the FTZ it does function as a backup body to the D7500, in particular putting the 10-20VR on the Zfc + the larger lenses on the D7500 works well. 

Overall, I like the Zfc the most of the 4 Nikon's I've had over the last 18-20 months, but still it's not quite love. 

The Z7 - Will It Survive?

Z7, Z 28/2.8 SE

 

My Z7 has one screaming issue, it's WELL used, almost 320k actuations on the clock. The main annoyance from this is the rubber port covers are swollen and do not close correctly, but I also have to remain concerned that the body will just die on me at some point. 

I've gotten my money's worth, the body was cheap (the cheapest of my 3 current bodies despite having a FAR higher original price and being actually in the middle in terms of design age, the D7500 is the oldest design, the now 5 year old Zfc the youngest, although both my Zfc and D7500 are very recent production, the Zfc bought new and the D7500 in mint condition with low miles and recent serial)

I was out recently shooting with it and it was behaving oddly, overriding my aperture settings in Aperture Priority mode (very much not what you want). Some research indicates this isn't unheard of on the Z6 & Z7, but nobody has been able to point at a setting which fixes this, only really to ensure you don't get in a situation where the auto ISO system wants to go to a lower ISO than it can select and decides to mess with you. 

That frankly makes me concerned that the Z7 may fail me when I am actually relying on it, which brings me back to it not being able to be the core of my system. I had never intended it to be anything other than a 'play' body for my manual lens collection, plus a secondary body to whatever I ran as primary, but right now I don't have a true primary body, just an EDC body (Zfc), an action body (D7500) and a adaptation body (Z7). All 3 could to some extent function as my main body with my current lenses, although the Zfc is the weakest here (as I have no native zooms and it doesn't handle nearly as well with adapted zooms as the Z7) and the D7500 arguably the best (since my core set of zooms are all F mount and align pretty well on the D7500).

The reality is that out of the now nearly 4000 images I've shot this year, maybe 100 were on the Z7. I have kicked my own pants and gone out and shot over the last few weeks. But I did it with the D7500 and the Zfc aside from one sole outing with the Z7 recently (from which the image above results)

So the Z7 and a few full-frame lenses that I've either not used at all this year or have an APS-C alternative in my current kit went in and an X-T3 and Sigma 30/1.4 came home. 

The goal here is both to sample Fuji without really impacting the kit I use and to gain access to Fuji's far better selection of APS-C lenses. Mid term, the Zfc is on the chopping block as it's in a lot of ways just a less good X-T3 and the only real thing it offers right now is the flip-out screen which works better on my video setup, but less well everywhere else. The D7500 and its core kit will stay for now, if nothing else it is a complete standalone kit which works well alongside both Z and Fuji X mounts.

I'd been leaning towards another XC35/2 as the first lens, but they only had the more expensive XF35, or a used Sigma 30/1.4 in stock. I went for the latter as it cost barely more than the XC35/2 and look forward to trying it out. 

October Goals Update

 

D7500, AF-S Nikkor 10-20mm VR G DX




This is a late year update on my Goals for 2026.

I have 3, namely:

1. Reach 10,000 images shot on one camera system without a system change

2. Take 7 major photographic outings

3. Get my post/like percentage up to 75% on Fred Miranda

Goal #1 is on not failed, but not succeeded. I'm about 50% of the way there, but I'll probably not tick over to 10,000 images on Nikon without a system change until 2027 barring a massive increase in shooting. What I think is realistic is reaching at least 1,500 shots per body by end of year (which would put my overall count at 6700+ towards the 10,000 image goal). I've now hit that point on the D7500, which is my most used body now since I spent some time shooting RC Car racing on Thanksgiving Weekend (coming home with a little under 1700 shots to go through). That makes the 6700+ goal much less of a stretch, I'm at 6300-ish now towards the 10,000 goal and 3500-ish for the year, but with some serious fall shooting I might even stretch closer to 8,000 images by end of year.


Goal #2 is on track, I need one more to call it done for the year, and I expect to do that in October.

Goal #3 is going to fail hard, for the simple reason that my post count is high enough (13,000+) and the rate of likes on the Nikon forum on FM is low enough that I'm simply unlikely to be able to get the 600 or so extra likes in the 90-ish days left in the year. The reality is I get 3 likes per photo post on average, and can do maybe one of those a day to avoid flooding the photo threads. In short, I did not do the math on this one and it wasn't ever achievable. In reality, 72% is achievable, but 75% is not. Note I'm at 71.1% today. I based this goal too closely on the like behaviour of the Canon and Sony forums, where I'd get 2-3x the likes per photo compared to the far pickier Nikon forum on FM.

So I'm likely going to go 1, 1, and 1 for 2026 goals.

Just Go Shoot

 

D7500, Tamron SP 90mm f2.8 Macro N-AF

I've been massively rabbit holing around what gear should I get for the future.

Then I ran a search on images taken in 2026.

1856 images. Mostly on the D7500 and Zfc. 

I don't need new gear. I need to actually go and make images. End of Story. I cannot justify spending money on gear I don't use. 

The answer is to get out there with these cameras I do have, make images and enjoy the process. And I need to quit focusing on anything else. The images are the goal, not having the perfect gear bag. 

If I buy something new, it needs to be because I identified a gap while in the field, not at my desk pondering and prevaricating about GAS. 

Just. Go. Shoot. 

Success, For Now

D7500, AF-S Nikkor 85mm f1.8 G

Well, after a recommendation from my wife (to spend a month using my current bodies before switching) and going over just what I would have to trade in for glass vs what I'd get in return, I'm standing pat for now on Nikon. 

A lot of this comes down simply to the breadth of my Nikon lens lineup. Which was part of the point of building an extensive lineup, to have a system that I cannot justify moving away from without a massive benefit coming through, not just 'is the grass greener'. 

What Nikon Delivers

 D7500, AF-S Nikkor 10-20mm VR G DX

And what do I get if I stay with Nikon.

1. Maintaining my investment. I own a fair bit of glass today, mostly manual focus lenses of various sorts, but also a small but solid set of AF F mount lenses - The 10-20VR, Tamron 17-50/2.8, 24-85VR, 85/1.8G, Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro, 80-400G and 300/4D. All but one, the Tamron 90mm, AF on all 3 bodies, with my D7500 supporting the screwdriver AF lens just fine. And of course my two lonely Z AF primes, the 28/2.8 SE and 40/2 SE. And of course I have 3 bodies (2 Z, 1 F mount) that all work pretty well for me. I would need to sell at least some of the glass to make this transition work (although Fuji does have a decent AF-S compatible AF adapter from Fringer that could let me continue to leverage my AF-S collection)

2. Easy path back to FX. In fact I'd never really have left FX behind as I've still got the Z7 and this keeps a mostly full FX lens kit for me (both manual and AF lenses). I can operate as wholly DX, wholly FX or a mix depending on which gear I put in the bag. 

3. Incredibly broad adaptation options, including AF adapters for Fuji X and Sony E mounts. This is the real kicker. Is the answer to my desire for access to Fuji's lens line simply shooting Fuji mount lenses on Z?

4. A path to possibly making my 10,000 images in one system goal, as well as my general 'Stop Chasing the Dragon' dream. The latter is probably the more important aspect. 

5. Blues. Those Nikon blues that I love and Fuji can't really deliver due to a combination of their general colour rendering choices plus XTrans's natural weakness in rendering blues vs greens. 

To be honest, I keep going around in circles. Fuji gets me direct access to higher-end APS-C bodies and a broader lens line, Nikon has better PASM body options (I can get a used Z8 for not much more than new X-H2(s) money and the Z8 stomps the X-H2s as an APS-C performance body and the X-H2 as a resolution body). Nikon plays into my current investment, lets me play with DSLR's and F mount lenses and I can add adapters for Fuji and Sony both. 

That brings me around to the question of if I do stay on course for once, where do I go?

My biggest weaknesses right now are in native UWA options in Z mount, I only really have 2 UWA options in the bag, the ZF 21/2.8 and the 10-20VR, and they are both F mount lenses (1 each of FX and DX). I'm leaning here to getting the Viltrox 14/4, which would give me a very wide & compact UWA for the Z7 and a native 21mm equivalent for the Zfc, then adding a 9/10mm, likely one of the 7Artisans offerings, for the Zfc. Has to be primes if I want native and reasonably priced, although the 14-30 is always an option at a notable cost increase. 

After that, I need to fill the gaps on the Zfc's lens lineup. The 35/1.4 and 55/1.4 work well, but the 25/2 doesn't handle as well and I'm still facing a gap between 25mm and 14mm here. TTArtisan 17/1.4 is probably the answer. I really do wish somebody did a good fast 22-26mm manual prime though, may end up with an AF lens in this slot. Then the long end, I'm looking at the 7Artisans 75/2 (compact, useful on both Z bodies, inexpensive and pretty good, plus not a direct conflict with my 85/1.8G) and their 60mm macro (gives me a native DX macro option for the Zfc). 

In terms of zooms, I may grab an inexpensive FX UWA (likely the 18-35G or 16-35VR) in F mount to round out the Z7 adapted kit. Then it would be looking at DX Z zooms, likely the 16-50/2.8 + 70-180/2.8 combo.

On the Z7 side, I could also simply get a Z 24-200 so I have a truly compact hiking kit with that lens and the 14/4. 

What Fuji Delivers

 X-T2, XC 35mm f2

So, if I do make the jump to Fuji, what does it give me?

1. Truly wide selection of APS-C Lenses. Pretty much every non-Nikon DX lens is available also in XF mount, and quite a few 3rd party options are available in XF mount but not in Z mount. Stuff also tends to release in E, XF then Nikon later (like the new 7Artisans 18mm f2, which is out for E, announced for XF and unknown for Z). Note that Fuji has at least 3 higher-end UWA zoom options plus numerous UWA primes vs Nikon's no good UWA zoom options and a handful of UWA primes. 

2. High-end body options. Between the X-Tx line and the X-Hx line, Fuji offers high-end bodies with APS-C sensors, Nikon does not. 

3. A proven commitment to the system. This is Fuji's main focus in digital, not an afterthought as Z DX is for Nikon. 

What does it cost me?

1. Loss of investment. Trading always costs me value. 

2. 1 consistent system (unless I go all in and ditch the Z7). I lose battery compatibility to some extent (not an issue with the Zfc, but the D7500 shares batteries with the Z7), mount compatibility, the ability to AF and control aperture with AF-S G lenses (and AF on my sole AF-S D lens). 

3. Probable fail of my 1 system/10k shots in 1 year goal. 

4. Telezoom options. Nikon simply has more/better thanks to their F and Z FX options. Replacing my 80-400G is costly, my 300/4 essentially impossible. 

And what are the options:

1. The light switch. Trade the Zfc/28SE kit, one FTZII and my 3 7Artisans lens in, get a used X-T2, or maybe pay the extra and get a used X-T3. Buy replacements for the 7Artisan lenses over the next few weeks. This is pretty much the same experience, better viewfinder but older body option. 

2. The Heavy switch. Trade the D7500, 10-20VR, 17-50/2.8 and 80-400G for an X-T2. This probably doesn't get me to an X-T3 due to the locked in value of the newer Zfc/28SE kit. 

3. The DX drop. Trade the full DX setup for an X-T3 and some glass. This adds the D7500, 10-20VR and 17-50/2.8 to option 1 gear traded in combines options 1 and 2, but leaves the 80-400G in my Z7 kit, enough to hopefully get at least a kit zoom on top of the X-T3 and be investment neutral. 

4. DX++ Drop. As #3, but also trade in the Z 40/2, 80-400 and the 24-85VR for some more glass budget. This leaves the Z7 system as being essentially manual focus aside from the 300/4 AF-S (which I want to keep as it's a great manual 300 in addition to being AF, plus it's low value due to the squeaky AF motor). 

5. Dump (almost) everything modern. Add the Z7, the other FTZII and possibly the 3 remaining modern lenses that aren't M mount (CV 90/3.5 EF, Tamron 90/2.8, Nikkor 300/4) to the list, might stretch to an X-T4+ 2 lenses this way, or buy more lenses for the X-T3. 

6. Dump the big stuff, this is an alternative to #5 where I focus on size/weight over classic glass. Essentially here I dump set 3 aside from the Z 40/2, and all the old SLR glass except the 55/3.5 AI and the 300/4 (the latter to give me a tele/AF option in the short term), also keeping the M lenses. I honestly don't shoot a lot of the manual SLR lenses due to handling & size. This keeps an AF lens on the Z7 and the M glass, but sell off all the big stuff. Alternatively I could do a variation of this but keep the Z bodies and glass entirely, essentially dumping my DSLR & SLR kit aside from the 55 and 300 to get a Fuji body and then slowly move from Nikon to Fuji in the future.

7. Dump almost everything from the bag. I keep the Nikkor-s.c 50mm, the 55/3.5 AI and maybe the two 7 Artisans M lenses and 105/2.5, dump all the other manual glass as well. This 'clears the ways' of a lot of stuff I've collected over the years. Could even include my F2a in this potentially. I have a bunch of stuff I simply do not use much, this turns all of that into lens budget aside from a handful of 'cold dead hands' lenses, all of which work fine on Fuji (and I have adapters for). The flip side is this really only adds a fairly small amount of value, and might be worth more dropping at DC towards a used 10-24 than as part of a trade-in at Henrys for the body itself.

Thoughts on Volume

D7500, AF-S Nikkor 10-20mm VR G DX

 

I tend to track my annual shooting volume, and set (and recently fail to achieve) goals based on said volume.

It's not because Volume matters in any real regard, but rather that it's a proxy for two things, the first and most important is simply 'Am I making images', the second is a general attempt to increase volume by camera body as part of my ongoing attempts to quit Chasing the Dragon with regards to gear. Note in 2021 I switched my tracking to focus on per-body goals.

Since I started tracking volume, this is how much I've shot:

• 2012 - 10233 images
• 2013 - 7220 images
• 2014 - 5224 images
• 2015 - 1789 images
• 2016 - 1640 images
• 2017 - 2653 images
• 2018 - 5491 images
• 2019 - 11526 images
• 2020 - 12053 images
• 2021 - >10000 images
• 2022 - 4093 images
• 2023 - >8100 images
• 2024 - 3827 images
• 2025 - <5,000 images

These days I am focusing more on body longevity and images per body, just in an attempt to actually use bodies more and buy bodies less. I spend WAY too much time changing systems/bodies and I need to quit and focus on what actually matters. That also drives shooting volume, the main reason why my current bodies all have low shot counts is just an overall lack of shooting, the bodies themselves have been in the bag for reasonable amounts of time (including over 18 months for the Z7).

Quick Z5IIC Thoughts

D7500, AF-S Nikkor 10-20mm VR G DX

 

In short, it's not really the light carry camera I wanted, but it's an OK effort. Users aren't going to be unhappy with it in reality aside from 1 item Nikon definitely got wrong.

The item is the LCD. It shares the 3" 1.04m dot unit that the Z DX bodies all have. This is adequate, but not really what you want on an EVF-less body that isn't at the bottom of the price range like the Z30 (which has the exact same LCD). Nikon should have priced it $50 higher and re-used the much better 2.1m dot unit from the Z5II. 

Otherwise the only real complaints are the name and the size, this is the Z3 in all but name, it is exactly to the Z5II as the Z30 is to the OG Z50. Same basic camera, no EVF (the Z30 had a couple other changes, but that's just because the Z50 had a couple bad decisions in terms of USB port and LCD articulation that were corrected on the Z30 and Zfc). Nikon unwisely chose to ape Sony's naming convention instead of sticking to their own and got designation salad as a result. 

In terms of size, while the smallest FX stills camera in the Z line, this is still a chonky boi at 600g, compare to its closest competitor, the Panasonic S9, and it's well over 100g heavier and notably larger (but with a MUCH better grip). You can actually get an S9+40/2 lens within 30g of the Z5IIC's bare weight. 

And yes, this is 100% a shovelware camera, it's a Z5II with the EVF chopped off, a cheaper LCD, one card slot and a lower spec shutter (1/4000 max). But the shovel contents are damned good aside from the bargain-bin LCD, so while entirely a low-effort release, it is actually a pretty excellent camera. Anyone who ends up with one won't be disappointed in anything except the high weight and size for its class and Nikon's poor and overly clustered selection of small 1st party lenses, but adding the Viltrox 14mm and 20mm at the wide end and the 7Artisans 75mm or Viltrox 85mm f2 EVO at the long end to the 26, 28 and 40 from Nikon will give a solid small prime selection for it. I'd skip the zooms, there are enough smallish zooms, but aside from the 24-50 (which I do not recommend, poor handling & reliability) nothing truly tiny to fit this body. 

I'd consider this if I was still willing to go in for small low-MP FX EDC options. As it is, I'd have preferred any refresh to the current Z DX line (Z30II or ZfcII) or either the rumoured Z70 or a Z5IIx shovelware camera (Z5II with Z7II sensor).

More Gear Musings

Zfc, AF-S Nikkor 85mm f1.8 G

Here's a few scattered thoughts on gear and my future plans.

First off, the D7500 is getting the most use, but it's definitely the only one of my 3 current bodies I'd consider parting with. That's because it's neither a viable EDC (Zfc is that, Z7 can sorta do it with the right lenses) nor does it have compatibility with most of my lenses (no metering with manual lenses, can't mount Z or adapt anything I own). It's just fun within its limits and while actually the slowest of my 3 bodies at 8fps max (the other two are capable of 9-11fps) it's the fastest no-limits bodies (8fps with no gotchas vs 5fps with no gotchas). If I had to pick just one body, the Z7 would win (most compromises, but also the most flexible), with the Zfc second. 

I do enjoy the D7500 and don't see parting with it anytime soon as it is fun to shoot with and I like the results. Like the Z7, it's also not really worth enough on a trade-in to bother parting with. 

What I'd like to see from Nikon is an indication that they are committed to support Z DX for the long term before I invest further in that direction. I'm not confident I'll see that from them though (and few are). Having more than 1 EXPEED7 body would go a long way here, as would a couple more lens releases that aren't consumer shovelware or a 'why would I pay that much for that little' lenses like the Z DX 35/1.7 MC (which is a very good macro/normal, but at the cost that I can buy a lot of 3rd party glass for the same cost). 

The reality is that I don't actually need more than is already available. My bodies mostly cover my needs and where I hit limits, they remain limits that a Z8 would solve. In terms of glass, as long as I'm willing to adapt (and I mostly am), I have what I need already or it is available. I simply don't want to invest in a dead-end system, even if it's one that actually does meet my needs. 

I did get out and do some city shooting with the Zfc over the weekend, both with the 7Artisans 35mm f1.4 II and the 85/1.8G, mostly bugging with the latter, we still have flowers and bees around. Had a fair bit of fun with it and I'm enjoying both lenses. Still need to get some time with the Z7, I've been ignoring it of late. 

Regarding future system options, I'm looking for two things really. A system with a future, I do not want to spend some years investing in a system just to have it killed off (as we've seen this year for Pentax DSLR's and effectively for Panasonic m43) and which delivers reasonably compact, reasonably priced and reasonably good IQ, plus the combo of a solid set of zooms for my hiking needs and some weird, interesting and cheap glass for playing around with. Fuji delivers all of that, Sony does technically, but I dislike their APS-C bodies, Nikon fails on system with a future for DX right now, while Canon fails the weird, interesting & cheap glass test and their APS-C is also on life support (although it is expected they will actually get 2-3 new APS-C bodies next year). OM System is also technically an option, but their stuff is hard to get these days and overly expensive, especially since used gear is hard to find now. A pity since the new Pen is finally a light carry option at a reasonable price for its spec (the OM-5's are way too expensive for what they deliver and the OM-3 suffers from barely adequate viewfinder in expensive body syndrome). OM System does have the nice computational features the others lack though, 

So the play now becomes stick with Nikon and hope they continue to support DX in an adequate manner, and consider switching to Fuji in 2027 if Nikon continues to ignore DX entirely. 

The reality is my current gear largely suffices for my needs, and I can address the real gaps mostly by buying glass and if I need to push the edges of capability, there's still the Z8. 

Fall Updates

D7500, 10-20VR

It's now Fall Colour season, and I'm pretty stuck indoors. This kinda sucks, although I did get a bit of a taste a couple weeks ago up in the Algonquin Highlands, where I got up around Haliburton with fall colour just starting to come in. 

Shooting has been slow, in part because I skipped the Canadian International Air Show on the Labour Day Weekend. I have gotten out a couple times with the D7500 though, and it's now approaching 1000 shots on the clock. 

I't's been interesting shooting a DSLR again. I do miss IBIS, USB-C charging and on occasion Live View composing, but the excellent ergonomics, more efficient control layout and great battery life have been nice to have. 

Need to get out with the Zfc some more, I did pick up the 7Artisans 35mm f1.4 II manual APS-C lens, which in silver is a nice match for my Silver Zfc, but I've barely used it. Got to take it for some lunchtime walks (which I need to do more of anyways). I've been so busy with work of late that my lunchtimes have been constrained. Same for the Z7, which hasn't been used in a while, but if I'm not going out, I'm not shooting which is the basic issue at hand. 

I've also been having yet another round of system existentialism. Fuji-focused again and largely because we're still not seeing any real commitment from Nikon on DX. A Z70 is rumoured with the sort of specs that put it in the X-H2 killer slot, but so far the sum total of Nikon camera announcements in the last year is the Z5IIC, which is little more than a Z5II with the EVF chopped off, single card slot and low-end screen. 

Now everyone else is slow on the releases, supply constraints are causing all sorts of issues, but those should not have affected lenses as well, and Nikon has done minimal there too. Not surprising that Nikon's financials are showing lots of red this year. 

I'm not asking for Nikon to go all-in on DX, just give me a half-decent body with IBIS and a decent UWA zoom. Otherwise at some point I am going to end up having to either buy a Z8 as a DX body or switch to Fuji as my primary system (I'll no doubt keep the Z7 for legacy glass). The issue with Z8 as DX remains no UWA zoom without adapting (the 12-28PZ is not wide enough and PowerZoom). 

Going to hold off for now, but if we don't see some movement from Nikon I'll need to make some hard decisions about whether or not Z makes sense for me long-term or if I need to make one last system jump.