Tuesday, 6 October 2026

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. 





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