Brand Agnostic Ramblings: Met Some Nice Nikons.

Brand Agnostic Ramblings: Met Some Nice Nikons.

As stated in this space, I hit the exits when camera brand debates pop up.

Do I mention brands? Yes.

Do I say one brand is better than another? Nope.

Do I have a preference? Yes.

Should this have any bearing on what anyone else chooses? Not at all.

Team whatever floats your boat.

And I can find positives about any brand.

Nikon.

As with most brands I have a bit of a history with Nikon. When counting film and digital the only brand I have not tried is Phase One I believe. Way out of my league so I doubt I ever will. So, Nikon. Started with digital when Nikon put a D3300 kit on sale.

My first sensor larger than MFT. And that camera served me well. It was also my first introduction to Tamron zoom lenses. They were great bang for buck lenses, but more on Tamron below.

I also have some film Nikon experience. We have the Nikon FE,…

Nikon FG,…

I inherited my dear Father’s Nikon point and shoot in the photo with the FG above that he left with one exposure that I finished for him, and lastly the Nikon F3.

And speaking of Chris at Southeastern Camera he shared that there would be a Nikon rep at the shop today. I mentioned yesterday that I bought filters for infrared film. Well, I left one. At first, I was annoyed. But then I realized that I had a perfect excuse to meet the Nikon rep.

Nice guy.

Nice cameras.

Two stood out.

The Nikon Zf.

I have written about this camera in this space before. I did not have anything bad to say about it. That there was no switch came down to the flipside of no bad cameras on the market. As competent as the Zf is so is what I already have. But what interested me was a small add on. Namely the SmallRig L-Shape Grip. It is a must for the Zf in my opinion. Takes the camera to a completely different level handling wise. The camera itself is fantastic. Some balk at things like the micro SD second card, but my thinking was great… it has a second card slot. Ok, the other camera.

The Nikon Z6III.

Very nice camera. I only had my hands on it for a short time but I was impressed. Fast focus. Great ergonomics. Great features. Derek, the Nikon rep, walked me through the upgrades. I have not really been paying much attention to new camera release media for a while so I was impressed by what he shared. I will leave you to other sites to walk through the details.

Nikon as a brand.

While I am not looking to change mounts Nikon does sit on top of other brands that I would consider. And… this has absolutely nothing to do with the cameras themselves. But a lens.

The Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD. I adore this lens. And Tamron makes a Nikon Z version. Sure, I could make do with the more common pairing of a 28-75mm and 70-200mm (or 180mm) f/2.8 lenses as a part of a lens holy trinity.

But courtesy the 35-150mm I now use one lens almost exclusively for photo sessions whether for an event or a portrait session.

With that lens I could replicate my current three lens/two camera must (for me) have kit.

• A smaller full frame camera.
• A more standard issue photo session camera body.
• The 35-150mm.
  • Note: A preference. I could make do with a two lens zoom kit for any brand.
• A very fast 50mm lens.
  • Note: Preference again. An f/1.8 would do just fine.
• An everyday compact prime lens.

So, will I? No.

Why not? Again, this is the flip side of a high base level of competency across the board.

I am happy with what I have.

But it is great to see such great products on the market. I am very happy for Nikon folks.

Anyhoo. That is all. Well done Nikon.

Happy capturing.

-ELW