Nikon Zf or Z8: Your only Travel Camera?
Minimal might be the last word that comes to mind for the Nikon Z8, but it’s good enough to replace my 4 other travel cameras.
A single camera setup - no matter how big it may be - still saves weight, and the addition of 1 new feature in the 2.10 firmware update will save me time.
The Z8 can now do everything the 4 cameras I brought to Japan can do, but better… Well all except one.
Some things can be hard to leave behind.
For the vast majority of us, the Zf makes more sense.
It is the first of four cameras I brought on my last Japan trip. I’ll show you the seven different Zf and lens combos and the 3 camera bags I used while traveling but…
It’s do as I say, not as I do.
Today I’m going to try to pare everything down to a Z8-only setup. I use Wotancraft’s Pilot sling bags for all my everyday carry and travel photography, but sometimes the lenses still bounce around a little too much. My secret weapon for packing: Tenba’s tool camera wraps, which stops lenses moving around inside the bags in transit.
Size
But the Z8 is clearly NOT the perfect size for travel?
Not just heavier than most, the EVF hump makes the Z8 one of the tallest on the market. But I’m used to the Zf, with the smallrig grip attached is only about 100 grams lighter and a little wider. Both take up as much space in the camera bags, and the Z8 offsets its weight by its extra hand-held comfort. A nice cross shoulder leather strap further offsets the weight. Body alone there’s not that much size difference, so it comes down to the lenses.
On each day out I like to bring 1 body and 2 primes. Not to switch between them constantly, (otherwise I’d just use the 28-75 Zoom), but to start out the day with 1 prime and change to the other on the way back. The Z8’s the better pick in this regard, it’s not a fragile shutter, but a separate sensor shield that comes down when changing lenses. Less dust on the sensor, more peace of mind, and it unlocks my 2 prime daily kit.
This setup all fits into a 3.5 L sling. The 40mm f2 attached to the camera and the 28mm f2.8 on the side. Whether it be the Zf or the Z8 both fit into a tiny 3.5L sling. I wouldn’t go smaller than 3.5L, you do need room for a wallet, passport, or suica card, but it fits this 2 prime setup without missing a beat. The 28 and 40 kit is so lightweight, I thought it would be my primary setup for the trip?
But I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
***
These photos were taken on my last trip in Kyoto.
There’s nothing unusual about the approach, or the choice of location.
The last thing I’d want is to give advice on the creative.
Photography has enough rules, unless you’re shooting for a client everything’s subjective, and the enthusiasm for those new to the hobby is a non-renewable resource.
Let’s call it beginner’s luck.
***
Travel Setup 6
35mm f1.8 S, 50mm f1.8S, Nikon ZF or Z8
I love this combo, because there’s not much adjustment in shooting style when you swap between lenses, but you get the nice framing of a 50 or the distortionless width of a 35 depending on what I feel like.
A 35 and 50 used to be my go to two lens kit, but this time I found myself using the 35 way more than the 50. Not because the 35 is better, the 50 is cleaner and sharper, but wider is more versatile for travel.
If you swap the Zf with the Z8, this two lens setup still fits in a 3.5L sling, but on the Z8 I could get away with just one of these lenses? In DX mode on the higher-res Z8 you still get 19 megapixels, compared to the DX crop on the Zf which only gives you 10. 35 and 50 are close enough that Cropping in can give a similar look or I can pick a much broader range.
Travel Setup 5:
26mm f2.8, 135mm f1.8 Plena, Nikon Zf or Z8
The 26mm f2.8 pancake and the 135mm Plena. The widest I like to go personally, and a tiny form factor, and the 135mm plena - the tightest field of view and the biggest prime I own.
This doesn’t fit so comfortably into the 3.5L anymore, so now we move up to the 7L sling. The Zf + plena fits on one side, a small water bottle fits on the other, which means a pancake lens fits perfectly fine. The Z8 is a little thicker with the Plena attached, but it still fits.
The Plena goes without saying, a tight telephoto to isolate landmarks in the distance, is the pancake good enough for travel? On the Z8 the 26mm gives you a wide enough field to work with, any corner performance much less of a concern when you have 44 megapixels, and a DX crop gives close to a 40mm working distance.
But in the end, I didn’t use either of these lenses much on the trip.
Travel Setup 4:
Nikon Zf or Z8 + 28mm f2.8 Z, Nikon DF + 50mm f1.8 G
This is my first 2 camera travel setup, both of which fit in a 7L sling, but it works better if the lenses are small. The Zf with the 28mm f2.8 for the wide, and the second of four cameras I had in Japan - the DF with the 50mm f1.8 G for the tight.
The rendering of these two lenses are both modern with a bit of charm, and a second body means I don’t have to switch lenses. This still works when you switch out the Zf for the Z8 - both camera bodies still fit, but is f2.8 too slow on a high-res sensor in low light? It’s true the Zf has better low light performance, I comfortably shoot up to ISO32000, in comparison the Z8 I wouldn’t go past ISO 12800, 25600 at a push. As a mostly night-time shooter I would prefer at least f2, and I’m not much of a 28 shooter…so even when I brought both cameras out I just used the DF and 50.
Travel Setup 3:
Nikon DF + 50mm f1.8 G, Nikon Zf/Z8 + 35mm f1.8 S
I used this combo a LOT on the trip. I prefer 35 over 28, and even with the bigger prime attached on the Zf it still fits in the 7L sling. Can the Z8 replace this combination? Yes, either through resolution - the 35mm f1.8 S, punch in to DX for the 50 field of view, or I could just pack the 40mm f2. Neither the 28mm f2.8 Z or the 50 f1.8 G are the sharpest lenses in my kit, the 40mm is just as sharp from 5 meters on for street, while splitting the focal range difference.
A DX crop on the 40 gets close to a 60mm field of view, which approximates the 58mm f1.4 lens that I packed alongside the DF for the last trip.
The Z8 could replace it all.
Olympus OM-D Em10 Mark 2 + 17mm f1.8. Taken back in 2016!
***
This is the first shot I remember being happy with.
I didn’t know what I was doing, just shooting from the hip.
I was so new to the game, call it beginner’s luck, most of you have forgotten more about photography than the little I knew in that moment. But the more you know the trickier it gets, there’ll be plenty of time for dos and don’ts later.
That outsider mindset is precious.
***
Travel Setup 2:
Leica M11M + 35mm f1.4 FLE v1, Nikon Zf/Z8 + 85mm f1.8 S
The third out of four cameras I brought to Japan is the Leica M11M with a 35 Summilux, paired with the Zf plus 85mm f1.8S.
Wide and tight coverage like an event photographer, and it’s one I used a lot in Japan. 61 megapixels on the Leica, tighter 85mm perspective on the Zf, this 2 camera setup just fits in the 7L sling. There’s much more space leftover in a 10L sling, and there’s also a laptop compartment for my 14” Macbook pro. With a laptop inside it’s not just heavier, but it’s harder to get the cameras in and out of the bag, so I personally prefer to leave my laptop in a separate backpack and downsize to a 7L sling.
Can the Z8 replace this whole setup? How good this 85mm lens is, is the reason I didn’t use the Plena much at all despite lugging it around. I love the 85’s form factor and clean output for travel, and on a Z8 a DX crop on 85mm gets me closer to 135. It can’t mimic the M11 monochrome’s shooting experience, but in terms of output? Resolution wise 44 is close enough to 61, Nikon’s Deep-Tone Monochrome is a beautiful black and white profile, and I can pack the TTArtisan M to Z 6 bit adapter to shoot with M-mount glass. M-mount glass does look more at home on the Zf, which also has way more manual focus assist tools than the Z8.
Though the assist tool I use the most - electronic rangefinder focus confirmation - IS on the Z8, even though it would have been nice to see the other tools in the most recent firmware update.
Travel Setup 1:
Nikon ZF/Z8, 85mm f1.8 S, 35mm f1.4 FLE V1, M to Z adapter, optional 40mm f2
This is the setup I used the most on my last trip. It’s small enough to fit into my smallest 3.5L sling, combining wide manual focus shooting with autofocus for short telephoto work. I can even add in the 40mm f2 for good measure, and the setup is just as small but that much more potent if you swap the Zf for the Z8 in a one camera setup.
But I’ve come to terms with the fact that I need at least TWO cameras for travel.
Not the Leica, or the DF, but the fourth and last camera I brought to Japan.
A Fujifilm instax, my 6 year old daughter’s camera, who’s as new to photography as she is to travel. It saves the photos to a micro SD card, otherwise I’d spend a fortune on instax film, but it makes travelling with a young child so much fun.
She hasn’t had her creativity stifled by all the dos and don’t yet, no subject’s too boring, every idea is worth testing:
As excited by capturing the moment as living inside it, she’s not yet left anything behind.
Beginner’s luck is on her side.
Happy shooting everyone, talk soon.
Jack.
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