Nikon Z6II Long Term Review

With the Nikon Z6III launched recently and there will be an influx of second-hand Z6II devices hitting the market. So, with that and coupled with my extended time using the Z6II, I figured now is a good time to roll up a review for this camera.

I had always shot on Nikon cameras on and off, so the brand was always familiar to me. When I moved to mirrorless over three years ago from DSLR, I migrated to the Nikon Z6II to test the waters and build up some lenses since the DSLR ones needed an adapter. Long story short, I shifted to the Z7II as my main landscape camera, as I wanted the flexibility of the higher megapixel sensor. I have continued to use the Z6II in parallel as it has a few strengths over the Z7II.

Use Case:

This review will not be highly technical but instead provide a more practical view of how it operates in the field. I want to start by explaining how I use this camera and what sort of subject matter I shoot, as this may give you an idea of the camera if you shoot similarly.

My work involves capturing images of different places and experiences encountered while traveling. I aim to document and convey the essence of a location and my journey in it. Primarily, I shoot landscapes, scenery, architecture and landmarks, and capture street photography which involves including the human element.

Build Quality:

Overall, this is an extremely reliable camera. I have used it in various conditions, from super hot Australian summers to freezing conditions in Europe. I can literally count on one hand how many times I’ve had the camera freeze up. When you turn the device on, it is immediately ready, and there is never a delay from an on & off state.

The camera body is solid. It has gone everywhere with me, from hiking to crowded streets. All the buttons and dials feel tight and have not loosened up. The camera is mainly surrounded by a durable rubber texture, so it is not prone to scratches. This excludes the bottom, which has taken a few scratches from being placed down on rough surfaces and having mounting plates taken on and off.

Ergonomics:

The grip on the camera is, in my opinion, perfect for the size of the actual body. I have heard from other Nikon shooters that their pinky drops off the bottom when gripping this camera. I’ve never had this problem, probably because I have fairly small hands. That said, when you mount longer lenses on this camera, the grip gives you a firm and comfortable hold. I could honestly hold a long lens like the Nikon Z 24-120 F/4 all day without issues.

Buttons & Dials:

The button and dial placement is laid out well. I have no problem controlling the whole exposure triangle with one hand on the grip. The joystick to control the focus point is well placed making it super handy too. There are two customisable buttons on the front, which again can be reached with the same fingers on the grip.

The PASM dial is located on the opposite side of the grip, which at first glance seems annoying because you need your other hand to switch modes or flick to a custom setting. I’ve never had a problem with it since I rarely change modes when I’m in the moment, and if I’m locked to a tripod, it doesn’t really matter. The dial has three custom modes that let you set them up separately for photo and video.

Screens & EVF:

The camera has a flexible screen that lets you tilt up/down in landscape orientation. I would have liked this camera to have a screen that allows for vertical tilt for low-angle vertical shots. It honestly is a constant annoyance with this camera. The screen brightness and resolution are nothing special or bad; it’s an average screen that lets you check your shots in the field. In harsh daylight, it is still visible, but in those situations, you are better off using the viewfinder. The viewfinder (EVF) has been bright enough for my needs and is nice and big to let you see the entire scene without an issue.

The menu system is easy to navigate. Nikon generally lays things out simply, and the main menu accessed by the “I” button is fully customisable, allowing you to put things front and centre like AF modes, white balance, etc.

It does have a small screen on the top of it which primarily contains what the current fstop, shutter speed and ISO settings that are in use. I rarely use this top screen as the exposure settings are on the main screen or EVF. This screen can come in handy in odd situations when doing a long exposure, during this the main screens will black out and it will show the count down if you set a timer for the shutter.

Photo Image Quality:

This is where the camera shines, as it packs a 24MP Full Frame image sensor. The images from this camera are simply stunning. Nikon sensors have incredible micro contrast, which gives images a very clean look. Don’t be fooled by the 24MP sensor being too small. You can print huge with that resolution and have flexibility with minor crops. Unless you have a specific need for high resolution for commercial purposes or heavy cropping, more megapixels will give you more storage overhead.

This camera has incredible dynamic range. I have recovered heavily underexposed shots at base ISO with minimal noise in the shadows. This camera also performs incredibly well at high ISO settings. I’ve used F4 lenses at ISO 6400, and the images are completely usable without any denoising software. This is a core strength of the Z6II over the Z7II, is due to the smaller Mega Pixel sensor it performs very well in low light situations and high ISO values. This is perfect for anyone who doesn’t want to lug around an F/2.8 zoom to get more stops of light.

Video:

At base, this camera will let you record up to 4K 60p, but it will crop the video. This camera will capture stunning videos in a flat colour profile. Where this camera lacks is if you want to shoot in LOG; you will need an external recorder. To put it simply, if you are serious about video, there are better alternatives in this price bracket. For photographers who want to take some quick videos to complement their photos, this will give you some solid straight-out-of-camera files but will not give you flexibility in post for colour correction or grading

Autofocus:

My needs for AF are simple, I’m either shooting still landscapes with a single point or tracking a moving person in the streets. Sometimes I’ll need to quickly focus shift to another subject. The camera performs very well for my needs. The camera has a bunch of tracking modes, like eye detection, subject tracking, and a few animal trackers. The limited use I’ve had with them has been mixed, which I suspect is just me not being familiar with how it operates. The eye detect mode was the one that I found most useful whenever I needed to grab a portrait of my cat.

The AF system can experience hunting in low light situations, which can be frustrating but can easily be mitigated by overriding with manual focus. With manual focus, this camera performs very well. If you switch on focus peaking, the camera will highlight what is in focus on the screen. This becomes very handy if you want to adapt vintage lenses that are completely manual.

I often do not deviate from the Single Point Focus mode or, when in Continuous AF, I’ll use one of the Dynamic Area pointers as it does a good job at pulling focus when a moving subject shifts. If you shoot commercial portraits or intensive wildlife work, especially birds, the AF may not keep up. If you shoot landscapes, street, and travel like me, this camera’s AF is more than capable. The AF works similarly in video as well.

IBIS and Other Features:

For photos, this camera is amazing at stabilising shots. I often handhold, dropping the shutter speed down to 1/10 on wide angles between 14mm up to 50mm, and get completely sharp images. For long lenses, results may vary, but it is a solid performer in stabilising shots. In video, the footage often feels jerky when handheld if you intend to capture moving footage.

This camera is very quick, and the burst shots it can pull off are impressive. I don’t shoot intensive subjects like birds or sports. As an example, in seascape photography, I’ll often need to burst shot an incoming or outgoing wave to capture motion. The camera can easily get 20 shots in a burst without the buffer filling up.

The camera has two card slots, one traditional SD card and the other a faster CF Express card. Using a CF will give you faster image and video processing, especially higher resolution codecs. For photos, it will give you faster processing for burst shots, but I have never hit the ceiling on SD card speed for photos. I use the CF Express card mainly as a backup, saving photos and videos to both my SD and CF cards.

Is This Camera for You?

The Z6II is an extremely capable camera that will tackle almost any situation. The image quality and dynamic range are simply incredible, and it is a low-light king able to retain detail at high ISO ranges.

For photographers who need high speed for sports and wildlife, this camera’s AF may struggle. For hybrid shooters who need more flexible video codecs like LOG, this camera is outclassed these days, as many cameras do not need external recorders to access these codecs.

The grip/ergonomics are solid, and buttons and dials are well-organized. The menu systems are generally easy to navigate.

At the time of writing this review, this camera will experience a significant price drop due to the newer Z6 III just released by Nikon. Overall, this is an amazing value for money stills camera if you want to get into the Nikon ecosystem or jump into full frame. The image quality you will get is truly special.