Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max (6.7649998656528mm, f/1.8, 1/5000 sec, ISO80)
Over the last couple of years we went to Croatia quite regularly. Mostly in autumn to see sunsets at the sea before winter.
Usually we go there for a week. For our big vacations I usually go big and take most of the camera gear I own but on short trips I always want to keep it small and simple. Short vacation – small camera. In the past that meant small mirrorless cameras or big sensor compact cameras. This year I returned there with a full frame camera but it was still kind of compact. The Nikon Zf. More details of the Nikon gear later in this blog post.
It all started with the Fuji X100 and the Sony NEX5 in June 2012.
Apple iPhone 4 (3.85mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO100)
Later I went to Croatia with the Fuji X-Pro1 and the Ricoh GR. A fantastic combo. I loved the Ricoh for its compact size but wished that it would have Fuji Auto-WB and out of camera colours. The Ricoh GR was a street shooters dream but I never managed to get the colours to look right and AF was a pain in the neck.
The Fuji X-Pro1 and later X-Pro2 and X-H1 all worked like a charm. I mostly shot with my three favourite prime lenses: XF 14/2.8 R, XF 23/2 WR and XF 35/1.4 R and the great XF 16-55/2.8 WR. I still own the Fuji X-Pro2 and the three primes.
Apple iPhone 4 (3.85mm, f/2.8, 1/120 sec, ISO125)
Apple iPhone 4 (3.85mm, f/2.8, 1/120 sec, ISO100)
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max (5.1mm, f/1.6, 1/610 sec, ISO32)
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max (5.1mm, f/1.6, 1/120 sec, ISO125)
This year I traveled with the Nikon ZF and the following lenses:
- Z 24-120/4 S
- Z 20/1.8 S
- Z 26/2.8
- Z 40/2
What have I learned?
I brought two bags. One bag was my old Think Tank Retrospective 5 shoulder bag that holds my Nikon Zf plus the Z 26/2.8 and the Z 40/2 the other one was my PeakDesign Sling with the Z 24-120 S and the Z 20/1.8 S. Normally I took the Retrospective bag and left the PeakDesign with the big lenses in the hotel or in the car. When I planned to shoot with the zoom or the 20mm lens I slipped the Nikon Zf with the Z 26/2.8 attached into the sling from PeakDesign.
I wanted to bring the zoom for landscape and sunset shots but most importantly my 20mm lens for the beautiful old towns of Split, Trogir and Šibenik. You really need a wide lens for those narrow alleys, the palace and the churches.
I was extremely happy with my Nikon Zf and the two small primes. The Z 26/2.8 has become one of my favourite lenses but I was even more surprised with the Z 40/2. This lens can create some magical shots. Initially I bought it to have a small lens and because it was too cheap to pass. Is it optically perfect? Hell no but every time I shoot with it I’m stunned by the results.
The Z 20/1.8 S is fantastic optically but it is way too big, too heavy and most of all too long. It is somehow fine on the Z8 but it looks silly on the Zf. I already consider to replace it. So far I found two alternatives. One is the dirt cheap Viltrox 20/2.8 but I what I want to try first is the Voigtländer Color Skopar 21/3.5 for Leica M-mount that I would adapt to the Zf. Yes it is a manual lens but at 21mm practically everything is in focus anyway if you stop down. This lens is only 220g and even with a high quality adapter weight will be around 250-270g. And this lens has a marked aperture ring for a nice shooting experience.
Is full frame necessary? No. Is it fun? Yes! All the cameras I used to bring to Croatia are perfectly capable of to take fine pictures and to create perfect memories. Better than every smartphone I know but the main difference to a smart phone is the shooting experience.
The Nikon Zf finally means that there is absolutely no compromise regarding image quality and AF performance.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max (6.7649998656528mm, f/1.8, 1/120 sec, ISO80)