My recent switch to Nikon

Nikon D850, 70-200, F5.6, 1/1000, ISO 500, -.1

My switch to Nikon was not a knee-jerk reaction to the shiniest new toy to hit the market, but had been a very long time coming. I wrote about it all the way back in August of 2012 and again in June of 2013. Switching systems is something most photographers have thought about or even agonized over at some point, especially once the mirror-less cameras began gaining traction. This is why I am sharing my experience of making the switch from Canon to Nikon and why.

MAIN REASONS FOR THE SWITCH TO NIKON

• Nikon’s low-light capabilities
• Nikon’s superior dynamic range
• Nikon’s optics and fine details in the output

My specialty is Africa, so I equally shoot two genres of photography – wildlife and Tribes (people/travel). I had no complaints about Canon’s 5D series, which was a great tool for my tribal photography, but on the wildlife side, I had years of heartache with their high-speed bodies, which you can read more about in the above links. Next year it was already in my plan to upgrade two of my bodies and in my gut I knew that I could not invest further in Canon Products.

By Canon’s own admission, they state they are, “Lagging in Innovation” and are looking for growth outside photography. Nikon really listens to, supports, and respects its professionals. They are passionate about making high-quality optics and cameras for photographers.

TESTING NEW GEAR – preparing for the switch

It is so easy to rent and test gear these days that once you are considering purchasing any new gear – not just switching systems – there is no excuse not to try it out before making an investment. If you have traveled with me or come to one of my workshops, you know that I stand behind these words!

I first tested Nikon for two weeks on my Great Migration Safari back in 2012 with the release of the D800 and D4. I also had several other opportunities to shoot with Nikon over the years. On my Botswana Exclusive safari this past April, I was again filled with envy as my partner shot with the D850s. Once I was back in the states for a few weeks, I immediately rented the D850 and the 400 2.8. I am fortunate to have a lot of colleagues and shooting buddies who use Nikon. We planned a full day of shooting where I would have assistance with the buttons and dials and could test it all properly. When it came time to pull the trigger, I would be ready to make the decision with confidence.

THE SEED WAS PLANTED

For years, I knew I would be switching systems, but I agonized over it more once the mirror-less cameras were into several generations; Sony released the a7 III and Fuji came onto the market with the X-T2. Going mirror-less was never about, “lightening the load.” That was a marketing scam – the bodies only saved about 1 lb in weight. The systems were lighter because the glass was slower, which meant I could make my current system almost as light by selling my fast glass for slower glass. It was the true exposure through the viewfinder, the expansion of focusing points from corner to corner, and the through-the-sensor focusing technology that had my attention, particularly for my Infrared work.

In April 2018, Nikon announced it was going to release it’s first full frame mirror-less camera in the spring of 2019.

Nikon Z7 IR, 24-70 2.8, F5, 1

HOW THE SWITCH HAPPENED

Life has a way of pushing things along.

While I was leading the Great Migration Safari at the end of August, Nikon released information about the Z7 and Z6 mirror-less models which was soon followed by many passionate discussions around the campfire with sundowners! At the airstrip, I ran into Mark Comon, of Paul’s Photo in Torrance, and it seemed to be no coincidence when I found him in the seat next to mine on our international flight back the US that night. He leaned over and said to me, “Time to make that switch!”

Nikon was giving live presentations of the Z7 around the globe; one of their biggest launches since going digital. Mark quickly introduced me to the head of NPS and unbeknown to me a friend/client/colleague, chatted with on or the head reps at Nikon about my desire to switch. Therefore, I was quite surprised when Nikon contacted me on a Wednesday, 7 days prior to returning to Kenya for 7 weeks. I attended the Z7 presentation at Paul’s Photo on Thursday night to physically test it out and hear about the technology. On Friday morning, less than 48 hours from the first communication, I spoke with Nikon from the parking lot of my Doctors and they confirmed that they would fast-track me for NPS. I made one call to Mark at Paul’s Photo and after my appointment I returned home, packed up every piece of Canon gear I owned, and drove to Paul’s Photo where Mark had 2 D850s waiting. They were almost impossible to get as most everyone had them on back order. I also placed an order for the Z7 mirror-less and NPS put me at the top of the list.

Five days later I boarded a flight to Kenya with 2-D850s, 24-70 2.8, 70-200 2.8, 1.4 teleconverter, and a 200-400 borrowed from a friend and client. I will have the 180-400 4.0 and the 400 2.8 on loan for two safaris next year and then I will make a decision as to which big glass I am going to purchase. The Z7 came in a day before my departure and Mark sent it to Daniel at Life Pixels for the IR conversion. As always, Daniel’s service, in a rush conversion to help me out, was over the top. He then shipped the camera to a client who hand-carried it to Kenya and placed it in my hands mere hours before our incredible Tribal Expedition Northern Kenya.

Yes, in theory, I perhaps broke my rule of, “do NOT buy new gear just before a big trip – buy it way in advance so you have time to practice with it first.” However, I had tested it first, shot with Nikon several times in the past, and 3 of the 7 repeat clients on the Signature Safari Africa were Nikon shooters who had agreed in advance to help me out as I stumbled through learning the buttons and dials.

Nikon D850, 200-400 lens, F5, 1/2000, ISO 1250, -.1

FEATURES I LOVE

• Crop modes in the camera
• The Megapixels
• Consistency between models
• How it feels in my hands

There are many great features on the D850, which you can view here, but my favorite is the ability to crop in the camera by pushing a button on the front left of the camera and turning a dial on the back right without ever taking my eye away from the viewfinder.   There are several choices: 30%, 50%, vertical, and square. Even at the 50% crop, I still have a 24 Megapixel image. I am an emotional shooter so I like to create images in camera; what I am seeing and experiencing through the viewfinder right when I click. Imagine instantly turning your 20-200 into a 400 and a 400 into an 800 – it’s powerful. Yes, the compression is not the same as using big glass so it is not a substitute for owning big glass, but during my 7 weeks of shooting in Africa, I used this feature around 30-40% of the time.

I have never owned a megapixel camera before so I thought that having 45 of them would mean a slower download, but with the SQD cards and Sony card reader, it is actually much faster than my flash cards with my 18 meg files. I have never been one to crop much in post for composition, but I have been longing to print some large creative pano-style images, and 45 megapixels will easily allow me to do this no sweat.

With the new crop feature, I no longer feel the need to have a body with a crop sensor so I have 2 D850s and the Z7 – all of which are full frames. They all have the same battery, charger, and card too, making life simple with fewer things to drag around. The consistency of buttons, dials, and menus has improved the consistency in my shooting and for the first time in my career, I have matching bodies, which I love!! The D850s are so incredible that I no longer feel I need a higher speed body such as the D5 or Canon 1DX and I am happy to lighten the load and save the money.

Ever since the first time I held a Nikon, I have loved the way it feels in my hands. The lenses are sleeker and slightly smaller in circumference. However, it took about 3 weeks for me to get used to the locations of some of the buttons, dials, and turning things backward – the placement of the buttons and dials now seems more fluid.

Nikon D850, 70-200 2.8, F4.5, 1/500, ISO 1600, -.2

DISLIKES AND DISADVANTAGES

• Slowness in maneuvering focusing point
• Setting a custom white balance

Nothing in life is perfect. Before making the switch, I already knew that moving the focusing points around was going to be slower, yet I was willing to compromise. This really has been the only major drawback for me that has been a bit of a challenge. With Canon, you could easily spin the dials and rapidly move the focusing points. With Nikon, you have to push/hold down the multi selector button (which is much slower than Canon) or use the joystick, which can stick on the D850 and really hangs up on the Z7 (I think this will improve through firmware or the second generation). However, this still outweighs the disadvantages I had shooting with Canon’s high-speed bodies.

One other concern I had was stopping down and opening up quickly, because Nikon requires you to push a button before turning a dial for adjusting the exposure. Yes, in time, I could retrain the movement. However, Nikon created a function called easy compensation that I was able to set up, and now it functions the same as how I shot with the Canon. Brilliant!!

With IR, it is important to be able to set a custom white balance, which is very easy in Canon, yet a bit more complicated and unintuitive with Nikon.

Other than these few issues, I am thrilled with the switch.

CHALLENGES

Other than getting use to the positioning of the buttons, dials, and menu’s, it is hard to break the habits and untrusting nature I have from shooting with previous limitations. With my all my Canon bodies I never trusted going higher than ISO 3,200 and over 2,500 was generally pushing it. With IR the more you closed down, the more you risked hotspots, which are almost impossible to correct in post if your output is fine art prints; F5.6 was safe, but F8 was pushing it. Therefore, as you see from my settings I am still shooting  too wide open (to get more light) to keep my ISO low, but with the new 850 I could have easily doubled and tripled my ISO for more depth of field. With the Z7 IR  and new Z glass F8 is entirely possible without hot spots. I will be back in Africa on Jan 2,, 2019 and I am going to shoot in manual on Auto ISO and push the boundaries, something I would never have considered on my old system.

WHY DID IT TAKE YOU SO LONG?

As with most things in life, it was down to time and money. I basically stayed in a bad relationship way too long out of convenience. Back in 2013, when I was ready to consider switching, I was already well into the planning stages of moving to Kenya. It was either the relocation and a Land Rover or switch to Nikon. That was not a tough decision. I then spent years of band-aiding my system rather than investing more into a system I was unhappy with. Most times when we finally bite the financial bullet and strip the burden, we find we are happy with our choice- hence the phrase – “I wish I would have done that years ago!”

Nikon Z7 IR, 24-70 2.8, F5, 1/1000, ISO 400, +.67

DO YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS?

NONE!!! The low-light capabilities are beyond my expectations and I no longer feel compromised between noise and sharpness. Even when I was in Uganda photographing the gorillas and chimps, the highest I had to raise my ISO was 4,000 in order to have a high enough shutter speed, but I could have easily doubled it like several of my clients. I guess I still have a little baggage from never wanting to go beyond 3200 with any of my Canons and that was pushing it. The first time I downloaded my images, I could almost cry when I saw the clarity in the detail. It is still blowing my mind. I finally feel as though I have the technical gear that matches my creative vision and shooting style!!!

SHOULD YOU SWITCH TO NIKON?

It would depend on the needs you have in creating your vision and producing the high-quality output of what you envisioned. Changing systems is not going to make you a better photographer. If you are happy with the quality of your product, NO! There is no reason to switch. However, if you are a wildlife photographer, then the D850 is a game changer.

If you are going to switch systems, I highly recommend jumping in with both feet and not trying to slowly move from one to the other, by shooting with both systems through the transition. This will only hinder your shooting. Throughly test out the new system, lay out a proper plan of selling your old gear and the investment to switch, and be %100 confident in your decision.

TECHNICAL REVIEWS

If you want to read more about the features of the D850 and Z7, here are some links to several great technical reviews.

D850
Ken Rockwell
DP Review
Photography life
Tome Hogan
D850 specs by Nikon

Z7 Mirrorless
Ken Rockwell
Photography life
Digital Trends

Nikon D850,70-200 2.8, F5, 1/500, ISO 1250

WITH DEEP GRATITUDE – for making this happen

I want to give a huge shoutout to Mark Comon of Paul’s Photo for expediting everything at a moment’s notice. Helping me out of one system and into another took him less than an hour. He took the Z7 out of the box and tested it for me before shipping it to Life Pixels. Most importantly, I want to thank him for the great extra service in responding to a few of my panic emails from remote Africa in a matter of hours! When you are off the grid and you have a problem with your gear, stuck on a 2G network if you’re lucky, you need someone at home base who has your back.

A huge thank you to Daniel at Life Pixels who has done all of my IR conversions and always in a rush!! His service is always beyond expectations.

With a huge amount of gratitude, I want to thank the entire NIKON team for all your support, pushing everything through so quickly, and the huge bag of swag that I will be proudly sporting on my workshops and at speaking events. It is so refreshing to be with a camera company that supports, listens to, and respects its professional photographers!

Throughout this post and below are a few images from the D850 and the Z7 shot during my past 7 weeks in Africa with on the Signature Safari Africa, Uganda Chimps and Gorillas, and Tribal Expedition in Northern Kenya.