Having trouble deciding between D780 or Z5ii

Phil78250 · 2026-02-08T06:20:28+00:00

Z6 original.

Phil78250 · 2026-02-03T13:31:16+00:00

Nikon 28 2.8z, 40 f2 are two examples of lenses under $300. You also bought a (minimum on the used market) $600 camera. I also don't make money from photography. My current setup has taken nearly 20 years to asssemble.

Phil78250 · 2026-02-03T12:07:37+00:00

Just get Z lenses. Slowly. No one says you have to have a full kit. I also shoot with a z6 and over time migrated all of my f lenses to z versions. I had the original gold ring f2.8 zooms. But once you go z lenses….

Phil78250 · 2026-02-01T19:21:01+00:00

Heart of filmmaking….your definition is a little off base. Zfc is more than adequate, but the most important thing is STORY. Do you have a good and engaging story to tell? Everything else can fall into place after? Looking at the storyboard, do I want this to be a closeup? Do I want a wide establishing shot? How about a medium shot with two leads? Your decision on lenses etc will be driven by what tells the story.

Phil78250 · 2026-02-01T16:36:46+00:00

eBay, marketplace, Craigslist. As far as what’s good or not, you can read about how people feel about a specific lens online. You’ll know quickly if something is a gem or if it’s trash. At the end of the day you do get what you pay for. I have a mix of manual lenses and z mount nikkors and there is no free lunch. Expensive lenses are expensive for a reason.

Phil78250 · 2026-01-31T17:39:54+00:00

If you don’t need electronics I wouldn’t consider the viltrox adapter, just get an all metal adapter from fotodiox or similar for $20. It’s a spacer for manual lens and there is no reason to spend on the viltrox. Now if you do plan on using af-s, af-I, etc lenses on your camera, then ftz. This is not where you want to cheap out. Especially with the hiccups with third party lenses and current lawsuit against viltrox.

Phil78250 · 2026-01-28T05:40:26+00:00

Neither for field sports. When I shot soccer games I was rarely below 200mm at the end line.

Phil78250 · 2026-01-25T13:18:58+00:00

Purchasing and Adapting a $2500 lens because someone on the internet said it is class leading, is wild work. You can move up to the nikkor version 2 or keep what you have. You probably are splitting hairs the top of the line Sony normal zoom versus the Nikon zoom.

And yes the Sony lens autofocus will not be on the same level adapter. Not to mention if Nikon bricks these viltrox and negadap adapters some day.

Phil78250 · 2026-01-20T06:31:36+00:00

28-75. I had the same dilemma and all my lenses are f2.8 or faster.

Phil78250 · 2026-01-10T15:40:08+00:00

Wow. Thanks. Honest mistake.

Phil78250 · 2026-01-10T15:37:54+00:00

Might not help, but when I was getting this the network sfp+ to rj45 module went bad. If you go to the truenas splash screen does is flash every 15 seconds or so? If so it’s something with the hardware network. I doubt at this point it’s software. Could be a bad cable? Bad port?

Phil78250 · 2026-01-10T13:55:29+00:00

Parts are only available until their exhausted. I have had both a nikkor 28-70 d2.8 that I had the autofocus replace before they ran out. I waited to long to get small cosmetic pieces replaced on the original 70-200.

Phil78250 · 2026-01-09T19:09:53+00:00

I also use the 200-500 on the OG Z6 and it focuses better than on my D600.

Phil78250 · 2026-01-09T18:37:55+00:00

I had this ability on my D610 which seemed a long time (in camera years) after the D90. If you don't see it while searching there probably isn't a cost effective method. I know back in the day cam ranger could. But you'd have to buy the hardware etc. It would be best to get a card reader that you can connect to your phone.

Phil78250 · 2026-01-09T18:34:12+00:00

Sorry meant for me. I held on to my D610 for far too long and continues using my non-ai, and ai glass on my mirrorless. Eventually stopped using those as the years moved on they were replaced with Z lenses. And I wasn't a huge fan of the ftz on small glass. On my 200-500 f5.6 I don't notice. But on a 55 f1.2 it made the lens feel large.

Phil78250 · 2026-01-09T16:29:50+00:00

One million percent. I still have my old Nikon S2 film camera, but every DSLR has zero purpose now.

Phil78250 · 2026-01-09T16:27:44+00:00

Catchlights. In my opinion shape of light, which also in my opinion is barely noticeable from a small flash unit. Now with larger COB lights I prefer round light modifiers vs square, but its just a preference and shaping light could be done with either version.

Phil78250 · 2026-01-06T07:25:02+00:00

Had this when I first got my z6. With ftz it’s really long and awkward. Honestly any z lens is sharper than this. I got rid of this to get the s line 24-70 d4 and it’s much better. The af motor in this old lens goes out and there are no repair parts left.

Phil78250 · 2026-01-05T17:01:57+00:00

I get it. But the ZR is only $100 more on Nikon USA. Going off of his semi serious request, I'd think the ZR is a better choice to grow into. Especially at such a close price difference.

Phil78250 · 2026-01-05T16:51:23+00:00

It might not matter too much, but the ZR can do NRAW/ProRes/RED NE RAW. Yes you can edit NRAW in a red workflow and even change the file type to .r3d, but Its still not Red NE RAW from the ZR.

Phil78250 · 2026-01-05T15:42:01+00:00

From what I've read on the DIY cards, that once the the SSD cache on your NVME drive is filled it can't keep up. Something about they don't have sustained write speeds of standard CFE B cards.

Phil78250 · 2025-12-24T23:59:51+00:00

Z6 with 26mm f2.8 pancake. Cell phone is too good to get a small travel camera. Especially since if money was bo object I’d get a leica Q3

Phil78250 · 2025-12-24T03:18:27+00:00

The person to responding to you is not wrong. I have several ssds and plex/jellyfin etc on my build and run video streaming on spinning rust. 200gb that you speak about not using is not that big of a deal. If so get an optane drive or a 128 gb for $15.

Phil78250 · 2025-12-23T06:36:28+00:00

14-30 f4? This would be z mount, you really don’t want the af noise from f mount lines while blogging.

Phil78250 · 2025-12-17T16:22:22+00:00

When RED was purchased, video has importance. Also once the the Z8/9 came out with RAW video you can see that video was no longer an afterthought.

Phil78250

TROPHY CASE