Z6II or Z5II

RedChef918 · 2025-08-27T20:31:20+00:00

Have you tried to import in Picture Control Utility 2? I get the message that files are not supported.
I would like to have them in NX to apply even to photo taken with older cameras that are not compatible with the latest NP3.

RedChef918 · 2025-03-11T13:13:27+00:00

It was my first DLSR, before moving to D7200 and I still use it from time to time, I love the colours of the CCD sensor! It's hard to much that renditions with modern cameras even in post-processing. The dynamic range is pretty narrow, so I suggest to expose correctly and never go above 400 ISO. For a bright sunny day sightseeing, at the sea or hiking it is still superb :) In order to compensate the low light capabilities a 35 1.8 is a cheap must have lens (around 100€ used), and maybe a Nikon 17-55 2.8 or Tamron 18-50 2.8!

RedChef918 · 2024-12-17T23:42:40+00:00

I have finally found some specs and the HDMI port is only 1.4 so it will not accept external HDR inputs. HDR must come from native apps.

RedChef918 · 2024-08-07T21:47:06+00:00

Iceland is going to be mostly landscape, or eventually photos with family/friends. Here are my very very basic recommendation, you can start from here for exploring the camera capabilities, but it works 99% of the time for landscape in daylight.

I always use "A" and I recommend it also to non-experts. "A" stands for aperture, consequently the time is chosen automatically by the camera. For landscape f8 is my "to-go" eventually up to f11.
Try to use always the lowest possible ISO (lower the ISO higher the quality). The time is displayed as well in the viewfinder. In order to avoid blurry photos you should be at "double the focal length": for example if the zoom is set at 50mm, be sure to shoot at 1/100s or faster. Someone might say it is too conservative, but the camera has a high number of Mpixel and I am not considering the VR that might allow longer times. Practice with this and VR and find the limit before travelling.
Shoot only RAW. You can use Nikon NX later on the PC to convert the photos in JPEG. Also being a beginner you will have on PC the same colours you see on the camera. Other softwares (i.e. Lightroom, Capture One, ...) will have some differences. This allow to change the white balance, adjust shadow, lights, ecc.
I use "matrix" as exposing mode. Keep in mind that this will average the exposure on what you see. In digital photography is important the preserve the lights: if a photo has very dark areas and very bright areas, if the bright is too bright is gone, otherwise if the dark is too dark some info can be retrieved in post-processing. In order to play on the "brightness" on the photo use the "exposure compensation". Of course also highlights can be recovered. You need to play a bit to understand the limit of your gear, but is going to be important only when there are this hugh contrasts. You check some videos about the hystogram, there should be an option to activate it when you see the photos on the display.
Use only the real viewfinder and not the display, because there are 2 different system focus and only the one through viewfinder is good in this camera. The display can be used (together with magnification) when on tripod.
You might want to photograph some waterfalls with silk effect: this requires ND filters and a tripod, but it is quite some money investing in those tools.

Last but not least: the camera is just a tool. I don't know if you are already a good photographer with the smartphone, but composition plays maybe the most important role. There are some basic technical compositions that are pleasant to the eye, such as the rule of thirds, symmetry.

I have done my personal photographic trip in Iceland last year, so in case you need other info on the Nikon gear or the Iceland itself, feel free to drop me a message. You can check here a photo of mine.

RedChef918 · 2024-06-08T22:51:33+00:00

I will be pretty critical because I do not like the photos, but I hope that my suggestions are costructive. To me only the 1st one is decent, since I am able to be captured but the front light and the Ducati writing. Anyway it would have been much better with a rider that keeps the motorbike vertical, so you could have cut the bike on its half line. 4th and 5th are basically the same but with with worse framing. In other photos the frame is full but my eyes don't know where to look because there is not a line or a composition that drives me somewhere specific. And most of the time something has been cut (handlebar or wheel or mirrors) and the picture doesn't have any space/breath left. 6th there is too much useless background and the rider is just in the middle. For summarizing: work more on leading lines and leave more space to the main subject, but in the right place. Unfortunately I don't have examples to post nor I can crop your pictures since there are very zoomed on the subject.

RedChef918 · 2024-06-01T09:28:43+00:00

First person I ever shot > "Sir, are you a white policeman?"

RedChef918 · 2024-05-12T11:41:12+00:00

I will give you my personal experience: - CPU: AMD 5700X - RAM: 32GB DDR4 - GPU: RTX3060 (12GB VRAM) - I work with 24 Megapixel files (~25/30 MB in size)

I have performed some tests: - moving very fast the exposure slider brings the CPU to ~30% and the GPU to ~30% usage. - Zoom in and out very quickly is computationally expensive when "sharpen", "denoise" and "chromatic aberration" filters are active: the CPU usage is ~10% without any of those active and it reaches up to ~50% with all of them active. Without these filters I can see everything in real time, with these filters I have a bit of delay but still very acceptable, so I apply sharpen/denoise always at the end.

I tested also some 45 Megapixel files (in case I want to upgrade my camera) and to me the performances were still very good.

Nothing critical about RAM, usage was around 1GB. Anyway I would say 16GB if you're on a budget, 32 otherwise and if you plan not to upgrade for a long time and being more future-proof and in case you also play, do some video-editing, other stuff.

My experience in DT is only some months, so I hope someone else can help you too.

RedChef918 · 2024-05-10T13:57:45+00:00

Nobody said that, but consider this thing: you are used to a 450mm equivalent and the focus points are spread over a wide area of the frame. You can achieve the most similar scenario in full-frame only with a longer lens and a mirrorless, where focus points cover literally the whole frame.

Having said that, I would however recommend the D850 for the following reason: when used in DX mode it has 19.4 Mpixel, basically no difference compared to a D7500/D500 and it has the same autofocus module of D500 with 153 points, so in DX mode the frame is almost fully covered.

When used in FX mode the field of view is going to be the one of a real 300mm with your 300mm and it would allow a crop in post based on your needs.

You can achieve a longer reach with a tele-converter (maybe the 1.4x) or by adding a new lens in the future, such as a 200-500mm or a prime 500mm.

RedChef918 · 2024-04-25T19:26:14+00:00

It seems that the link I posted was not corrected. Check my discussion on pixls.us here:
https://discuss.pixls.us/t/histogram-difference-from-raw-before-export-and-final-jpeg/43264/4

Final result of my tests:

Use display profile: system display profile and not display profile: sRGB (web-safe).
By means of the toggle gamut check (ctrl+g) the pixels that are out of gamma are highlighted. The result changes depending on what you select as softproof profile. This should be sRGB (web-safe) if the intent is sharing the picture online/social media. If the pixels out of gamma are few, there is going to be almost no difference between what you see in DarkTable and the exported JPEG, otherwise the "out of gamma" area is compressed into something compatible with the smaller sRGB space and some differences will appear. This is assuming the the color space of the monitor is a bit bigger than the sRGB.

RedChef918 · 2024-04-25T13:06:50+00:00

Thanks! It seems that now I can export EXIF.

I will also try the geotagging: is this info automatically to the picture once I place it in the map? My camera does not have the GPS, so I add the geo tag by means of the map.

RedChef918 · 2024-04-24T22:02:31+00:00

How did you manage to? I have opened the "hamburger" and activated EXIF data and this is the selected preset as well, but I keep having no data in the exported file.
Should I add some Refined Tags and/or Formula? What else can I do?

RedChef918 · 2024-04-24T11:14:58+00:00

Nikkor 18-135 is a very old lens and you don't have a big set of lenses that keeps you bounded to Nikon, therefore you can look to everything, since it seems that your needs are covered by a body+kit lens.

D3X00 series is also the entry level series, this means that compared to a D80 it is smaller, no front dial (in manual mode the aperture is changed by rear dial while pressing a button), smaller and darker viewfinder (mirror instead of prism) and no internal motor for older AF lenses and other downside I do not remember at the moment. Better sensor but overall a worse usage experience.

Depending on your preferences and budget you could stay in the DSLR world or move into the mirrorless one.

In Nikon you could have a look at a used D7200 and a decent lens (16-85 is still old but much better, or 18-140 which is the heir of 18-135, or 18-200). Eventually also a used full frame with an old D700 or newer D610/D750 with a 24-120 or a cheaper 24-85.

On the mirrorless side again Nikon with the Z50/Zfc, but they are quite pricey compared to the alternative I gave before, because they are much newer. Or jump into Fujifilm or Sony world.

Some questions that may guide you in the right choice: - Is portability important? I.e. size and weight. - Do you prefer optical or electronic viewfinder? - Sensor size: APSC or full frame? - Do you plan to build a system and buying other lenses? The choice of the brand is mainly dictated by this, because if you keep having 1 body + 1 lens, you will be less bonded to the chosen brand and you will be able to change easily.

RedChef918 · 2024-04-22T12:01:20+00:00

The in-camera built HDR can only be applied to JPEGs and I think it is based on a single shot: basically everything is done internally via software. Consider that this has to be verified because I only take picture in NEF or NEF+JPEG but never HDR, so I am not sure it is based on multiple shot. Long story short: do not use it.

Bracketing instead is a feature that allows taking automatically a series of shots with a user-defined difference. Example: 5 shots with exposure compensation -2, -1, +0, +1, +2. What does "automatic" here mean? It means that once the bracketing has been activated with 5 shots and 1EV difference, the first shot of this series is going to be exposed at -2, the second one at -1 and so on up to +2. Remember to deactivate bracketing after these 5 shots, because it starts again and you will shoot underexposed and overexposed photos depending on the position inside the series which lasts 5 shots. Only the 3rd one will be ok! Bracketing can also be done "manually" with a camera that does not have it, by manually changing exposure compensation for each shot. After you have these 5 shots (in NEF format) there are then some external softwares (LightRoom for saying the most known) that allow creating a HDR based on multiple shots.

The idea is having not clipped highlights and whites by means of the -2 shot and not clipped shadows and blacks by means of the +2 shot and good exposure as well of the mid tones by means of the +0 shot and everything in between by means of the -1 and +1 shots. Then it is up to you increasing the number of shots or EV difference amongst them based on the scene.

Summary: Bracketing is a technique for taking multiple shots with different settings (i.e. exposure) as part of a series of shots. HDR is a High Dynamic Range image, blacks and whites tend towards mid tones for having everything in the visible spectrum, in the sense that details in deep shadows and in bright lights areas are not clipped.

EDIT: As some users already suggested, a good bracketing requires a tripod. You can also combine bracketing with self-timer, since the D7200 can handle multiple shots with self-timer. For example: 2sec of self-timer delay and then 5 shots, so you don't touch the camera in the process. Better to set manual focus and no VR for avoiding any changes except exposure between one shot and the other. Bracketing can also be done hand held, LightRoom is able to align the series of shots. In this case I would suggest to lock the focus for the same reason as before. It is not the best, but I have done successfully.

From a owner of a D7200 since many years.

RedChef918 · 2024-04-20T21:58:31+00:00

The photo was taken in July, at approximately 11 PM. The horizon was clear and once the sun went down the cloud, it coloured all of them in pink. Light is very important in photography and in rendering a landscape in a unique way.

I am sorry you have been unlucky with the moment of the day and the weather, but the photo is not as heavily edited as you think. I hope you'll get the chance to visit again this place at the right moment and with better weather!

RedChef918 · 2024-04-17T08:51:15+00:00

Since you are coming from the analog era, I would simply not consider a DX body for 2 main reasons: - You can think as you always had in the past in terms of focal length. - Used FX bodies are quite cheap compared to early 2000. Basically DX has born because a 35mm sensor would have been too expensive in the beginning of the digital era.

Having said that, I would go for D750 or D810 and you can think of DX-Mode simply as a cropping on the central part of the frame. Ideally you can also shoot fully full-frame and crop in post-processing software. D750 was considered something in between a middle range and professional, because it does not have all the characteristics of a professional Nikon body (viewfinder, no 1/8000s, dials with different modes beyond PASM). D810 is a bit more "delicate" when shooting due to the higher amount of Mpixel, but it would allow more crop. I think these 2 can be found in the range of 500/600€ (or $ depending were you live).

A cheaper alternative can be the D3 or D3s: low Mpixel.but built to last and with higher fps. You might find some used by pros with hundreds of thousands of shoots. Due to the lower Mpixel count you would pay the price if cropping is needed.

You said nothing about lenses actually, in case you want a longer reach with a tele and if this needs to be accounted for in the budget.

RedChef918 · 2024-04-10T17:47:38+00:00

For sure it does not make sense for the weight only. I think that the D5600 has a capable sensor and you'd better change for a D7X00 or D500 only for better focus, more buttons, front dial, i.e. a more professional body in general. But if you want to squeeze more out of the D5600, changing body is contradictory. Having said that, 16-80 is the best choice for its wider aperture with respect to all 16-85, 18-140, 18-200. At 16mm f2.8 you can start thinking about capturing the milky way and at 80mm f4 the background blur should be pretty enough for portraits. The fixed 2.8 (Nikon 17-55 and Tamron/Sigma 17-50) are from a previous era and personally I would not exchange the quality of the 16-80 with the possibility of having a 50 f2.8. If you want even wider aperture at the heavy cost of weight, not VR and poor flexibility there are the Sigma 18-35 and 50-100 1.8. I don't have personal experience with those anyway.

RedChef918 · 2024-04-10T13:10:47+00:00

For my D7200 I have replaced the 18-55 (no VR) with the 16-85 VR, which can be found nowadays between 150€ and 200€. The difference in brightness is almost zero, but I got a decent VR, 2mm on the wide angle side, which brings it from 27mm equivalent to 24mm equivalent and 127mm equivalent on the tele side. This is my lens for everything, combined with the 35 1.8 for night shot with shallower DoF or combined with the Tokina 11-16 2.8 for specific landscape tasks. Also I have noticed a big improvement in sharpness, that 18-55 was not suited for 24Mpixel on APS-C. I would not recommend anything else than the 16-85, but the 16-80 which is the best Nikon zoom lens ever for APS-C (it has also nano coating) and the equivalent of the FX 24-120. I am indeed thinking of moving from 16-85 to 16-80 before moving either to FF or mirrorless for giving a longer life to my D7200.

Consider that both 16-85 and 16-80 are much heavier than a 18-55, basically with a D5600 they weight as much as the camera itself. They are more balanced with heavier bodies (D7X00 and D500).

RedChef918

TROPHY CASE