A Full Wedding And Portraits With The Nikon ZF and Z6ii Side-By-Side

What a wonderful weekend I had this weekend, shooting a full wedding day again, this time though, very much on my own. As such, I was using my two cameras and on-camera flash. I thought I would share my thoughts on using these two cameras for work purposes, after taking so many photos between the wedding and all that goes with it, and the portrait shoot I done earlier that week.

First off, I’ve used the Z6ii for 18 months now, so I am very familiar with the camera. The ZF though I have owned for less than a month at this point, that said, the software side of the camera is almost identical on both cameras.

If we look closely at both cameras, they both share the same sensor, so images straight from camera look identical. Also, because they share the same sensor, I know that I do not need to worry about low-light performance. For my shoots in events, I generally use auto-ISO up to 6400, and I have no worries at all about any noise.

Currently I can not share any wedding images, other than the few I have shared as a sneak-peek on my Facebook photography page. So here are those images. All images are taken on the Nikon Z6ii and ZF, along with the Godox TT685N flash.

Just a little note on these images, they have been cropped to 5:4, although the couple will be getting the original camera ratio for their images. Images are all straight from camera and un-edited.

The biggest difference I found between the cameras was in the handling. While both are great to hold all day and use in various positions, the screens are the biggest bug-bear I have. As I mentioned in a previous article about things I love and dislike about the Nikon ZF, that screen really was a pain to use in the wedding. On the Nikon Z6ii, it simply slides up and down, so you can get down low or up high very quickly. On the Nikon ZF, you have to untangle the screen and pull it out and flip it over, and it sits by the side of the camera. This means you are always fighting to keep the horizon straight and the subjects in the centre of your screen!

I have read many moaning about this on cameras that use this type of articulated screen, and in professional, fast pace events, I can see the issue plainly. Of course, I will get used to it, and of course, for images in portrait mode it is a matter of just flipping the screen down, however, when photographing groups of people, it is difficult!

But, that was my only issue. As far as eye-autofocus, face-autofocus, tracking focus etc, neither camera let me down, even in very low light. When I got home and looked at the 1100 images I took, seeing that I did not miss focus once just blew me away. I’ve never understood why people have issues in modern cameras with autofocus, they must simply not understand how to use their cameras, as it works flawlessly!

As soon as the bride and groom receive their images, I will share a post with photos from the day. In the meantime, and feedback will be greatly welcome.