Nikon’s new ZF is a retro-styled full-frame digital camera aimed proper at our nostalgic hearts

After 9 years of often chasing the retro-camera-with-modern-features unicorn, Nikon might have lastly gotten the system proper. 

The Japanese digital camera maker is asserting the Nikon ZF, a contemporary mirrorless digital camera filled with pretty excessive specs — like a 24.5-megapixel full-frame sensor, 299-point monitoring autofocus with topic detection, in-body picture stabilization, and twin card slots (of a form) — in a physique that appears identical to one of many digital camera’s analog forebears. Nikon might have executed this dance earlier than with its trifling ZFC and long-forgotten Df DSLR, but it surely’s correcting its major errors with these cameras by giving the ZF a full-frame sensor and aggressive worth of $1,999.95 when it launches mid-October.

Whereas the Df might look an entire lot like an previous Nikon FM2 or FE2 movie digital camera, it’s acquired the identical Expeed 7 processor present in Nikon’s higher-end Z8 and Z9 cameras, together with a lot of their accouterment. The ZF has five-axis in-body picture stabilization Nikon claims is nice for eight stops of correction, 3D monitoring autofocus, 4K 10-bit H.265 video with as much as 60 frames per second cropped or 30fps full-width, an articulating 3.2-inch touchscreen, and steady burst capturing as much as 30fps. However what separates the ZF probably the most from the Z8 and Z9 are its classic seems to be with traditional dials, a devoted swap for monochrome mode, and an audible KACHUNK-sounding mechanical shutter (the Z8 and Z9 solely use digital shutters).

It’s these seems to be, sounds, and really feel that actually give the ZF its biggest allure, as my colleague Becca Farsace acquired to expertise in her all-too-brief hands-on time within the video above.

The ZF appears positioned primarily at photographers who idolize the cameras of yore however need the newest tech and options to get increased picture high quality than movie can present. It’s mainly Nikon’s biggest reply but to Fujifilm (which constructed its X-system on classic digital camera aesthetics) and its largest try and courtroom movie fanatics and people who covet Leica cameras however can’t justify their super-high costs. The ZF isn’t practically as hardcore of a digital camera because the black-and-white-only Leica M11 Monochrom, as its monochromatic mode is solely a software program filter relatively than a part of the sensor’s {hardware} design, but it surely dabbles in Leica’s vibes-based world with its seems to be and its magnesium-alloy construct.

The facade begins to interrupt down slightly as soon as you set a non-vintage-looking Nikkor Z lens on it. There are solely two old-school fashion “SE” lenses in Nikon’s lineup, a 28mm f/2.8 and a 40mm f/2, so most of Nikon’s present lenses will break your Steve McCurry cosplay a bit. You’ll be able to mount true classic glass to the ZF, however that awkwardly places an adapter in the best way. And talking of awkwardness, whereas it’s nice the ZF helps twin card slots, it’s an SD and microSD tandem — which is simply kinda bizarre, even when I’ll take what I can get.

I’ll wager most of the ZF’s quirks will be forgiven by the photograph diehards who love a digital camera that appears and acts like a digital camera greater than a laptop computer. I can recall the hype behind the Df in 2014 when Nikon was first teasing a return to the great ol’ days. That digital camera might need had some success if it wasn’t so costly and wasn’t a re-housed Nikon D600 physique with an awesome sensor however the video stripped out. And when the ZFC got here out in 2021, the collective groan from many people was primarily, “Good work, Nikon. Now strive once more, and don’t make it from low-cost plastic or give it a cropped sensor that you simply’re prone to ignore with lens assist.” The ZF seems to be prefer it’s precisely that — a metallic, full-frame digital camera that honors Nikon’s roots and makes use of its finest glass.