Nikon Zf - First Impressions and Fujifilm X-T5 Comparison

Written By Robi Balazs

I want to start with saying that I've always been a tech nerd and I've always liked cameras, so it's natural for me to want to test out different options. 

But even then, I've always kept gravitating back to Fujifilm for some odd reason - maybe it's the shooting experience, or the filmic quality of the images (even though sometimes I don't like that I can't get that clinical sharpness like I can get from Sony or Nikon - I'm sure it's because of the different sensor type).

So in this blog I want you to keep this in mind, because I will keep comparing my experience with the Nikon to that with the X-T5.

Let's begin!

 

Nikon Zf with the Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 lens

 

Intro

Almost 2 years ago Nikon released the Zf. Back then I did not give to much thought about it mostly because 2 years before that I had the Z6 and I wasn't sold on it. And I also just got back to Fujifilm with my first X-T3.

But fast forward to today, and in the past few weeks I saw a lot more people talking about the Zf again. Mostly because the changes they brought to the camera with the 2.0 firmware update. Checked out a few videos and articles to find out that besides a few good quality of life changes, they also introduced Nikon Recipes and the much more customizable Flexible Colours Picture Control "profile".

So I said to myself: "This camera is FF, looks amazing, and now they also try to compete almost directly with Fuji... I need to have it now".

So that's what happened, and I bought it.

Here it is in all it's glory:

Nikon Zf with Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 lens

 

Build Quality

The first thing that will hit you is the weight. Body only with the battery and SD card is around 710g. Put a decent lens on it and you are looking at 1kg pretty easily. And it would not be a huge problem if not for the bad grip - but let's leave that to the handling section.

Just as a comparison the Fuji X-T5 is around 557g.

The second thing that will make an impact is the build quality. And this will make you question every other camera that you owned (unless you are a Leica user - or some other absolute premium brand user).

It feels like a tank, the dials feel fantastic to rotate and use. The buttons are perfectly balanced between being rubbery and tactile. The body is mostly made of magnesium alloy, the top dials are brass metal. And the battery door is... whatever, you don't use that too often 😅

It's not bad, it's just that it doesn't hold up to the rest of the camera.

Also, comparing the build quality to the Fuji X-T5, the Fuji almost feels like a toy. I said almost, because the Fuji is still decent.

 

Handling and user experience

After the camera left its mark on you with the quality and its heft, the next thing you'll notice is that it has a few really nice features that allows for good usabilty.

It obviously has the dedicated dials, but also has the smaller front and rear dials in case you want to use those. Then there are quite a few buttons to configure to your heart's content. The menu is pretty easy to use, in about 30-40 minutes I went through everything and set everything up to what I wanted.

The screen is really handy for al sorts of things as it's a vary-angle screen. But honestly, I think that for these kind of cameras the 3 way tilty screen from the Fuji X-T5 would be much better.

But then, I went out for a 2 hour photo walk with the camera and I started questioning the decisions they made around the grip. It's so small, you can't hold the camera well, you don't have a place where you can hook your fingers in when holding the camera at the side of your body when walking. This, and the weight of it, makes you pinch a bit harder which in the end results in fatigue in the fingers.

Then, when the moment arrives and you raise the camera to shoot, you realise that there is no thumb rest either. If you look at the X-T5, it has a decently deep grip, and also has that protruding element to which you can rest your thumb on. This allows you to hold the camera with less effort, because your hand kind of gets "stuck" onto the camera.

As an illustration, the X-T5 with the 23mm f/1.4 WR lens weighs 951g - measured by me because I wanted to make sure that the Fuji is really heavier with this setup. Meanwhile the Nikon Zf with the 28mm f2.8 plastic lens weighs 867g. And it doesn't matter. The Fuji is just so much more comfortable to hold, even for a short period of time.


I know this can be solved by getting some accessories and giving the Zf a bigger grip and a thumb rest. But seruosly? I need to buy extra stuff for about 50 bucks, to then add another 100-150g extra to the already heavy Nikon, to supposedly make it more comfortable!? I'm sure it will not get more comfortable then the barebones X-T5, but I guess that's what I will need to do. I will update you about how I feel about the handling in my bigger review video when I finish testing the Zf.

Nikon Zf - LEFT VS Fujifilm X-T5 - RIGHT

 

Firmware update 2.0

Now I did not have the camera with the older firmware, so I can't tell you how life changing these updates are. But I can confirm that I was able to easily set up my Zf the way I wanted to. Every setting is easy to understand and I did not find any inconvenience on how the camera works.

The main update for me though, was the new Picture Control settings. Using the NX Studio app on my laptop, I can create these picture profiles, like you would do in Lightroom with presets, albeit with a bit more limited set of sliders and settings. And then you load these in the camera and voila, you have your custom Nikon Recipe applied to your JPEGs. And just so you fully understand this, you can change:

  • Sharpness - 2 types

  • Clarity

  • Contrast

  • Highlights

  • Shadows

  • Whites

  • Blacks

  • The whole HSL tab

  • 3 way Colour Wheel grading tool

  • You can switch from using the Contrast/Highlights/Shadows/Whites/Blacks sliders to a single Tone Curve if that's what you prefer

From my short experience with this, I can tell that it's powerful enough to make really nice edits in camera with this. BUT it's not for replicating film stocks and the film look like what Fuji does with the Fujifilm Simulations and Recipes.

Nikon still misses the softer film look, there is no grain setting, the colours can be manipulated however you want, but you still lack those specifically developed film simulation colours (which are not easy to replicate). 

What I think Nikon wanted to do with this, is to give the users the possibility to edit their images in camera in the typical "Lightroom style editing way". 

So if you are currently editing your images in Lightroom, but you were thinking on a way to make this process less tedious, this is a good way to almost completely remove editing from your workflow (obviously if what the NX Studio app allows you to change is enough for you)

I like to have my own stylized images ready to go from the camera, but I found that with Nikon I still mostly want to edit the files myself for a better result. Unlike with Fujifilm where I'm satisfied with the results form my Recipes.

The images down below are straight out of camera JPEGs with my quickly developed Nikon Recipes (one colour and one B&W)

 

Final thoughts

So, as you can see, my experience with the Nikon Zf is a bit more mixed towards good I'd say. It certainly makes me think about giving it a bit more time to convince me.

With proper accessories 😠 and more getting used to the handling of the camera, it might sway me over from Fujifilm, because in the end the Zf is a better built, faster focusing, better looking (in my opinion) camera.

And the images can be manipulated a bit more and look better in my opinion. The colours and vibe is  a wash between the two, each having its own style and I like them both equally, but the image quality is better on the Nikon.

PS.:

Just so you have a better view on what I use to test and compare these 2 cameras, and also a way for you to support me if you want (without any extra cost to you):

And a few more images that are edited in Lightroom

Robi Balazs
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