Is the Nikon Z6 a good replacement for a D750 for outdoor photojournalism?
Asked 6/1/2019
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2 answers
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We need to replace a worn Nikon D750 and our budget limits us to either another D750 or a Nikon Z6. Our work involves heavy outdoor use in harsh environments, with around 1,000 stills per day and frequent fast continuous shooting.
We know the Z6 has several advantages, but we’re unsure whether it is as durable and reliable for this kind of daily use. We’re also considering battery life, memory card reliability, and autofocus performance for action/photojournalism.
Would the Z6 be a practical replacement for a D750 in this use case? Also, can we use Nikon F-mount 24-70mm f/2.8G ED and 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR lenses on the Z6 with the FTZ adapter without major compromises?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
2 Answers
4
The two significant disadvantages of the Z6 compared to the D750 are considerably shorter battery life and only a single memory card. If you don't mind buying/carrying a few spare batteries and don't need to use two cards to record each image on both cards for redundancy, then the only other major issue you have mentioned regarding the Z6 is build quality and reliability.
As far as toughness/weather resistance/reliability goes, it's still way too early to judge that and the jury is still out on the Z6 at this point in time.
Otherwise, the Z6 outperforms the D750 in many measurable metrics. It has a much deeper buffer that allows longer raw bursts before the buffer fills.
There are some reports that the "hit rate" is not as good in continuous AF with the Z6 as compared to the D750. Which would work better for you depends on whether you would rather have fewer images with 90% in focus or a lot more images with 60-70% in focus. Tony Northrup claimed he only got about 2.5 frames per second that were actually in focus when using the Z6 at 12 fps.
Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15871
7y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
The Z6 can be a viable D750 replacement, but there are trade-offs for photojournalism-style outdoor use.
From the answers, the main Z6 downsides versus the D750 are:
- much shorter battery life
- a single memory card slot
- some reports of lower continuous-AF hit rate
On the plus side, the Z6 offers a deeper buffer, so it can sustain longer RAW bursts before filling up.
For durability and weather resistance, the answers say it was still too early to judge whether the Z6 would match the D750’s long-term toughness and reliability under heavy field use.
About lenses: your F-mount 24-70mm f/2.8G ED and 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR are expected to work on the Z6 via the FTZ adapter, but the provided answers do not give specific long-term field experience beyond that.
So: if you need proven durability, longer battery life, and dual-card redundancy, another D750 is the safer choice. If you can live with extra batteries, a single card slot, and potentially less reliable continuous AF, the Z6 offers meaningful performance advantages such as a deeper burst buffer.
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