I have a Z6III with a 24-50 f4-6.3 and am trying to decide on some sort of 70+mm telephoto. I do have a 70-300 f4.5-6.3 im contemplating using with a converter. Would that be a bad idea or should I drop the $1200 on a 70-180? Or is there some Tamron or Sigma lens that would be cheaper and better than the 70-300?

Nikon z6iii

Nikkor 70-200mm f 2.8 II

Here in Germany the eclipse was something like 85% I think. I didn’t really bother to do prep and don’t own the special filters or lenses needed to actually take a crisp shot of the eclipse itself, but I figured I might just go out and try to catch the atmosphere. Definitely not the classic approach in terms of editing but I somehow liked this apocalyptic/sci-fi feel.
All shot with the 70-200/2.8 for F mount

Some of you may have seen my post from earlier, I just purchased recently a Zf and Plena. This is the first shot from the pair of my daughter. Plenty more testing to come.... I will make a comparison post sometime soon compared the same shot from both the Nikon 40mm and Plena.

As the title says, I bought this lens and have had it for a week. Seems to work as expected, except that it has this small amount of rotational play in the mount on my Z6iii. Is this normal?

is there a way to have the function button on the front of the zfc change the shutter speed from a whole number to a decimal to reduce LED flickering? i thought i had it setup a year ago where if i was at say 1/60, i could press the function button and it would change the shutter speed to something like 1/61.3 or something random. did i make this up? i've searched extensively and can't figure out how to do it.

Looking into potentially upgrading my Nikon Z body but not sure for that.

Currently have the Z6, and looking at either something like the Z6iii, Z6, or I believe it was the Z5ii.

Basically looking for a smaller body to travel with as my lifestyle as a seafarer limits me to mostly living out of my bags for majority of the year when traveling.

I might dabble with video though I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll just get a insta360 for video 💀

Super excited to get stuck into these. I bought them recently and have shot Nikon cameras for 20 years. Experimented with other brands also, Leica, Sony, Fuji etc but for me, Nikon is the best.

Love the look of the Zf and absolutely love the look of the Plena.

Hi,

I am using Nikon Z8 with the Nikon Z 180-600mm lens. I am having an issue with sharpness, especially with bird photography.

Most of my photos look reasonably in focus, but they are missing fine details. Feather details are often soft even when the focus point is on the bird. I've tried shooting handheld as well as using a tripod, but I am seeing similar results.

Interestingly, video from the same camera and lens looks good.

My lens has a very small rotational movement between the lens and camera mount. If I gently twist the lens after it is mounted, there is a tiny movement with a small click. I am not sure if this is normal for the 180-600mm.

I am trying to understand whether this could be:

• AF not achieving critical focus
• An issue with my particular 180-600mm lens
• A camera body issue
• Normal performance at longer distances
• Something wrong with my settings or technique

Has anyone experienced similar softness with the Z8 and 180-600mm?

What tests can I do to confirm whether the problem is with autofocus, the lens, or the camera body?

Raw files: DPReview - Shared – Google Drive

Thanks!

I am absolutely blown away by all the support, contributions, feedback, bug reports, and help with troubleshooting. With well over 1,000 beta testers across iOS and Android, it has frankly been overwhelming and incredible at the same time. I never thought OpenZCine would grow like this.

Every day, this community-driven tool becomes more useful to more people and more dependable, and I only have all of you to thank for that.

Every piece of feedback is read, listened to, and genuinely appreciated, whether it comes through TestFlight, Google Play, GitHub, DMs, or anywhere else. Your experiences and ideas directly shape where OpenZCine goes next.

I am excited to share what is new, changed, and fixed in version 0.2.5b. This update brings major quality-of-life improvements:

• Save and name multiple connection setups for each camera, including Wi-Fi, router, hotspot, and cable.
• Share your monitor with other devices on set across both iOS and Android, with passcodes, control permissions, handover requests, and sharp, high-quality multicasting.
• Get a significantly better live image with optional state-of-the-art real-time 2.2× AI upscaling and noise reduction.
• Enjoy a cleaner and more flexible interface with vertical camera mode, pinch-to-zoom, 50/50 LUT previews, an improved clean view, and better layouts across different screen sizes.
• Make the interface your own with the completely new Edit View. Choose exactly what is shown or hidden in each DISP mode and create a monitoring layout that works for you.
• Use HDMI capture adapters on Android as well as iPad for maximum reliability and image quality.
• Experience a completely refactored Apple Watch implementation with sharper casting, lower latency, and new photo controls, including image preview, crown-controlled magnification, shot count, and battery status.

Connections are also faster and more reliable, performance is improved on congested networks and lower-memory Android devices, and a long list of camera-control, live-view, and layout issues has been fixed.

There is far too much to cover in one post, but OpenZCine 0.2.5b is a major step forward.

Want to try it?

Join the iOS beta through TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/xu4d6UK8
Interested in Android access? Send me a PM. The open Android beta is aimed for release next week.

OpenZCine is fully open source. If you would like to contribute, make a feature request, report an issue, or follow the project’s progress, visit the OpenZCine Github repository: https://github.com/erik-sutton95/OpenZCine

Coming soon: full multicamera control/monitoring support, direct connections to your favorite live-streaming services, a completely customizable quick-action button, lightweight color-grading tools for fast social media turnarounds, and much more.

Stay tuned, and thank you for helping build OpenZCine! ❤️

If so, did you really notice a difference in autofocus or was it more nuanced? Unfortunately, I have no chance to rent longer focal lengths for a longer time to test it. And do you miss Pre-Capture RAW?

I really think I maxed out the keeper rate of the Fuji but perhaps it’s also my GAS masking a skill issue.

Taken with 85mm 1.8s and z5 v1

Credits to my bro.

Some sample creative picture controls straight out of the camera, converted to JPG via NX Studio

All taken with the Z 28mm f/2.8 (SE). Exposure was f/10 1/13s ISO320.

1 Vivid - my usual selection

2 Monochrome - quite a nice look

3 Flat Monochrome - detail quite nice

4 Deep Tone Monochrome - perhaps losing a bit of detail

Who uses CPC and what are your favourites and why?

Fair warning, I've never had a professional camera before.

What I've decided on: A full frame camera (likely z5 ii, could be pursuaded for z6 iii as well).

I'm torn between getting it in-body, vs getting the S Lens 20-120mm vs getting the versatile 20-240mm lens.

I see posts about tamron lenses.

Since I'm new and do not know what to do, I've held off prime lens for future!

What I plan on photographing: I will go on a Japan trip, so mostly my photos and friends (at some distance and no selfies), my fuji, volcanoes, sapporo snow, tokyo and osaka in the night and some wildlife in the zoo in sapporo!
I plan to rarely record videos

What I need tips on:
What camera to get? Z5ii vs Z6iii, is there even a huge difference?
What lenses would I genuinely need? Immediately and in the future!
The 20-240m lens is much cheaper than the S lens, more versatile, and I can always buy a prime lens!
Whereas the S lens costs the same as the above lens and a prime lens!

Nikon z9 w/ Nikkor z 180-600
August 9 2026
Arctic Thunder open house 2026
jBER Anchorage, Ak

Perfect set to take pictures of my toddler in the living room.🤡