With the introduction of Nikon’s mirrorless cameras - Z6, Z7, it opens the possibility of carrying two cameras on travel journeys. The immediate benefits are:
1. Can have different lenses on each camera and avoid lens changes in harsh environments
2. With different lenses on each camera you can make quick decisions about which lens to use without fumbling around with lens changes
3. If the two cameras are the Z6 and the Z7, each has different characteristics which can be beneficial in particular situations.
4. Two Z-cameras, with compact lenses is not far from the weight and volume of a single D850 with a big lens.
5. With the Z6 and Z7, each has identical menus and UI. And can be customized identically. There’s no confusion about configuration.
6. In the event of camera or storage failure, you have an immediate backup
7. For most travel situations, you need to carry a backup anyway just to be safe. It could be the iPhone but I’m not yet ready for that.
In short, we have entered the era of where cameras are accessoies to lenses, not the other way around.
However, there are drawbacks:
1. Two cameras need twice the attention of one (handling, straps, batteries, storage cards, download, etc.)
2. Since the Z6 and Z7 look identical, it’s easy to get confused between the two
3. If you are using SnapBridge for transfer and GPS, you need to manually select the camera in the SnapBridge app for (Bluetooth) connection. This makes it tricky for quick-change situations where you’d like to get the benefit of download and location data.
4. Two cameras make you look like a bit of a geek
5. You need twice the number of accessories - batteries, memory cards, FTZ adapters, etc.
Nevertheless, I believe there’s a net benfit for travel photography so I’m going to give it a go on an upcoming trip to the National Parks of Utah.
What works best?
Z7:
1. Landscape photography where maximum resolution and DR is key
2. Photography with long lenses (not necessarily fast moving actiion) where the crop-ability of the greater resolution sensor is beneficial
Z6:
1. Situations where fast frame rate (and deeper buffer) is important
2. Low-light situations where superior high ISO performance is important
3. Situations where resolution is less important than speed, file size, editing efficiency. (Instagram)
4. Situations wher you want to do video (something I must get into)
Where it doesn’t matter:
1. Flash photography
2. Portraits
So, for this trip, I’m going to go with the following:
Z7:
24-70mm f/4 S - general purpose, may require some cropping
Option: 70-300mm f/4.5 - 5.6 with FTZ adapter - achieves 450mm in DX mode @ 20+Mpixels
Z6:
14-30mm f/4 for wide angle shots that require less cropping
Option: 35mm f/1.8 S for low light, indoor and flash situations
My guess is that I’ll use the Z7 with the 24-70mm lens for most (National Park) stuff and the Z6 with the 35mm lens for indoor shots with flash (party).