Hey, it’s Jay P. here. I’ve got the Nikon Z6III and on it I’ve got a Tamron 50-400mm f/4.5-6.3 lens. I put these two together because I want to shoot on this platform. First off, I love the Z series from Nikon. These cameras have been absolutely amazing. They give you great codecs. They give you great response. I mean, probably one of the best crossover cameras ever made was the Z8. Love that camera! And the Z6III is not that far behind.They picked up a lot of the great autofocus. They picked up a lot of great features that we saw in the Z8 in a much more affordable body. That makes this camera very attractive for those who want to get into a little better camera but don’t want to spend a fortune.
On it I’ve got an all-in-one Zoom from Tamron, a 50-400mm. All-in-one zooms are really attractive for people because it gives you so many options. This really works from a portrait type lens to more of a sports type lens. So it gives you that whole range of options and that’s why people gravitate to these kinds of lenses. And they’re really affordable. That’s what makes them so attractive. So let’s get out there and take some pictures. We’ll talk about the Z6III and the Tamron Lens as we do some images here at the Lighthouse.
The Z6III is a 24 megapixel sensor and they call it a partial stacked sensor. So it’s not a stacked sensor like the Z8. But we’re getting a partially stacked sensor which gives us some of those qualities. But it’s not going to be the same as a Z8. So it’ll be interesting to see how that plays. It certainly is fast. It gives us 14 frames per second in mechanical shutter and 20 frames a second in an electronic shutter. And you can shoot in that electronic shutter up to a 1000 raw images. So the 50-400mm is an eight times zoom, which gives us everything from a 50mm, through to a portrait type lens, to more of a sports, birds and wildlife. It just gives us a range that’s going to do everything from small groups to sports and wildlife applications. So that eight times zoom gives us a range that allows for a wide variety of things we can photograph and allows for some pretty good close-up work. You can get to a 0.5 macro work as well.
So the Z6III color is something that’s just really enjoyable to shoot on. It’s beautiful color, it’s rich, it has a great color balance. I don’t find it being too warm or too cool. I just find it very inspiring to shoot with. The Z8 was very similar and this does not disappoint. It really has the same kind of color. When you combine that Z6III, the color you get there, with the Tamron lens it’s got that BBAR 2 coating that really avoids ghosting and flares. It gives you a beautiful image between those two. I just really like the color rendition I’m getting as I shoot with this. It’s just really pretty. So let’s take a look at some of those images.
The construction of the lens has 24 elements in 18 groups that really helps to control the chromatic aberration. It’s got a great lens opening, 67 mm at the front. So it’s very small and compact. Which gives us a beautiful image with that Z6III. So let’s take a look at some of those.
The Z6III has an upgraded autofocus system that is more like the Z8 or the Z9. So you’re going to get 3D tracking. You’re going to get subject recognition. It’s just a major upgrade, they say at least 20% better than the Z6II. And it really proves as we shoot here, as we’re tracking birds and things. It’s just really fast and it sticks on the subject matter. When you combine it with the VXD of the 50-400mm you get a system that really is made to track and to stick on motion objects from birds to sports and really performs extremely well.
One of the things I love about shooting with longer lenses is the compression you get. What compression is, and I did a little short that’ll be up on this, and that is it really brings the background forward and compresses it to the person in the foreground. I shot some shots of a gentleman over here with the lighthouse in the background and that long lens just brings those two together and gives you that really compressed image. I love the look of that. It’s just a great look. So here’s some of those images of that gentleman I photographed with the lighthouse in the background. So you’re going to get that compression when you get above 100 mm, especially when you start to get into 200, 300 and 400mm. Just get great compression. Sometimes that compression can just bring the whole background forward and make it fall out of focus. Which is great. Or you can actually see the subject in the background and it’s just a really kind of out of focus but it’s still there. It can be a great look.
Really what happened was I started meeting all the musicians and they started asking me to do their head shots because I always had my camera. One of my friends, a great drummer, Scott Crago, he called and said, “Man I got this audition for Stevie Nicks. I got the gig. They need a photo for the tour book.” So I did this photo for the tour book and next thing you know a cymbal company is calling and asking if I wanted to shoot more of the drummers for them. And you know, that was kind of what set me on my way doing what I love. Drumming, taking pictures, traveling around LA in my Nomad with my cases that protect all my nearest and dearest tools, whether it be my drum kit or my cameras or my lighting. Hey, I’m Rob Shanahan. I’m a drummer, a photographer and endorser of the SKB case. They get all my gear and my drums safely to where I need to go.
So ergonomically the 50-400mm is a very compact 8X zoom. It’s about 7.3 inches and about 41.6 ounces. So it’s very compact and lightweight. It has a 67mm thread on the front. So it’s that same filter size across all the lenses that Tamron’s been doing in this small compact range. And it just gives you certainly the ability to carry it because it’s lightweight and compact. It’s got the button on the side you can go in and you can program using their utility. You have the different custom autofocus and your custom stabilization modes on the front of the lens. So it really is compact and lightweight.
We see with the Z6III, very interesting, it looks at first glance like it’s pretty much the same as the Z6II. But it’s a little more like the Z8. It’s a little larger camera. It’s a little heavier camera. But it’s going to give us a great performance. We see the buttons on the side which gives us great access for customizing the buttons. I find that using the Nikon is just very tactile, very easy. It’s easy to get over to the record button for me. I’ve got the ISO and the things where I want them. I’ve got the back joy stick and the round dial. I mean, for this price range we have everything we need in this camera.I don’t feel like we’re losing anything. We aren’t making a lot of compromises ergonomically to be able to give us a good camera at this price point. Great grip so I can hold it with a heavier lens. And it just makes it very easy. One of the things about this I think is probably the most exciting is the EVF. It’s like 5.7 million.That number is probably not exactly right, but it’s extremely bright. And it gives you, working outside, it just really is easy to work out side and to see exactly what you’re doing. Both the screen on the back and the EVF are probably one of the more powerful that we see out there. They give us great detail to be able to see to be able to work outside in hot and really bright light situations. So ergonomically great camera that Z6III and the Tamron, that small compact 8X zoom.
One of the nice things about this lens is that you have macro capabilities. You can get pretty close about 9.8 inches at 50-70mm. So at 9.8 inches you’re getting to the range of half macro. So you’re getting pretty close to your subject matter. When you go to 400mm you’re more like 59 inches. But what’s useful about that is that it still allows you to get in very close to the face. Here’s some shots I did of my grandson. I’m in super close on his face and that’s because I can focus up to that 59 inches at 400mm. Which means you’re right in an extreme closeup on the face and things are in focus. So it gives you that macro capability at the broad end, 50mm. And it gives you really closeup focus capabilities at the 400mm end. So I find this really interesting. It gives you a lot of options as far as macro type or closeup work is concerned.
So the Z6III has eight stops of stabilization and combining that with the Proprietary VC Stabilization you get in the Tamron Lens, it really is easy to handhold this. So having no problem being able to track birds and to photograph. I feel like I was getting stable shots. I didn’t have to be at you know 1/3,000th of a second or anything. I’m getting decent shots at a 1/100th of a second. Which is pretty dang good if you’re out at 400mm. So just, those two working together made this very easy to be able to photograph and get sharp images.
Now in video mode with this lens it’s got AI algorithms that just gives you the right compensation, the right stabilization for the situation you’re in at anything under 100mm. So it’s calculating that for you and giving you the right kind of stabilization that you need when you’re in that video mode. So together these two worked extremely well together.
So the Z6III has some pretty incredible video codecs. You’ve got 6K 60p at N raw video. You got 6K 30p at Pro res raw internal recording. Those are two codecs that really give you a high-end look here. This is a great companion to the Z8 if you’re going to use them as an AB camera. We also have 5.4k at 60p and H-265 video.
One of the features it has that I absolutely love, I just think it’s probably one of the most useful features on modern cameras, is a pre-burst. And that pre-burst means that I can start, if I set the pre-burst on, it’s recording once I wake my camera up. And then when I see my bird fly I hit, I start shooting frames and it takes the frames for like the last half a second or sometimes up to a full second. So you get that in flight, you get that moment the insect leaves. Pre-burst is pretty incredible.
So these two really work seamlessly together. The autofocus was seamless. I just was able to stick on the birds and get great images. It stuck with them. I was able to handhold it. So the stabilization was very good. And it gave me great images, beautiful color. I just absolutely love the color you get. And especially these two working together we just got beautiful color and beautiful images. So let’s enjoy some more of those and keep those cameras rollin’ and keep on clickin’!
