[Telephotopro]

Handheld Sharp

Looking at the Z-line

I want a mirrorless camera now. The new Nikon Z bodies have a model around $1300. Slow shutter speed images are much clearer without the vibration of a mirror snapping up and then down. The bodies are less bulky too. Who needs a mirror on a digital camera anyways? They’re a holdover from when film was sitting behind the lens needing to be protected before being exposed for a fraction of a second. There’s an electronically actuated sensor there now, behind the lens, no film waiting until the right moment. It’s kind of surprising it took like 20 years for the industry to catch up the that fact. SLRs are archaic and an irrelevant technology coupled with digital.

The only thing is I’ll need to get an adapter for all the old lenses I have. Of course they didn’t make the new Z bodies automatically interchangeable with the old lenses.

Here’s a two-year-old image of a moon photo I shot at Crescent City Harbor one very clear Northern California night in July. It was made without a tripod, and I can’t help but imagine how much sharper those moon craters would be if no mirror was clacking around during the shot. Not sure which camera it was with, either my D5200 body or the D5300, I don’t remember. The original image is on a hard drive somewhere, not in front of me. So I can’t look up the file info.

The caption from the post reads:  “I’m in Eureka at the moment but here’s a photo I shot the other day of the moon right after the sun set at Crescent City harbor with my 200mm f2.8. The RAW file is Photoshopped and cropped here as the image was only a small portion of the frame. But I’m pretty happy with the detail as it was hand held with my elbows supported on a concrete piling.”

I’m really looking forward to mirrorless.