Nikon Z6III First Look | The Awesome Autofocus Ability No One Mentioned

00:00 Introduction
00:40 The Last Big Mirrorless Camera Drawback
01:40 DSLR VS Mirrorless Low-Light Focusing
04:06 Sony A9III Autofocus Test (Comparison)
05:00 Z6III Autofocus Test
06:42 Sony A1 Autofocus Test (Comparison)
08:28 Taking a Closer Look at The Z6III Body

Nikon Z6III Specs:

24MP "Partially Stacked" CMOS sensor
14fps with mech shutter, 20fps e-shutter up to 1000 Raw files
Up to 60fps JPEG in full resolution, 120fps with APS-C crop
In-body image stabilization rated at up to 8.0 stops
5.76M dot EVF with high brightness and wide color gamut
Fully articulated 3.2" 2.1M dot rear screen
6K/60p N-Raw video, 6K/30p ProRes Raw
5.4K/60p H.265 video
Pre-burst capture, pixel-shift high-res mode

Nikon Z6III Body Only: $2496.95
Nikon Z6III w/24-70 F/4 S Lens: $3096.95

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[cameraz]

Great video. I love my Z6 III. I was taking photos of my little niece running around in a park sprinkler, and the camera locked onto her eye, even when she was behind the sprinkler spray. My Z6 II probably would have switched focus to the water spray.

[kotsy]

Thanks for this comparison! I'm sold on this even more and will probably buy 2 when I'm able to

[edmtrip]

I just came from your friend Beyond Xen. We all love you Jeremy haha

[petrpohnan]

Good and interesting test, thank you!

I just tried this 1/60, f/8, ISO64000 with my years old Canon R6 and it tracks the face effortlessly too.
The unsuccess of the Sony is somehow logical - it focuses down to -4EV only. Canon R6 to -6.5, Nikon Z6III to -10EV.

On the other hand, shooting at that extremely high ISOs while having stopped down to a very dim f/8 makes zero sense. If you want to show the environment, use wider FL for deeper DoF at wide apertures. I always combine UWA f/2.8 zoom with sub f/1.8 primes in the standard to short telephoto range.

[BrandonBurch]

How did Nikon do it?...The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural...

[qamstel]

That is very important for me cause Im shooting primarily events in low light. My Z6 struggles a lot in that area. Thanks

[caleidoo]

With a DSLR you can use your flash - even with firing disabled - AF asist light to nail focus in pitch black light conditions. And unlike walking around with a huge LED light to light everything up, it remains unnoticable for the people you're trying to capture - on a wedding dance floor for example. Resulting in great candid photos. Therefore, DSLR lowlight (with flash AF light) will always be even more reliable than mirrorless. I miss that feature on my Z6III. I don't understand nobody is selling a flash with the same capability, but adapted to mirrorless. Even a laser grid or beam of green light might help. The Z6III is obviously better than my Z6II. But it's not as good than my old D750 & SB-910 combo with AF assist light. The resuslt is, more overshooting to compensate. So more photos to dig through later.

[thekofi]

Stellar review and thank you Jeremy. I'd like to ask a favour. I think your AF test showing the Z6III's focus acquisition in low light is fantastic, and you're one of the few that's actually tested this properly. Would you be able to take shots too and see the hit rate? I'm asking because I've heard that sometimes cameras may lock on focus in low light, but then you take the picture and the focus is slightly off. The Z6 III looks confident, so I think the hit rate will still be good in low light, but I'd be interested in this comparison with the A1/A9III if time permits it for you. Thanks again for this video.

[ronaldpollard]

Insightful & fair presentation! Thanks man!!

[qamstel]

This is going to be a game changer for events with flash on low light. Can you replicate these tests with a flash? Would it make any difference from what you showed here? This is awesome finding so far and for my work it will be an awesome advantage

[photographydiscourse]

I don't think the Z cameras actually stop down past 5.6 until the shutter is depressed and the photo is taken. I believe this is a parameter of the Z cameras for just this reason.
-PD

[mts]

Hi Jeremy, Can you please provide the info for the bracket that is holding the small LED light? Thank you.

[prrypm]

NO Mirrorless camera does that if you know what you’re doing. If you can’t see your exposure is probably off and you can prove this by turning off the view that applies the settings to the viewfinder.

As for DSLRs, if you try that with many DSLR lenses with an Aperture greater than F/5.6 it will do the same thing.

The Z6 III just has a setting that turns that off if you’re using flash.

[petercheuk]

Nikon does it by not stopping the lens down until you take the photo. I'll need to take a look at my Z6III but on my recently sold Z6 it would close the aperture down to about f/5.6 then the blades would not move anymore as you stop down. When you take the photo the aperture would stop down to take the photo.

[TheSquirrelMafia]

The low light AF is quite impressive.! Thanks for pointing it out! \(^_^ )

[trille_boi]

Just found out about you from your half life playing friend

[airjaff]

It might simulate a small aperture will keeping it fully open untill you press the shutter?

[andresce]

How is it dark when lights are on? You made it dark regarding exposure, not ambient light? Am I missing something here?