The Nikon Z fc offers beginners and vloggers a charming old-school camera look with thoroughly modern tech inside, while the new Nikon Z f delivers the same retro charm in an altogether better-made full frame model. So what’s the problem?
Lenses.
Years ago, when DSLRs were still in their infancy, Nikon decided nobody wanted aperture rings on lenses any more. It ditched its D-type lenses in favor of modern G-type designs where the lens aperture was controlled solely from the camera body.
Nikon could hardly have predicted that retro cameras would make a comeback and that everyone would want aperture rings again. And now it’s too late. The whole of the modern Nikon lens system is built around aperture ring-free lenses.
So why is that a problem?
It means that while the Nikon Z fc and Z f can have shutter speed and ISO dials on the top plate, you still have to set the lens aperture electronically via a dial on the camera body. You can see the aperture you’ve set in a little LCD panel set into the top plate, but it’s not the same as a proper aperture ring on the lens.
It leaves the Nikon Z fc and Z f feeling as if they are only two-thirds of the way to classic camera controls, where Fujifilm sees it through properly with cameras like the X-T5.
Sony, meanwhile, has not gone the shutter/ISO dial route like Nikon has, but even Sony sees that people want aperture rings. Most of the new full frame FE lenses now launched by Sony now have them.
It’s not just a retro fad. A physical aperture ring lets you see the setting clearly without even having to switch the camera on. With external exposure dials you can have the camera set up for shooting before you even put it to your eye. Direct aperture/iris control is also important for filmmaking.
You might not think external exposure dials are important or desirable, in which case the Nikon Z fc and Z f won’t appeal to you anyway. That’s fine, they’re not for everyone.
But for retro revivalists who want a return to classic camera controls, Nikon’s new cameras, charming as they are, are lumbered with a strategic lens decision Nikon made years ago.
Maybe Nikon will relent and start adding aperture rings to its lenses again. There doesn’t seem much hope of that, though.