The Nikon Zf is the company’s second retro-inspired mirrorless camera. The APS-C format Nikon Z fc was the first, but the Zf is a full frame camera with noticeably better build quality and finish. It was clearly a class act from the start, but Nikon’s version 2 firmware update, just announced, adds new features that could really strike a chord with this camera’s audience.
There are some improvements to the AF system, which now has a bird subject-detection mode, though perhaps the Zf is not the first camera you would choose for bird photography, but the big updates are for fans of retro lenses and film simulations.
Mirrorless cameras like the Nikon Zf lend themselves very well to use with vintage lenses. The wide lens. throat and short flange distance of the Z mount mean it’s possible to get adaptors for all sorts of lenses originally made for different camera systems and mounts. Typically, these are manual focus lenses, and while the Zf’s 3.68m-dot EVF provides adequate resolution, you might need to use its magnified display to check focus precisely. With the version 2 update, the magnified display is exited when you half-press the shutter release. It’s a small change, but a useful one.
But what’s really interesting is that the Zf is now compatible with the free Nikon Imaging Cloud service. You can use this to upload images and have them automatically transferred to a cloud service of your choice – Nikon will store them for 30 days, so there’s plenty of time to do that. Another feature of Nikon Imaging Cloud is automatic firmware updates. Is this useful? That depends on whether you would rather choose when to install them, or wait to check there are no issues before updating your camera.
Nikon Imaging Cloud’s real party trick, however, is its Creative Imaging Recipes. You can use and modify the Picture Controls on the camera to shift and adjust the tones, sharpness, clarity and more in your photos (this only applies to processed JPEGs not RAW files), and that hasn’t changed, but Nikon’s Creative Imaging Recipes go further to include camera settings such as shooting mode, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation, AF settings and white balance. Now that is interesting, because these will really extend the range of picture styles beyond the limitations of custom picture controls. These Creative Imaging Recipes won’t just tweak the Picture Control options, they will set the camera up with the author’s own settings.
With this version 2 firmware update, the Nikon Zf becomes only the fourth Nikon model to support the Nikon Imaging Cloud service. The others are the Nikon Z50II, the Z6III and the new Nikon Z5II. That list may change if Nikon adds other cameras via firmware updates.