Nikon Z6 Managing das schlimmbesserung 7 January 2019

In 2009 I bought my first and as it happens the world’s first mirrorless interchangeable lens digital camera, the Panasonic lumix G1. 

Panasonic, Olympus and eventually all the rest realised  that mirrorless technology was the way of the future.

Unfortunately in the process of moving from DSLR to Mirrorless (MILC), all of them made many mistakes particularly with the ergonomics of the new type of camera.

So numerous and serious were these mistakes that most early model MILCs provided poorer performance and  worse user experience than the preceding DSLRs.

Schlimmbesserung  is a wonderful German word for this phenomenon, encapsulating the idea of making things worse while trying to make them better.

The Lumix G1 was my first acquaintance with a camera which presented the user with a really poor physical user interface design, including the handle shape and the arrangement of the controls.

I had previously used Canon SLRs and then DSLRs and had generally been happy enough with the way they handled and operated.

My unhappy experience with the Lumix G1 was the impetus for my continuing study of camera ergonomics and the creation of this blog.

I wanted to understand why the G1 was so bad and  why other cameras were more user friendly.

I then bought a Samsung NX10 which although the same size as the G1 provided a much more pleasing user experience. The NX10 had a different handle shape, the shutter button was located in a different place and the front control dial moved from the front of the handle below the shutter button to the top of the camera behind the shutter button.

The process of analysing why one of these cameras provided a more enjoyable user experience than the other was the subject of my first and many subsequent posts  on this blog.

In due course Panasonic (mostly) figured out how to do mirrorless ergonomics.

Now some Panasonic (Lumix) models like the FZ1000.2, FZ2500, G95 and G9 are, while not perfect,  exemplars of how to get the basics right.

Sony’s early forays into mirrorless with various NEX models from 2010, were an ergonomic shambles.   NEX evolved into the a6xxx series the most recent of which  are still afflicted by many ergonomic deficiencies.

The Sony schlimmbesserung continued in 2013 with the first full frame A7 which was an ergonomic train wreck.

It has taken until 2019 and the A7R4 for Sony to rectify many of the worst problems with earlier models.

Canon completely messed up its MILC debut with the EOS-M in 2012.   As reported by DPReview at the time:

  “The EF-M mount is 58mm in diameter, with a flange distance of 18mm from the bayonet to the sensor. As the image above clearly shows it's matched specifically to the APS-C sensor size. So don't expect a future full frame EF-M mount camera - it's not going to happen.”

What were Canon’s product development people thinking ? Were they trying to steer buyers into their full frame mirrorless line..?…..oh….wait… there was none in 2012 and none until 2018.

It seems to me the best way for Canon to extract themselves from this mess of their own making would be to drop the EOS-M line altogether and follow the example of Sony and Nikon with one lens mount (RF) for both full frame and APS-C models.

Which brings us to Nikon which first entered the mirrorless interchangeable lens market in 2011 with the oddly named and even more oddly designed 1 Series. These cameras incorporated some interesting and at the time very advanced high speed autofocus technology. Despite this DPReview reported

“The J1 is the entry-level model, and the V1 is aimed at a slightly more advanced user, but both cameras are intended essentially for beginners upgrading from compact cameras or cameraphones, and who find the size and complexity of a DSLR intimidating.”

It seemed pretty clear to me at the time that Nikon’s product development people had no idea what they were doing with the 1 Series cameras. They were not well suited to beginners who could not understand or utilise their advanced features or experts who found that image quality from the small 15.9mm sensor was not up to expectations.  Buyers avoided the 1 Series in droves.

Eventually Nikon quietly abandoned the 1 Series somewhere around 2015.

Nikon’s second foray into mirrorless with the full frame Z6 and Z7 in 2018 is a much bigger deal for the company than the ill fated 1 Series. I think it is no exaggeration to suggest  that Nikon’s future as a camera maker will rest on buyers’ acceptance of the Z6/Z7 (FX) models and the recently released Z50 (DX) model.

I have been using a Z6 with the Z 24-70mm f4 lens for several weeks and can report that Nikon has done a pretty good job with this model. It provides the user with a coherent and mostly pleasing experience, has good performance and mostly good ergonomics.

The Z6/7 Nikons copped a lot of criticism on their release but I think most of this has been ill founded.  Some reviewers made a great fuss about the lack of twin card slots. I have been using digital cameras since they were introduced and have never had a card failure.

Some complained about the autofocus. I find the AF works just fine for both still and moving subjects. The main complaint seems to be that the way in which “Tracking” is implemented differs from that used by advanced Nikon DSLRs and Sony MILCs.

Nikon probably should heed these complaints when developing the next generation of models. But as it stands the Z6 works well and provides the enthusiast or professional with a responsive user experience and good results.

However there is room for improvement in the layout and operation of the controls.

In this post I will concentrate on the handle and front command dial.

The photograph shows a Z6 beside a D850. You can see that Nikon has done a pretty good job of reducing the height of the Z6 while incorporating a larger lens mount and including in body stabilisation (IBIS).

But all is not perfect.

Cameras do not scale up or down for the simple and obvious reason that the hands which use them obstinately remain the same size.

Nikon’s  designers appear for the most part  to have understood this. The D850 with its very tall handle works best with a front facing shutter button and front facing front command dial. The right index finger moves easily from the shutter button to the front dial. There is sufficient vertical height (above the red stripe) for the index finger to move down to operate the front command dial without the user having to move the middle finger. There is plenty of height for a full five finger grip at all times. There needs to be. That thing and its lenses are big and heavy.

The Z has a much shorter handle. The designers have correctly understood that this requires an upwards facing shutter button. But they have mis-directed themselves by retaining the forward facing front command dial.

Look at the photo of  Gordon Laing from  Camera Labs using the Z6 (it might have been a  Z7 but they have the same body).

May I draw your attention to two things:

1. The middle finger of his right hand is so close to the front command dial that he will have to move that finger out of the way in order to operate the dial with his index finger or else try to operate the dial with the middle finger. I have tried both and find both to be awkward, distracting me from the process of making pictures.

2. His little finger is not engaged with the handle. This is probably not much of an issue with smaller lenses but it certainly will be with the big, heavy lenses which will be mounted on this camera in due course.  I find that even with the 24-70mm f4 the camera doesn’t feel right.

This involves two fixes.

The first is to move the middle finger downwards 3mm to give room for the index finger to bear on and work the front command dial. For this I cut a little strip of sticky-back felt originally intended to be placed under furniture legs to prevent them scraping on wooden floors.  You can see where it is placed in the photos.   It’s still not ideal because the index finger is at an angle of about 45 degrees to horizontal but the face from which the dial protrudes is at about 80 degrees.  

The second is to buy and fit the Meike  MK-Z7G accessory grip extender which you can also see in the photos.   I find that when there is a trade in aftermarket grip extenders this is always an indicator of a problem with the original handle. This particular grip extender does allow battery access (transpose the battery cover from the camera to the grip) and tripod mounting at two locations.

These two strategies are effective. They allow the index finger to operate the front dial without the need to move any other finger and they allow the little finger to fully engage with the handle at all times for a more secure grip.

Unfortunately the grip adds mass and adds 17mm to the height of the camera, which pretty much defeats the presumed purpose in having a short handle in the first place.

1. Raise the top plate by 12mm. You can see that with the Z6/7 and Z50 Nikon has opted to locate the top plate about 25mm below the top of the hump. I have no idea why.  Was it cosmetic ? If so I think they missed the mark and that the hump sticking up looks a bit odd to me.  Regardless of why they did it,  the low top plate is the primary reason the handle is shorter than it needs to be for a proper five finger grip.

2. Move the shutter button forward 15mm and locate the front dial behind the shutter button, facing up. Why did they not do this ? Of course I have no idea what the designers were thinking. But again I suspect it might have been a styling issue.

As in---“at Nikon we have our front dial in front of and below the shutter button”.

My thinking here is that maybe Nikon sees this dial location as a signature feature,  as distinct from that other mob over there at  Canon who put their dial behind the shutter button.

You can see how these two things work on a real camera in the form of  the Panasonic Lumix G9 as shown in the photos. The G9 is actually about 3mm lower than the Z6 in overall height but I have no trouble getting a full hand grip on the G9 and the front dial is easier to reach and operate with the index finger.

My comments about the Z6/7 also apply to the Z50 and Sony A7 models. All these cameras have the same problem and would benefit from the same fix. Grip extenders from Sony and aftermarket suppliers are available for the A7 models. Incredibly, the Sony grip extender does  not allow battery access or tripod mounting.