My photographs documenting the Pasadena Police Department in the 1980’s are some of my best-known images. I spent over a thousand hours riding in police cars documenting the officers working for that portfolio. I started off photographing with a Nikon F and finished up with a couple Nikon FM2 bodies. I used Kodak Plus-X film mostly, and later on I used some T-Max 400. Since I was photographing mostly at night, I used a Sunpak 522 Thyristor off camera flash which paired up great. The exposures were good, and the high contrast of the flash added to the images. Throughout my law enforcement career when I photographed at night, I had to use a flash although I did experiment pushing Kodak T-Max 3200 to an ISO of 25,000 one night. I actually got images using just streetlights, but they were very grainy.
A couple years ago I was asked to come back out and start documenting the Chino Police Department, where I had worked for 20 years, and I immediately agreed. I had been looking for an opportunity to photograph law enforcement in today’s world to compare the new images with my work from the 1980’s. I started off using a Nikon D850 with a flash and I tried photographing some without a flash since today’s sensors are so improved. I wasn’t getting great exposures in low light with the D850, the grain was too much, and the camera struggled with focusing. The D850 can produce some beautiful images in perfect conditions, but I have never loved the camera, especially the auto focus. I eventually went and talked to my friends at Samy’s Camera in Pasadena, some of them I have known for 40 years, and I asked which cameras performed best in low light conditions. I expected they would suggest a Sony A7IV or A1 or A9. Sony’s are amazing cameras and I had rented several different models recently when I was considering switching over to their brand. I liked the Sony’s I rented but none were perfect. Several of my contacts told me the Nikon Z6ii as the best low light still camera on the market. They explained that the smaller, 24 MB, full frame sensor handled noise better than most the 45MB sensors. I had no interest in the original release of Nikon Z series camera bodies because they did not have an SD card slot option and I was skeptical that the new lens mount adaptor would work well with my older lenses. I had recently read that Nikon had their Z line to now have SD card slot options and my friends explained how well the lens mount adapter was designed. I had wrongly expected that the adaptor would change the focal length of my older lenses, but learned the adaptor doesn’t because the sensor in the mirrorless Z series cameras had been moved forward to accommodate the adapter while maintaining the original focal length of the older lenses and the new lenses are designed with the new sensor position in mind (the lack of a mirror allowed this design to work).
Everything sounded right so I bought a Nikon Z6ii as a kit with the 24-120mm f/4 lens, along with an adaptor for my older lenses. The camera performance has been outstanding, and the 24-120mm lens is one of the sharpest lenses I have ever owned. I am not going to get into a detailed tech review here because there are other people that do tech reviews for a living and have access to everything to compare. Links to some of those sites are listed at the bottom of this blog post. What I will talk about is how the camera is performing me.
In low light conditions, the images I am getting with the Z6ii are amazing. I took the camera to Chicago in March for a weekend as my primary camera and the images were great. I specifically went to photograph my daughter play in an ice hockey tournament and this lens and camera combination were the best I have every used in a rink before. I also took the adapter and an F mount 100-400mm lens and that worked well. The adapter handled the auto focus well and ergonomically was good. I ended up using the camera more for my street photography than I expected. Lately I have been using a Sony RX100 VII for my street photography because I use it from the hip and most people don’t realize I am photographing. In Chicago I started using the Z6ii some for my street images and I was getting better images with that the Sony, so I went with it. Most days were overcast so the light wasn’t fantastic but that was fine for the Z6ii. The auto focus was solid, and the lens was so sharp I got detail like I never have before. Here are a few examples of the camera from Chicago:
The experiences in Chicago inspired me to photograph on the street more with a Z body. I need to also share with you that earlier this year, after having success with the Z6ii, and after becoming more and more frustrated with the focus ability of my D850, I bought a Z8. The Nikon Z8 is one of the most incredible cameras I have ever owned, and I am just scratching the surface with learning all it is capable of. The sensor captures outstanding images and the camera focusing is such a huge upgrade. I also got a 24-120mm lens for the Z8 which pairs perfectly. In recent months I have also added the following Z lenses: a 26mm, a 40mm, and a 105mm macro. All three of these fixed length lenses are super sharp. I bought the 105mm, which is capable of a 1:1 magnification like the old 60mm F mount Nikkor lens, primarily to do copy stand work of my old negatives so I can digitize the images (I have a process where I upload image files in Bridge to crop, open them in Photoshop to Invert the image, then return to Bridge to finetune it). I bought the 26mm and 40mm as walk around lenses and incase I wanted to take the camera into certain venues with camera restrictions. Both those lenses are sharp, super-fast, and lightweight. The 40mm is a little hard to use walking through crowds but the extra length has been great in certain situations. The 26mm is ideal for walking on the street and photographing from the hip, I have been able to use it somewhat like a range finder, and it is so small people don’t notice it. It also has a great balance when photographing with one hand a waist level. The 40mm and 26mm lenses are also very reasonably priced.
Example Images with Technical Information:
Camera lens and strap options for Street Photography
I know it is late notice, but Nikon has all their Z camera bodies and lenses on sale through the end of this week. Camera bodies are discounted about 25% and lenses are about 20%. My daughter purchased a Z6ii with a 24-120mm lens, and the 26mm lens online from Nikon last week for approximately $2,400. She found an online coupon that coupled with Nikon’s Z discounts, and she utilized Nikon’s two-year interest free purchase plan (I purchased my Z8 with their 0% interest plan as well). Nikon is being very aggressive in the market now so I would expect the sales to continue or be brought back with some frequency this year.
I have a Peak Camera strap system on my Z6ii. I love the design of the locking disc. It makes it easy to go from a traditional camera strap position to a solo wrist strap position. The wrist strap pairs great when the 26mm lens is on for street images.
There are lots of amazing cameras and lenses on the market today, I have always used Nikon, I have friends that swear by Canon, and I know lots of people have gone all in with Sony. Because of all the variables I don’t think it is possible to have a camera that does every task perfectly, especially since cameras are now as much about video as still images. But I am convinced that right now the Z6ii is the best camera for photographing in low light conditions. I researched it online, talked to people with expertise, tested several different bodies and nothing came close to the Z6ii in low light. I am sure technology with continue to evolve and there will be better cameras in the future, but right now the Z6ii is my suggestion. (I also want to acknowledge that many cellphones like the iPhone 14 & 15 also create amazing low light images but obviously don’t have the same capabilities of real camera body)
Nikon Z6iii - Now Pre-Ordering $2,496.95 Delivery estimated 6/25/24
As I was wrapping up this post, I checked Nikon Rumors and saw there was talk that Nikon might be announcing a Z6iii in a couple weeks which could explain all the recent sales. Well, it has been announced and I wanted to update this. Samy’s has a great video review of the camera already on their order page for the camera. Link below.
The Z6iii has been announced and pre-orders are now being taken by Samys and B&H
