Photo Above Data [NIKON Z 6, Sigma 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0 ART, ISO 16000, ƒ/6.3, 1/200, Focal Length = 95]

I have owned the Fuji X-E series cameras for a few years. I love them. Then I bought the Nikon Z6 to be able to shoot mirrorless with some of my Nikon glass.

I think the Fuji X-E3 compares pretty well to the Nikon Z6. I like that the Fuji X-E3, when you are close to someone will find their face and eyes. 

The Nikon Z6 camera automatically detects the subject and selects the focus area. At default settings, the camera gives priority to portrait subjects; if a portrait subject is detected, the selected subject will be indicated by a yellow border (if multiple faces are detected, you can choose your subject using the multi-selector). 

To get some photos from the service, I left the 55-200mm on the Fuji X-E3 and the 24-105mm on the Nikon Z6.

No question that the larger full-frame sensor on the Nikon Z6 had less noise. However, I was also pretty happy with the noise on the Fuji X-E3.

I think that the dynamic range is better with the Nikon Z6. You can see some of that comparison here.

I love the smaller size and weight of the Fuji system. I think the quality is excellent.

I think that the image quality and higher ISO are definitely in favor of the Nikon Z6.

Top photo specs [NIKON D5, 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8, ISO 20000, ƒ/5.6, 1/4000, Focal Length = 17]

I was able to do some testing of the Nikon Z6 at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl game of Florida vs. Michigan. The final for those interested in the score was Florida 41 and Michigan 15.

I can say that the Nikon Z6 sensor gives you great dynamic range and very little noise at high ISO numbers.

The mirrorless Nikon Z6 used an electronic shutter at 1/4000, which gave some lines if the LED signage was in the photo at those shutter speeds. At the slower speed of 1/100, the jumbotron came out just fine.

Regarding the fast action on the field, my Nikon D5 did a superior job of focusing. I do not think the Nikon Z6 is in the same league for sports as the Nikon Flagship D5.

Due to the performance not being equal to the Nikon D5, I put the Nikon 28-300mm on the Nikon Z6 and shot some with it in the Red Zone.

When you compare the image quality, the Nikon Z6 is fantastic. Good dynamic range.

The big difference was that whenever the LED boards were in the photos, the Z6 gave those lines, and the D5 didn’t look at the 1/4000 shutter speed.

I am still very pleased with the Nikon D5 for sports. However, I do love seeing what you will get with the EVF of the Nikon Z6.

So for sports, I will continue to rely on the Nikon D6, but I think the Nikon Z6 is much more fun to shoot for almost everything else.

I love walking around with the Nikon Z6. It is a lot lighter than the Nikon D5.

Another thing that the Nikon Z6 is great about, but not a factor at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, is how quiet the camera is when clicking the shutter.

Many think I should lower the ISO and shoot at a slower shutter speed of 1/1000. I can tell you that the sharpness goes up with the higher shutter speed.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the results from the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. In summary, buy the Nikon D5 for shooting sports, and for most everything else, the Nikon Z6 is just perfect.

The main reason I bought the Nikon Z6 over the Z7 was to have the extra stop for higher ISO and lower noise at higher ISO.

On Christmas Eve, I photographed our church’s service. I was shooting at ISO 51200 at times.

The Nikon Z6 has “Single-AF” as well as “Point-AF,” and this week, I discovered it is best not to use the “Point-AF” when trying to lock on people.

While shooting in the studio, I quickly got 20% out-of-focus photos using the “Point-AF.” By switching the “Single-AF,” I improved the number of in-focus images.

I prefer the “Single-AF” over the group setting for accurate focusing.

For every camera I have owned, there is a learning curve. You need to learn all the menu settings and find what works best for your way of shooting.

Hopefully, these photos will give you a peek at my learning of the Nikon Z6.

When shooting wide open aperture and getting as close as a lens will let you get to the subject, you will get the shallowest depth-of-field possible with that lens.

Look at the photo above shot at ƒ/4, which is the same photo zoomed in closer.

Now the only way to see what I am talking about is to shoot the same photo with different apertures.

Now here is a closeup of that ƒ/16 photo.

Now I shot this at a variety of apertures. Here it is at ƒ/8.

Here is a closeup of that photo.

I have discovered with all my lenses that the depth-of-field at the widest aperture and focusing as close as the lens can produce what looks to be an out-of-focus photo, but what is happening is the depth-of-field is so shallow that it looks soft.

When getting this close to a subject, I recommend starting with an aperture of ƒ/11.

Here I shot this at ƒ/11. I also changed my ISO from 100 to Auto ISO, which gave me ISO 51200 because I have the shutter speed set to 1/100. As you might notice, the shutter dropped to 1/50. That is because I had capped at ISO 51200.

Here is a closeup of that photo, in which you will notice some noise.

When it comes to still-life photos like the ones here, there is no reason not to experiment. Shoot on a tripod, as I have done here, at different apertures. Shoot at ISO 100, ƒ/16, and for 20 seconds. Then shoot as many apertures as you can to the widest aperture. 

When you have the photos on your computer, zoom in and find the picture that works the best to make your object appear sharp and in focus, as well as the soft BOKEH. 

Hopefully, you also see that there is such a thing as TOO MUCH BOKEH.

Sarah Clements, one of my daughter’s good friends from the church youth choir, asked me to help her with some headshots. She is a soprano majoring in voice.

She is in her junior year of college and getting closer to graduation. She is thinking of now having to promote herself for jobs. Headshots are needed since casting often involves getting someone to look the part.

We took a lot of photos together. I enjoyed using my new Nikon Z6 camera and the Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G lens, which produces incredible quality.

The photo above is a closeup showing just the eye of the previous image. The detail is beyond remarkable.

I always want to get the best possible photos during a photo shoot. 

I started with almost 300 images, and after editing for slightly missing the focus due to such a shallow depth-of-field and occasional blinks, I could give her over 200+ images.

What I love about photographing artists is they understand nuance. As a professional musician, Sarah has to know more than the mechanics of music theory. She knows the difference between being slightly out of tune and in tune—between each note blending properly in a choral group.

We can work on tweaking facial expressions and lighting to achieve the perfect combination that captures the person’s personality in the best possible light.

I love the finished images I am getting with the Nikon Z6. 

By the way, today, everyone needs a headshot. Do you have one?

This is just a quick comparison shooting some ornaments on my tree. First, this is using my Sigma 35mm F1.4 ART DG HSM on the Nikon Z6 using the FTZ Mount Adapter.

With the Fuji, I am using the kit lens XF 18-55mm ƒ/2.8-4. It is close to the same format I shot compared to the 35mm. 

Here I am shooting with a telephoto range using the Nikon 85mm.

Here I cropped into about 100% 

Overall I think the Nikon Z6 focused faster. I was using the point to focus. I did the same thing with the Fuji X-E3, but there is a little back and forth with the Fuji.

In my opinion, the larger sensor gave a cleaner file and less noise than the Nikon Z6.

I noticed that the Fuji kit lens compares nicely to the two sharpest lenses I own for the Nikons.

When it comes to travel I still would prefer to carry the smaller Fuji. I think I give up a little performance to pick it, but less weight.

When it comes to performance, I believe the Nikon wins.

While majoring in social work in college, I discovered photography’s power. Specifically, I realized that photojournalism did the best job I could find in educating people about the world around them.

Before graduating with my degree in social work, I had to do an internship in the field. I found an internship working at the mental health center in Kinston, NC.

When counseling a person, I would “peel the onion,” as we would say to move from the symptoms to the cause of a problem in a person’s life. When someone is suffering, it takes them longer to see the root cause of their pain.

While in college, I was also taking photos for the school newspaper. I saw how a photograph helped “peel the onion” for a community. Mirroring is a therapeutic technique where you repeat back to a client, usually in your own words but sometimes word for word, the idea that has just been expressed. It can be as simple as the Client: “I felt hurt and confused.”

I discovered that a photograph was even more potent than the mirroring technique.

I finished grading the students in Introduction to Photojournalism at Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.

More than half of the two classes I taught had never owned a camera other than the one on their phone. I was teaching them the mechanics of photography and how to tell stories as a photojournalist.

I discovered that the one skill they needed more than how to use their camera was how to “peel the onion” of the subject.

The photojournalists that consistently tell potent stories are the ones who spend more time getting to know their subjects.

I will love to help you if you don’t know how to “peel the onion” of a story. In January, I am going to Lima, Peru, with a few other instructors who have the same calling to help ten workshop participants to become storytellers using their cameras.

Each person will work with a person to tell their story. While working on the story, they will have one-on-one time with the instructors to coach them daily through the process. By the end of a week, they will show the community a short 3 to 5-minute video with the subject telling their own story.

I will do this again in March in Trinidad, and then this coming summer, we will bring the team together again and go to Bucharest, Romania. Maybe you want to join us.

Go here to sign up for our trip.  You can also contact me for one-on-one classes, or we can organize a workshop for your organization.

Today our country buried former President George H. W. Bush. In attendance were all the current living former presidents, including Jimmy Carter.

I had an appointment with President Jimmy Carter today. Dorie, my wife, had signed us up to be at the Conversations at The Carter Center: Humanizing Religion and Human Rights, where President Jimmy Carter was the host and on the panel.

If you want to watch the presentation, here is that video link.

It was pretty refreshing to hear from the three Abrahamic Faiths: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, about how the individual faiths address Human Rights.

For those reading this for photography comments on the Nikon Z6, I want to talk about two things I tested the camera on. First, I tried to shoot on Silent Mode, an electronic shutter but got banding.

I also shot just a couple of shots at pretty high ISOs.

This photo is shot at ISO 32000 and cropped a bit as well. I was impressed with the high ISO with the new Nikon Z6.

While I enjoyed testing the camera, I kept pinching myself. I have had many opportunities through the years to be in the presence of President Jimmy Carter. No matter which president in history, it would still be rare for most of us to have so many opportunities unless you are friends/family or work for their administration.

Atlanta is blessed to have The Carter Center in our backyard. We plan to return to Plains, GA, to hear President Jimmy Carter teach Sunday School again.

I admire all he has done with The Carter Center. I also enjoy his Sunday School class.

What a privilege it is to listen to him.

This past week I picked up the Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera. In s few days, I could put it through some assignments.

The first assignment I did with the camera was a headshot. I was thrilled with the performance of the camera with the headshot. The 85mm ƒ/1.8 never looked this sharp before to me.

Before I did this first assignment, I ran tests, and the first thing I realized was the files would not open in PhotoShop or Lightroom. The camera is so new that the RAW files are not readable.

The BETA-Version Adobe RAW converter is available on:

• Mac: http://www.adobe.com/go/dng_converter_mac/
• Windows: http://www.adobe.com/go/dng_converter_win/

The second assignment was shooting the SEC Fanzone event at the Championship game between Alabama and Georgia.

I enjoyed using all my Nikon F-mount lenses and seeing what you will get before you press the shutter. I wanted the incredible sharpness due to no more anti-aliasing over the sensor.

I shot over a thousand images at the Fanfest with the Nikon Z6. I got a lot of great shots and was please with the performance of the camera.

I had to use an on-camera flash to get this photo of Hines Ward with a young fan. The image of Ward behind them was super bright jumbotron, and the only way to get them from not being silhouetted was with a flash. The Godox V860iiN worked just incredible with the camera.

After all day shooting, I charged up my batteries for the camera and me. By the way, I used three batteries all day shooting with the Nikon Z6.

Then Sunday, I shot another 1000+ images at a church covering all types of settings. Once again, the Nikon Z6 performed flawlessly.

The camera, without putting it into silent mode, was already quiet compared to my Nikon D5, which I was also shooting.

I think the files look much better than my other Nikon D5 files. I think the new CMOS sensor with the new Expeed 6 processor gives much sharper images out of the camera.

It is fantastic to see what you will get before you click the shutter in those tricky lighting situations with mixed lighting.

I think the Z6 performed well and compared very similarly to the Nikon D750 I used to own. I think the Nikon D5 is the camera for sports and outperforms the Nikon Z6 in responsiveness. Well, it ought to be better at a ticket price of $6,500.

The best part of the Nikon Z6 for me is to have all the things I love about mirrorless but can now use all my Nikon glass.