I recently took a short vacation to San Diego, CA. San Diego is one of my favorite places to visit. The beaches, the food, the scenery, the chill vibe, the scenic landscapes along with the majestic California sunsets make San Diego ideal for photography of all kinds.
Two months ago I purchased a Nikon Z6. The Z6 is a fun camera and the first mirrorless camera I’ve ever purchased. All of my other camera bodies are Nikon D5’s, which for traveling on vacation can be cumbersome and since the D5’s body is so big and heavy they’re very noticeable. I shoot primarily sports so my D5’s aren’t going anywhere and this post isn’t to compare the D5 to the Z6. Its more so for you to judge for yourself whether or not its good purchase for whatever kind of photos you choose to make. So, about the Z6, its lightweight, focuses well, has image stabilization builtin to the body, you can set the shutter to silent which is pretty awesome because if you’re shooting an event where the event coordinator doesn’t want to a lot of noise this feature definitely comes in handy. The other cool feature is you can see what the image looks like before you click the shutter either through the view finder or live view. Its good in lowlight, not great. The one downside I’ve seen with this body is that when you shoot RAW faces tend to have a green hue in natural light. I don’t if it’s just my body that does that, it could be, but that just something I noticed when in RAW. JPG images on the other hand are true to tone. Another downside is the camera goes to sleep when it isn’t consistently in use. You can miss a shot because the camera takes a few seconds to wake from sleep mode. Sleep mode can be adjusted in the settings however, its set to sleep by default. I don’t have that issue with my DSLR.
All of the images shot in this post were shot using the Nikkor 24-70mm F4 S and the Nikkor 35mm 1.8 S. Both are mirrorless lenses.
Overall I like the Z6. Its great as a travel camera…do I know if its the best mirrorless camera on the market? Nope, never shot with another mirrorless camera manufacturer to know if it is or not. I’m satisfied with its overall perfomance. It does what I need it to do. I haven’t tried to shoot sports with it yet to know how well it performs so I can’t comment on that.
On to the images! I wanted to capture the majestic sunsets, the beach and a few landscape shots. Full disclosure, the images posted have been minimally color corrected in Lightroom to add more pop. Feel free to shoot me a message if you have more questions about the Z6. I’d be happy to answer.
NOTE: All images were taken with S-series mirrorless lenses. That was done purposely to see how well the S-series lenses work with the Z-series body. You can use your traditional Nikkor lenses with the Z-series mirrorless body as long as you have the Nikon mount adapter. What I’ve found using traditional Nikkor FX lenses is that focusing is a tab bit slower. Quality appears to about the same. Stay posted I’ll likely post a blog using Nikkor FX lenses on a Z-series mirrorless body.
A couple watches the sunset on La Jolla beach in San Diego, CA.
A surfer brings his surf board to shore at La Jolla beach in San Diego, CA.
A man feeds a Seagull at La Jolla cove in San Diego, CA.
Sunset on Neptune Ave with the Pacific Ocean in the background near Windansea Beach in San Diego, CA.
Sunset on Neptune Avenue near Windansea beach in San Diego, CA.
Men play soccer while the sun sets at Windansea Beach in San Diego, CA.
Sunset at Windansea Beach in San Diego, CA.
California sky during sunset at Windansea Beach in San Diego, CA.
People sit on benches during sunset at Windansea Beach in San Diego, CA.
Beach goers enjoy the sun at Windansea Beach in San Diego, CA.
Palm trees and the sun at Windansea Beach in San Diego, CA.
Sunset at La Jolla beach in San Diego, CA
People watch the sunset at La Jolla beach in San Diego, CA.