Nikon Z7 Teardown - The Best Built Mirrorless Full Frame Camera.

Nikon Z7 Teardown: ‘The Best Built Mirrorless Full-Frame Camera…’
Oct 31, 2018

After disassembling a Canon EOS R, Roger Cicala over at LensRentals just did a teardown of the Nikon Z7. What he found was one of the best-built cameras on the market today.

You can read Cicala’s full Nikon Z7 teardown article over on the LensRentals blog. We also shared a different teardown of the Z7 by Kolari Vision earlier this month, so be sure to check that one out too if you’re interested in more looks and thoughts on the Z7’s build.

The $3,545 Z7 is Nikon’s top of the line full-frame mirrorless camera while the $2,299 EOS R is Canon’s mid-level one — it will be announcing its pro-grade full-frame mirrorless sometime in 2019 — so it’s not quite fair to directly compare the builds of the Z7 and EOS R. But it’s an interesting look, nevertheless.

One of Cicala’s main findings in his teardown is that Nikon has ultra-weather-sealed the Z7 — there are weather-resisting gaskets everywhere you look, and finer sealing in certain parts than the EOS R and the Sony a7R III.

“In many places the plastic shell doesn’t just interlock; it overlaps, screws together and then is covered with rubber grip and adhesive,” Cicala writes. “That should not only give a superior weather seal, but it’s also probably giving some added strength to the assembly.”

There was similarly great sealing everywhere Cicala looked.

“If there’s an edge, there’s a weather seal,” Cicala says.

“This is not marketing department weather resistance. This is engineering department weather resistance,” Cicala concludes. “[T]his is as robustly weather sealed a camera as we’ve ever disassembled.

“I don’t believe in weather resistance myself. I believe like life; water will find a way. I believe in plastic baggies and rubber bands. I am, however, a great believer in the idea that if you claim to do something, then damn well do it right. This is done right.

“I’m just here to say this is a damn well-built camera, the best built mirrorless full-frame camera we’ve taken apart.”

Shitty native lens selection....

Single memory card slot....

Way over-priced @ $3,400 bucks.

No thanks.  Keep your D850  OR...  Watch for the D850 to drop in price, buy one, and profit!!    OR  Buy a Sony A7III which is already light years ahead of the Z7.

I'm going to keep my D850 for now,... Z7 just isn't up to par yet.  BUT as a first serious effort at a professional mirrorless it's pretty damned impressive.   The body is actually far better than expected for a first effort,... what dissapoints me is the mediocre glass for a new mount that has so much more potential.

As a sidenote: Being better weather sealed than the A7RIII isn't exactly a feat.

Inexpensive F to Z adapter lets you run any AF-S lens out there.  Not to mention the f/0.95 lenses that are coming.  When someone puts out something like a 14mm f/0.95 prime (even a straight manual Samyang) I’ll be all over it for astrophotography/video.  Not to mention 5 Axis in camera stabilization, 3 axis with the adapter and non VR lens, or 5 axis with VR lens and adapter.

XQD is incredibly resilient.  Hell, Thom Hogan (among a bunch of other professional photographers) trusts the format enough to only run XQD and no SD card on their D850 and other cameras.  I tend to agree, as unless it’s one of the Sandisk Extreme Pro UHS-II (or similar) that cost the same as an XQD card, they slow the camera down.  Even then, they still do sometimes.

Priced under what the D850 + grip and battery would cost you for the same frame rate.  The MB-D18 grip, battery, and charger are an extra $1000 essentially.

With the ~$200 less expensive Sony, you get slightly worse color, shorter battery life, worse weather sealing, poorer EVF performance, worse touch screen and UI, slightly larger (5 frames) buffer, slower maximum f/stop lenses, and a whopping 1x UHS-1 SD card slot more than the Z7.  So yeah, I’d say the Nikon is the winner there, especially if you’re already a Nikon user.

Personally, despite my D850 being heavy as fuck I’m not hopping on any mirrorless train yet.  Still too many issues any company needs to iron out first.  Getting close, but not close enough for me to swap.

Yeah maybe going for the second generation of full frame mirrorless is the way to go. after the manufacturers make all the improvements and changes the pros who use them demand, they will be much better. I just bought an 80D because I wanted a "new-ish" camera to replace my old T3i but I'm waiting before I spend a ton on a mirrorless to see what shakes out over the next 3 years.

I have professional video cameras, Sony FS7 MII, that use the XQD cards. IMHO, they are solid. Leaving tomorrow on a 10 day shoot in remote Papua Indonesia with them, and not my 1^st time either.