Nikon Z 6 test shoot on Snow Patrol.

February 12, 2019

· by Tracey Welch

Mirrorless camera systems. For anyone who’s not a photography nerd they’ve been around for a couple of years and, in theory offer great quality pictures but with a few additional benefits over more traditional D-SLRs. One of these benefits is that the mirrorless technology means you don’t get the usual shutter clunk; they are super quiet, which is an attractive prospect for someone like me shooting in a live music and broadcast context. So when Nikon asked me to test their latest mirrorless edition, the Z 6, I actually couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and give it a go.

Snow Patrol 29.01.19 Leeds arena

Snow Patrol are currently on a global tour and their management gave me an opportunity to photograph the whole Leeds Arena gig, taking pictures from the pit and roaming across the venue, to compare and contrast the Z 6 with my usual camera the Nikon D5. For me, the difference is pretty subtle, and while I’m definitely not yet ready to give up my D5 the lightness of the Z 6 and that lack of any shutter sound mean that it’s something I’d definitely be keen to use on a regular basis. I did a broadcast studio shoot a couple of days later and the camera performed brilliantly. You can read about that in my News page https://www.traceywelch.co.uk/news/we-are-on-air/ and also find my full gig review, coming soon to N-Photo magazine’s ‘On Assignment’ feature. As for Snow Patrol – well they were, as you’d expect, just as good as ever…

Shot at f4. 1/200 ISO 800