Here are some thoughts on what I think were the best do-it-all cameras of the last decade and some of the contenders.
That camera is. . . The Nikon Z6.
Before that last firmware update, I would have to say either the Fujifilm X-T3 or the Sony A7III and somewhere in there is the Nikon D850. I actually think the Nikon D850 was the best camera of the decade but not the best do-it-all camera.
So why the Z6 and not the A7III or X-T3? | Specs
First off, I’ll say the A7III was the most important and iconic camera of the 2010s like the 5DII was the most iconic and important camera of the 2000s.
However, a lot of that was due to timing and social influence. The Z6 defeats the A7III and X-T3 in just about every stills photography spec. But specs aren’t everything, and I can look past that for a few reasons.
The image quality was still good on the A7III and XT3 and we’re talking about results, that’s all that matters for a good do-it-all. What situations can you use it in, and what are the results?
If you want to see some side-by-side specs between the A7III and Z6, you can see my comparison here.
The Sony A7III and X-T3 did only one thing better technically than the Z6, and that’s the peace of mind provided by the dual card slots.
I think the dual card slot thing was hyped up, straight-up fear-mongering for clicks by the influencers who shop too much at eBay. I think CFexpress solves a lot of the reliability problems. Even those Sony Tough cards are not failing people and are great cards.
You also can’t say CFexpress is more expensive because, if you’re going off the fear-mongering philosophy you’ll need to buy two cards on the Sony and Fuji.
So I don’t consider dual memory cards an important thing for this type of do-it-all system, some specialized photography yes.
I would also say Sony had a better, more reliable focus system, but again, that changed at the end with firmware updates on the Z6. Both systems, now are very good, there are some things I really like about Sony, and some things really like about the Z6 with the X-T3 lagging slightly behind in late 2019. It’s a little better now with the new firmware.
On the photography side, the Z6 did surpass the A7III and X-T3 on a bunch of little specs, but that’s still not the reason I say the Z6 is better.
Video Performance
RAW Video is why the Z6 is a better do-it-all camera. It became a system that allows you to shoot extremely high-quality videos in a professional setting, and for that reason, it’s a better system.
With stills, you could argue that the A7III and the Z6 produce very similar results; you can’t say that about the video.
The Fujifilm X-T3 has very impressive video, 10-bit internal 400Mbps. When running internal video, the X-T3 is better than the Z6, but the Z6 can produce better stills. However, the XT3 does not have suitable fast AF lenses for video.
The Sony A7III had and still has some pretty poor video performance, and I think Sony intentionally segments its system from its video cameras. Sony and Canon will continue to have this problem, whereas Nikon and Fujifilm don’t make consumer and pro cine cameras, so they can throw all the crazy specs in their mirrorless cameras. The Z system looks like it was built for this.
Lens System
You can’t talk about a camera without talking about the whole system, and again, I think the Z6 is fine here. They have a nice mix of lenses suitable for do-it-all photography. Although there are no 24-105 in the Z mount, obviously, you can get more specialized with some of the Sony lenses, but F lenses still work on the Z camera. Does that count? I think so, but some people don’t like it. Still, I think most people could get by with what was available in the Z Mount by the end of 2019.
That’s not saying you can’t have more fun with the FE lenses available for the Sony A7III system, you can. Those AF Samyang lenses are fantastic and I have no plans to ditch the Sony system anytime soon.
And Fujifilm X-T3 lenses? This would be a different story if they updated their f1.4 lenses with WR and better AF.
There are some things those Sony cameras are just great for, and since Sony has such an aggressive update cycle on their cameras. You can buy slightly older cameras like the A7rIII at some great prices. This will always make the system very appealing, and this will only get better going forward as camera companies struggle to introduce actual, meaningful updates. Common, like you need 8k. 🙂
And clearly, this is not a bash on the A7III camera. It was almost the best do-it-all camera, and it had some video features, like an internal log, that the Nikon could not. It’s just that with the Nikon, you can shoot flat, and it does have a better bitrate.
Here is a gallery from a recent adventure. In some of these shots, it was pouring rain, but the Z6 was still fine. 🙂 This was a mix of the Nikkor Z 50mm f1.8 S and the Z 35mm f1.8 S.
I’ll be shooting a lot more with the A7rIII this year when the weather is nice since I have no WR lenses for that system.
