While I didn’t expect it to be such an obvious homage to Nikon’s film past, the Zf is indeed an amazingly capable camera. Capture images up to 4K/60 using an APS-C sized sensor. If you want to use the entire sensor, you can get 4K/30. This isn’t going to wow video pros, but it’s good enough for most photographers who just want to shoot some 4K footage.
Overall, I love shooting with the Zf and if I were in the market for a new camera this would be the camera I would buy. That said, there’s almost nothing I truly dislike about the Zf. The first is the card slot. There are two of them. One is a standard SD card slot that supports UHS II cards. The second is the microSD card slot, which only supports UHS I. I can live with the slow speeds, but inserting and removing a microSD card is very difficult, so I ended up just leaving it in and treating it as an emergency overflow. There should be two matching full-size SD card slots.
Another thing I really don’t like is that it doesn’t come with a battery charger. A $2,000 camera shouldn’t require you to buy a separate battery charger (it retails for $80, no less). You can charge via USB-C port. The battery life is very good, you can take about 350 photos on a single charge, you can take more if you turn on the energy saving mode (mine was 407), but serious photographers will always need a separate charger and at least a second battery.
As mentioned above, the Zf wouldn’t be my first choice for sports or wildlife. That’s partly because of the autofocus and shooting speed, but also because the 24-megapixel sensor, while sharp and offering Nikon-specific colors, may not be what wildlife and sports pros are after. The Z7, and especially the Z9, with their higher megapixel sensors and faster autofocus, are the cameras you want for these use cases.
Nikon didn’t send it to me, but I think the ideal lens for this camera might be the new Nikkor Z 40mm f/2 Special Edition ($310). This may be a personal bias, but this camera requires a short, fixed length lens – a fast 50, or in this case a 40. It will balance well with the camera and make a good reportage and street photography setup, both of which feel like ideal use cases for the Zf.