Nikon Zf High ISO Sample Images

Among the many key features of the Nikon Zf is its impressive low-light performance. And as this seems like a camera that is purpose-built for available light shooting, including in tricky lighting on the streets, that’s going to come in handy.

But what does that actually mean in practical terms? And how does it fit with your expectations and preferences? Of course, every photographer is going to have a different set of preferences for when the image quality is too degraded, and it’s also going to vary from scene to scene and the use it’s being put to.

I’ve posted a separate collection of comparative images throughout the native ISO range. I’ve also posted some more general Nikon Zf sample images. But here, I’m focusing on some side-by-side comparisons through the high-ISO range on the Zf.

The Nikon Zf has a native ISO range from 100 to 64,000.
It has an extended ISO range down to 50 and up to 204,800.

You can also tap into the extended ISO range, where software takes over to amplify the signal. You can drop that down to ISO 50 or bump it up to 204,800 in extended ISO.¹

One thing the ISO numbers don’t tell you is that noise doesn’t climb in a straight line from 100 upward. The Zf’s sensor uses dual conversion gain, which means there’s a second, higher-gain readout that kicks in at ISO 800, and from there up the shadows are cleaner than you’d expect from the dial alone. DPReview found less shadow noise from ISO 800 up, with little to gain from pushing past it in dim scenes. It’s not the same thing as the “dual native ISO” switch on video-oriented cameras, though — there’s no menu setting for it, and the camera handles the changeover itself.

Precisely where the threshold between “normal” and “high” ISO falls is obviously an entirely subjective judgment. For these purposes, I’m going to put it around ISO 3200 because most decent cameras these days can handle at least up to that without any real difficulty.

I’ve tried to include a range of different scenes and levels of detail and tones in the shots below.

Technical notes about how I created these images

It’s worth explaining exactly how these were generated and what you’re seeing here.

These were all shot on the Nikon Zf, and these files are all straight out of the camera without any post-processing. That last point is worth emphasizing because, under normal shooting conditions, I’d be doing at least some post-processing, even if that’s just tweaking contrast and brightness. But these have had nothing done to them outside of the camera. They were shot with the RAW + JPEG fine* setting in SDR tone mode. The RAW recording is set to the default (High efficiency✭).

The High ISO NR setting is at Normal (the default setting). That’s a particularly important point, because that affects both the JPG files and the JPG previews used within the RAW files. This is the setting that controls the camera’s own internal noise reduction processing. And because the images embedded in the page below are using the JPG files, you’re seeing the effects of that in-camera noise reduction in these display versions (which is why I’ve also included links to the RAW files). And the in-camera noise reduction is pretty darn impressive.

The in-camera noise reduction is also relevant to the RAW files but in a different way. This setting does not affect the underlying RAW data in the NEF files. But when you first open a RAW file to view, you’ll most likely see the preview file that’s embedded within it. To get past that and see the underlying RAW file, you’ll need to regenerate the preview thumbnail; whichever RAW viewer/editor you’re using will have a way to do that manually or automatically among its functions.

In many cases, I’ve included several shots of the same or similar scene at different ISOs so you can do some direct side-by-side comparisons.

You can click on each image below to open a full-size version from the JPG or use the links in each caption to download the original straight-out-of-camera RAW and JPG files. The NEF files range from about 30 to 37 megabytes each. ²

The original RAW files for the images in this post are available to subscribers to my newsletter on the RAW file downloads page. The page is password-protected; the password is in the newsletter’s welcome email. The JPG versions linked in the captions stay free.

Nikon Zf low light sample images

Notes & References:

1. This is in stills mode with the output as RAW (NEF) or JPG. If you have the output as HEIC for the HLG tone mode, the ISO range is limited to 400 to 64000 when HLG is selected for tone mode. [↩︎]
2. The variation in the file sizes is due to how image compression works. Even though the RAW compression is on the lowest setting (Lossless compression), it’s still applying compression. [↩︎]