#disclaimer obviously that there's a lot of caveats attached to how to use it and still risks involved but also

[maxwell-grant]

IT'S OUR MOUSE NOW

[insert-cleverurl]

solaine copies her dsmp meta twitter part one

preface: i wrote this on february 13th and am now archiving it over here on tumblr before i get around posting it to the actual archive (of our own). i'd like to clean it up before i go there, becuase i wrote this at like one am lying in bed and typing on my laptop that was sitting on my stomach. it's a lot of rambling. i go on a lot of tangents. it is not the cleanest nor likely most accurate meta you will ever read.

how characters (children) on the smp learn from history rather than repeat it: a thread

aka: stop liking the other one you fucks i opened the wikia so i actually know what happened now /lh

context here is that i had earlier made a much less coherent thread (not that this one is very coherent) with the caveat that i was going entirely off memory

this thread is mainly going over how tommy + tubbo both emulate and turned away from wilbur + schlatt respectively, and how i think that's going to reflect in ranboo's arc

"as long as i can't be the next jschlatt, you can't be the next wilbur." okay we all know this. it's obvious from this point on that both tubbo and tommy saw or had fears of how they were each developing into scarily familiar people - schlatt, a dictator, and wilbur, a madman.

starting with tommy, the parallels between his exile arc and wilbur's pogtopia arc are immediately, and glaringly, obvious. paranoia, trust issues, "maybe i'm actually the bad guy here", and most notably, intense loneliness. wilbur made it obvious he believed pogtopis's allies would all abandon them in the end (them being he and tommy, though how much he trusted tommy by the end is also up in the air), and he was completely prepared to kill anyone he had to in order to secure pogtopia's victory, despite also preparing himself to be the one to end it. wilbur gave up on l'manberg, at the very end. he believed tyranny was all that would ever reign, so he blew it up.

tommy, in his exile arc, was also despairingly lonely. he hallucinated tubbo, grew attached to dream, etc etc. tommy was very very close to "becoming" wilbur here (god i'm sorry this is so long already and just me summing things up we already know it's to keep my thoughts in order + satisfy my inability to shut up and use too many words)

where wilbur and tommy go their separate ways is when they were given an out. dream gave wilbur tnt + for tommy, he was. you know. gestures vaguely at logstedshire. wilbur took the out - he gave up. he gave in. we know he had moments of clarity (when niki was in danger) and Maybe this was one he could've had too, but he didn't. he took the tnt.

tommy decided enough was enough. so at a crucial moment in time, tommy turned away from being wilbur. he did not repeat history.

onto tubbo; admittedly i know much less about his arc as president so this will be less outlined. tubbo,,,, acted very similarly to schlatt. probably moreso than tommy and wilbur! strange new laws, ignoring his cabinet, execution, generally appearing to lose his care for the world and the opinions of others. i'd argue the thing that separates him from schlatt is the most important part of this thread, because it proves my point: he remembered.

i just want to clarify here: by "proves my point" i mean this is the clsoest we get to an agreement of the ideas i'm putting out here in canon?? ig?? as in like. this is the most on the nose way to say it. similarly in recent days to quackity consistently referring to his treatment of dream as torture, which seems to be a very "I Am Not In Character" move but is definitely meant for us, the viewers, rather than character dream or character quackity themselves. tubbo's is a little less like that but still it's kind of like pointing at the X on a map for us the viewers. ok tangent over

tubbo lived under schlatt's rule as one of those people he treated extremely shittily. he lived under schlatt's rule as that person he executed. and tubbo remembers all that! tubbo remembers how schlatt's rule played out, and he looks at his own uh, less than stellar time in office, and he admits this out loud (to ranboo, according to the wikia. i am getting all of this off the wikia. i did not watch any streams during this arc.) that he can See himself becoming schlatt.

and when quackity tries to execute ranboo for being a traitor, tubbo stops him.

onto dream and ranboo! dream is a special case in that we never get to see his perspective of things and are rather left to play fill in the blank, and this whole arc is special (in terms of this thread) in that it isn't over. so i will be doing a lot of extrapolating here.

dream starts out as a generally ambivalent character who has very few rules that he pretty much never bothers to enforce anyways (i think? i don't remember).

by this i mean, this is all stuff i heard secondhand in recent months and can no longer remember what it actually was because i never went back to check. i'm pretty sure, but just a disclaimer. i don't wanna get hit with an "um, actually

his villain arc starts very very early - two whole seasons before he really became one. in the war, he is the antagonist and he plays up to it! most of the war is from l'manberg's pov (or that's how we look at it now, at least) so obviously he is the Bad Guy here.

ranboo griefed a house like two days into the server. 'nuff said /lh

ranboo + dream are both heavily vilified characters from the get-go - dream's part should be fairly obvious (uh, the everything leading up the exile arc where he actually did villainous things), whereas ranboo's is most notably during the second festival's aftermath. taking the blame for blowing up the community house, wanting to "pick people not sides" (he wants all his friends to be happy - sounds familiar, right?), etc etc, and now he's with techno and phil, the former of which is Definitely considered a villain for working with dream

now many many parallels are being drawn between he and dream, especially with the whole enderwalking thing. in the aftermath of everything happening, he chooses to stay out of all conflict, until Something Happens and forces his hand. (the egg!) he wants peace for everyone, which again, sounds very familiar, right?

(slight tangent: yes, the griefing was forcing dream's hand. it's nigh impossible to construe it as anything other than a political attack - the vice president of l'manberg griefing the home of the greater dream smp's king? dream looks weak + open to attack if he lets it slide)

this was a bad way to put it but the spirit of it gets across i think. fuck character limit on twitter

that catches us up on all current lore. where do i think dream and ranboo are going to split? dream has been alone in his decision-making basically since the very first war. not once has he (successfully, we don't know if he tried) gone to fall back on his friends' support and ask for their help in making these hard decisions (of which there are many). he severs his final connections ("i don't care about anything on this server") and cements his place in history as a monster.

i think it is very likely that we are getting a ranboo "friendship and relying on other people" arc here. there are other ways they could go with it, obviously, but given his current arctic anarchist ties and what appears to be other friendships developing. hmm! i'm interested. this part is entirely speculation/extrapolation. point being. the kids on the smp do, in fact, learn from history. they still make mistakes sometimes, but past a certain point, they're always different mistakes. they learn, and they almost always get happier endings for it

i don't know if it's a coincidence that it's the three lore-relevant kids who are the ones doing this. i don't think it is, because this is a very well-written and clever story. the younger generation is the one learning and fixing past mistakes and leaving the world better off for it. that's very neat! i like it a lot. also now that purpled's becoming lore-relevant, goddamnit if i don't want to see next season being his "learning from history" arc. punz vs purpled, maybe? that'd be neat. who knows. ok i think im finally done lol ty for reading :)

caveat I forgot to add last night: obviously ranboo and dream start out in very different positions, moreso than both tommy and tubbo. but at the end of the day, all three of them are their own people who just happen to take after other people in some ways :)

again, ty for reading! here's the original thread. i'd like to add that this is probably out of date and i may come back to it some day but who knows. maybe this will just be a relic of before Now (may 25)

[cowb0ygenius]

Interview with Julien Baker | From the Music Desk

Julien Baker is set to release a new album, "Little Oblivions" on Feb. 26. Baker is coming off the heels of her collaboration with Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus in their group Boygenius, and she played at Eaux Claires one year, playing background as Hanif Abdurraqib read poetry. Abdurraqib also wrote Baker's bio for the "Little Oblivions" release and once we started on our shared love for his work, there was no stopping our conversation. -88Nine Radio Milwaukee

[transcript under the cut]

Hi Julien!

Hello Justin!

Hey, how ya doing?

Uh, doing pretty well! Yeah, how are you?

I’m good. Uh, even before going into- even before reading your bio I was going to ask you about Hanif Abdurraqib, and then-

Yeah!

And then I was so fortunate to read the bio [laughs]

I, when he agreed to do that, I was like- [gestures] I was like, emotional? I was like, “I love Hanif!” I actually met- it’s so weird, I like, met/heard, became familiar with his writing, his poetry at, like, a christian writing conference in Grand Rapids?

When?

Um… Oh my gosh, was it 2017? Had to be 2017. Because 2018… yeah. I think it was like a couple of years ago. Um, and then like-

Why were you both there? … Speaking on Christian writing?

Okay so here- the, um, the person who ran it, um, was so sweet, and had like- so we had played there… “we.” This was before I toured with a band. But uh, played with violin. We had played there at this Christian college, um, in Grand Rapids, like just on tour, because whoever ran the events was like- I don’t wanna say “really cool” as if that’s an anomaly for people who- for people of faith, but like-

Sure!

I played there, they had asked Torres to play there, you know-

Hanif was there…

Hanif was there. Yeah, it seemed like the people programming wanted to have a dialogue that wasn’t so- like- the- I don’t- man. It’s funny, ‘cause now I don’t really like using words like “secular.” Um.. [laughs] There’s just this weird otherness, when you call something “secular.” You’re like, “oh…. Secular.”

[laughs]

But uh.. yeah! Just wanted to incorporate, like, non-faith based art as an exploration of like, more abstract ways of how, how we see God?

Mhm.

Umm… like, what that even is? Which I- I like, of course, I was like 20 years old and I was like “THIS IS MY LANEE” Um, I gave at- at that- I’m s- I’m a little embarrassed, but also…. God bless young Julien. I gave like a fucking powerpoint presentation at that conference-

Wow!

AT THAT CONFERENCE, about how [laughs] about how hardcore music, um, was an analog to the tenets of the Gospel.

How so?

Oh my gosh. I don’t know. I-

Hit me with the thesis!

Man, I don’t wanna- I just- It’s funny because I- back then I was trying to have a thesis. And I thought I ha- I had a lot of philosophies to deploy. And now I don’t. [long pause] Uh… Now I don’t. I’m not so- It’s not like I’m not so sure of them but I just have… you know, even back then where it was like this weird disclaimer I would put at the beginning of everything, like, “well I don’t know anything, but what I’ve found and how I understand faith,” and it’s just kind of like… I… I now feel responsible for, kind of, representing an ideology, or trying to pitch people an ideology that was not realistic. [chuckles] Or like-

What was your ideology?

I don’t know! I thought that, that…. [scoffs] It was a lot of stuff. Um, I thought, you know, I thought living out my faith, and- God, this is probably- I don’t wanna do this to another artist, uh, and be like, “Well I really liked what they said, so I did just like them!” Uh, but I- my favorite band was mewithoutYou? And,

Mhm.

It still is! mewithoutYou rocks. Um, but, I like…. Took everything about their ethos and how... Aaron like, characterized God and like the things that they did and tried to apply it to my own life in this way that when I look back on it now was really like- it was like, not that extreme but I wanted to be? You know? I wanted to have like, one shirt.

Oh, yeah.

And to not have- and like, take all the rider food and walk around outside and give it to homeless people.

Yeah.

That’s not- like, okay.

I get that, I get that.

That’s not inherently bad! That is not inherently bad. But, like… I think that I like, hung all of those actions on this belief that like, there was a true- like if I could only just find out what being right is.

Mm.

What God wants. What, uh- how to best love other people. What the right thing to do is.

Mm.

Then I could- and I was like- but you know, it’s because I held all these crazy standards for myself, of being like… ultimately kind? Then when I was like human and I did something shitty, I would have a panic attack about it. You know?

Yeah. Yes.

Like… and, I was just like- but it’s basically so I’m standing up here in a frickin’ tweed blazer, at this Christian conference, trying to be like, “Here’s how I learned love.” Right? Like, “I learned love because people at a church that was a little bit more progressive than the churches I had been to in high school, um, invited me over for dinner, no strings attached, and I was happy that someone was taking interest in me and being kind to me and loving me with no caveat?”

Mhm.

And the other place I found that was.. punk shows. The other place I found that, was, you know, and it was all wrapped up to in like… me being attached to like, straight-edge ideology. Which ha- like, can be useful as like an offshoot of like an understanding of sobriety but also has a lot to do with purity culture? And like… [gestures]

Yeah.

You know? It’s- it’s just- difficult! And so now, I’m like- I just have less to say. You wouldn’t know it ‘cause I just talked, like-

[laughs]

I just had like a 10 minute run-on sentence, obviously. But like, I have- I have less. 

You think that’s ‘cause you have a larger audience?

Woah!

You think it’s harder to say something if you have a larger audience?

…. Oh god. You know what? I was gonna say no, but actually that might be a part of it. Like, I’d never thought of it like that before, but- man. I used to, like, if I were gonna tweet something, something that I f- that I shouldn’t feel so anxious about like, like- tweeting.

Yeah.

Like, first of all, it’s Twi- it��s like an imaginary digital realm. Like, i- it’s powerful! It’s powerful to educate, to organize, to um- you know, especially like...  whatever, I’m not even gonna get off on that, ‘cause that’ll be like the whole interview. But, I would st- I would have to- I would be like visibly sweating and have to turn my phone off if I was just like, “Hey! please like donate to this organization that’s trying to not put children in cages at the border.” But it’s like, why? I have- with my- with the whole fabric of my being believe that’s the right thing to do, and I have this like, “well what if, what if you’re wrong? What if you hurt someone’s feelings?” And I’m just like, dude- I- I- it’s just like, the more people- I didn’t even… When I was a kid, I just wanted to play music, and I pretty much thought that I was going to be a teacher, and then I was going to use summer break to tour with my band. And just kinda be… a thirty-year-old, like, rock chick.

Cool. Mhm.

Who was just… touring bars.

Cool teacher.

And like, I don’t- I don’t know! I didn’t want- but the same thing is, like, I had somebody say to me really early on, I was like- I said to them—it was my friend Ryan Rado, who made the painting for the Turn Out the Lights album cover—I was like, “Man, the most- I feel like the only thing I wanna do with a microphone when I get it is turn it away because I always learned about shows being about… gang vocals! And like-

[laughs]

And that’s kind of- that’s like- that’s literal, but also, it has implications on how you understand… your platform as a musician. It’s like yeah, I’m just, like… you know? All the people watching my band are just the other bands that just played. So we’re all kinda on the same…

[laughs]

…plane?

Uhuh? [laughs]

Um, and it’s like- now- and i- he said to me- he was like, “But you can’t change the fact that you have the microphone.”

Mhmm.

“So you’re going to have to say something into it anyway.”

Yeah.

And then I was like, “Well what do I say?” [chuckles] What do I say if I wanna- if I truly want the world to be a better place. What can I say, to make whoever follows the Julien Baker music account on Twitter-

[laughs]

-think about being a better person! And I’m not- like, it sounds like I’m be- I’m being so mean to myself, because like… that’s true. Like I want to put ideas and links to articles and history podcasts about like- I want to put that in front of the people that trust me enough to smash that follow button. You know? Like-

Yeah.

I- I wanna try. But I… I can’t, like, I think I- I really just wanted to be good. And-

Yeah.

But it’s so… I don’t wanna be like, “it’s hard to be good,” because that’s like a cop out of like, “Well, I should just be average.” [laughs] But like.. yeah man. It’s difficult, to all of the sudden have-

The-

Yeah-

There’s a low threshold for forgiveness on twitter, you know?

Good God, yeah. Yeah.

I mean it’s like that, you know, it’s hard!

Yeah!

I mean I- I- I read a tweet that Hanif liked today, you know it was like in my feed of, like, “Hanif liked this.” And it was like something about Ocean Vuong—who I love—um, but I guess like, Ocean like, said something today or something like that? And then it was like a… there was like a poet that was like, “This should also be a place for learning.” This- like, if someone said something, this should also be a place for forgiveness. And sometimes, we’re- sometimes we’re still figuring it out! And that’s okay-

Yeah!

-And that’s a really tough thing to do.

No, um, Ha- uh, I was just reading like, I think it was Hayley Williams was tweeting this whole long thing about like saying “womxn” with an x? And then like, like all- like, I didn’t even understand it. Like, what was the- I was just like, “okay!” I guess there was somebody that had a problem with this, and then she was just like, “Thanks. Thanks for letting me know that was problematic, I won’t do that anymore.” And I wish- I wish that I… ha- like- maybe I will get to a point where I’m like- It’s like, “I know I’m problematic! I’m- everybody’s problematic!”

[laughs]

But not least of all, me! You know?

[laughs]

Um, but I’m so afraid it’s like I will sit there and concoct what I want to say in an interview, or like- like when I have to do email interviews my manager will send me like four- like, “Hey, you- you really need to get this done”

[laughs]

Because I will sit here for seven hours, in this spot in my apartment, and be like, “That’s not the best way to say that! I could say it better!” You know, I’m just like- and then inevitably I’ll read it the next week and I’ll be like, “still sounds dumb.” Like, I just-

[laughs] You can’t win, Julien!

Can’t win! Yeah but it’s- it’s freeing. Its freeing to know that you can’t win.

For sure. Um- I’m going to have to wrap this up. We’re-

I’m so sorry!

Um- er- I think we have like two more minutes- I know, it’s been a quick 15. Yeah, um, you had said that mewithoutYou is, um, is your favorite band? And I would- I wanna come out of this with a song to play- could you tell me a mewithoutYou song that we can play? And why you like it?

Wowwww… okay. I’m sorry. I’m like a stan of them so I’m like mulling through their entire discography in my head right now.

Sure.

Um- oh my God. You know what? It’s a weird one, and I feel like.. mewithoutYou fans don’t hate me for not saying, like, 19- 1979 or whatever? But… um… play King Beetle and the Coconut Estate. That one’s really cool. It’s about beetles who think that God is like a light and then they all fight it- it’s like a really cool microcosmic little fable that is a really merciful way to look at humans trying to figure out what heaven or god or rightness is. But it’s just little bugs. [laughs]

[laughs]

Talking to each other! It’s really cute. King Beetle and the Coconut Estate.

Perfect

Yeah. Yeah!

Um, and thank you. I mean, that’s- that was the fastest 15 minutes I’ve uh ever spent!

Oh my gosh! We didn’t even- We just talked about a Christian music conference!

[laughs] We didn’t even really like get to Hanif, or-

I’m so- I’m so sorry!

Oh no, oh my God! The best is when you, uh, make a plan and then you throw the, you know, road map out the window.

Yeah!

This is my dream conversation!

Okay! [laughs] Well good! Thank you! It’s been- I’ve enjoyed this conversation quite thoroughly.

Me too! Thank you! Uh- and thank you for the, thank you for the music! Consistently throughout your career, and-

Oh! Yeah, I try!

And thanks for the, for the new record.

[scripttorture]

I have a character that has been locked in a metal cage, chained at the wrists through a single point in the floor of the cage. She is barefoot, and the cage is a few feet of the floor of the room, giving no choice but to use the metal bars as the floor. The cage can be electrified at the flip of a switch. Supernatural reasons mean she won't be killed, but physics remains the same. What would her body go through for a week? How would the potential for shock affect that?

So quick caveat I think this is an experiment that’s been conducted on mice and rats but they are obviously pretty different to human beings. Because this isn’t a ‘usual’ method of electrical torture I’m extrapolating from what I know rather than looking directly at real cases.

The first thing that springs out is that the electricity isn’t actually the only torture going on here. There’s also potentially starvation, dehydration, sleep deprivation and either a restraint torture or a stress position at play here.

Now obviously you know whether she's getting enough to eat and drink, I like to try and cover all the possibilities. I'd strongly suggest making sure the character has water at regular intervals even if for magical reasons she can't die because someone that dehydrated wouldn't be conscious. If you're considering limiting the amount of food she has then the week she's confined is more than enough time for her to start showing some of the psychological effects of starvation.Ihave a Masterpost that covers that here.

I don't know how big the cage is or how long the chain is and in this case both those things would have a big effect on the character's experience.

If the cage is big enough for her to comfortably lie down, sit down and stand up then she's not in a stress position. If the chain is long enough to allow her to lie flat, sit comfortably and stand up straight, then it's less likely she's in a restraint torture. If she's cuffed in front of her body and the cuffs arn't extremely heavy and don't dig into her wrists then I'd say it probably isn't a restraint torture.

I guess what I'm trying to highlight here is that you're potentially adding additional tortures on top of the electric shocks. Tortures that, in the case of the stress positions and dehydration, would be lethal over the time frame you've got.

  Stress positions cause massive damage to muscles by putting them under constant stress. The maximum 'safe' time is about 48 hours and after that a victim would be in considerable pain and too weak to walk. They'd be incapable of any fine motor control but they'd recover that and the ability to walk in a week or so with rest and food.

Restraint tortures are similar but essentially allow enough movement that the damage is less extensive and less quick. The result is that victims can be kept in them longer without- well dying. I've heard of prisoners in China being held in restraint tortures for over a month on end. It produces a series of constant aches across the body but not the extent of muscular weakness stress positions generally do. It's a lot of pain and it can cause nerve damage which in the case of your character might affect mobility in her hands.

The experiments on mice this reminded me of were about depriving the animals of sleep and seeing what that did. You could potentially do something similar.

Whether you want to or not I'd suggest not having the character subjected to long continuous shocks. They'd be more likely to kill a character. That's not a problem in your story but it means I couldn't really tell you what the effects would be on your character because there isn't much I could compare it to. Pain certainly, probably electrical burns, possibly muscle damage caused by constant contractions or the heat generated by a constant flow of current.

Most electrical torture consists of short, repeated shocks.

The device used is, so far as I can tell, the main thing that makes the difference between an obvious scarring torture and a 'clean' one. Scarring electrical devices can leave large burns and cause muscle contractions strong enough to break bones. The jaw and teeth seem to be common but I've also heard of major leg bones breaking in a few cases.

'Clean' devices leave no obvious marks most of the time. A few can leave small, mild burns or a redness on skin.

Both sorts of devices can cause fatal heart attacks or seizures. Modern 'clean' devices such as Tasers and stun guns are notorious for.....basically taking away a victim's ability to use their major muscles. This means they fall and can't protect their head as they fall. That results in a lot of fatal injuries.

So- how much of this applies in your scenario?

If the character can stand up chances are she's mostly being shocked in the same place- her feet. The repeated shocks over such a long period are going to cause redness at the very least and probably burns. That could cause problems later because scarring such as burns shrinks the skin and can reduce mobility. The soles of the feet are a part of the body that can be affected in that way.

This could also mean that she'll suffer a lot of falling injuries- abrasions, bruises, cuts, may be broken bones.

If the electrical source is the sort that causes intense muscular spasms she'd be hitting out against the cage, possibly quite strongly. Which would again be more cuts, bruises and broken bones.

If the cuffs around her wrists tighten as she spasms then she may also end up losing circulation in her hands, which could lead to tissue necrosis and amputation of both hands.

You might also find this victim account (from Henri Alleg) useful. It's his description of his experience of electrical torture.

‘Suddenly, I leapt in my bonds and shouted with all my might. Cha- had just sent a first electric charge through my body. A flash of lightning exploded next to my ear and I felt my heart racing in my breast. I struggled, screaming and stiffened myself until the straps cut into my flesh. All the while the shocks controlled by Cha-, magneto in hand, followed each other without cease. To the same rhythm Cha- repeated a single question, hammering out the syllables: ‘Where have you been hiding?’

Between two spasms I turned my head towards him and said ‘You are wrong to do this. You will regret it!’ Furious Cha- turned the knob on the magneto to its fullest extent.

‘Every time you say that I’ll give you a packet!’ And as I was continuing to scream he said to Ja- ‘My God he’s noisy! Stuff his mouth with something!’ Ja- rolled my shirt into a ball and forced it into my mouth, after which the torture continued. I bit the material between my teeth with all my might and almost found some relief.

Suddenly I felt as if a savage beast had torn the flesh from my body. Still smiling above me Ja- had attached the pincer to my penis. The shocks going through me were so strong that the straps holding me to the board came loose. They stopped to tie them again and we continued.

After a while the lieutenant took the place of Ja-. He had removed the wire from one of the pincers and fastened it down along the entire width of my chest. The whole of my body was shaking with nervous shocks getting ever stronger in intensity, and the session went on interminably. They had thrown cold water over me in order to increase the intensity of the current and between every two spasms I trembled with cold. All around me sitting on the packing cases, Cha- and his friends emptied bottles of beer. I chewed on my gag to relieve the cramp which contorted my body. In vain.

At last they stopped. ‘All right untie him!’ The first session was over’

You might also want to have a look at the Masterpost on the common psychological effects of torture for the longer term affects your character would experience.

I hope that helps. :)

Disclaimer

[terrytinkessphotography]

Nikon Full-Frame Mirrorless Observations

Alright, I’ve promised to share my thoughts on the new Nikon Mirrorless camera system, so here it is, but first a few caveats.

I don’t do reviews. Many of the ones you find online (I believe) are just click bait or people in need of validation (or the occasional gas-bag who just likes hearing himself talk.) This isn’t as much a review as my observations from having used the Z7 and more recently the Z6 in the same way as I’ve used every camera I have owned. If they are helpful to you, that’s as much as I could hope for. If they aren’t, then just disregard them.

I am not a person you will ever see produce charts to display the findings of my research. Looking at charts, quite frankly, gives me a headache. Photography has always been where science and art converge, but I have unashamedly placed myself on the art side. I love taking photos, the sound of the shutter, the experience of creating something that didn’t previously exist and the joy of looking back at the images and remembering how they came to be. I have the UTMOST respect for those who spend countless hours examining the science of photography, but I don’t find my pleasure in that domain.

One other disclaimer: my observations are based upon my style of photography, and what works for me, or what is acceptable to me may or may not be acceptable to you. Before making the investment, make the effort to get your hands on a Z7 or a Z6 and decide for yourself if it seems to be something you’ll be comfortable with. There really is no such thing as a bad camera out there, but it all comes down to what you expect, what your level of tolerance is and whether you want to spend time preaching about what the perfect camera should be or you want to get out and capture memories.

All in

I decided, after a great deal of thought, that if I was to give mirrorless a fair chance, I had to go all in, and as a result have switched from a D5 and D850 combination to a Z7 and a Z6. I do believe that mirrorless is the way of the future, and nothing I heard recently at the PhotoPlus Expo in New York indicated otherwise. It is debateable, however, how quickly that will come to pass. Nikon is reportedly preparing the D6 for field testing, but they have also gone on record saying that a D5 type pro-mirrorless body is definitely something that will make an appearance as well. In the meantime, I can do everything I need to do with the two Z’s, and if something changes, I’ve still got all my F mount lenses and could switch back to the DSLR stream, but I really don’t expect to see that happen. As always, it should be the best tool for the job and if mirrorless covers most of my bases, then I’m good.

The bodies

These are extremely well-made bodies, and although lighter and smaller, they definitely exhibit the Nikon pedigree. I had no issue picking them up and starting to shoot. The menus are familiar, and while there are some differences, they were, for the most part, easily adapted to, and I find now that I have been shooting with them for a while, my comfort level is back to where I like it to be.

I don’t want to sound like Goldie Locks, but the size of the body is also “just right.” It is much less imposing than a full-size DSLR body, and I find that I am more apt to have a camera with me and ready to shoot more often. It still feels solid and the build quality is exceptional, so combined with the smaller size, it’s a nice neat package.

Nikon stressed that both the Z7 and the Z6 were weather sealed, and that has been my experience. I have shot in the rain and in wet snow without issue, which is a big plus for me. You can always find some sort of rain cover, even if it is only a zip-lock bag, but not having to use one makes things a whole lot simpler.

One thing I did notice, that I didn’t expect, was a bit of an issue with the door on the card slot. I have hit it a couple times with my thumb, causing it to come open. This could be a problem in inclement weather, but since I’ve been aware of it, I have been able to avoid the problem.

Okay, so let’s deal with what so many see as a major design flaw:  the existence of only one card slot. Would I like to have two? Sure. Is it a deal breaker? Not for me, but maybe it is for you. I frequently change cards and download the images to my iPad or laptop asap as well. I have never lost an image to a faulty card, and through my workflow I minimize the chance of that happening, at least to any great degree. I do believe it is something that Nikon will address in subsequent models, but for now, one XQD card seems to work fine. (I wouldn’t be disappointed though, if the price were to drop a bit, which it probably will over time.

Lenses

I have tested both bodies with the Nikon’s latest version of the 24-70 2.8 and the 70-200 2.8 as well as the 105 micro, 105 f1.4, and the 14-24 2.8 and found them to work flawlessly despite the need to use the FTZ adaptor. I have not noticed any focusing issues, and the lenses behaved as they did on the D850. The native 24-70 f/4 and 35 1.8 are obviously lighter, but that has been less of a consideration than I would have thought. I still chose the lens I needed for the situation whether it was an F-mount or a Z-mount.

I can’t comment on how the adaptor works with third party lenses as I haven’t used any of them. My personal belief is that you invest in a system: camera body, lenses, flashes, etc. These things are designed to work together, and for me they have now that I’m a Nikon shooter and also when I was a Canon shooter. If Sigma, Tamron, Tokina or any of the others work for you, that’s great, because obtaining results that make you happy is what it all comes down to. Many people lose sight of that. If you don’t take pleasure from the photography you do, why bother?

One problem I did encounter with the adaptor is that because of the design (the bump-out at the bottom) you can’t simply switch between the native lenses and the ones that require the adaptor if you use the spider holder carrying system. The plate that fits on the bottom of the camera juts out just enough that the adaptor cannot swivel into place. If you’re using only F-mount lenses it isn’t a problem because you can connect the adaptor and then attach the plate, or you can stick with native lenses, but you can’t do both without removing and then reattaching the plate. Spider is aware of the problem and are working on it.

Small things

It was a nice bonus that both the Z6 and Z7 take the same battery as the Nikon D850, so I didn’t need to buy a couple spares. As well, the battery life in real life turned out to be better than expected. I’ve been able to shoot well over 1,000 images easily with battery power to spare.

Things I had to adjust to

The silent shutter is very nice, and I used it at a baptism without disrupting the blessed event. It is a little disconcerting when you shoot multiple frames and don’t really notice until afterwards how many you took or what they looked like when you review the images, but again, it was a matter of adjusting to something different, not something bad.

Am I the only one that truly enjoys the sound of a high-quality mechanical shutter? I miss that sound, but it seems like a small price to pay. Still, the sound the D5 makes…

The EVF

The resolution of the electronic viewfinder (EVF) is incredible. It is like watching a very small UHD television. It is such an advantage to be able to confirm settings while looking through the EVF, you are less apt to miss a shot that you might have missed while looking at the back of the camera. Once you become familiar with the layout of the various buttons and dials it becomes simple to stay engaged with your subject and make changes on the fly.

In addition, you can just push the I button on the right rear of the camera and you can

           -set picture controls

           -image quality

           -flash mode

           -control the wi-fi connection

           -change the shutter release mode

           -change the AF-area mode

           -adjust the white balance

           -set image size

           -choose metering options

           -control active D-Lighting

           -turn vibration reduction on or off

           -select the focus mode

There are a number of different viewing modes which can be set with a button on the left side of the viewfinder. You can choose viewfinder only, monitor only, prioritize viewfinder and automatic display switch.

You can also decide where you want to review your images; in the viewfinder, on the monitor or both.

The buffer

I could see this being a problem for people who shoot birds in flight, or do sports photography, but for me it wasn’t an issue and I actually think it helped me to be more selective about when I released the shutter. With the D5 or the D850 there is always the temptation to “spray and pray,” knowing that you just had to come up with something good if you held the shutter release down long enough (provided your exposure and composition were good.) Now, I find that I shoot less because I don’t want the camera telling me I can’t shoot more, and I’m more selective about what I point my lens at.

Overall

It is a busy time of year and I haven’t gotten out as much as I would like to, but I can say that I am not any less happy with the results I have obtained with the Z7 and the Z6. The weight loss is much appreciated and having a camera ready to go more often can’t help but improve the number of opportunities I come across. There are definitely things that need to be worked on (second card slot, larger buffer, higher frame rate) but the roadmap Nikon released shows that there will be a number of improvements to come, many that may already be far along in the development process. Bottom line: both these cameras take excellent photos, and if you’re not a frustrated engineer, you should be able to enjoy using them. There will always be something new and something better, but do you want to spend your time waiting for it, or do you want to spend your time capturing really great images?

[infernothechaosgod]

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