Before writing this article, I had to look back on the Phoblographer’s Nikon Zf review. Since its publishing in December 2023, we’ve updated the review a total of 13 times so far. And today, we’re announcing the 14th update. Most importantly, I’m letting everyone know what all the influencers and YouTubers aren’t talking about: there’s a weird firmware/mechanical problem with this camera that no other Nikon camera has. And to really make people aware of it, within the next month or so, the review will be updated by two other members of the Phoblographer’s Review team.
The rest of this article is updated text that has been added to our full Nikon Zf review, which can be read here. But if you just want to see the updated text, then check it out below.
Ease of Use Update April 2026
Quite a bit has happened since Nikon came out with the Nikon Zf. They’ve added in extra Picture Control functionality, there have been autofocus enhancements, it has come out in Silver, and Nikon has entered a lawsuit with Viltrox — a company that’s arguably one of their biggest supporters. We’re in crazy times, for sure.
And something that the Phoblographer has been reporting on that others haven’t is the fact that Nikon’s hot shoe has weird errors with flash transmitters.
Of any of the actual journalists left in this industry, I’m probably the one who uses and tests cameras with flash the most. I’ve previously reported on problems with Profoto’s transmitters that haven’t been addressed by Nikon. And it was only recently that the rest of the staff here brought up other issues. So Reviews Editor Alberto Lima and Gear Editor Feroz Khan have all decided to join me in continued tests with the camera. Before the end of the year, we’ll probably conclude all the problems that we’ve found.
Essentially, there’s an odd problem with both the firmware and the hardware of the Nikon Zf that doesn’t allow all flash transmitters to work properly with the camera. This doesn’t just go for Profoto, Yongnuo, Godox, and Flashpoint flashes — it even happens with some of Nikon’s own older lights that were part of the Creative Lighting System.
Thankfully though, this problem rarely happens when you’re using a flash in the hot shoe itself. And the issue rears its ugly head when you’re using radios.
Recently, I brought the old Godox TT685IIN to a gig using the Nikon Zf. I haven’t reviewed or even really touched that flash in years. But when it was attached to the camera, high speed sync had no issues at all. That’s to say that the flash fired pretty much every time unless it had to recycle energy. And each and every time, the shutter curtains synced up with the flash. Essentially, the images came out as you’d expect them to.
Why is this worth an update then? Because we’ve been consistently having issues with this and Nikon hasn’t given us a lot of feedback or even really addressed the issues with us. Further, as you can find in other parts of this review, the problem is well documented online.
Sadly for real photographers, it seems like Nikon stopped caring a lot about the creative lighting system in preference for creators who try to become Youtube stars and then drop out of the sky like flies.
There have been several updates to the Nikon Zf, but I highly doubt that they’re ever going to fix this one. The rest of the staff will share more on this in future updates, so please stay tuned.