Thanks for the response Patrick,
The D7500 is a good DSLR and has a lot of comfortable familiar features we all became accustomed to. I was pretty sure I had found my ultimate camera in the D800, then adding the D850, and both got great images for me. I was happy, and did not have any interest in the little mirrorless toys. I added one for one reason, my lens collections and gripped body were getting too heavy and large for travel with the tighter restrictions in overhead bins on regional airlines. I had spent a month in Turkey starting just before New Years last year and the only camera that would fit the restrictions was my D7000 and original kit lens for my first DSLR, a 18-105. It did fine for vacation memory capture, actually better than fine, it did very well except in very low light situations where flash was not permitted. The next day after returning to St Petersburg Russia I visited one of the camera stores which had a good stock and found they had a stack of Z7.
I had high res covered with the D850 so was less interested in that and figured Z6 would be better for travel and low light. I ended up getting the Z7, the first one I ever held, liked the solid feel of it, very confidence inspiring, but when I put the EVF to my eye, instantly my opinion of mirrorless, or at least Nikon Z cameras changed. I had used friend's Sony a7II and a7III and was not impressed with build, controls, and ergonomics. The EVF was not very good on either. But this Z7 is EVF was bright, very sharp, great color and allowed manual focus in light conditions I could never attempt with an optical VF. I shot with it for a couple weeks and used every excuse to take it out instead of my D850. It was so satisfying to hold and shoot that the D850 got less and less use.
The store manager knew I wanted the Z6 so he has promised when they became available he would take back the Z7 if I still preferred the smaller pixel count. He was sure I would prefer the Z7 if I just used it more. He called to say the next day a shipment from Nikon would arrive and Z6s were on the manifest. It was a hard choice, the IQ of the Z7 was identical to the D850, which is pretty darn good. He worked out deal to take the 7 back and instead of refund for the difference proposed thoughing in a 35 1.8 and 50 1.8. Done. The Z6 is a better General purpose camera that excels in video and low light and speed. I have shot it very day in commercial sessions, events, walking around, travel, and it goes with me almost everywhere in a small sling bag.
If you wish to get the most enjoyment from the D7500 I warn you, do not, under any threat or coercion look at the world, or a dark room, through the Z6/7 EVF. I warned you. For if you did it would be VERY hard to go back to a FX size OVF let alone the small dim Dx OVF. And do not try the S lenses, they are optically superior to even the best F mount. The little kit 24-70 f/4 is sharper corner to corner than the flag ship 24-70 2.8 G or E. I have both of those lenses and the difference in optics, especially when considering how large and expensive those are. The 50 1.8 is the sharpest lens a 1.8 I have ever used. After using it, one would not use their other normal lenses again. The 24-70 2.8 S is the best mid zoom on the planet.
It occured to me quickly that my investment in the D850 was going to take a big hit when people started selling theirs to finance Z cameras so I ended up selling it at the beginning of summer and kept the D800 because its resale value was lower than I valued the file quality it produces and or clients insist on higher res files.
I suspect a higher end Z body will be released this winter, in time for the olympics for those who need higher res than a D6 or D5 provide. With the announcement of thee Z50 it is a safe bet they are not going to release 3, 5 or 7 series DSLRs. They may refresh the D500 however. The Z50 has enough bases covered to be the Nikon universal entry level, casual, vlogger, or travel camera. This unified mount will encourage....force...Sigma and Tamron to release Z mount lenses or miss out on the Nikon market.
I can see how "fitting in with.. current gear" is a major plus point for many. Kudos to Nikon for the smart move of one mount for all Z bodies making it easier to trade up (sic) to full frame without having to to ditch any glass.
