m4/3 doesn't have much life left in it if the sales numbers are any indication. OM is losing money and Panasonic is more focused on L mount these days, it seems.
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Z50 II Reviews - dramatic overall performance increase?
- Thread starter Leonard Shepherd
- Start date
HyperCypher
Senior Member
I actually agree with you but not for the example you give which is a little over the top. I’d have a lithium pack out with me in those circumstances and 2-4 batteries maybe. What bugged me about the Z50 I had was that as a casual camera poor battery life means that you can’t be “casual” about the state of battery charge. Takes some of the shine off the utility / spontinaity of the device to be walking out the door, turn the camera on (having not used it for a period)?and “oh rats” battery is half gone and that probably won’t cut it fir the day … ok now let me see did I remember to charge up the spare.
One hallmark feature of my old D750 was the mad endurance / efficiency of the canera … partly bacause the camera woke up so fast that you could set the sleep timer to 10 seconds. A half charge on that camera was almost good for a wedding. Never mind a trip to the park for some casual snapping. What I read in the Ricci review is that this 50-2 version wakes up in about 1/2 sec (twice as fast as 50-1). So it might be possible to be a little more conservative with this version.
One hallmark feature of my old D750 was the mad endurance / efficiency of the canera … partly bacause the camera woke up so fast that you could set the sleep timer to 10 seconds. A half charge on that camera was almost good for a wedding. Never mind a trip to the park for some casual snapping. What I read in the Ricci review is that this 50-2 version wakes up in about 1/2 sec (twice as fast as 50-1). So it might be possible to be a little more conservative with this version.
At $910, one really can't expect IBIS; although some of us would probably willing to pay $300~400 more to get IBIS. Everything else, this new Z50 II is very tempting as travel walk-around camera for me; slowly transition to Z system and maybe someday pick-up a used Z8.
With my travel use, IBIS only come into play when I try to handheld at low light for walk around shots....which I do very often as a tourist in a city at night. With my Pana GX85, 20mm f/1.7, I can do as low as 1/4 s very consistently, sometime 1/2 s. I am assuming this Z50 II should be able to get me 2-stop advantage over GX85, which entails, can I get consistent shots using Z50 II with 24mm f/1.7 at 1/15 s? Might have to borrow or rent one to find out.
Funny you say that. The moment when Z8 was released, my thought was that D500 replacement now exists but unfortunately is virtually within Z8. I think as a D500 shooter, I am not in a hurry to transition to Z mirrorless world. With care, the D500 might even out live me and with among of F-mount lenses I have, fully transition to z mount is going take a while (or maybe not completely necessary). This Z50 II might provide me as an "gateway" to Z mirrorless world. Really, at this point, I think my option maybe this Z50 II, or wait for price of used Z8 or Z6III to drop to start my migration.
??? I have no clue what you’re objecting to ???
All my brilliant satire for naught :-|
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The light gathering difference between APS-C and u4/3 is only one stop. The 24mm f/1.7 Nikkor has no stabilization. Remember that the Z50 triplets have no in-body stabilization (IBIS).
To do what you want in a Nikon you would have to move to FX, which has the 2 stops of light gathering advantage that you mentioned and IBIS.
NikonBiologist
Leading Member
Interestingly enough, I will probably only use one dx lens on the z50 ii. The 12-28. I’ll use the 26 or 28fx lens and the 24-200.
Thanks for pointing that out. Since I own both D500 and GX85, I probably should experiment this today just to see how it fit my use case. Yes, on paper and based on benchmark, it's only about 1-stop difference. But usually when I process the raw, I consistently can pull shadow on Nikon file at least 1.5 stop better than Pana M4/3 file (granted, GX85 still has the old 16MP M4/3 sensor, not the present generation of 20MP, but I didn't recall 20MP M4/3 has much improved DR). And the other more of subjective thing is that Nikon noise grain at low light is actually a bit more pleasing to me than Pana M4/3 which probably allow me to push Nikon further in the low light noise. Maybe that's what I am used to but, hey, it's my photo, I am entitled to my preference ;-)
Certainly, Z5 II if that ever comes out, would be high on my consideration....but size of Z5 is no longer a coat pocket-able size. My travel camera quest all started from my refusal to pay nose-bleeding money for X100, and my sentimental quest of finding modern day eq. of my childhood Ricoh 500G....quest shall continue. ;-)
Although functionally, Z50 II on paper might be on-par or exceed D500, but from a line-up and ecosystem prospective, if we want to compare it back to where DSLRs was 6 to 8 yrs ago, D7500 probably would be a better comparison. I see Z50 II being between D5xxx and D7xxx in terms of where it sits in Nikon line-up.
Back in 2016, a few of my pro sports/commercial event buddies were using D500 pairing with D810, and later some of them move to D850. Those guys will go to event with bag full of EN-EL-15's. So for a Z APS-C camera to be comparing to D500, having vertical grip and sharing batteries, accessories with other FF pro camera should be part of the equation. On the other hand, D7500, by the time when it came out, it's far more of enthusiast camera.
chambeshi
Senior Member
The full house of Custom settings options, high fps, PreCapture etc positions the Z50 II as a Pro MILC, except it lacks CFExpress, IBIS, Shooting Banks (thus U1,U2 style control turret) and vertical grip for the ENEL18 battery.
As with any cameras spanning a decade of innovations, it's impossible to pigeonhole these Z MILCs into a typological classification against the DSLRs. Although in practice - subject to real world testing - the AF features and updated sensor of Z50 II should outperform the D500, especially with the Z AF system Eye detection, and PreCapture, which can be leveraged with the Z9 level Custom settings for HandOff AF
This is what matters out there, especially on athletes and wildlife.
Yes, ideally. In this case low RRP is Nikon's aim plus impressive video specs making the Z50 II a Hybrid DX
Yes the D7500 is a tiddler compared against the D500, specifically no Pro Control layout and crippl3d Custom menu, no ENEL18 batteries nor CFExpress (originally XQD)
Nikon was explicit about their aims, and rightly proud of their D500. The design team made it the smaller sibling of the D5
Passion Embedded in Design | Design | Nikon About Us
The Story Behind the Creation of the Design
www.nikon.com
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Leonard Shepherd
Forum Pro
ephotozine in the UK report
"Superb Low-Light Detail: Native ISO up to 51200 for stills and 25600 for video, powered by EXPEED 7 for cleaner performance and more detail at high ISOs."
Production model reviews after the Nikon UK reported launch day of 21st November could indicate when and how much improvement.
"Superb Low-Light Detail: Native ISO up to 51200 for stills and 25600 for video, powered by EXPEED 7 for cleaner performance and more detail at high ISOs."
Production model reviews after the Nikon UK reported launch day of 21st November could indicate when and how much improvement.
MrHollywood
Veteran Member
Yup!
It's going to be a better camera in every way and with virtually no size/weight penalty. The price is a killer deal. If you think you need VR, grab a lens or two with VR built in.
Robert
Brueghel
Senior Member
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According to : Standard of the Camera & Imaging Products Association
CIPA DC-002-Translation – 2020
SStandard Procedure for Measuring
Digital Still Camera Battery Consumption
2.5 Flash photography Full illumination flash shall be used for one of every two pictures taken. For the other pictures, the flash shall not be used.
So it is half the "double" you mention. (assuming that "the flash consumes as much power than a pic without the flash")
In any case, the EN EL 25 is rated at 350 (CIPA) (which I dont believe I EVER reached) The Z50II is rated at 250. That's a good drop from 350.
Time will tell, but I expect a second, fully charged battery will be necessary.
I do hope to be wrong.
Point taken, thanks for the correction.
Yeah, I get that...I find that my Z50's battery self-discharges annoyingly quickly. I'm usually recharging it because of its self-discharge rather than because it ran out of charge in an extended shooting session. The Expeed7 is doing a lot more in the Z50ii than the Expeed6 did in the Z50, unfortunately, and doing a lot of tracking with each capture, for example, will burn up a lot of power. The metric of number of shots, flash or no, doesn't tell the whole story for what the Z50ii will be used for.
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Very strange. I have never experienced that with my Z50. I've never noticed mine self-discharging if I shot the battery down to half charge and left it awhile. When I come back days/weeks later it's still about half charged.
Could it be the lens that’s attached keeping the camera awake? When I had a Zfc it didn’t exhibit unusual battery discharge either…
Not sure about lenses, but Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on will drain the battery faster.
None of the above, guys. I don't use WiFi or BT. The lens is always locked closed when the camera's turned off.
Often times when this behavior manifests with other electronic products it's the battery itself that's developed a self-discharge. It is the original 4 year old battery but that's not what counts - it's the number of full discharge cycles the battery has gone through. Which in my case isn't a great deal.
Probably what I should do is replace the battery but I don't feel like spending the $70 to do so.
madecov
Veteran Member
Unique Photo in New Jersey has the 25a for $60
Brueghel
Senior Member
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I agree on everything in your reply.
Personally I think that the only real test is real life. Until I get hold of a Z50ii some time in early 2025 and can do a real day's worth of shot with a bird braving the weather and without totally freezing, I will not know for sure how much mileage can the EN-EL25 battery give.
I've simplified my life: I expect that I will have to make sure I always carry a second battery
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