Nikon's Hidden Gem

[wats0n]

I have been a Canon R / Fuji X shooter for quite some time, but sold all my gear months back after frustrations with the direction of both systems and have been looking for something new. While I shot Nikon back in the day and enjoyed it, over the years I have ignored the brand and instead bought bodies from Canon and Fuji. However in last few years the Nikon Z system has become quite attractive and after months of debating I decided to take a chance. I was initially looking at Nikon's FF bodies, but a few weeks ago I stumbled upon a $399 Nikon Z30 refurbished deal on the web. I decided this might be a good chance to see what the system can do without making a large investment. Out of all of the Nikon Z bodies, the Z30 was the body I ironically had zero interest in. The Z30 was targeted for the new generation of video fanatics, looked small and had no viewfinder. That being said, I still rolled the dice and purchased it from Nikon USA

First impressions of this body were good. It wasn't tiny like it looks like in the reviews. It has a sustainable thickness to it which makes it wonderful to hold in the hand and a nice grip. There is no shortcuts in build quality either. It feels solid with the same caliber of plastics I have had on my higher end bodies - buttons, dials all feel great. Speaking of which for a body at this price point, there is no shortage of controls and features.I

I don't see a need to get into operations and features as this is a known quantity. However I will state this is one hell of a crop sensor. I was a little put off at the fact it was 20 megapixels, but in practical use I don't' really see any difference between this sensor and the 26 megapixel sensor on my former body.

What I will say is another surprise for me is the JPEGs and color science (yeah people hate that term, but every brand has a certain look). When people talk about JPEGS you usually think Canon or Fuji. Canon for the skin and natural colors and Fuji for its film like looks. Nikon, in my overwhelmingly honest opinion eats them both for lunch. Nikon has what I can best describe as a very deep rich palette. It's very accurate. What the eye sees, Nikon captures. It has a tonality and color depth that exceeds what I am used to with both Canon and Fuji bodies. Nikon has lovely colors and as someone who is all about good color sciences this is definitely the best palette from any body I have used to date.

For me, a person who doesn't shoot video, this is my Nikon Rangefinder and I love it !

 

[Plankowner110]

Glad to hear you are enjoying your Nikon Z30. The Z30 is a terrific camera and I am continually amazed at its capabilities. I live in sunny SW Florida and the Z30 JPEG colors are just incredible. I really don't have any problems using the LCD screen as the monitor brightness is adjustable (I added Monitor Brightness to the i-menu.) and the fully-articulating screen compensates for the physical agility I have lost at age 75. The tiny Nikon SB-300 Speedlight provides nice fill flash when needed.

After 55 years of shooting big Nikons, I have become a gear minimalist, and the Z30 is my handy "grab and go" Nikon rangefinder. Best wishes.

--
Bill
Nikon since 1969

 

[rangel28]

I agree! The Z30 is a great little (but solid) camera that is also very versatile. I love the portability of the camera and the quality of jpegs in particular certainly meets my needs. While it may not be great for fast action, I have managed to get great photos of my fast running dogs in action, and its size is a plus when walking or taking to.the park two large dogs. The DX lenses are more than adequate and in particular I like both the 18mm-140mm and the 12mm-28mm.

Richard Angeloni

Photography website featuring the work of photographer Richard Angeloni

richardangeloni.smugmug.com

 

[Rene Gr]

I would immediately buy one if it had IBIS. I would use my FX lenses, most of them do not have VR. I was considering to simply use the kit 16-50 VR, but f/9 full frame equivalent at 50mm is not good enough for me.

 

[Schteeks]

I recently switched from the Fuji X-S20 to the Zf and noticed the difference in colors right away, among several other characteristics about the images that I love. Just because Fuji has the Film Simulation marketing and the public perception doesn’t mean they do it better. Nikon’s in camera customization (with real time previews during adjustments) and their NX Studio software completely dunk on Fuji. It’s clear that software is not Fuji’s strong suit.

 

[Bob A L]

The f9 equivalence thing is only an issue if dof equivalence is of conscience to you. As far as exposure it's 3.5-6.3. And the Z30 handles high iso so great if you shoot jpegs, the aperture availability is not a really big deal. And there are always lenses with huge apertures available.

 

[Bob A L]

Agree with your assessment. I have all manner of dslr and mirrorless cameras to use from tiny sensors to FF high mp models and the Z30 gets the call more often than not. It's the only one among my "too many" cameras that has found it's way into the "must have two of these" corner after wifey decided she had to have her own personal Z30. As a jpeg only shooter I was already familiar with the great Nikon jpeg quality, except that with the mirrorless models appearance, that jpeg quality took a new jump into the more than great range. I believe if more folks would give jpeg a open minded try (which ain't gonna happen probably) there would be more jpeg shooters out there. But hopefully RAW shooters have a way to at least match the sooc jpegs, so they should not be left out here, but I have no idea about how that works.

 

[PhotoAuk]

Yep, love my little Z30. My D7500 is still my action shot and telephoto body but the Z30 has become my grab and go. Lack of a viewfinder hasn't been an issue but maybe that's because my travel camera for a dozen years was a P300 P&S.

I'll have to add monitor brightness to the i-Menu, great idea. Just got the 24mm prime and although reviews of it seem kind of "meh", I'm enjoying it. Works for me, maybe I just have low standards.

 

[jtr27]

I recently switched from the Fuji X-S20 to the Zf and noticed the difference in colors right away, among several other characteristics about the images that I love. Just because Fuji has the Film Simulation marketing and the public perception doesn’t mean they do it better. Nikon’s in camera customization (with real time previews during adjustments) and their NX Studio software completely dunk on Fuji. It’s clear that software is not Fuji’s strong suit.

I agree. I was a happy Fuji shooter for a number of years, but now I much prefer Nikon's color.

 

[AZ Indie]

The Z30 is a pretty slick little camera. It is very well suited to video production if you can constrain the scenes within its 4.2.0 8-bit abilities. If you know what its limits are, the end results can be quite positive. I own three of them, they serve me quite well.

 

[Terrible Photographer]

I use it as my point and shoot. Super good for that, I don't feel like I realistically compromise any image quality over my Z6III or Z9, but I gain a ton in size and portability.

Fun fact - The Z30 can tether into Capture One! And if you're shooting something like studio product work, the image quality at ISO 100 is effectively indistinguishable from a Z6.

If it wasn't for a few quality of life differences afforded by the bigger bodies (pixel shift, viewfinder), a Z30 + 50MC and 105MC would be a killer studio ecomm camera with terrific ROI. Perfect for shooting amazon/ebay listings.

 

[Bob A L]

Did anyone else see the reports on some of the news feeds last week that showed the Z30 was the #1 selling mirrorless in Japan for the first week of February? And showed the Z30 as the number 6 mirrorless for the year 2024. There was only one other Nikon in the top ten being the Zfc at 8th. Note this is Japan only. But interesting anyway.