The Z50 is Nikon's first Z-mount mirrorless camera with an APS-C sensor, and it launches alongside a pair of DX zoom lenses. Chris and Jordan had a chance to use a pre-production model and share their experience in this hands-on preview.
Question for Jordan: In the Nikon press release, they state: "For smooth footage, the camera also incorporates additional built in stabilization while shooting Full HD or 4K video". Presumably this is referring to some sort of digital stabilisation on top of the lens stabilisation. Any comment on how effective this is an how much it affects video quality?
If I see these comments from the complainers, I don't like ... Terrible people... For Nikon is this camera a huge success after the disaster of the Z6 and Z7... The focus system is working, the video focus is working, a USB charger (like Sony) fantastic... even a magnesium body instead of the cheap plastic body from the Canon... even better... Still, I stick to my D7200 and D3400 for the best picture quality and low light ability... And the Sony, Fuji are sacrificing like the D500 their picture quality for a fast focus that I mostly don't need... After 5 years no crop sensor camera can compete with the D7200 or D3400 that is awful!! But people are stupid and think that fast Focus is everything, still, you get better pictures from flying birds with the D7200...
As a former Nikon shooter, Nikon keeps disappointing me year after year. After failed 1" camera and failed action camera attempt they were wayyyy too late to enter the mirrorless market (the 1" mirrorless doesn't count IMO). And now instead of trying to do catch up in full frame realm, for some bizarre reason they choose to come up with APS mirrorless camera 9.5 years (!) after SONY and waste resources on a camera I don't see anyone wanting. Underwhelming resolution and lens. No wonder their revenue keeps shrinking every year. They seem mighty confused.
Far more people are likely to buy a Z50 than a Z 7 or Z 6. It boils down to cost. DX-format cameras occupy a sweet spot of high quality and affordable price. Smaller and lighter DX bodies and lenses appeal to people as well. I think that the Z50 will very popular.
"[...] using the FTZ adapter and throwing some faster lenses on - and that is absolutely an option as well" - but you didn't test it. Is it that terrible?
Nice little camera but It wont tempt many Fujifilm shooters back to Nikon especially with such a limited range of lenses. I think we will never see a good range of Z mount DX lenses because Nikon aims to get users to "upgrade" to full frame where there are higher profit margings for them. They had the same strategy for their DSLRs which was one of the main factors in making me decide to go Fujifilm.
More than anything else I think this signifies Nikons transition to the Z mount and, in time, away from the F mount. The camera itself isn’t something I’m excited about. But now they do have a way of getting new users on the Z mount, which is important in the long term.
God dam I love these Chris and Jordan video’s! Love em .... and as a positive, whilst I have no interest in Nikon, it’s videos like this that make me watch and actually learn about other brands ... so well played DPR ... well played 🤗
Thanks for this first look. When you do the full review, could you please look at how the camera performs in terms of telephoto and tracking. Some of us are looking at this solely in terms of having the 1.5 crop for. let's say, bird/wildlife shooting.
American English is Zee, which is the largest group of english speaking people. I think most english taught as a second language is American English. Zedd is a techno DJ.
In Europe, British English is taught in schools. Outside of Europe... I guess that the British Commonwealth had a few more colonies than the US... (actually including the US, but that shall not count). Anyway there are probably more Zed speakers in the world, than Zee speakers ;)
Indeed, with more than 100M British English speakers in both India and Nigeria alone, when you add up all the other former British colonies, there are a lot more Zeds than Zees out there.
Case re-opened temporarily for an annex :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Nations 2,418 million English speakers saying Zed ;) + 741 from Europe who learn it in school - 61 from Great Britain themselves so they don't get double counted =3,098 million =almost 10 times more than in the US ;)
time has changed. People learn English from tv. Guess American show are plentiful outside of the US. Most tourist with broken english don't speak harry potter. Fro knows photos said Zee, case close haha.
Yep and as it`s called "English" and England says "Zed" then that`s the correct way ;) ...... A lot of letters are words ..... we Drink T and P afterwards , a B will sting and the C is full of lovely mermaids ;)
4K is not cropped. You guys should correct this as every other site is showing that it is not, on top of Nikon’s own website and brochure stating that it is not.
Too early too say, maybe Nikon discovered overheating issues and felt safer to switch that offer of in the most recent pre-release firmware, before something embarassing happens? who knows...
Hey Chris, Happy bday! Can this camera with the provided kit offer the same Portrait Modes (AI supported), similar to the six Portrait Lighting effects currently available on the iPhone 11 or the Google PIXEL 3, all priced at roughly similar levels?
F6.3 .. not good . they really ought to have made the effort of F5.6 (every bit counts) , they`ve always managed it before as have others with similar sized lenses .. given the lack of IBIS the native lenses need to be decent and let some light in ........ I guess the FTZ adapter will sell well, maybe they`ll do a lens free bundle with it , there`s loads of competant stabilized DSLR DX zooms from nikon and 3rd parties..
1. Good image quality 2. Very small lens size 3. Great price 4. Slightly wider max aperture. Imagine you can choose only three of those. In this case it's either small lens or f/5.6 instead of f/6.3.
How many times f/5.6 vs f/6.3 will make a visible difference? How many times making this lens almost a pancake will? I'm all for wide apertures, but in this case I think Nikon played it well. Of course they played it well for some people and badly for others. This lens is for those who prefer small size. (And let's be honest here, Nikon has a lot of bigger-than-one-would-expect Z lenses already ;) )
Sony, Fuji and canon all managed F5.6 in similar sized zooms to the Nikon one . the Fuji and Sony even motor out into position , the Fuji even is excellent given a decent sample wideopen ! . on the Telezoom F6.3 is lazy in the extreme , the now ageing 55-200VR was small and F4-5.6 (I bet the new lens is F6.3 quite early on) and Canon`s 55-250mm IS is pretty damn good too and not massive ... the camera could be a winner but IMO it`ll be the adapter which will make the camera useful , it`d be great with a Sigma 17-50 F2.8 OS or the Nikon 16-80 F2.8-4
I don't need to dig, I know the situation well. Apart from the nonsense of blowing up the difference between F5.6 and F6.3 out of proportions, all the cheap and compact telezooms for APS-C mirrorless systems are F6.3-6.7 at the long end. Canon's compact 15-45mm is also F6.3. These are the facts.
So there are only two lenses (out of six) which are "faster" at the long end: Fuji's 15-45mm, which is significantly larger and Sony's 16-50mm, which is optically compromised. If the Nikon 16-50mm/3.5-6.3 is optically better, then it's a winner.
I`d not call """ F6.3 not good , they could have made the effort""" Blowing anything out of proprtions !! and every bit does count , Fuji also have two other compact enough kit lenses of F3.5-5.6 and F2.8-4, neither would be ungainly on a Z50 sized body .,. but Fair enough I didn`t realise the Fuji 15-45 was F6.3 - the Canon 55-250 is F5.6 (not M though , EF-S ) . the Sony 16-50 is F5.6 and sharp at the long end wideopen , that Fuji tele is comically slow and I`d not even consider it unless living in the tropics ...
@kolyy - But Sony has the 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS. Yes, it's f/5.6 at 135mm. I have this lens. It's a truly superb walk-around/travel lens with an excellent focal range. Nikon really needed to launch the Z50 with a lens like this in today's competitive APS-C mirrorless market.
Sony's 16-50 pancake kit lens is also f/3.5-5.6. But the greatest lens of all time, but certainly plenty good for the average consumer. I have this lens as well. I love it for its size. And yes, it's f/5.6 at 50mm.
Guys, let's clarify one thing - should Nikon develop other DX lenses than those introduced today? Absolutely! Should there be a competitor to the Fuji 18-55mm/2.8-4? Yes! Should there be a lens similar to the Sony 18-135mm? It's actually on the roadmap. But there should be much more, like an UWA comparable to the Sony 10-18mm/4 or Fuji 10-24mm/4, a longer telephoto zoom, a faster telephoto zoom and of course primes. That's the real problem with what seems to be Nikon's APS-C plan.
But the lenses introduced today look perfectly fine. These are the cheapest kit lenses in every system and have many serious compromises, like optical quality or autofocus speed (the first is typical for Sony, the latter for Fuji). If F6.3 is the most serious compromise Nikon has made, than great.
I'll add a comment on power zooms. I have no experience with the Fuji 15-45mm, but the PZ on the Sony 16-50mm is more annoying than useful. It sounds good on paper for video, but that PZ is loud and there is quite a problem to efficiently control the speed, it can't really zoom slowly and smoothly. For a basic kit lens I much prefer the route Nikon has taken, which seems to be the same as on my Panasonic 12-32mm. A fully manual zoom which is extracted by a simple turn with no lock. It's much better for photography and it is actually also better for video than a cheap PZ, if the zoom ring is smooth (and it is surprisingly smooth on the 12-32mm).
T3: I own and love the Sony 18-135mm. Dpreview TV thought it was unnecessary and boring, while I think it is a fantastic addition, especially as a kit lens. I think it actually helped to save the Sony APS-C system, along with the Sigma F1.4 trio. It's one of the big reasons why choose Sony over Fuji, with it's fat and quite expensive 18-135mm. Let's see what Nikon can do with the 18-140mm on the roadmap.
@DarnGoodPhotos - "Fuji might have the faster 18-55 f2.8-4 kit zoom, but it's $300 more than the 15-45 3.5-5.6 kit zoom."
Not many people are going to buy these lenses alone. They'll get them in kits with the body (which is why people refer to them as "kit zooms"). A Fuji X-T20 with XF 18-55/2.8-4 kit zoom is only $899:
That's only $40 more than the Z50 body alone ($860). Is the XF 18-55/2.8-4 worth the extra $40? Most definitely! Then in a couple years when you upgrade the body, you just keep the lens.
T3: Don't be silly - the current camera from Fuji is the X-T30, not the previous generation X-T20, sold out at a huge discount. And the X-T30 is currently $800 body only, $900 with the 15-45mm and $1200 with the 18-55mm (B&H).
What's the point of that downward selfie screen!? It doesn't work with tripods, monopods, handle grip (screwed into the 1/4" screw socket) and even selfie sticks. It seems like the worst place to put a selfie screen.
Big EVF prevents an upward selfie screen. Thin body prevents a full articulating swing type screen. Only the downward screen option remains thus. Not the best option for vloggers for sure but perhaps a bit better than the camera not having any selfie option at all.
This offering strikes me as an attempt to be just a bit more serious about the crop mirrorless format than the Canon m-series without offering any real threat to the commanding position and quality selection crafted by Fuji, or even Sony.
Canon and Nikon appear to be hoping that crop mirrorless will provide no more than a stepping stone to FF, but there is no evidence yet that the mass market heading into the future is ready to go that route. No wonder so few camera companies are profitable these days.
At the rate the camera phones are iterating (multiple sensor/lenses, computational photography) & priced (phones are multi-function devices and not just a camera so lowers the perceived camera cost), it will be difficult for camera companies to get the mass market to buy dedicated cameras despite many of its advantages.
Given this, camera makers such as Nikon may be better off specifically targeting the enthusiast market which it seems to have done with the Z50. Trying to cover lower than the enthusiast market is possible but quite risky given how quickly the entry level consumer market has shrunk to and continues to be eroded.
For Nikon users, the Z50 is a natural choice due to the portability of their lenses to the Z50.
For a beginner with no prior gears, Fuji is the best choice. The X-H1 has IBIS and selling now for $1000 with battery pack/2 batteries. But Fuji has no FF upgrade option. Sony APS-C has FF upgrade option but lacks twin-dial controls even after almost 10 years.
Currently nobody seems to be really serious about the „sensible enthusiast“, otherwise those manufacturers would come up with IBIS in their latest $1000 cameras. Something you find in any dirt cheap mft camera for years.
The Fuji X-T30 demonstrates pretty well what you can offer below $1000. Fuji, please add an IBIS and there is NO reason to buy any crop camera without anymore.
I understand that IBIS is used to push us into higher price segments, but I have the money and I do not like to be pushed. I like to be taken seriously as enthusiast. If any company starts to do that, I will start again to spend my money.
Honestly, I do not need full frame. APS-C with 1.4 lenses is good enough for me but beyond Fuji nobody seems to really want this kind of customer anymore.
well the Canon M is not a stepping stone as the R mount is incompatible with the M...i predict the Z DX mount will have less APS-c lenses than the canon M..you only have to look to see how many Nikon F APS-c lenses they made ...apart from a lot of slow 18-xxx mm not many in about 15 years .....canon was the same with EF-s mount ...1 F2.8 zoom and i can only think of 2 or 3 primes the rest slow zooms...amd sony since they went FF have only released about 3 APS-c lenses in 5 years ho and i predict it will come down in price alot ...like the Canon M5 did
The video AF looks good - but does this camera have focus peaking, or any other manual-focusing aids? The lack of IBIS is unfortunate, but I would be interested in seeing how the new lens' VR does, especially when the camera is being moved around, a situation in which IBIS really helps to reduce jerkiness.
The Z50 is compatible with other Z-mount lenses as well F-mount AF-P and AF-S lenses via the FTZ adapter. The Fujifilm X-T30 is not. This may not be a feature that appeals to those just starting out in photography or wanting to switch to a brand new system, but it is appreciated by those of us who already have F-mount AF-P and AF-S lenses and want to continue using them.
"Regarding "lenses can go with you", surely any DX lenses would be of little use when/if switching to FF(?)"
I believe what he meant was that one can buy a full frame Z-mount lens now to use with this Z-DX Z50 body and also use that lens on a full frame Z body if you have one or get one later on.
DX lenses can still be quite useful on a FF Z-FX body as when shooting 1.5x crop 4k crop video. Due to its high resolution sensor, the Z7 4K video is better in crop mode due to the line-skipping sub-sampling used for its full-width 4k video. The crop 4K video in the Z7 is better than its full width 4k video.
Body form, user interface, Nikon compatibility (if you like mounting huge and/or expensive lenses to cheap & tiny cameras) and no xtrans.
Apart from that a Z6 with 24-70 is the much much much much much much better buy anyway (in the Nikon universe). Format+IBIS just makes so much more sense especially when you want to adapt lenses.
For many people in this price/size segment Fuji is the much better buy.
Of course for people who already have Nikon lenses it's a good choice. But let's assume a fresh start into the system. I think Nikon could have those advantages:
1. Ergonomics. I wouldn't say they're better (they're better than Sony, not better than Fuji). They're DIFFERENT. They're for different people. X-T30 will make photography student's heard beat faster while also making people new to photography feel intimidated. 2. It's Nikon. And many "dads" who'll be buying their daughters the first camera could prefer that fact. 3. You can graduate to FF any day.
I personally wouldn't care so much about ISO or IQ differences. About 11 vs 8 vs 7,5 fps and stuff like that. Those are not a dealbreakers.
That being said I'd have to think VERY hard if I had to choose one of those for myself if I were starting from scratch.
I could use this for my small travel and hiking camera and a Z7 for my landscape plus portrait work. Lenses work with both so it would be a great pairing for me. For those just starting out or who later decide to go to FF they can start building their Lens kit first. Something simply not possible with a Fuji. Choices my friends it gives you choices something not available on Fuji which traps you at APSC.
With same mount they can upgrade / add a FF Nikon ML system and also some punters may be Nikon DSLR users already - looking for upgrade / replacement to their APS DSLRs, e.g., D5100, etc.
@BWfoto, correct. Let's not assume, that most APSC users have the intention to ever switch over to full frame. APSC may be their fully intentional sweet spot they settle on, after carefull consideration of all pros and cons.
Only Fuji seemed to have comprehended this fully, i.e. they don't assume their X system would be just a step in a ladder towards their medium format GFX.
The main reason why Fuji isn't more successful, is probably mainly due their lens choice monopoly (unnecessarily overpriced for most).
The Nikon wouldn't have this burden due to the adapter bridge to their DX lens legacy (including 3rd parties' lenses, as long as their AF doesn't sabotaged by the Nikon adapter's or camera's firmware in any substantial way).
I can imagine someone migrating to ff and using a DX pancake lens as a walkabout lens for ultra small form factor - in fact, I’m even considering getting one for that very reason and I have no intention of getting a z50
There are different kinds of options beyond APSC to FF.
Fuji gives you multiple body designs all using the same lenses. classic controls in 2 form factors, range finder style in 2 form factors and a DSLR style. For some this is more appealing than going from APSC to FF.
I agree that you would choose this over the X-T30 if you wanted the Z and F lenses, but the Fuji has access to all of the Canon EF lenses with the Fringer AF adapter.
Full Frame isn't the end all-be all that it once was. Fuji understands this, and Canon is trying to. Nikon is smart to cover all bets with their one mount strategy.
Excellent video! Chris is the official puddle photographer denied on his Bday. Well at least you got a Jordan fetal position shot. Looking for that is like looking for Waldo
Nikon looks to actual have a good camera to lure you into the Z mount. Once there, you may move up. So well done. Canon seems laking on that. Would need a 135 sensor in the M-mount or kill off the M-mount and have just R mount. That maybe more likely as all the lenses seem to be for R mount. I would wait for the second generation of this to get IBIS. Your other issues could be easily corrected if firmware.
""Rear touchscreen tilts up by 90° or down by 180°."" The 180 part is for selfie, but if you have a tripod then that is useless. Just put it to the side like the d5xxx series.
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