Recently I bought a Nikon Z50ii, an APS-C mirrorless camera for ~£1000 with a kit lens. In my last post, I was planning to buy the Fuji X-T31II however I have gone for this instead mainly due to cost (I got it for £851) and a more useful kit lens.
Body
The camera has a similar feel to other Z mount cameras, two control dials and buttons for the most useful controls. The function buttons on the front are mapped to focusing modes/areas and while balance, making it very easy to adjust these quickly.
Compared to other cameras in this price region (like the X-T30 III and Canon R10), there is no AF joystick but you can use the touchscreen with your eye up to the EVF instead.
It’s hard for me personally to compare this to other cameras, however I haven’t had any trouble using it for some casual shooting.
Interface
This is the first camera that I’ve been able to use extensively, but I can compare the interface to newer Canon DSLRs / my expectations.
For shooting I am very happy with it. I don’t really use the touch controls during shooting, changing ISO etc through the dials. I have customised the i menu to do what I want, so I can adjust my most used settings quickly. Moving the dials adjust these instead of selecting different ones, which makes you move your thumb but saves some key presses.
What’s great is that you can adjust some of the display options, as well as which autofocus modes are selectable quickly (you can still get all of them if you go into the menu). I have it set so pressing DISP enables the histogram and level, leaving the record button to clear the display/EVF entirely.
The main menus, however are a bit long and hard to navigate. However you can add most options to the “my menu” (or use it for recently changed settings).
Performance
The autofocus is slightly slower in lower light but has locked on every time. I can image it’s more than good enough for most people, for stills at least. I haven’t tested it with video. I tend to use single point AF, but for moving subjects 3D tracking or an area mode might be more useful.
Compared to the previous Z50, there are more subject detection modes for birds and vehicles. However I haven’t been able to test these myself.
I don’t do much burst shooting, but you can get 15 or 30fps on the electronic shutter with JPEGs. See the manual for more info. Full mechanical shutter can only be used with certain lenses, the 16-50 kit lens is not one of them.
Speaking of the kit lens, the equivalent range of 24-75 would cover most use cases. It is a bit slow on the long end (f/6.3) but has stabilisation and compacts down very nicely. Nikon’s DX lens options aren’t fully complete at the moment, nowhere near the likes of Sony or Fuji, but I can imagine the recent 16-50 f/2.8 will be a favourite.
Nonetheless, the 16-50 kit lens is arguably better than Canon’s, Sony’s or Fuji’s because it’s sharper, not a power zoom, and has a more useful range. The new X-T30III lens ends at 33mm (50 equivalent) which makes it less appealing compared to a phone camera.
Battery is something I am keeping my eye on. I have been shooting outdoors and it is getting into the red quite soon, however I haven’t calibrated it by draining the whole thing, and it was quite cold. It is CIPA rated for 250 shots, which is a lower than its peers (the a6400 can get ~400), however it is possible to charge up with USB-C power (including portable chargers) even during operation, so there are ways around it, including buying a new battery.
For tests on video and image quality, I suggest you look at DPReview because I can’t test these as well as they can.
Verdict
Overall, this is a strong contender for a mirrorless for £1000. There’s a lot that I haven’t covered, just because I haven’t tried it out yet (like video), but for stills this is a very capable camera.
Good
- Enjoyable to shoot with, great handling
- Better kit lens than other contenders
- Autofocus is reliable
Bad
- Battery life isn’t as good
- Fewer sensible zoom options - but 3rd party primes seem OK