Here it is, the new Nikon Z50! I know what you’re asking yourself. Does the Z50 live
up to the hype? How does it compare to the Z6 and Z7? Do I use hair gel or hair cream? All
that and more, but before we get started,
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We got our hands on the Nikon Z50 and I’ve been putting it through its paces. And the
Nikon Z50 is the first Z-mount APS-C camera and in terms of build, the body feels great.
It has a full magnesium constructed body and it feels good. The Z50’s body is actually
quite small when compared to something like the Z6 and Z7, but even with its smaller size
it has a fantastic grip. They did a really great job with its ergonomics. This camera actually
weighs less than 1 pound and 4 ounces. It’s also weather sealed so you can get your shots
even if the weather isn’t cooperating, which is a lot during Miami summers.
The touch screen is a big plus. Vloggers and content creators are going to love how easy
it is to navigate through the camera's menu using the high resolution 3.2" rear touch
screen which happens to flip down. And it flips down so an attached microphone or light
doesn't interfere with your view. Now this is a great feature to have for hand
holding and solves for the mic and flash obstruction issue, but now it could introduce interference
when using a selfie stick. What do you think? Would you prefer the screen to flip up or
are you a fan of having a flip down screen? Let me know in the comments section below.
The touch screen is responsive and convenient
as you could use it to navigate through the menus, choose your focus points, pinch to
zoom when reviewing photos, and tap to shutter.
But one feature I would have like to see is touch and drag autofocus when using the viewfinder.
This is a feature found on some similarly priced cameras.
Getting into the technical specs, the Z50 features a brand new 20.9-megapixel sensor
with a new AF phase array. It’s capable of shooting 11FPS at full resolution with
continuous autofocus and auto exposure, and the autofocus performance is on par with the
Z6 and Z7 when shooting both stills and video.
The Z50 uses a new battery, the EN-EL25 it should give you about 300 shots on a fully
charged battery. Nikon does include the battery charger inside the box, but if you forget
your charger at home, don't worry because you can still charge the battery with the
USB cable.
Just like the Z6 and Z7, the Z50 records 4K ultra high definition video up to 30p with
a bit rate up to 144 megabits pers second using the full width of the sensor and
and you can record 1080p up to 120 frames per second. But since the Z50 has an aps-c
sized sensor the 1.5x crop factor still applies to stills images as it applies to videos.
The phase-detect autofocus is like that of
the Z6 and Z7, the focus is smooth, precise, and quick. It’s a significant improvement
over the autofocus from Nikon’s DSLR cameras that were using contrast detect autofocus.
Now one thing you’ll notice or not notice
is that the camera does lack a headphone jack, so unfortunately you won’t be able to hear
how your audio from your video sounds until you play the audio back using the camera's
internal speakers or until you play it back from your computer or mobile device.
Unlike the Z6 and Z7, the Z50 does feature
a pop-up flash, now this is going to be a great option if you want to go without an
external flash if space is an issue.
The Nikon Z50’s menu interface is going to be very familiar if you're a Nikon shooter
and it's going to be very similar to that of the Z6 and Z7.
A cool thing that Nikon did when designing this camera is that even though it’s smaller
than their full frame mirrorless cameras, such as the Z6 and Z7, it still uses the same
Z mount. So you’ll be able to use all the same lenses, just note that the lens equivalency
is a bit different. Having the same mount as their full frame cameras might be a selling
point for many because you’ll be able to upgrade to the Z6 or to the Z7 and not have
to worry about buying a new lineup of lenses.
Now, Nikon only has two DX Z-mount lenses available that’s optimized for this APS-C
camera, but the camera is fully compatible with all the FX Z-mount lenses and is also
compatible with over 300 plus F-mount lenses when used with the optional FTZ mount adapter.
The 2 DX Z mount lenses are the DX 16-50, which is a very compact pancake-like zoom
lens. And the other lens is the DX 50-250mm telephoto zoom lens. So even though there
are only 2 lenses available, you get a versatile range covering you from 16mm for those wide-angle
shots to 250mm when you want to pull a subject in thats at a distance.
Now the Nikon Z50 does not have in body image stabilization like with the Z6 and Z7, but
the DX lenses do have vibration reduction. With the DX 16-50 you're going to get about
4.5 stops of stabilization and with the 50-250mm you're getting roughly 5 stops of stabilization.
And this functions great when extending both kits lenses out since they'll have a maximum
aperture of 6.3.
Now in terms of build quality, both lenses are plastic in construction and have a plastic
lens mount making them extremely light and compact, but are extremely sharp as well.
All in all, I think enthusiasts will really
enjoy this camera and coming in at just under $1000 for the Z50 and the 16-50mm lens…
it's not too shabby right?
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