Last Updated on 07/01/2020 by Mark Beckenbach
The Nikon z50 is a nice camera–there’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s a plain shade of vanilla.
If you tuned into our weekly episode of Pro Camera Reviews, then you’d know that Gear Editor Brett Day is reviewing the Nikon z50. He likes it so far. But Brett has owned many different camera systems over the years. And he can’t quite wrap his head around this camera. He’s still trying to figure it out, in fact. But he thinks it’s a nice camera.
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In This Video
Brett talks about the Nikon z50 and his time with it so far. It’s an odd camera for him. The APS-C lenses are pretty small, but the larger, full frame ones are mammoth compared to the camera body. As Paul and I found, the images from this camera don’t look like typical Nikon output. But what we found to be the most shocking is how sound the high ISO output is. We’re seeing it to probably be better than the likes of Sony and Fujifilm. And that could be a big head-turner for photographers and videographers alike.
In our briefing on the Nikon z50, Nikon told us that it’s mostly targeted at content creators. With the 20.9MP APS-C sensor at heart, this camera isn’t going to replace any of the company’s APS-C DSLRs anytime soon. But one can’t deny that it’s highly capable. And that’s part of what we were trying to figure out. Ergonomically, it’s an excellent camera. But what you’ll hear Brett say often is that “It’s Nice.” With this camera being nice, we acknowledge that it’s good in many ways. But we can’t figure out why someone would buy it over another camera from another system.
The good thing is that the autofocus is also outstanding. Nikon has made lots of strides when it comes to autofocus. They used to be the laughing stock of the photo industry for autofocus. But through firmware updates, they’ve bolstered the performance of their many cameras, lenses, and the entire Z series system. We wonder though how much they will lean into it. They’ve always leaned heavily on their F mount DSLRs. And they’re also still making DSLRs. But the future is mirrorless. Mirrorless cameras have been long outselling DSLRs.
Sample Images
Pro Camera Reviews is a new web show by the Reviews Team of The Phoblographer. Join Gear Editor Brett Day, Reviews Editor Paul Ip, and Editor in Chief Chris Gampat as they candidly discuss the products they’re actively reviewing and the gear they’ve just reviewed. Open Q and A from the audience towards the end of the show. Every Sunday at 7pm EST.