fbpx
Features

7 Weather Sealed Nikon Cameras That Aren’t Afraid of Mother Nature

Brett Day
No Comments
07/07/2020
4 Mins read
Innovative cameras - Nikon D850

Last Updated on 07/07/2020 by Chris Gampat

These weather sealed Nikon cameras are some of the toughest around, and no matter what weather conditions you might find yourself in, these cameras will keep on working.

If you’re looking for a durable camera that’s really built to last, perhaps it’s time to take a look at some offerings from Nikon. Not only are Nikon cameras capable of producing gorgeous images, but they are also built like tanks, and that applies to both their DSLRs and their Mirrorless cameras. If you like to be outside with your Nikon when it’s raining, snowing, blowing a gale, or when Mother Nature is just generally feisty, these are the weather sealed Nikon cameras worth a closer look at.

Captured with the Nikon Z7

Over the years, we have subjected Nikon cameras to all sorts of brutal weather while testing them, and they have always endured with flying colors. Whether it was a DSLR or a Mirrorless camera, they laughed in the face of Mother Nature. While Nikon is still trying to find their way in the Mirrorless world, they already have a few Mirrorless cameras built to the extreme standards of their traditional DSLRs. Below, you will find weather sealed Nikon cameras we wouldn’t hesitate to take with us into the field if we knew the weather would take a turn for the worse.

Nikon D7500

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • Solid build with weather sealing
  • Incredible battery life
  • Control wheels and thumb’ Multi Selector’ changes the setting quickly
  • Touchscreen to preview images, and control finer settings
  • Wi-Fi and Bluetooth integrated
  • Burst function works wonderfully
  • Much more affordable than the D500

Cons

  • Needed to remove the lens to carry in small messenger bags
  • Probably overkill for anyone short of semi-professionals

Buy now: $896.95

Nikon D500

concert photography

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • Fast, accurate autofocus
  • A dedicated thumb joystick on the back for changing AF points
  • The new touchscreen is an interesting and welcome addition
  • Integration of Wi-Fi is welcome
  • Top-notch build quality
  • Battery life that refuses to die
  • Extreme amounts of weather sealing
  • Such a good camera that we honestly think it’s overkill for a lot of people

Cons

  • Pretty big and tough to get into some messenger bags

Buy now: $1,496.95

Nikon D750

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • Deep grip
  • The intuitive and well laid out control scheme
  • Renders amazing detail and color
  • Clean files at ISO 6400
  • Usable images up to ISO 10000
  • Weather sealing
  • Built-in Wi-Fi transmission
  • Tilting screen

Cons

  • Plastic front plate

Buy now: $1,496.95

Nikon D850

Innovative cameras - Nikon D850

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • Fantastic image quality
  • Built like a tank
  • Buttons that light up
  • The touch screen makes the menu navigation so much better
  • Great color depth and versatility
  • Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
  • Putting the ISO button on the right side of the camera by the grip is the better long term strategy
  • Weather sealing
  • Lots of video options
  • Dual card slots
  • The best viewfinder of any DSLR we’ve used

Cons

  • Slower autofocus than the Nikon D810 in some situations
  • We wish the white balance levels were a bit more adjustable
  • Sort of shocked the dual card slots aren’t both SD; I don’t know anyone that used XQD

Buy now: $2,996.95

Nikon Z50

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • The best ergonomics of any APS-C Mirrorless camera
  • Weather sealing
  • Nice image quality
  • A nice touchscreen interface (including menus)
  • Capacitive controls make good use of some otherwise dead real estate
  • Simply astonishing high ISO performance
  • Good all-around autofocus and tracking performance
  • Great battery life
  • A nice, clean menu system
  • The screen does a poppy thing (folds out from the body and down)

Cons

  • The Z mount looks hideously huge on this camera
  • The large Z mount lenses make you lose anything you gained in the size and weight department
  • The touchscreen is not fully articulating, an odd choice for a hybrid camera that’s for video and stills
  • The Z50 is limited to 30-minute captures when filming and has no IBIS, nor a dedicated headphone jack. Again, some odd choices for a hybrid camera
  • Ony one UHS-1 card slot

Buy now: $856.95

Nikon Z6

weather sealed nikon cameras

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • Comfortable handgrip
  • Excellent Electronic Viewfinder with 100% frame coverage
  • EVF protrudes from the camera body, minimizing contact between your nose and the rear LCD
  • The top display shows you all of your settings at a glance
  • Intuitive touchscreen rear LCD
  • Solid battery life when using newly designed EN-EL15b batteries
  • Robust weather sealing
  • Works with most existing Nikon F mount lenses using the Nikon FTZ adapter

Cons

  • Single XQD card slot may be a deal-breaker for photographers with certain workflows
  • Colors on the rear LCD were inconsistent when compared to EVF
  • Autofocus performance, while better than the Nikon Z7, still leaves much to be desired
  • Certain settings were oddly organized within the menus
  • There is way too much settings information displayed on the rear LCD, often getting in the way of framing your shot

Buy now: $1,796.95

Nikon z7

weather sealed nikon cameras

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • Good feeling in the hand
  • Solid weather sealing
  • Lots of focusing points
  • Good high ISO output
  • Lots of resolution
  • A touch screen
  • Image stabilization is very good
  • The viewfinder is beautiful
  • We genuinely appreciate the top LCD screen
  • Outstanding battery life

Cons

  • Little things annoy us, like not being able to push the joystick in to bring the focusing point back to the center
  • Why the hell is there an XQD card slot?
  • We’d really prefer dual card slots
  • Changing the white balance is very slow
  • The muscle memory learning curve is steeper than with other cameras
  • Expensive

Buy now: $2,796.95

You might also like
Screen Shot 2017-08-28 at 12.07.13 PM
Features

Opinion: Please Stop Wearing a Photo Vest if You Don’t Need to Be Wearing a Photo Vest

4 Mins read
07/09/2018

When I got into this industry years ago, one thing really confused me almost as much as how much certain older photographers tend to treat the younger generation of us: photo vests. I’m completely positive that you’ve all seen them: a photographer of a certain distinguishment (or trying to show off without having said distinguishment) wearing their vests that look a lot like safari vests. You know, almost as if they’re going to go out on an African safari at all times without being anywhere near something like a safari. Walking down the streets doing street photography? You’ll see a photo vest. In the studio? Photo vest! Hiking? Yup, A Photo vest!

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Canon RF 24-105mm f4 L IS USM review product images Canon EOS R
Features

Did Canon Miss the Memo That Says Mirrorless Lenses Are Meant to Be Smaller?

3 Mins read
12/26/2018

When Canon introduced their new Mirrorless cameras earlier on this year (The EOS R) one of the stand out features was that the lens mount was so huge. While other manufacturers like Sony have made all things Mirrorless smaller, the late comer to the Mirrorless party seems to have decided that bigger is better. In a recently released interview, Canon engineers seem to be having a sly dig at Sony by saying that lenses with smaller mounts are far less capable than those with larger mounts. Read on after the break to find out more about what the Canon engineers are wafting on about.