68 T3 MARCH 2020State of the art
NIKON Z50
ikon has already proved its worth in the
mirrorless market, with its fantastic full-
frame Z 7 and Z 6 cameras introduced in 2018.
The natural next step was to bring out a
more consumer-friendly mass market option, which now
appears in the form of the smaller sensor (APS-C) Z 50.
A 20.9-megapixel sensor is at the heart of this camera,
which essentially distils everything we liked about its
full-frame siblings, but puts it in a smaller and lighter
body. Importantly, it has the same lens mount as the Z 6
and the Z 7, so you can share lenses between the cameras.
Handy if you want to pick this up to use as a backup or
travel camera to your full-frame ‘main camera’.
Alternatively if you later decide to upgrade to a full-frame
Z series model, you’ll be able to take along any glass you’ve
accumulated along the way.
As well as shrinking the body, the price has also been
dramatically reduced - good news if you’re putting your
cash towards your travels.
Despite its small size, the Z 50 still handles well, with
a useful number of dials and buttons across its diminutive
body. A small section of the screen is blocked off for
virtual touchscreen options too, so that helps with the
feeling of it being uncramped.
All three of the cameras in this round-up have
completely different screens. The Z 50’s 3.2-inch LCD is
touch-sensitive but it only tilts up and down. This is great
for quickly adjusting for awkward framing, but it’s not soDetail is very well
rendered, with accurate,
well-balanced exposures
handy for portrait-format images. On the plus side, it tilts
all the way down to face forward - useful for selfies.
When not using the screen, you’ll probably want to
work with the 0.39-inch, 2360k-dot electronic
viewfinder. It’s not quite as bright and clear as the Fujifilm
X-Pro3’s, but it’s still very useable nonetheless.
Other useful features of the Z 50 include a micro-USB
charging port, built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for using the
camera with the free Snapbridge app, and a single SD card
slot (Nikon has ditched the more expensive and harder to
find XQD cards for its cheaper model).
Despite the smaller sensor than its full-frame siblings,
the Z 50 is still very capable of producing excellent
imagery. Detail is very well rendered, with accurate,
well-balanced exposures and vibrant colours.
It isn’t the world’s best camera for action sequences
(none of these cameras is), but it’s more than enough for
capturing relatively easy-to-follow subjects, such as pets,
kids and sedate sports. For static subjects, autofocusing in
general is quick and accurate in most scenarios.1,.21=
PRODUCT 02:
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SDUWLFXODUO\LGHDOIRUWUDYHOThe Nikon Z 50 brings the quality of Nikon’s bigger and more expensive
cameras down to a more pocket- (and wallet-) friendly modelN