Digital Photographer - UK (2020-05)

Nikon Z 50

Price:£849/$857bodyonly

CanNikon’sfirstAPS-Cformatmirrorless

cameracompeteintoday’scompetitive

marketplace?AngelaNicholsoninvestigates

BUILT-INFLASH

Unlikethefull-frameZ-seriescameras,theZ 50 has

abuilt-inflashwithaguidenumberof7matISO100,

whichishandyforalittlefilllight.

SNAPBRIDGE

TheSnapBridgetechnologymakesiteasytolinkthe

Z 50 wirelesslytoasmartphone.Itcansend2MP

imagesfromthecameratoaphoneautomatically.

INTELLIGENTEYE-DETECTIONAF

TheNikonZ 50 candetectandfocusonpeople’s

eyesinascene.Itworksforstillsinsingleand

continuousAFmode,soitdoesn’tmatterifyour

subjectmoves.

TILTINGSCREEN

The3.2-inch,1.04million-dotscreencantiltdown

through 180 degreestoviewitfrominfrontofthe

camera–whichisfineuntilyouuseatripodandthe

viewisblocked.

SDCARDSLOT

WhereasNikonoptedforanXQD/CFexpresscard

slotinitsfull-framemirrorlesscameras,theZ 50 has

anSDcardslotthat’scompatiblewithUHS-Imedia.

LENSMOUNT

TheZ 50 hasthesameZlensmountasthefull-

frameZ 6 andZ7,soitcanacceptfull-frameor

APS-Cformatlenses.

FEATURES

LENSMOUNT

Left

Looksfamiliar

Nikonhasused

averysimilar

designtothe

Z 6 andZ 7 for

theZ 50

Leftbelow

Smallbutdeep

Despiteitssmall

size,theZ 50 hasa

deepgrip,making

itcomfortable

tohold

Right

Toughenough

Metalfrontand

rearplates,plus

weatherproof

seals,givetheZ

50 adurablefeel

LastAugustNikonunveiledtheZ 6

andZ7,twofull-framemirrorless

cameras.Asfabulousastheyare,

manyphotographerswantsomethingabit

smallerandmoreaffordable,andtheeasiest

waytoachievethatistoreducethesizeofthe

sensor.Cue,theNikonZ50,anAPS-Cformat

(orDXasNikoncallsit)mirrorlesscamera.

Inasmartmove,similartoitsapproachwith

itsSLRs,NikonhasgiventheZ 50 thesame

Zmountasitsfull-framecameras.Thatmeans

youcanmountfull-frame(FX)lensesonit

directly,aswellasDXformatoptics.Andifyou

haveacollectionofF-mountlenses,youcan

usethemviatheNikonFTZadapter.That’s

handy,becauseatthemomentthereareonly

twoDXformatZ-mountlenses,theNikkorZ

DX16-50mmf/3.5-6.3VRandNikkorZ50-

200mmVRlenses.

Inside,theZ 50 hasa20.9MPsensor

thatmeasures23.5x15.7mm.Althoughit’s

thesamesizeandresolutionastheNikon

D7500’ssensor,it’snewandhasthesame

hybridAFtechnologyasNikon’sfull-frame

mirrorlesscameras.

Thatmeanstheautofocussystemusesboth

phasedetectionandcontrastdetection.There

arealso 209 user-selectableAFpointsthat

cover90%ofthesensor,soyoucanfocus

closetotheedgesoftheframe.Inaddition,

EyeDetectionAFandSubjectTrackingareon

handtohelpwithpeopleandactionphotos.

Nikonhasuseditslatestprocessingengine,

Expeed6,intheZ50,andthisenablesa

maximumcontinuousshootingrateof11fps

withcontinuousautofocusingandexposure

metering.However,thatcausesnoticeable

blackoutintheviewfinder,soinsome

instancesit’sbettertodropfromContinuous

HighExtendedmodetoContinuousHigh

modeinwhichthemaximumshootingrateis

amoremodest5fps.

Asbefitsamodernmirrorlesscamera,the

Z 50 canshoot4Kvideoatupto30p,and

slow-motionfanswillappreciatethatFull-HD

footagecanbeshotatupto120fps.Further

goodnewsisthatthere’samicrophoneport

builtin,soyoucanconnectanexternalmic

forbetter-qualityaudioandpreventhand

movementonthecamerafrombeingpicked

up.It’sespeciallyusefulinwindyconditions

whenyoucanfitamicwithawindshield.

AtfirstglancetheZ 50 looksjustlikethe

Z 6 andZ7,butifyouputitalongsidethose

camerasyou’llseethatit’squiteabitsmaller.

However,Nikonhasdoneagreatjobof

shrinkingitssizewithoutmakingitfiddlyto

use.TheNikkorZDX16-50mmf/3.5-6.3VR

lensisalsocollapsible,whichmakesitvery

travel-friendly,butit’snottoosmall.

Atitsthinnestpoint,theZ 50 isveryslim,

whichmakesthegripdeeperandmore

effective.Inaddition,thefrontandbackplates

aremadefrommetal,givingitasolidfeel,

whiletheweatherproofing(tothesamelevel

astheD7500)isreassuringinbadweather.

Wetestedthelatterthoroughlyinadownpour

duringarugbymatch.

Beingamirrorlesscamera,theZ 50 hasan

electronicviewfinder(EVF).It’sa2.36-million-

dotdevice,soitsresolutionislowerthanthe

EVFsintheZ 6 andZ7,butitcoversasmaller

imagingarea.TheEVF’scoloursaturation

andcontrastsometimesseemsalittlehigher

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