Nikon Z 50

11 FPS, 21 MP, 4K/30, ISO 51,200 (204,800)

World's Second Best APS-C Mirrorless Camera

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Nikon Z50

Nikon Z50 (15.7 oz./446g with battery and card, one SD card slot, $757) and superb Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR. bigger or fill screen. I got mine at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. It comes as many different kits at B&H (I actually got the kit with both the 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses), at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield. It's also avaialble used if you know How to Win at eBay.

$757, Z50 body-only at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield, and about $600 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

$897, Z50 kit with excellent 16-50mm lens at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

$1,147, Z50 kit with both the 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

 

This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.

 

May 2023  Nikon   Mirrorless   Mirrorless Lenses   All Nikon Lenses   Nikon Flash   All Reviews

Sony vs. Nikon vs. Canon Full-Frame

Nikon Z50

Nikon Z50 and collapsed Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR. bigger or fill-screen.

 

Nikon Z50

Nikon Z50 and Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR. bigger or fill-screen.

 

Sample Images

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(these are just snapshots and there are many more throughout the review; my real work is in my Gallery.)

These are all shot hand-held as BASIC JPGs; no RAW files, NORMAL or FINE JPGs or tripods were used or needed.

All shot in the VIVID Picture Control setting with sharpening set to +9 and Saturation set to +3.

I knocked-out the first seven images in just a half hour of walking around a farmer's market. Easy! The Z 50 is an extraordinary street camera.

Most of these are exactly as they came out of my Z 50. The shadows and highlights and colors are perfect as-shot, no need for l editing, which lets me pump out the pictures, collect my cash, and get on to the next shoot without wasting time in front of a computer. This is what I love about Nikon: the images are bold and vibrant as-shot with no twiddling needed.

Pedrego Bikes, La Quinta

Bikes, 12:19 PM, 24 November 2019. Nikon Z50, built-in flash ON, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 48mm at f/7.1, 1/200 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 13.3), as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.

I popped-up the flash to help with the extreme contrast. It helps keep details in the shadows.

 

Pomegranate, Farmers Market, La Quinta

Pomegranate, Farmer's Market, 12:21 PM, 24 November 2019. Nikon Z50, built-in flash ON, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 50mm at f/16, 1/80 at Auto ISO 2,500 (LV 9.7), as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.

ISO 2,500? Looking this good? AWESOME!!!

Again, built-in flash balances perfectly with ambient light to show all the detail inside this pomegranate.

 

Old Town Coffee Company, La Quinta

Old Town Coffee Company, 12:22 PM, 24 November 2019. Nikon Z50, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 50mm at f/10, 1/400 at Auto ISO 100, +⅔ stop exposure compensation, (LV 15.3). bigger or camera-original © file.

 

Stop Sign, Old Town La Quinta

Stop Sign, Old Town, 12:25 PM, 24 November 2019. Nikon Z50, built-in flash ON, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 29mm at f/9, 1/200 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 14.0), exactly as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.

I love having a built-in flash everywhere I go — so much better than the Z7 or Z6. I always pop it up for photos of signs, which lights them up for emphasis.

 

Walkway with bougainvillea, Old Town La Quinta

Walkway with Bougainvillea, Old Town, 12:35 PM, 24 November 2019. Nikon Z50, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 16mm at f/13, 1/60 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 13.3), exactly as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.

The trees on the left are crooked; this isn't lens distortion.

I LOVE the colors that come out of my Nikons, my Z50 included. I can get this from Canon, but not from Sony and not from Fuji.

 

Stuft Pizza, La Quinta

Stuft Pizza, 12:40 PM, 24 November 2019. Nikon Z50, built-in flash ON, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 21mm at f/9, 1/200 at Auto ISO 100, +⅓ stop exposure compensation, (LV 14.0), exactly as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.

I love how the pictures look from my Z50! In this case I love how the light drapes across the stucco with perfect color and texture that so well captures the enveloping feeling of light that was there this day. I get OK results, but I don't get this magic from Sony or Fuji.

I used the built-in flash to add just a little light to the dark underpinnings of the awning.

 

Utility Building, La Quinta

Protected Utility Building, 12:52 PM, 24 November 2019. Nikon Z50, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 41mm at f/8, 1/250 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 14.0), as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.

Obviously no distortion in the 16-50mm, for which we can't turn off Auto Distortion Control even if we wanted to in the Z50.

 

Aztec Tapestry, La Quinta

Aztec Tapestry, 1:22 PM, 24 November 2019. Nikon Z50, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 42mm at f/5.6, hand-held at 1/10 at ISO 800 (LV 5.3), as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.

Sharp at ISO 800 hand-held at 1/10? No problem! I love this little camera!

 

Green Grass in backlight

Green Grass, 8:32 AM, 25 November 2019. Nikon Z50, built-in flash ON, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 20.5mm at f/11, 1/40 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 12.2), as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.

Again I popped up the ever-present built-in flash to keep the tree trunk from going black.

I love the glowing greens, blues, yellows, oranges and every color that I can get right out of the Z50 as JPGs. Bravo, Nikon!

 

Nikon Z50 Sample Image File

Latticework, 12:35 PM, 25 November 2019. Nikon Z50, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 32.5mm at f/9, 1/320 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 14⅔), exactly as shot. bigger or camera-original © file.

I love how my Z50 shots look vivid and perfect right out of the camera like this!

 

A Healthy Holiday

A Healthy Holiday, 5:11 PM, 26 November 2019. Nikon Z50, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 16mm wide-open at f/3.5 hand-held at 1/13 at Auto ISO 800 (LV 4.3), Perfectly Clear. bigger or full resolution 20MP file.

Hand-held at 1/13 at ISO 800 the system is so sharp I can see a single strand of spider web on the chandelier!

 

Nikon Z50 Sample Image

Children's Walkway, 5:21 PM, 26 November 2019. Nikon Z50, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 18.5mm wide-open at f/3.8 hand-held at 1/15 at Auto ISO 400, +⅓ stop exposure compensation (LV 5¾), Perfectly Clear, perspective correction in Photoshop CS6. bigger, full resolution 20MP file or camera-original © JPG file.

Note how free from coma is the Z 16-50mm DX VR; even wide-open the points of light on the right remain as points. We used to have to buy Noct-NIKKORs to do this!

 

Nikon Z50 Sample Image

Railing, Rhythm & Hues, 5:22 PM, 26 November 2019. Nikon Z50, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 16mm wide-open at f/3.5 hand-held at one-sixth of a second at Auto ISO 1,000, +⅓ stop exposure compensation (LV 2.9), exactly as shot. bigger or camera-original © JPG file.

Man, I LOVE my Z 50! This is what I got straight out of the camera, and it looks AWESOME! Hand-held at a sixth of a second let me shoot at only ISO 1,000 in the dark for a super-sharp shot, no higher ISOs needed care of the great vibration reduction of the Z 16-50mm DX VR.

 

Nikon Z50 Sample Image File

Salt & Straw, 6:10 PM, 26 November 2019. Nikon Z50, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 16mm wide-open at f/3.5 hand-held at one-sixth of a second at Auto ISO 360 (LV 5.7), Perfectly Clear, perspective correction in Photoshop CS6. bigger or full resolution 20MP file.

Hand-hold at one-sixth of a second? EASY!, with the 16-50mm DX VR. This lets me use lower ISOs and/or smaller apertures for much sharper photos in low light. Also note how well Auto White Balance deals with the mixed LED and who knows what other sorts of lighting was there.

 

Nikon Z50 sample image with built-in flash

Zoey and Her Carrots, 7:19 AM, 30 November 2019. Cropped from Nikon Z50, Nikon SB-400 flash, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 35mm wide-open at f/5.3 hand-held at 1/15 of a second at Auto ISO 640 (LV 6.0), Perfectly Clear. bigger, full resolution 20MP file or camera-original © JPG file.

I love how the Z50 balances flash perfectly for fill-flash. If I hadn't used flash, Zoey would have been nothing but a shadow as the only other source of light was a window behind Zoey — and I love the color rendition!

The built-in flash should have done the same thing; I just happened to have my tiny SB-400 on top of my Z50.

 

Nikon Z 50-250mm sample image file

Spanish Building by Last Light, 3:53 PM, 25 November 2019. Nikon Z50, Nikon Z 50-250mm DX VR at 66mm at f/5.6 at 1/500 at Auto ISO 100, +⅔ stop exposure compensation (LV 13.9), Perfectly Clear, perspective correction in Photoshop CS6. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © JPG file.

 

Nikon 50-250mm Sunstars

Palm Trunk at Dawn, 7:01 AM, 05 December 2019. Nikon Z50, Nikon Z 50-250mm DX VR at 50mm at f/8 hand-held at one-quarter of a second at Auto ISO 100 (LV 8.0), exactly as shot in square crop mode. bigger.

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The Nikon Z 50 is the world's best APS-C mirrorless camera.

The Z50 is Nikon's first APS-C mirrorless camera. It's a miniature Z7 or Z6 with a smaller sensor, but the same lens mount, and adds a built-in flash and superior ergonomics. With my Z50 I get the same fantastic image quality as I've always loved from my Nikons, with less ergonomic hassles between me and my picture than with my Nikon Z7 or Z6.

The Z50 is the world's best APS-C mirrorless because it's a joy to carry, set up and shoot, with superior ergonomics to Sony or Fuji or the Z7 or Z6, and makes far better pictures than Sony or Fuji due to due to the Z50's superior color rendition. Canon's EOS-M have equally great color rendition, but I haven't used them recently to compare, and their ergonomics didn't wow me as much as does the Z50 or Canon's full-frame DSLRs do.

Everything works faster and easier than on my Z7 or Z6. Autofocus is super fast, and nothing gets in my way. The Z50 takes normal SD memory cards, not the exotic XQD cards of the Z7 and Z6, and the Z50 and its lenses are significantly smaller and lighter than the Z7 or Z6.

The finder is excellent; couple the great OLED finder with the Z50's super picture quality and for the first time ever in over 50 years of shooting I can get images in my finder that remind me of the joy of looking at Velvia transparencies on a light table; the images and the Z50's finder look that good.

Look at the Sample Images; I snapped these as I ran other errands and am astonished at just how great they look; great colors and tones right out of the Z50 with no twiddling needed. Combine this with how much more pleasant it is to shoot and it's easily just become the world's best APS-C mirrorless.

More great news is that the 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses, which I'll review formally next, are each superb: ultra sharp at every setting, completely devoid of distortion as shot on the Z50, light, compact, collapse for travel and each autofocuses super fast and has fantastic image stabilization (VR). It's about time Nikon hit another one out of the park; I'm LOVING my Z50 system!

The Z50 is a very solid camera with metal top and bottom covers just like the Z7 and Z6. I prefer the Z50's more comfortable plastic control dials over the metal ones of the Z7 and Z6.

$757, Z50 body-only at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield, and about $600 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

$897, Z50 kit with excellent 16-50mm lens at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

$1,147, Z50 kit with both the 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

 

New

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Nikon's first APS-C mirrorless camera.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Has a built-in flash sorely lacking in the Z7 and Z6,

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com The Z 50 has all its buttons and dials on the right side where I can reach them with my shooting hand, while the Z7 and Z6 require a second hand to hit or turn some of the left-side buttons and dials.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Optional "Self Portrait" mode with the LCD screen flipped down 180º to lock-out many controls so you don't knock them by accident.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com 209-point phase-detect AF system covers most of the frame.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Multiple Exposures with add, lighten, darken or average options.

 

Good

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Great ergonomics, a joy to shoot. Everything just works as it should.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com All shooting and playback buttons and dials are on the right side for one-handed shooting!

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Same unmatched spectacular image quality we've taken for granted in Nikon digital since 2007. Colors, highlights and shadows look awesome. As an artist whose work has explored color for many, many decades, no other brand of camera gives me better images right out of the camera than my Nikons. Sony and Fuji are inferior, and Canon is just as good, just different.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Has a built-in flash sorely lacking in the Z7 and Z6,

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Smaller, lighter and less expensive than Nikon's full-frame Z7 and Z6.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Silent electronic shutter.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Same Z lens mount as Nikon's full-frame Z7 and Z6.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Works with the same FTZ lens adapter.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Square and 16:9 as-shot crops.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Lots of direct and programmable controls and dials.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Charges over USB or with included MH-32 charger.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Low, competitive price.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com TIME exposure mode right between X200 and BULB modes in manual exposure mode:

Nikon Z7 Time Exposure

California Desert Home, 22 June 2019, 8:50-8:52 PM. Nikon Z7 (Z50 does the same thing), Nikon 14-30mm at 14mm at f/11, 104 second time exposure, Perfectly Clear v3.7 "landscapes" mode. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.

 

Bad

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com U1 and U2 modes do not recall your preferences for Image Area (square or 16:9 cropping) or Image Review.

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Offshored to Thailand; not made domestically in Japan.

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Always puts a bogus mystery "NC_FLLST.DAT" file in each picture folder.

 

Missing

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No sensor cleaner.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No marked focus mode switch (AF-S / AF-C / MF); instead you program an Fn button to do this. This is better than Nikon's older AF mode switches because the Fn buttons are easy to reach right next to the lens and they press straight into the camera; the old-style buttons were on the bottom of the lens and had to be pressed sideways!

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No battery percentage indication, just a three-segment battery bar icon.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No "Non-CPU Lens" menu item, but that's no problem as none of Nikon's Z cameras, even with the FTZ adapter, properly couple with manual-focus (non-CPU) lenses anyway. Since the Z50 has no in-camera sensor-shift image stabilization, the camera has no need to know your focal length. Not having this menu item means no more fiddling with it if you use old lenses. (Don't bother with old lenses on this new camera; the new 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses have incredibly great optics, collapse and have great stabilization, all lacking in old manual lenses.)

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No automatic brightness control for rear LCD, something every iPhone has (has auto brightness control only for finder).

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com While the OLED electronic viewfinder screen has a 4:3 aspect ratio so data can fit above and below the 3:2 aspect-ratio camera image, oddly a zoomed image never fills the screen — even if there is no data above or below.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No 4:3 "Ideal Format" crop.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No in-camera sensor-shift Image Stabilization, but both the new 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses have extraordinary optical stabilization built-in — which work better than in camera stabilization.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No headphone jack (has mic jack).

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No USB-C connection; uses older Micro-B USB connector instead.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No GPS — use an app to add that.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No NFC.

Nikon Z50

Nikon Z50. bigger or fill-screen.

 

Format

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Recommendations   More Information

$757, Z50 body-only at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield, and about $600 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

$897, Z50 kit with excellent 16-50mm lens at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

$1,147, Z50 kit with both the 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

This is an APS-C or DX-format camera, with approximately 16 × 24mm sensor and a 1.52× crop factor.

 

Lens Compatibility

Top   Sample Images   Introduction   Format

Lens Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Unboxing   Performance   Compare   User's Guide

Recommendations   More Information

$757, Z50 body-only at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield, and about $600 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

$897, Z50 kit with excellent 16-50mm lens at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

$1,147, Z50 kit with both the 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

Nikon Z50

Nikon Z50. bigger or fill-screen.

The Z50 works with all Nikon Z-Mount Lenses, both full-frame and DX.

It uses the same oversized mount as Nikon's full-frame cameras, and thus looks foolishly large around an APS-C sensor. This also means the back ends of all DX Z lenses are larger in diameter than they really have to be.

The FTZ adapter lets us use Nikon's manual and auto-focus F-Mount lenses, made since 1959, with varying degrees of success. Details.

There are very few Z lenses out today. The DX 16-50 and DX 50-250mm are superb and all you need for anything.

I've tried the Z 85/1.8 FX and Z 24/1.8 FX, and they also work great on my Z50, although much of what they do is handled by the DX 16-50 and DX 50-250mm.

The Fringer EF-NZ Adapter adapts Canon EF lenses with often better results on my Nikon Z cameras than Nikon's own lenses give on the crappy FTZ adapter! It also works with other brands of lenses in Canon EF mount, adapting them to Nikon Z.

 

Specifications

Top   Sample Images   Introduction   Format

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Recommendations   More Information

 

$757, Z50 body-only at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield, and about $600 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

$897, Z50 kit with excellent 16-50mm lens at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

$1,147, Z50 kit with both the 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

 

Image Sensor

Nikon Z50

Nikon Z50. bigger or fill-screen.

20.67 MP.

15.7 × 23.5 mm CMOS.

3:2 aspect ratio.

1.53 × crop factor.

No sensor cleaner.

 

ISO

Stills

ISO 100 ~ 51,200.

To ISO 102,400 and 204,800 in push modes.

 

Video

ISO 100 ~ 25,600.

"Night Vision" mode automatically goes from ISO 100 to as high as ISO +4, which might be about ISO 409,600.

 

Image Sizes

Full Gate (15.7 × 23.5 mm DX)

Large: 5,568 × 3,712 pixels native (20.67 MP).

Medium: 4,176 × 2,784 (11.6 MP).

Small: 2,784 × 1856 (5.2 MP).

 

Square Crop (1:1 or 15.7 × 15.7mm)

Large: 3,712 × 3,712 pixels native (13.8 MP).

Medium: 2,712 × 2,784 (7.8 MP).

Small: 1,856 × 1,856 (3.4 MP).

 

16:9 Crop (13.2 × 23.5mm)

Large: 5,568 × 3,128 pixels native (17.4 MP).

Medium: 4,176 × 2,344 (9.8 MP).

Small: 2,784 × 1,560 (4.3 MP).

 

Still Formats

JPG and/or raw.

12- or 14-bit raw.

sRGB and Adobe RGB.

 

Video

Electronic stabilization.

Time lapse 4K and 1,080p.

 

Longest Take

Half-hour (29:59).

 

File Formats

.MOV or .MP4 files holding H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding video and LPCM or AAC-coded audio data.

 

Frame Sizes and Rates

4K (3,840 × 2,160) at 23.976p or 25p.

1,920 × 1,080 at 119.88p, 100p, 59.94p, 50p, 29.97p, 25p or 23.976p.

1,920 × 1,080 (slow-motion) shot at 119.88b and presented at 29.97p (1/4×), shot at 100p and presented at 25p (1.4×) or shot at 119.88p and presented at 23.976p (1/5×).

 

Audio

Recorded only along with video.

S - t - e - r - e - O microphone built in.

Mic-in jack with plug-in power overrides built-in mic.

NO headphone jack.

 

Autofocus

209 points.

Phase- and contrast-detection.

-2 ~ +19 LV range (lens unspecified).

-4 ~ +19 LV range in "low-light AF mode" (lens unspecified).

 

Light Meter

Matrix, Average, Center-Weighted, Spot and Highlight-weighted.

Oddly no mention of Color or 3D Matrix metering; I don't know if Nikon dumbed-down the meter but I doubt it.

-4 ~ +17 LV range, lens unspecified.

 

Finder

0.39" (9.9mm) 2,360,000-dot XGA OLED.

100% coverage.

0.68× magnification w/35mm (50mm equivalent) lens.

Auto brightness control.

Auto LCD/Finder eye-sensor switching.

-3 ~ +3 diopters.

19.5 mm eyepoint.

 

Shutter

Vertical Metal Focal Plane and silent electronic shutter.

The shutter does not close with the power off.

1/4,000 ~ 32 seconds, BULB, TIME and X200 (flash sync).

1/200 flash sync speed.

Self Timer.

Multiple Exposures (standard, average, lighten or darken modes).

 

Frame Rates

11 FPS, "extended" high-speed.

5 FPS, Continuous High.

1 ~ 4 FPS in Continuous Low.

 

Flash

1/200 sync speed.

i-TTL system.

"Advanced Wireless Lighting" IR optical control system.

Auto FP high speed sync setting.

 

Built-In Flash

Nikon Z50 built-in flash

Nikon Z50 built-in flash. bigger or fill-screen.

GN 22'/7m at ISO 100.

 

External Flash

Dedicated i-TTL ISO-518 hot shoe.

No Prontor-Compur (PC) terminal; use the built-in flash to trigger your slaves or just use a hot-shoe adapter for corded sync.

 

LCD Monitor

Nikon Z50

Nikon Z50 and collapsed Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR. bigger or fill-screen.

 

Nikon Z50 flipping LCD

Nikon Z50 flipping LCD. bigger or fill-screen.

3.2" (80mm) diagonal.

1.040,000 dots.

Swivels down 180º

No auto-brightness control (manual settings only).

 

Connectors

Nikon Z50

Nikon Z50. bigger or fill-screen.

3.5mm mic-in with plug-in power.

Micro-B USB.

HDMI type D.

 

Nikon Z50

Nikon Z50. bigger or fill-screen.

 

WiFi

IEEE 802.11b/g/n/a/ac

2.412 ~ 2.462 GHz (channel 11) and 5.180 ~ 5.320/5.825/5.805 GHz

Maximum Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP): 6.9 dBm at 2.4 GHz or 10.2 dBm at 5 GHz.

Authentication: Open system, WPA2-PSK.

 

NFC

None.

 

Bluetooth

Version 4.2

2.402 ~ 2.480 GHz.

Maximum Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP): 1.4 dBm (Bluetooth Low Energy: -0.1 dBm).

Not more than 30'/10m range.

 

GPS

None.

 

Storage

SD (up to 2GB), SDHC (up to 32GB) and SDXC (up to 512GB) cards.

UHS-I.

 

Body

Nikon Z50

Nikon Z50 and collapsed Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR. bigger or fill-screen.

Nikon says it's not quite as tough or sealed as Z7 or Z6 to try to scare you into paying more for the Z7 or Z6, but except for a couple of dials which are more comfortable plastic rather than the uncomfortable hard metal of the Z7 or Z6, the Z50 feels about as tough - just lighter - than the Z7 or Z6.

Nikn claims magnesium alloy construction.

 

Quality

Nikon Z50

Nikon Z50. bigger or fill-screen.

Made in Thailand.

 

Power & Battery

Nikon Z50

Nikon Z50 and collapsed Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR. bigger or fill-screen.

 

Battery

Nikon EN-EL25 Battery

Nikon EN-EL25 Battery

EN-EL25 Lithium-ion rechargeable.

 

Charging

It charges with almost any 99¢ Micro-B USB cable from almost any USB source, power adapter, power bank or solar charger, although Nikon tries to scare you into using only their expensive EH-73P USB Power adapter and (included) UC-E21 USB Cable.

Nikon rates the full charge time via USB as 3.5 hours.

Nikon also includes a very nice MH-32 plug-in external charger, but you won't need it unless you want to charge a second EN-EL25 battery at the same time you're charging your first one in your camera via USB:

Nikon MH-32 Battery Charger

Nikon MH-32 Battery Charger

Nikon rates this charger for a full charge in 2.5 hours.

 

Size

3.7 × 5 × 2.4 inches HWD.

93.5 × 126.5 × 60 millimeters HWD.

 

Weight

15.743 oz. (446.3 g) actual measured weight with EN-EL25 battery and SD card.

(EN-EL25 battery only: 1.820 oz. (51.6 g).)

Rated 15.9 oz. (450 g) with battery and card.

Rated 14 oz. (395 g) stripped naked.

 

Environment

Operating

0º ~ 40º C (32º ~ 104º F).

0% to 85% RH, no condensation.

 

Included

Z50 camera.

DK-30 Rubber Eyecup (attached).

BF-N1 Body Cap.

EN-EL25 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery with terminal cover.

MH-32 Battery Charger and plug adapter for your country.

UC-E21 USB Cable.

AN-DC20 "Z 50" Strap.

 

Announced

Early morning, Thursday 10 October 2019, NYC time.

 

Promised for

November 2019.

 

Shipping Since

07 November 2019.

 

Prices, USA

April 2023

$757, Z50 body-only at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield, and about $600 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

$897, Z50 kit with excellent 16-50mm lens at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

$1,147, Z50 kit with both the 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

 

August 2020

$857, body only.

$897, kit with excellent 16-50mm lens.

$1,097, kit with both the 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses.

 

October 2019 ~ January 2020

$857, body only.

$997, kit with excellent 16-50mm lens.

$1,197, kit with both the 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses.

 

Accessories

Top   Sample Images   Introduction   Format

Lens Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Unboxing   Performance   Compare   User's Guide

Recommendations   More Information

 

$757, Z50 body-only at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield, and about $600 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

$897, Z50 kit with excellent 16-50mm lens at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

$1,147, Z50 kit with both the 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

 

Optional Accessories

EH-73P USB Power adapter.

 

Included Accessories

EN-EL25 battery.

MH-32 battery charger.

BF-N1 Body Cap.

EN-EL25 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery with terminal cover.

MH-32 Battery Charger and plug adapter for your country.

UC-E21 USB Cable.

AN-DC20 "Z 50" Strap.

 

Unboxing

Top   Sample Images   Introduction   Format

Lens Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Unboxing   Performance   Compare   User's Guide

Recommendations   More Information

The box is completely unsealed. Just like kids who lick ice cream and put it back in the store freezer or gargle with mouthwash and put it back on the store shelf, there is no way to know if anyone else has been fiddling with your camera, swapping parts and accessories, or even if it's a dropped, returned, damaged or used camera.

$757, Z50 body-only at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield, and about $600 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

$897, Z50 kit with excellent 16-50mm lens at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

$1,147, Z50 kit with both the 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

This is why it's critical to buy only from an approved online source, since they ship from automated warehouses where no shifty salesmen or other customers ever getting to touch your new camera before it ships. While new $5 CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays and bottles of milk and drinking water are sealed and quite obvious if anyone's opened them, paradoxically Nikon doesn't bother sealing anything, so your only insurance is to buy only from a trusted online dealer.

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Performance

Top   Sample Images   Introduction   Format

Lens Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Unboxing   Performance   Compare   User's Guide

Recommendations   More Information

 

Overall   Autofocus   Manual Focus   Auto ISO

Auto White Balance   Color Rendition    Ergonomics

Exposure   Finder   Flash   High ISOs   Lens Corrections

Mechanical Quality   Menus   U1 & U2   Silent Mode

Sound & Noise   Weather Sealing   Rear LCD

Playback   Data    Power & Battery

 

$757, Z50 body-only at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield, and about $600 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

$897, Z50 kit with excellent 16-50mm lens at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

$1,147, Z50 kit with both the 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

 

Overall

Performance          top

The Z50 is small and light, handles great, focuses super fast and takes awesome photos without me even trying.

I LOVE MY Z50!

 

Autofocus

Performance          top

Autofocus is fast and accurate. Nothing to worry about here; all the AF modes are easy to select and it just goes; one less thing to worry about getting between you and a great picture.

Luckily the camera comes with the autofocus options preset to where you want them (AF-S and Auto AF-Area Select) for the fastest and easiest shooting.

One defect is that if the camera is focused on a background and you then point it at something closer which doesn't fill the frame, it may keep focusing on the background in the corners and ignore the big fat subject filling most of your screen. If this happens, know that it's a defect and just move your manual focus ring to bring the closer subject into approximate focus, and the Z50's autofocus will take it from there.

While it's very fast for photos of things that hold still, a DSLR is still better if sports, wiggly kids and action are your focus. It's fast if you let it pick the AF sensors for a still image or if you select just one AF area for something that moves, but it you want to let it pick the sensors and then let the Z50 try to track up/down/left/right all by itself, I'd stick to a DSLR or a Sony mirrorless camera which does this better.

The Z50 (as well as the Z7 and Z6) can't keep up if you expect it to track focus in and out at the same time as you expect it to track objects moving left and right across multiple sensors.

 

Manual Focus

performance          top

Manual focus is perfect; unlike Sony or Fuji or Canon, you always can just move the manual focus ring for instant manual-focus override even while in an autofocus mode. The other brands usually don't or can't do this unless you have them set just right — which no one ever can figure out.

It works great with AF lenses: either pick a focus point in MANUAL FOCUS, or just grab the focus ring even if you're in AUTOFOCUS and it instantly reverts to MANUAL FOCUS, and that one focus point goes from red to green as you hit perfect manual focus. Easy!

With old manual-focus (non-CPU) lenses there are no manual focus aids other than magnification, which is still better than anything we had back in the days of manual focus cameras. With old manual lenses, there are no colored or other focus conformations.

 

Auto ISO

Performance          top

Auto ISO is the usual from Nikon, which is excellent.

You have total control of ISO ranges as well as minimum shutter speeds. There is an AUTO setting for minimum shutter speed, as well as the ability to shift this automatic setting ±2 stops.

Bravo!

 

Auto White Balance (AWB)

Performance          top

Auto White Balance is excellent. There are four AUTO settings; see my Nikon Z50 User's Guide for how to pick them.

Pick the right one and AWB works great.

 

Color & Tone Rendition

Performance          top

Color rendition has nothing to do with color reproduction or color accuracy. Rendition is simply how colors look; do they match the artist's vision, or not? Every artist sees differently, thus every artist chooses the brand of camera which gets him closest to his vision. Ditto for tone (brightness) rendition; there is no "correct;" only what looks best to an individual artist.

As I show at my Sample Images, no camera has better color rendition than my Nikons. Your taste may vary, but as an artist whose work is all about color, I LOVE what I get from my Z50 right out of the camera, no editing needed.

 

Ergonomics

Performance          top

My Z50 feels and handles great. There are a couple of things that bug me about the Z7 and Z6 which don't about the Z50; the Z50 just shoots and gets out of my way.

All the shooting and playback buttons and dials are on the right side for one-handed shooting, a huge improvement over the Z7 and Z6.

I love that the Z50's mode dial just works; there is no lock in my way that requires two hands as does the mode dial of the Z7 and Z6.

The mode and rear control dials of the Z50 are plastic and much more comfortable than the hard metal dials of the Z7 and Z6.

Everything tends to default to being just right; all the things that drive me up the wall with lesser cameras like Sony and Fuji just aren't a problem with the Z50; with my Z50 I just shoot and great great results without having to argue with my camera that's supposed to be serving me.

The touch screen works great, it's even easy to enter text.

Nikon Z50

Nikon Z50 and collapsed Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR. bigger or fill-screen.

The SD card goes into a slot between the battery and the door hinge, making it hard to push to get it to pop out.

One annoying thing I never bothered to figure out is that it often takes a picture if you tap the LCD just the right way.

The three +, -, and DISP touch controls on the right of the rear LCD are the worst thing about the Z50. If I'm looking at the LCD they are easy to find in daylight, but impossible to find by feel as I'm shooting with my eye to the finder. Thus it's difficult to adjust magnification as you're shooting:

Nikon Z50

+, - and DISP "buttons" on the touch screen. bigger or fill-screen.

These are but minor whines; overall, it handles so much better than anything from Sony or Fuji or even the Nikon Z7 or Z6.

Bravo!

 

Exposure

Performance          top

Exposure looks great.

I have yet to need more than ±⅔ stop exposure compensation.

(All cameras other than the iPhone require some exposure compensation for some photos; what sets cameras apart is how infrequently they need these adjustments. No big deal; you see it all in the finder before you shoot.)

Always use Matrix metering; the only people who have problems are people who for some reason use the obsolete Average, Center-Weighted or Spot meter modes. More at my Nikon Z50 User's Guide.

 

Finder

Performance          top

Nikon Z50 Electronic Viewfinder

Actual view through finder optics. bigger. It's a lot sharper in actual use.

The electronic OLED finder is great. Auto brightness control works very well, although it's still mostly responding to light coming in the front of the lens.

For the first time ever the finder just looks so good that it reminds me of Velvia slides on a light box!

While it looks great, the optics are about the same as all midline cameras. The finder optics are OK, but not exactly like the much larger and more exotic eyepieces you'll find on a pair of LEICA binoculars.

While the OLED electronic viewfinder screen has a 4:3 aspect ratio so data can fit above and below the 3:2 aspect-ratio camera image, oddly a zoomed image never fills the screen — even if there is no data above or below.

One weird Nikon core incompetancy is blue banding in playback images. Most modern Nikons do this, as seen both on the rear LCD or in the finder:

Nikon Z50 Blue Banding

Actual view of in-finder playback. bigger.

This comes from the lower-resolution and more compressed thumbnail images encoded - and read - by the camera's playback electronics when you're looking at the complete image. Don't worry, this banding is not in your actual picture and goes away if you zoom-in, in which case the camera reads the complete image without the banding. I almost never see this, but I know someone will and blow it all out of proportion.

Again, the Nikon Z50 finder is probably the best looking finder I've ever used. My images look great on it, vibrant and colorful in every kind of light.

 

Flash

Performance          top

Flash sync speed is 1/200.

The built-in flash works great. Just pop it up, and it does the best it can with its limited power to provide perfect fill light:

Nikon Z50 Sample Image, no flash

Shot without flash. Nikon Z50, no flash, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 16mm at f/5.6 at 1/125 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 11.9). bigger.

 

Nikon Z50 Sample Image with built-in flash

Shot with built-in flash. Nikon Z50, Flash ON, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 16mm at f/4 at 1/200 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 11.6). bigger.

Nikon has always led the industry in fill-flash, and the Z50 does it great. In this case, the flash brings up the light indoors to look just right against the outdoor light. This is much better than using HDR because the flash throws more light into the shadows rather than hoping for synthetic results with HDR.

 

Nikon Z50 sample image with built-in flash

Zoey and Her Carrots, 7:19 AM, 30 November 2019. Cropped from Nikon Z50, Nikon SB-400 flash, Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR at 35mm wide-open at f/5.3 hand-held at 1/15 of a second at Auto ISO 640 (LV 6.0), Perfectly Clear. bigger, full resolution 20MP file or camera-original © JPG file.

I love how the Z50 balances flash perfectly for fill-flash. If I hadn't used flash, Zoey would have been nothing but a shadow as the only other source of light was a window behind Zoey — and I love the color rendition!

The built-in flash should have done the same thing; I just happened to have my tiny SB-400 on top of my Z50.

 

High ISO Performance

Performance          top

High ISO performance is great, only about a stop less good than the full-frame Z7 or Z6. In fact, this Z50 goes to ISO 204,800 rather than the Z7's limited maximum ISO of 102,400!

 

High ISO Image Sample Files

Complete Images

At these reasonable image sizes, the Z50 looks the same from ISO 100 up to about ISO 51,200, where it looks just a little bit more mottled.

For normal use, anything up to about ISO 25,600 looks the same as the lower ISOs.

Click any for the camera-original © NORMAL JPG files:

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Click any for the camera-original © NORMAL JPG files.

 

600 × 450 Pixel Crops from above

These 600 × 450 pixel crops vary in size to fit your browser window. Even as seen on your phone they represent very large enlargements, and would you ever really be looking at prints this big from arm's length? Probably not, but at least you can see how it looks. The main thing you lose as ISO increases is fine detail, which softens and goes away. As we get to very high ISOs it looks like the image has been mostly erased, which is exactly what noise reduction does along with erasing the noise. All cameras do this.

If these are about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at 18½ × 28" (50 × 75 cm) at this same magnification.

If these are about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at 37 × 56" (1 × 1.5 meters) at this same magnification.

If these are about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at 75 × 112" (2 × 3 meters) at this same extreme magnification.

Click any for the camera-original © files to explore:

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Nikon Z50 High ISO Performance Sample Image

Click any for the camera-original © NORMAL JPG files.

 

Lens Corrections

Performance          top

The Z50 can correct for any or all of distortion, diffraction and falloff, any of which you may turn ON or OFF, if Nikon allows it for your lens. For some lenses, like the Z 16-50mm DX VR, Nikon won't let us turn off distortion correction.

The Z50 always corrects for lateral color fringes (chromatic aberration); this is part of Nikon's secret sauce and never appears in any menu.

 

Mechanical Quality

Performance          top

Nikon Z50

Nikon Z50 and Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR. bigger or fill-screen.

This is a solid little camera with a mix of plastic and metal that feels just like the Z7 and Z6, except for the plastic knobs which work and feel better than the metal ones of the Z7 and Z6.

Metal: Top and bottom covers, flash shoe, strap lugs, lens mount, rear LCD hinges and tripod socket.

Plastic: Center flash hump (marked with a big Nikon logo), exposure mode dial and central index, Still/Movie mode lever, power lever, shutter and all buttons, front and rear control dials, rear LCD frame, rear and front covers, battery and card door.

 

Menu System

Performance          top

The menu system is the same as the Z7 and Z6, which is the same as modern Nikon DSLRs.

There are a few less options than in the Z7 and Z6 (there are no Non-CPU Lens Data or Battery Status menus for instance), but otherwise it's the same.

 

U1 and U2 modes

Performance          top

Nikon Z50

Nikon Z50 and collapsed Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR. bigger or fill-screen.

I love the U1 and U2 modes, which are programmable presets that recall many shooting settings like AF modes, Picture Control, resolution, white balance, advance modes, ISO and Auto ISO settings, and more.

I set my U1 for photos of places and things (high resolution, Vivid Picture Control with +3 Saturation, AUTO SLOW minimum shutter speed in Auto ISO, etc.) and U2 for people (medium resolution, normal Picture Control, 1/125 minimum shutter speed in Auto ISO, etc.).

Sadly these modes do not save and recall my settings for Image Area or Image Review, so I still have to change them manually each time.

More at my Z50 User's Guide.

 

Silent Mode

Performance          top

The Silent Mode (Menu > bottom of Shooting menu > Silent photography > ON) works great. Of course the flash can't be used with the electronic shutter, but it can't be used with any other silent shutter camera either.

More at my Z50 User's Guide.

 

Sound, Noise & Vibration

Performance          top

Even in its regular mode the Z50 is a very quiet and polite camera.

I don't use the Silent Mode because I can't tell if the camera's fired; I prefer the regular mode unless I'm sneaking around!

 

Weather Sealing

Performance          top

Katie playing in the Rain

Katie playing in the pouring rain, 10:18 A. M., 28 November 2019. Nikon Z50 in Square Crop Mode, Nikon Z 50-250mm DX VR at 155mm at f/5.3 at 1/125 at Auto ISO 1,100, -⅓ stop exposure compensation (LV 8.3). bigger.

While Katie brought her umbrella out to play in the rain, I didn't have one. My Z50 and and I got wet.

Nikon doesn't claim any weather sealing, but so what: no cameras were "weather sealed" until recently and we never noticed.

I have no problem running out in the rain when my kids are nutty enough to go run out there to play in the rain. My Z50 gets wet, I get wet, and it's all good.

Let's be real: if I'm going to shoot for any length of of time in the rain I'm going to be under an umbrella, and if not, my own tolerance for getting wet is probably about the same as the Z50's. I wouldn't worry about "weather sealing" unless I had to stand around in the rain unprotected for long periods of time. If you live in a place with frequent downpours and you have to run out in them, then sure, consider a weather sealed camera, but for reasonable use in bad weather, the Z50 works fine. Just try to keep it covered, don't overdo it, and I've never had problems.

 

Rear LCD & Touch Screen

Performance          top

The rear LCD is the usual vertical flipper from Nikon. It flips 180º down under the camera for self portraits, and has a mode to magically flip the image so it's right-side up when you do this. This Self Portrait mode also disables some of the controls so you're less likely to knock anything accidently holding the camera backwards.

The touch screen works great for menus, text entry and playback and zoom control.

My only whine is that the +, - and DISP touch screen buttons can't be found by feel while looking through the finder.

 

Playback   

Performance          top

It's the same Nikon playback system we're all used to; no news here. It works great.

As I covered above at Finder, there is blue banding which is an artifact of the highly compressed thumbnail images stored in each image file; you may see them on the rear LCD or electronic finder but they won't be in your actual pictures.

 

Data

Performance          top

It's all standard big-boy Nikon, except that it always puts a bogus mystery "NC_FLLST.DAT" file in each picture folder, just as the Z7 and Z6 do.

21 MP BASIC JPGs vary their file size with image complexity. Their median file size is 2.7 MB, ranging from about 950 kB to 3.6 MB.

Card are properly formatted as "NIKON Z 50" and JPGs are tagged at 300 DPI.

 

Power & Battery

Performance          top

There's only a 3-bar battery icon, not a percentage charge readout or any indication of long-term battery health.

I've never been able to run down the battery if I charge every night. I don't yet know how many shots I can get on a charge.

My Z50 draws 480 mA via USB while charging, and it draws 0 mA when done.

 

Compared

Top   Sample Images   Introduction   Format

Lens Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Unboxing   Performance   Compare   User's Guide

Recommendations   More Information

$757, Z50 body-only at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield, and about $600 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

$897, Z50 kit with excellent 16-50mm lens at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

$1,147, Z50 kit with both the 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

 

Versus Nikon Z7 and Z6

I've been covering this from the top.

The Z50 is a smaller, lighter and less expensive version of the Z7 and Z6 with a smaller sensor and better feel and ergonomics.

The Z50 takes normal SD memory cards, while the Z7 and Z6 require a bizarre and expensive XQD card that you won't be able to buy in the field, and won't be able to read in the field unless you bring along a special card reader. You can't poke an XQD card into a slot on your laptop or into a printer kiosk.

The Z50 has a built-in flash sorely lacking in the Z7 and Z6, and the Z 50 has all its buttons and dials on the right side where I can reach them with my shooting hand, while the Z7 and Z6 require a second hand to hit or turn some of the left-side buttons and dials.

Contrary to what people who want to take your money to sell you more expensive cameras want you to know is that there is very little visible difference between full-frame cameras like the Z7 and Z6 and DX cameras like this Z50. The biggest difference is that in similar conditions, the full-frame camera will have a shallower depth-of-field, or that the DX camera will have more in focus. Otherwise they produce results indistinguishable from each other under all normal picture taking conditions, so long as you're not doing something nuts like shooting at ISO 102,400, which isn't needed for any reasonable picture.

I almost never shoot above ISO 10,000, at which all these cameras take identically great pictures.

I shoot all my cameras down at ISO 100 on a tripod at night for the best results, and as you can see at Sample Images you can shoot hand-held in the dark at night without having to go above ISO 1,000 — and this DX camera gets more in focus at the same f/stop with a lens that gives the same angle-of-view compared to full frame.

If you have to ask which to get, then get this Z50.

 

Versus a DX DSLR like the D5600

The Z 50 takes exactly the same pictures as a DX DSLR, but costs more than something similar like the D5600.

The reason to pay more for the Z50 is that it lets you see how the picture is going to look before you take it, and it lets you see the played-back image in the same finder which is much more visible than a rear screen in daylight, and you can set menus and zoom-in to playback or live-view images for focus right in the finder, none of which a DSLR can do.

The reason to opt for a DSLR is that it focuses faster for sports and action and fast-moving kids. My Z50 is great for people holding still or moving around, but as soon as people start running around, my Z50 doesn't keep up as well as a DSLR. For regular kids, I'd go with the Z50.

If you want compact and low cost, the D3500 costs and weighs even less and takes the same pictures at any reasonable ISO.

See also Mirrorless versus DSLR.

 

Versus Sony and Fuji

As always, every brand has its own feel to color rendition. I love my Nikons for how well they look for vivid nature and landscape photos as in-camera JPGs shot in VIVID picture control with +3 saturation. Sony and Fuji never look as good right out of the camera, even though Fuji excels for low-contrast, muted color for people photos.

The Z50 menus and ergonomics are far superior to the awful menu systems of Sony and Fuji. The industrial design (shapes) of Nikon's cameras are also superior to Sony and Fuji, and feel much better and softer in-hand while Sony and Fuji feel hard and sharp.

Fuji makes cameras for people who prefer more metal; even their inexpensive X-E3 is mostly metal.

Sony's pictures don't look as good due to poorer color and far inferior ergonomics, while Sony excels at autofocus speed in the real world.

 

Versus the Full Frame Canon EOS RP

Canon EOS RP

Canon EOS RP (17.0 oz./481g with battery and SD card, $999) and Canon RF 24-105mm f/4L IS. bigger.

The Canon EOS RP is my favorite full-frame mirrorless, and doesn't cost much more than this APS-C Z50.

If you want small and light, then even though the EOS RP isn't much bigger, its full-frame lenses will make its system bigger and heavier — although wielding full-frame firepower in a very compact package.

If ultimate image quality between these two is your goal, then I'd go for the EOS RP, although the advantage is mostly invisible.

The EOS RP also has a huge advantage over any Nikon mirrorless in that every Canon lens made since 1987 works perfectly with any of Canon's EF lens adapters, while only about half of the lenses Nikon has sold since 1987 work on the Z cameras with the FTZ.

 

Versus APS-C Canon EOS-M

I haven't tried Canon's latest APS-C EOS-M cameras. I haven't tried them since 2017.

Canon's cameras also excel at color rendition and ergonomics, with similar but slightly different color rendition to Nikon, equivalently excellent industrial design and menus and ergonomics superior to all other brands.

 

See also Sony vs. Nikon vs. Canon Full-Frame.

 

User's Guide

Top   Sample Images   Introduction   Format

Lens Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Unboxing   Performance   Compare   User's Guide

Recommendations   More Information

 

$757, Z50 body-only at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield, and about $600 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

$897, Z50 kit with excellent 16-50mm lens at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

$1,147, Z50 kit with both the 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

 

See my separate plain-English Nikon Z50 User's Guide.

 

This Review - on KenRockwell.TV!

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Recommendations

Top   Sample Images   Introduction   Format

Lens Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Unboxing   Performance   Compare   User's Guide

Recommendations   More Information

$757, Z50 body-only at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield, and about $600 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

$897, Z50 kit with excellent 16-50mm lens at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

$1,147, Z50 kit with both the 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

I love the Z50. Picture quality, menus and ergonomics are superior to anything from Sony, while Sony's autofocus performance is better for sports. Even Sony's cheapest A6000 has world-class super-intelligent autofocus — but if sports and action are your primary subjects, I'd get a DSLR rather than anything mirrorless.

I prefer the Z50 to the more expensive Z7 and Z6; the Z7 and Z6 have too many little flaws that tick me off.

Get the native Nikon Z 16-50mm DX VR and Nikon Z 50-250mm DX VR lenses. The 16-50 is a tiny collapsible lens that makes this camera sing. The 50-250 is small but not tiny, and both lenses have ultra-sharp optics and super fast autofocus.

The FTZ lens adapter has never won any prizes for performance. I would not bother using other lenses on the FTZ; you'd lose the whole point and some of the performance of the Z50. The Z 16-50mm DX VR and Z 50-250mm DX VR are incredibly high performance and lightweight lenses.

This 100% all-content website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Nikon does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, non-USA, store demo or used camera. I use the stores I do because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new camera before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I use myself for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.

Thanks for helping me help you!

Ken Rockwell.

 

More Information

Top   Sample Images   Introduction   Format

Lens Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Unboxing   Performance   Compare   User's Guide

Recommendations   More Information

 

$757, Z50 body-only at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield, and about $600 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

$897, Z50 kit with excellent 16-50mm lens at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

$1,147, Z50 kit with both the 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

 

Nikon's Z50 Brochure.

Sony vs. Nikon vs. Canon Full-Frame

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02 May 2023 file sizes, 21 April 2023 prices, 21 Aug 2020, 14 Jan 2020, 25 November-02 December 2019, 10, 25 October 2019