Too small? Too big? I review the right-sized camera, which is… (Nikon Z50 Review)
I had two cameras, and sold them both to get one that has the best of each.
I previously used a Nikon D600. It was a great camera for its day, affordable, and offering a full-frame, 24MP sensor. The wide selection of lenses, both from Nikon and from third-party makers like Tamron, Sigma, Tokina and others, made it a natural for semi-pro and professional photographers who weren’t ready to invest in the more expensive D6.
I also had a Sony NEX-3N, which was tiny by comparison, took great 16MP pictures, had an 18–55 and a 55–210mm lens, but did not have a viewfinder, not even as an add-on. Since I shoot a lot outdoors in sunshine, the rear screen becomes harder to see. Plus, I’m just “old school” and a viewfinder — which I’ve used since my first Nikon F decades ago — seems normal.
So I’ve now replaced both cameras with a 20MP Nikon Z50. It’s in-between in size, and I’m happy with it.
Z What’s with the Z in Z50? The Z-mount lenses are Nikon’s second major lens family. The Z was chosen years before Putsch-King’s war-on-Ukraine aggressors took it as their symbol. And it is Nikon’s first ever break in compatibility with the Nikon F mount, which has been in continuous use and development since 1959 — older than some of my readers’ parents! The format was extended over the years to include various forms of autofocus and vibration reduction. As this went on, newer cameras would still accept almost all the older lenses. The D600 gave access to this range of over 300 F-mount lenses, including the latest “AF-S” ones. I hung on to a couple of lenses from that era, and the Z50 came with an FTZ-II — F to Z — adapter so I can keep using them (Update: I subsequently sold them, and for now have the kit lens and a Nikkor Z DX 50–250mm zoom). The Nikon F-mount lenses I tried with the FTZ worked from day one; the only minor wrinkle was a Tamron zoom which just needed a firmware update. Just for laughs, I stuck a $50 super-cheapo no-name T-mount 400–800mm zoom lens with no aperture, and manual focus, on the FTZ (hint: use manual mode, and a tripod)! With that lens I’m using both the FTZ adapter and a T-mount-to-Nikon adapter, and it all still just keeps on taking pictures.
With its 16–50mm kit lens, the Z50 is small enough and light enough for shop work and street work. It has many controls that are similar to the D600, and even the flash shoe remains compatible with Nikon-dedicated TTL flashes like the Nikon SB series. Nikon does consider the Z50 as a good choice for the YouTube generation; it initially offered a “creators kit” that included a RØDE VideoMic microphone (replacing Nikon’s own discontinued ME-1 Stereo Microphone) that sits in the flash shoe socket and includes a wind shield that looks like a stuffie, or a bearskin hat on its side. I already had the RØDE so I didn’t opt for this kit. When the Z30 was announced, the Z50 creators’ kit was discontinued, and a Z30 version took its place.
Just for comparison, here are the body widths of some of these cameras. Medium doesn’t support table formatting yet; I’d like to give a more detailed comparison.
Nikon EM (older film camera) 13.5cm
Nikon D600 14cm
Nikon P900 14cm
Nikon Z50 12.5cm
Sony NEX-3N 11cm
One thing I disliked about the Sony NEX-3 was the lack of a viewfinder; it had only a view screen on back, and no add-on EVF (electronic view finder) option exists. The Z50 has a touch screen (not just a view screen) and a viewfinder. Better yet, when you put the camera up to your eye, it turns off the rear screen. Both to prevent accidental “nose touches” on the touch screen, and to save battery. At the same time it turns on the full-color EVF. Only one of the two displays is powered on at a time. Your battery thanks you. By default, touching a subject on the touch screen both focuses on it and takes a picture. You can turn off this auto-switching, which is apparently a common problem (turn it off or back on using the “|O|” button at the far left above the touchscreen).
The one feature I do miss from the NEX is power zoom. Turning a zoom ring on the lens to zoom in or out is no big deal — we’ve been doing it for years. But having that extra function that you can invoke from the control panel is a nice touch. The Z50 supports PZ lenses with firmware 2.50, although as of mid-2023 only one of the Z lenses with power zoom has appeared. On the NEX, there’s a flipper switch adjoining the shutter button to zoom in or out. On the Z50, with up-to-date firmware, you can assign zooming either to the Fn1 and Fn2 buttons beside the lens, or to the ‘+’ and ‘-’ magnification soft-buttons on the touchscreen. I don’t have access to any PZ lenses to test this with.
I can’t pretend this camera is right for all uses. It’s meant to be a compact, lightweight camera for a wide range of uses. Nikon’s flagship Z-9 costs five times as much and will have more to offer the dedicated professional. My wife’s Nikon P900 has vastly more zoom capability (Update: the Nikon 28–400 Z mount offers 14x zoom, huge for an ILC but not even close to the P900’s whopping 83x). Smaller cameras have their places. An even smaller Z-mount camera is the Z30, aimed at bloggers/vloggers (and lacking an EVF). But the Z50 is the one for me. The body has the right, middle-size form factor to replace the too-small NEX-3N and the slightly-overweight D600. Ask me again in a year if I’m still happy. Better yet, follow iTriedThat and you’ll see if anything does make me change my mind. A Z-9 could fall from the sky (from a passing Boeing jet?) into my hands and make me upgrade. But don’t hold your breath!
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P.S For a very detailed technical review, please refer to Thom Hogan’s Z50 Review.
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Disclaimer: As per our usual policy, I purchased the Z50 from Vistek in Toronto during a sale, and did not receive any discount or incentive to write this article.
