Nikon Z50 II

      Photo Review 9.0

      In summary

      The Nikon Z50 II has retained the 20-megapixel sensor, compact and lightweight body and straightforward controls layout of the original Z50 but improved the overall performance by pairing it with the top-of-the-range EXPEED 7 processor. This makes the new camera even more attractive to travellers and family photographers.

      Our test shots show the Nikon Z50 II plus 18-140mm lens make a great combo for street photography as well as shooting family sports action.

       

      Full review

      Announced on 6 November, the Z50 II is a second-generation replacement for Nikon’s five-year-old Z50 camera and confirms the company’s commitment to the cropped-sensor format. Although it uses the same 20.9-megapixel sensor as the previous model, this is now paired with the latest EXPEED 7 processor, which brings it into line with other recent Z-mount bodies and adds many of the capabilities of the high-end Z9 camera, including its subject-detection AF system. Other new additions include a Product Review mode to cater for vloggers, and support for Nikon’s Imaging Recipes.


      Angled view of the Z50 II camera body fitted with the Nikkor Z 40mm f/2 lens. (Source: Nikon.)

      Recipes can be downloaded and saved to the camera for immediate use and users can create and save their own sets of exposure parameters as Cloud Picture Controls. Adjustments applied by Picture Controls can be previewed on the camera’s screens and a new Limit Picture Control selection will display frequently used items, making them quick to access.

      The new camera enters a much healthier market when it comes to dedicated lenses, with the Nikkor Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR and Nikkor Z DX 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 VR lenses available for the Z50 now augmented by the 24mm f/1.7 prime lens and the 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR and 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR, giving owners of the new camera five lenses to choose from. We received the review camera with the Nikkor Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR lens, which we reviewed in November 2021.

      Nikon Australia lists the Z50 II camera as a kit option with the Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR lens and most local re-sellers offer this option as standard.  A few provide the alternative Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR as a kit bundle and some list the camera as a body-only option.

      Who’s it For?
      The target market for the Z50 II is largely unchanged from the previous model: essentially vloggers who want to upload content to the internet. Fortunately, unlike many manufacturers who have narrowed their targets in this category, Nikon has ensured the Z50 II retains a much wider appeal. Our test shots show the new camera plus the 18-140mm lens make a great combo for street photography as well as shooting family sports action.

      Nikon has retained the 20-megapixel sensor, compact and lightweight body and straightforward controls layout of the original Z50 but improved the overall performance by pairing it with the top-of-the-range EXPEED 7 processor, which is also used across the following full-frame models (listed in order of increasing price): the Zf, Z6III, Z8 and Z9. This makes the new camera even more attractive to travellers and family photographers.

      The original Z50 was still available when this review was posted and selling for roughly $500 less (on average) than its RRP on launch for those who would like to buy it. But the new camera offers some substantial advantages, as outlined in the table below.

      Z50 II Z50
      Image Processor EXPEED 7 EXPEED 6
      Picture Controls 31 types
      New additions: Flat Monochrome, Deep Tone Monochrome, & Rich Tone Portrait + Flexible Colour Picture Control (in NX Studio)
      28 types
      Video (PAL format) 4K50p (crop)/50p (crop)/25P
      HLG/N-Log; FHD 100p/50p/25p
      4K25p; FHD 100p/50p/25p
      No Log option
       Electronic VR (video) Yes (improved) Yes
      Photo File format RAW/JPEG/HEIF RAW/JPEG
      Subject detection 9 types

      People (eye, face, head, upper body), birds, dogs, cats, cars, bicycles, motorcycles, trains, airplanes

      3 types

      People (eye, face, head, upper body), dogs, cats

      Effective pixels 20.9 MP 20.9 MP
      Pre-Release Capture 1 second (30 fps, full) N/A
      EVF 0.39-inch 2360k-dot

      1000 cd/m2

      0.39-inch 2360k-dot

      500 cd/m2

      USB charging and power supply Yes (USB-C) Yes (Micro-B)
      Monitor (rear) 8cm (3.2-inch), 1040k-dot, vari-angle 8cm (3.2-inch), 1040k-dot, tilt
      Connectivity Connect to computer for instant webcam use Webcam utility installation needed

      The new processor enables many of the advanced autofocusing functions of Nikon’s latest full-frame cameras in the Z50II, which can now support nine types of subject detection and includes detection and 3D Tracking of human and animal subjects (including pets and birds) as well as vehicles (including cars, motorbikes, bicycles and airplanes). Although there’s no built-in stabilisation in the camera itself, electronic stabilisation remains a feature in the new camera and its performance has been boosted.

      A new ‘product review’ AF mode has been added, providing the ability to over-ride face detection when a product is held between the camera and the vlogger. This will be appreciated by vloggers who specialise in produce presentations – as will the fact that the self-timer no longer resets when you turn the camera off but remains until you change the drive setting.

      The updated processor also underpins several advanced auto functions. When the camera is set to Auto mode, internal processing evaluates the hues and tones in scene as they are recorded by the image sensor and ‘recognises’ the subject before optimising the focus and exposure controls  to produce an image (or video).

      It also enables a new Pre-Release Capture function that sets the camera to record images (or video frames when the shutter button is half-pressed. Up to one second of recording is buffered in the camera’s memory, allowing users to choose the optimal frame to save to preserve the ‘decisive moment’.

      Support for USB streaming (UVC/UAC) is another processor-related feature in the new camera. Simply connecting the camera to a computer or smartphone enables plug-and-play connectivity for live video streaming, a really useful feature for content creators and vloggers.

      Finally, it’s worth noting that the Z50II, like its predecessor, lacks the benefits of a movable sensor mount, which come in the form of in-camera image stabilisation (IBIS) and dust-removal vibration. The electronic stabilisation available for video recording crops the frame slightly and isn’t a substitute for IBIS.

      Users will therefore need to exercise care when changing lenses to prevent dust getting into the camera. Fortunately, the design and construction of the body leave few places for dust and moisture to seep in.

      Build and Ergonomics
      Physically, the new camera is almost identical to its predecessor, with a notable exception being the addition of a new Picture Control button (circled in red) on the top panel just in front of the rear control dial. This has required the holes for the speaker to be shifted to the opposite side of the top panel (also circled in red).


      This illustration shows the physical differences between the top panel of the Z50 (top) and the new Z50II (below). (Source: Nikon.)

      Like the Z50, the new camera’s body is made mainly from industrial plastic with fibre reinforcement. Shaped like its larger ZF-mount siblings, it has a generous grip moulding and textured cladding that make it comfortable to hold and operate.

      There’s been a bit of button shuffling on the rear panel as well as the addition of four new buttons, including a new release mode (drive) button, dedicated +/– zoom buttons and a ‘DISP’ button. The new buttons and changes to the positions of former buttons are shown in the illustration below.


      This illustration compares the button controls in the original Z50 (top) with those on the new Z50II (below). (Source: Nikon.)

      The Z50’s tilting monitor screen has also been replaced with a fully articulated one, in line with the Zfc and Z30. Other changes include doubling the brightness of the EVF display (although its resolution is unchanged). A headphone socket has been added to allow for audio monitoring and the camera uses a new higher-capacity EN-EL25a battery to cope with the EXPEED 7 processor, although the camera is CIPA rated for a very modest 250 shots/charge using the rear screen or 230 using the viewfinder.

      The pop-up flash is unchanged from the previous model and typical of an entry-level camera. It has a Guide Number (GN) of 7 (metres) at ISO 100 plus a hot-shoe connection on top that accepts Nikon’s CLS (i-TTL) flashguns.

      As before, the battery and memory card share a compartment in the base of the grip moulding – and the card slot is cramped up against the outer wall of the chamber, which doesn’t make swapping cards as straightforward as in cameras with separate card chambers. Fortunately, the single SD card slot can now accept faster UHS-II cards and the USB socket is now compatible with the UVC/UAC USB video and audio standards and supports 5Gbit/s transfer rates.

      Perhaps because of this, whereas the Z50 was supplied with the MH-32 travel charger, the Z50 II comes with just a USB-C cable to allow battery charging. Battery charging is faster in the new camera and capacity appears to be higher than the stated CIPA rating when the camera is used under normal conditions, which should –please potential buyers.

      Sensor and Image Processing
      As mentioned above, the 23.5 x 15.7 mm, 20.9-megapixel sensor is essentially the same chip as in the Z50, although it is now paired with the more powerful and capable EXPEED 7 image processor.  Like the Z50, the new camera supports JPEG and NEF.RAW as its default settings for stills, adding 10-bit HEIF as a JPEG alternative.

      Similarly, only 3:2, 16:9 and 1:1 aspect ratios are selectable, achieved through cropping the native 3:2 aspect ratio frame. Three JPEG and HEIF image sizes (large, medium and small) are available with Fine, Normal and Basic levels of compression for stills plus 12- or 14-bit lossless compression for raw files. Typical image sizes for the three aspect ratios are shown in the table below.

      Aspect ratio Image size
      Large Medium Small
      3:2 5568 x 3712 4176 x 2784 2784 x 1856
      16:9 5568 x 3128 4176 x 2344 2784 x 1560
      1:1 3712 x 3712 2784 x 2784 1856 x 1856

      The Z50 II also supports continuous shooting of stills frames at up to 11 fps with the mechanical shutter or 30 fps with electronic shutter. New to the Z50 II are the C15 and C30 settings which record continuous at 15 or 30 fps while the shutter-release button is held down.

      Pre-release capture is available via setting d3 in the Custom Settings menu. This causes the camera to record and buffer frames while the shutter button is half-pressed. The camera display a green dot on its screens to show buffering is in progress.

      Users can select how long the camera will continue to record after the shutter button is fully depressed as well as how long prior frames will be buffered (up to 90 seconds). They can also set the maximum length of the burst recorded.

      Video footage can be recorded with 5.6K oversampling  for  output at 10-bit depth 4K 50p with frame cropping or 4K 25p without. Videographers gain a couple of important new functions in the form of N-Log capture for recording clips that are destined for the editing desk or HLG high dynamic range recording for direct playback on HDR displays and TV sets. Raw video output is not available, although support is provided for USB streaming (UVC/UAC) by simply connecting the camera to a computer or smartphone, a logical addition for a vlogging camera.

      Unchanged Features
      Sensitivity options are unchanged, with a native range of ISO 100-51200 but no downward extension and upward extensions to a maximum of ISO 204800. For video, the Z50II provides the same choice between MOV and MP4 recording formats with two quality settings: high and normal. Peaking and zebra displays remain available for monitoring focus and exposure levels.

      The Z50II provides the same basic playback settings as its predecessor and they’re similar to other Nikon cameras with touch-screen capabilities and in-camera retouching options. As usual, owners are required to download a PDF copy of the set-up and complete instruction manuals as well as the bundled software from Nikon’s download centre.

      Performance
      Despite using a different lens for this review we found the overall performance of the Z50 II camera to be quite similar to its predecessor. JPEGs recorded with the optimal settings (based on our previous tests) of the 18-140mm lens came close to expectations for the sensor’s 20-megapixel resolution across most of the imaging frame, while NEF.RAW frames converted into 16-bit TIFF format with Adobe Camera Raw (our preferred raw file converter) comfortably exceeded them.

      Resolution for both file types peaked at the ‘native’ ISO 100 setting, after which they declined gradually, as shown in the graph of our Imatest results above. Interestingly, we obtained higher resolution with the new camera at ISO settings between 200 and 51200 with the new camera, which gives the Z50II an advantage for low-light shooting.

      Long exposures at night were, if anything, slightly better than we found with the previous model, further confirming the results of our Imatest tests. In our regular tests image noise was just visible at ISO 25600 in poorly-illuminated, low-contrast areas, it didn’t become really obvious until ISO 102400, when highlights and shadowed areas had begun to block up and slight softening could be seen.

      However, further test shots involving shorter exposures in dim lighting revealed softening of resolution in the three highest ISO settings, especially ISO Hi.2 which was as obviously noise-affected and granular-looking as we found in the original Z50. Interesting there was no loss of colour fidelity but, nonetheless we’d advise readers to avoid these settings wherever possible.

      The built-in GN 7 flash is unchanged from the previous model and remains relatively weak. Our test shots were taken with a focal length of 72mm, at a distance of two metres from the subject to determine how well the camera handles exposures across the ISO range.

      They show underexposure of between 0.7 and 1.0 EV at ISO 100, followed by acceptably correct exposures between ISO 400 and ISO 12800. From there, overexposure became increasingly evident, along with the intrusion of ambient lighting which added an orange cast to the shots.  Shots taken at the two highest ISO settings showed a strong orange cast as well as substantial overexposure and reduced sharpness.

      Slight softening appeared at ISO 12800 and increased through to ISO 51200, although shots taken at these settings would still be usable. We wouldn’t recommend using flash with the Hi1 and Hi2 settings.

      Metering was consistently accurate and overall colour accuracy similar to the previous model’s with both JPEGs and raw files showing similar restrained saturation. There were slight colour shifts in yellow-greens and blues in the raw files, which extended further into the yellow band in the JPEGs.

      The Z50 II provides four Auto white balance settings, one biased for natural light and the others for prioritising whites, ‘normal’ or warm tones in ambient lighting. Pick the appropriate one for the shooting conditions and colours will be balanced to suit your requirements.   Note: We’ve stopped running white balance tests because all modern cameras provide adequate corrections and include in-camera adjustments for tweaking colours on-the-fly.

      It was difficult to fault the autofocusing performance of the new camera, which was noticeably better than in the Z50. The lens locked on quickly in all kinds of lighting, including with moving subjects, as long as an edge could be found to focus upon.

      Our timing tests were carried out with a 32GB SanDisk Extreme SDHC II U3 memory card with a rated speed of 300MB/s. We found it took roughly a second for the camera to power-up ready for shooting.

      Capture lag has been reduced to zero, regardless of whether shots were pre-focused. Going by the indicator light on the rear panel it took 0.2 seconds on average to process each JPEG and a fraction more for a 14-bit NEF.RAW file.  Shot-to-shot times in the single-shot mode averaged 0.3 seconds, which was as fast as we could keep pressing the shutter button.

      The Z50 provides two high speed continuous shooting settings. The regular Continuous H setting with exposure locked on the first frame can record RAW+JPEG pairs at up to 5.4 frames/second with the mechanical shutter or up to 7.9 fps with the electronic front-curtain shutter. The frame rate increases to 9.7 fps for JPEG or HEIF files in silent mode.

      In the Continuous High (Extended) mode the frame rate increases to 11 fps (up to 15 fps in silent mode for JPEG only bursts) with focus and exposure locked on the first frame. Flash and flicker reduction aren’t available.

      Because of the camera’s large buffer capacity we opted to measure bursts with durations of approximately 10 seconds. In Continuous H with the auto shutter mode we recorded 60 Large/Fine JPEG frames in 9.7 seconds, a frame rate of just under 6.2 fps. It took 45 seconds to process this burst.

      With the Continuous High (Extended) mode the frame rate increased to 7.3 fps, while processing time increased by two seconds. There was no significant change to either frame rate when we swapped to 14-bit NEF.RAW or RAW+JPEG capture although in each case the processing took a little longer (although less than a minute for each 10-second burst).

      Conclusion

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      SPECS

      Image sensor: 23.5 x 15.7 mm BSI-CMOS sensor with 21.51 million photosites (20.9 megapixels effective), no AA filter
      Image processor:  EXPEED 7
      Lens mount: Nikon Z
      Focal length crop factor:  1.5x
      Image formats: Stills: JPEG (DCF, Exif Ver. 2.32), HEIF (10-bit),  NEF.RAW (14-bit), RAW+JPEG
      Movie formats: H.265/HEVC 8-bit or 10-bit, H.264/MPEG4 8-bit with stereo Linear PCM or AAC audio, MP4 or MOV container; N-Log support, HDMI clean output via connector at 8-bit 4.2.0 format for both HD and 4K
      Image Sizes: Stills – 5568 x 3712, 4176 x 2784, 2784 x 1856:  Movies (PAL system):  4K (3840 x 2160) at 50p with 1.5x crop, 4K 25p (full frame downsampled); FHD  (1920 x 1080) at 100p,50p, 25p, 24p
      Aspect ratios: 3:2, 16:9, 1:1
      Image Stabilisation: Electronic VR for video (applies additional crop)
      Shutter (speed range): Electronically-controlled vertical-travel FP mechanical shutter – 900 seconds to 1/4000 second (rated for 150,000 cycles); electronic front-curtain shutter  – 900 sec to 1/2000 sec (electronic front curtain option available); Bulb and Time; flash sync speed max. 1/250 sec.
      Exposure Compensation: +/- 5EV in 1/3EV steps (+/-EV for movies)
      Exposure bracketing: 2, 3, 5 or 7 frames in 1/3, ½, 2/3 or 1 EV step, max. +/-5 EV, single/burst
      Other bracketing options: Aperture, Focus, White Balance, Flash, ADL
      Self-timer: 2, 5, 10 or 20 seconds delay plus 1-9 exposures at intervals of 0.5, 1, 2 or 3 seconds
      Interval recording: Yes, for time-lapse
      Focus system: Hybrid phase/contrast detection with AF assist; PD system covers 87% horizontal, 85% vertical frame area, 231 points (209 points selectable); -9EV to +19 EV sensitivity with f/1.2 lens at ISO 100
      Focus modes: AFS (Single) / AFC (Continuous) / AF-A (photo mode) / AF-F (video mode) with predictive focus tracking; MF
      AF Area modes: Pinpoint, single point, dynamic area, wide-area (small, large, custom), auto-area, 3D tracking
      Subject detection: People, Animals, Birds, Vehicles, Airplanes (can operate with manual focus)
      Exposure metering:  TTL metering using camera image sensor with Matrix, Centre-weighted average, Spot and Highlight Weighted metering patterns; range -4 to +17 EV
      Shooting modes: Program AE, Aperture Priority AE, Shutter Priority AE, Manual Exposure plus Scene (Portrait, Landscape, Child, Sports, Close-up, Night Portrait, Night Landscape, Party/Indoor, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Dusk/Dawn, Pet Portrait, Candlelight, Blossom, ASutumn Colours, Food), Creative Video (P/A/S/M) / Slow&Quick / Custom 1, 2, 3 / Intelligent Auto
      Picture Controls: Auto, Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Flat Monochrome, Deep Tone Monochrome, Portrait, Rich Tone Portrait, Landscape, Flat, Creative (20 options), Custom (9 options), Cloud Picture Control
      Colour space options: sRGB and Adobe RGB
      ISO range: Auto, ISO 100-51200 plus expansion to ISO 102,400 and 204800
      Active D-Lighting: Auto, Extra High, High, Normal, Low, Off
      White balance: AWB, AWBc, AWBw, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Incandescent, Flash, Custom (x 4), Colour temperature setting (x 4)
      Flash: Built-in TTL pop-up flash, GN 7 (m) at ISO 100 plus hot-shoe for Nikon CLS (i-TTL) flashguns
      Flash modes: Red-eye reduction, slow sync, rear sync, Auto FP; supports wireless flash
      Flash exposure adjustment: -3 to +1 EV in 1/3 or ½ EV steps
      Sequence shooting: Max. 11 shots/sec. with locked AF; 15 fps or 30 fps Pre-capture release available for JPEGs
      Buffer capacity: Max. 200 14-bit losslessly-compressed RAW files
      Storage Media: Single slot for SD, SDHC, SDXC cards (UHS-II compliant)
      Viewfinder: 1.0-cm OLED EVF with 100% frame coverage, 2,360,000 dots, 1.02x magnification; 100 nits brightness, 13-level adjustments; +/-3 dpt adjustment, 19.5 mm eyepoint, eye sensor
      LCD monitor: Articulated 3.2 inch TFT LCD touch screen with 1,040,000 dots
      Weather sealing: Basic
      Interface terminals: USB 3.0 (5 GBit/sec), micro HDMI, microphone and headphone ports
      Wi-Fi function: Built-in Wi-Fi (802.11ac) & Bluetooth v5.0 (Bluetooth Low Energy), both via Nikon SnapBridge app
      Power supply: EN-EL25a rechargeable Li-ion battery; CIPA rated for 230 to 270 shots/charge; USB charging (no charger supplied)
      Dimensions (wxhxd): Approx. 127 x 96.8 x 66.5 mm (excluding protrusions)
      Weight: Approx. 550 grams with battery and card

      Distributor: Nikon Australia

       

      TESTS

      Based on JPEG files recorded with the Nikkor Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR lens.

      Based upon 14-bit NEF.RAW files recorded simultaneously and converted into 16-bit TIFF format with Adobe Camera Raw.

       

      SAMPLES


      30 second exposure at ISO 100, 39mm focal length, f/4.5.


      10 second exposure at ISO 800, 39mm focal length, f/5.6.


      5 second exposure at ISO 6400; 39mm focal length, f/11.


      3 second exposure at ISO 12800; 39mm focal length, f/13.


      2 second exposure at ISO 25600; 39mm focal length, f/14.


      1 second exposure at ISO 51200; 39mm focal length, f/13.


      1/2 second exposure at ISO Hi 1 (ISO102400); 39mm focal length, f/11.


      1/4 second exposure at ISO Hi 2 (ISO 204800); 39mm focal length, f/13.


      Flash exposure at ISO 100, 72mm focal length, 1/60 second at f/5.3.


      Flash exposure at ISO 800, 72mm focal length, 1/60 second at f/5.3.

      Flash exposure at ISO 6400; 72mm focal length, 1/60 second at f/4  


      Flash exposure at ISO 12800; 72mm focal length, 1/60 second at f/10.


      Flash exposure at ISO 25600; 72mm focal length, 1/60 second at f/11.


      Flash exposure at ISO 51200; 72mm focal length, 1/80 second at f/14.


      Flash exposure at ISO Hi 1 (ISO102400); 72mm focal length, 1/125 second at f/16.


      Flash exposure at ISO Hi 2 (ISO 204800); 72mm focal length, 1/160 second at f/20.


      ISO Hi.2; 26mm focal length, 1/640 second at f/13.


      ISO Hi 1; 26mm focal length, 1/320 second at f/11.


      ISO 51200; 21mm focal length, 1/640 second at f/7.1.


      ISO 12800; 21mm focal length, 1/160 second at f/7.1.


      Close-up at 18mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/2000 second at f/3.5.


      Close-up at 140mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/250 second at f/5.6.


      1
      40mm focal length, ISO 110, 1/640 second at f/6.3.


      140mm focal length, ISO 220, 1/500 second at f/8.


      34mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/11.


      Wide brightness range subject; 18mm focal length, ISO 900, 1/80 second at f/4.


      105mm focal length, ISO 2000, 1/20 second at f/8.


      18mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/5.


      46mm focal length. ISO 200, 1/100 second at f/5.6.


      86mm focal length, ISO 360, 1/60 second at f/5.6.


      140mm focal length, ISO 140, 1/250 second at f/6.3.


      140mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/250 second at f/6.3.


      Still frame from 3840 x 2160 (4K UHD) video clip recorded at 50p.


      Still frame from 3840 x 2160 (4K UHD) video clip recorded at 25p.


      Still frame from 1920 x 1080 video clip recorded at 100p.


      Still frame from 1920 x 1080 video clip recorded at 50p.


      Still frame from 1920 x 1080 video clip recorded at 25p.

       

      Rating

      RRP: AU$1499 (body only); AU$2279 (with 18-140mm kit lens)

      • Build: 8.9
      • Features: 8.9
      • Ease of use: 9.0
      • Autofocusing: 9.0
      • Still image quality JPEG: 8.9
      • Still image quality RAW: 9.1
      • Video quality: 8.8

       

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