Z 50

My first camera was a college graduation present 4 decades ago, an Olympus OM-1. I used that camera until the early 2000s when film became pretty hard to find. Then I had a period of time with point and shoot digitals including Nikon CoolPix, then iPhone, but they were definitely lacking. What an upgrade the Z50 was! I bought it primarily for astrophotography as the price of the camera plus two lenses was the same as a dedicated astrophotography camera of similar sensor specs, so I got multiple use capability and only had to sacrifice a cooled sensor. On the plus side, the control over settings is amazing, particularly metering and ISO. With the 50-250 mm zoom lens I got some good pictures of the moon, Pleiades star cluster, and Orion Nebula. The spot metering and focus feature made moon pictures easy. Also took many excellent pictures of birds, dogs, family etc. I have not used point and shoot (Auto mode) for a while, finding the Program mode seems to give me better photos. Finally got my telescope and it was surprisingly easy to start getting jaw dropping pictures of the skies.

Bought this for my daughter, she loves it.

I have owned a LOT of high end cameras! I use primarily Nikon now. In the past I owned a fortune in Medium and Large Format. I consider the Nikon D7500 and the Nikon 200-500 5.6 the MOST special Wildlife and distant sports lens. Those are not the most expensive rigs but they work! Add to that the Nikon Z59 and the two KIT lens and you have a camera for almost every occasion. The Nikon Z50 and 16-50 and 50 - 260 is small light and packed with power!

It is a fun little camera. The greatest advantage that it has over the Z5, 6, and 7 (other than being so compact) is that it has a popup flash. This is major. I only use DX (I'm just an amateur), but until the bigger Z cameras come with a built in flash, I won't consider buying one. The Z50, therefore, does just about everything I want. I do think that the Z50 would benefit from a more substantial lens hood; the Nikon hood is tiny and made of flimsy plastic. Those of us who use a lens hood as our primary protector of the lens (rather than a lens cap) could use a sturdy, large lens hood. Also, I'd like to see Nikon come out with a dedicated battery grip for the Z50, like they have for the larger Z cameras.

I am professional wedding photographer for the last 9 years. Shoot all my wedding with Nikon Dslr (2xD610, D7500). Recently I decide to learn videography and I found that Z50 is best all rounder camera with great video features. The Z50 has a great video auto focus system and also I can use all my F mount lenses using FTZ adopter. If you want to buy your first camera with all great photo and video feature this is great camera to start. You will never be disappointed.

I received a Nikon D40 a couple years ago when my grandfather died and I enjoyed the camera. I just wished there was a video mode to play with. Which brought me to the Z series cameras. Z6 and Z7 were just too far out my price range. Settled for the Z50 and the mount adapter for my other lenses. I enjoy this camera very much. images are great and the different video settings such as the 120fps slow motion is a lot of fun to play with. So far, my only downside is the flip down screen. The overview for the Z50 says great for selfies and vlogging. Selfies, sure. But vlogging, I find the fold down screen to be an obstacle. I personally feel like i don´t get a good grip by holding the camera on the side. Much prefer to use one of those flexible tripods to hold it. And that´s where the issue takes place. Because I can´t fold the screen out to the side, I can´t really view myself to make sure the framing and focus is right when the screen is being covered by the tripod or gimbal. Other than that mild inconvenience, I love this camera and it´s fantastic for it´s price!

I see a lot of review websites calling this an ´´entry-level´´ camera, and I just don´t get it. Yeah, if you´re comparing the Z50 to a Z6 or Z7 or any other full-frame camera, it´s going to be more ´´entry-level´´. That´s going to be the case with any crop-sensor camera. But if you´re into crop sensors (for cost or portability or whatever), I really think this camera can hold its own against the best out there, whether mirrorless or DSLR. Here´s why:

For some context, I am mainly a stills shooter; I don´t do that much video, so this review is mostly stills-focused. My main ´´work´´ camera for the past 5 years has been a Nikon D7200, an upper-end APS-C DSLR. I loved that camera, but it was big and heavy, especially when you add on a Nikon Speedlight. At home, I own a Sony a5100, which I love for the compactness and overall image quality. So when it was time to change out my work camera, I thought I would go with the Sony a6400, which seemed to be a nice balance of image quality, durability, and portability. So I ordered one. But then I started looking into the Nikon Z50 a little more carefully. It bugged me that there were basically no lenses that fit my shooting needs (in my line of work, I need a good quality zoom lens with a decent range). That just didn´t exist for the Z50. Plus, all the reviews seemed lackluster, and it usually fell behind the a6400 when comparatively ranked. But I was curious enough that I decided to make a trip to Best Buy to handle the two models side-by-side.

LET ME TELL YOU - that hands-on side-by-side comparison changed EVERYTHING for me. Yes, the Sony was smaller and lighter, but sometimes that´s not necessarily the best thing. For me, ergonomics is a big deal. Being able to comfortably hold my camera for long sessions and having quick easy access to buttons and settings is crucial. The Z50 button and dial layout is excellent, and very familiar coming from the D7200. The Sony - well, it just doesn´t have as many buttons, which means digging into menus more frequently. When you´re trying to get a job done quickly, this matters. The Sony also doesn´t have the excellent grip that the Z50 does. To me, the Sony feels more like a cool toy for hipster-millennials; the Nikon feels like a purpose-built tool for professionals.

So about this ´´entry-level´´ idea. I don´t know where that´s coming from, but this thing has (almost) all of the fine-tuning and adjustment you could possibly need. And like I said earlier, most of it is accessible at the tip of your fingers. The one thing I think I´ll miss compared to the D7200 is on-board remote flash control. The Z50 doesn´t have it. Otherwise, the menu is very deep and has plenty of customization built in.

THE BAD: The kit 16-50mm lens is not good. Sorry, but it´s just not. It´s wonderfully compact, especially in the ´´stowed´´ position, but beyond that, it´s just a cheap kit lens. There´s a tremendous amount of vignetting. You can correct for some of that in-body in the settings, but it won´t eliminate all of it. It´s also pretty soft at the edges. It works, and it focuses quickly and accurately, but you just can´t expect top-notch images from this lens. The one bright spot is that, for as bad as it is, it is still better than the Sony kit lens. That thing is a piece of garbage. At least the Nikon is manual zoom (as opposed to power zoom in the Sony).

The other thing I´m not too stoked about is the lens options. For now, for me, it´s just the 16-50mm. Nikon has announced an 18-140mm, which would fit my needs quite well, so I´ll have to wait and see where it comes in from a pricing standpoint. I don´t see that Nikon has a lot of other lenses planned for this camera. The ONE BRIGHT SPOT is the FTZ adapter that allows you to use ANY existing Nikon lens with this camera. That´s HUGE. I HIGHLY recommend you get a kit that includes the adapter, even if you don´t currently have any old Nikon glass. Just the mere fact of having the adapter expands your lens options IMMENSELY, and you´ll appreciate having it down the road when you finally save up enough dough for a new lens. The unfortunate thing is that it adds bulk and weight, almost negating the benefits of the mirrorless platform (almost, but not quite).

I could go on an on about the things I love about this camera, but my fingers are tired of typing. The biggest thing to know about this camera is that if you are anything more than just a casual amateur shooter, you will appreciate the ergonomics and the button layout of the Z50, particularly when compared to the Sony options. This will pay dividends in the long run, even if the Sony has some advantages in a few areas. Forget the specs sheets! For the way you actually USE the camera, the Z50 is a better choice. In short, if you are familiar and comfortable with the old DSLR way of life, the Z50 will feel like home. A slimmer, trimmer home. But home.

I´m enjoying my Z50. I´m new to mirrorless, so there are few things to get used to, but going from a D800 to the Z50 was an easy transition. I almost strayed away from Nikon when debating on which mirrorless to purchase. But I guess I am really partial to Nikon since I have been shooting with this brand for more than ten years.

I also purchased the FTZ adapter, so now I can use my old prime lenses that I bought with my D60! It´s great because I took good care of ALL my lenses, so now I can put my DX lenses back to work and also use my FX/G series lenses.

The body size of the Z50 is great, I feel light and more mobile using it rather than when using my full frame body. Which is the main reason why I decided on purchasing the Z50. I wanted it to be my daily camera, and I wanted to easily post/send photos without having to connect with a computer. The WiFi/Bluetooth option was greatly need for me and has been good so far. There are a few kinks in the app that I don´t really like, but for the most part, it does the job.

All in all, the Z50 is a great daily camera for the advanced hobbyist as well as for beginners. For professional work, I will still primarily use my D800, but will definitely bring my Z50 along and work in tandem until I feel 100% comfortable using it for an entire job.

I purchased the Z 50 with the kit option because I didn´t want an adapter to use my other Nikon lenses. I´m getting comfortable with the camera´s features but what I really love is the size and weight. I keep it with me all the time, compared to the size of my 750´s camera bag and stuff, everything I need is in a bag about the size of a old fanny pack. It will become my family vacation camera, with the two kit lenses it´s all I need. My 750 and all it´s stuff is still my number one camera.