Z5II

I shoot an even mix of event videography and photos and lately have been doing more video and content creation.I originally got the Nikon Z5II as a B cam for my Z6III. My original thought was to do the bulk of my shooting on the Z6III and B roll on the Z5II. That percentage has changed dramatically after getting the Z5II. It has not only equaled the amount of photography and videography, but in many ways surpassed the Z6III. Its ability to focus in incredibly low light has made it an invaluable tool for videography. While the Z6III has better codec and resolution choices, the Z5II offers much stronger focus reliability, especially with adapted lenses. This is where the new Expeed 7 processor really shows its strength and has made the Z5II a low light video powerhouse and is incredibly underrated.

Bought it and 5 days later was in Colorado to use it. It has been fantastic!! Still learning all it can do but it is an amazing camera!

I really like this camera. You get a lot for the price of the camera good grip, durability, not overly heavy. Image and video quality excellent. Overall good camera. Go out and get one for yourself.

I am still learning this camera, but loving it so far! My confidence grows each day. It's very comfortable in my hand. The navigation is clear. Downloads were super fast. I think I am only at the beginning of this relationship and it's only going to get better.

I’ve been shooting with Nikon digital cameras since the D100. My current Nikon with F-mount lenses is the D850. Still a great camera. But with all the F2.8 lenses from 12mm to 400mm… the weight and bulk makes it hard to carry on a long vacation with my wife. So a few years back I got a Sony RX10 bridge camera which gave me 24mm -600mm with a 1” sensor. But I dropped it and it broke. So I needed another single lens travel camera. For the same cost as a used Sony, I was able to get the new Nikon Z5 II with the 28-400mm Z lens. I had been debating if the move to the mirrorless Nikons bought me anything. The answer is YES!. With the new Xpeed processor, The improved autofocus is incredible. I don’t use all the in camera editing. I prefer to do my editing with Lightroom and Photoshop. But still the camera supports HDR, Bracketing, Focus stacking and many other more advanced photo operations. Learning to use all the auto focus options has been daunting. But I’m beginning to see the light. It’s early days but the photos taken so far have been great. I’ll know more when I return from a month touring Japan. I love the familiarity of another Nikon FX camera.

I had a Z5, my first Prosumer full frame camera. But the limited articulation of the back screen made it a deal breaker. So I bought the Z5ii, losing money on the exchange, but now I am VERY happy with my retirement spent a lot of money on camera. I'm getting used to all the very active green rectangles when I'm getting an exposure reading/auto focus. Read the manual, right? I bought a Nikkor 24-200 F4 zoom lens, the pics a sharp and beautiful.

It is okay I can not find how to preview my shoot on the monitor. Do not know how disable the flash when no the camera only to shut it off.

This is the so called entry level full frame camera for the Nikon range which implies it is an entry level camera which would be a gross understatement of its capabilities. This is a full featured camera that will satisfy everyone from the person first using a Nikon full frame camera to the seasoned expert. OOC JPG output is excellent with excellent color, low noise (even at high ISOs) and dynamic range. RAW frames are easy to process and allow greater dynamic range to be achieved allowing details to be pulled from deep shadows if needed. This sensor is excellent with a reasonable read rate (55 ms) which is fast enough (in electronic mode) to keep rolling shutter under control for all but the fastest sports or wildlife pictures. It supports pre-capture (JPG only) and a reasonably fast shutter rate in both mechanical and electronic shutter mode.Build quality is excellent and is slightly smaller than the Z6III and about the same size as a Sony A7V. All control surfaces are superb and feel very high quality and the camera is weather resistant (it does not have an IP rating but it is certainly capable of being used in the rain etc.). This feels like a very solid camera which is excellent in the hand with an ergonomic design that makes it a pleasure to use.Autofocus, a weak point on the Z6, Z6II, Z7 and Z7II, is very good and up there with some of the best in the business. Subject recognition is accurate and tracking is excellent, hanging onto my 3 Standard Poodles easily. The Auto feature is a great feature without it making lots of false image recognition, although you may need to unstick it at times. Generally Auto with 3D tracking is a great generally purpose configuration but which you can easily change for other situations (portraits, weddings etc.).Video is well catered to with a number of configurations that make it easy to use and work with. IBIS is excellent (also helpful in stills with un-stabilized lenses) and enables me to take flawless images with great focus tracking and steady images. Menus are well structured and color coded making it easy to find your selections with a quick access feature that gives access to the most used features. There are several configurable buttons that allow you to make rapid changes to those mostly likely to be changed during a shooting session.This an easy to use camera and gets great results out of the box, with intuitive controls and ergonomic design that make it a pleasure to use.The only negatives I have is the rather short life from the battery necessitating the need to carry a second battery for longer days and the miniature HDMI port which as easy to damage. I am used to the much longer life from the Sony A7 series camera batteries (roughly double the shooting time), but you can charge in camera making it easy to recharge from a power bank or the car (although the charger needs to be PD compatible).Overall if you do not need the faster read rate of the partially stacked sensor of the Z6III (the added top display in the Z6III is, for me, a gimmick so not an advantage) and like a slightly smaller body, the Z5II is superb and great general purpose full frame camera at a very reasonable price.

It's a good camera but I'm still trying to get used to the optical viewfinder. Good image quality