FREE SHIPPING - WORLDWIDE DELIVERY IN 2-4 DAYS

Search... Login / Signup 0

Currency
Close USD Cart
My account

Nikon Z5 Mirrorless Digital Camera Overview

Jul 28, 2020

Share 0 comments

Long-gone are the 2011 days when Nikon came up with the interes ng, yet not su cient, J1 mirrorless camera. A good
looking merge between a point-and-shoot camera, with interchangeable lenses capabili es. The camera was quite
fragile, and mainly touched the wallets of the gizmo enthusiasts, and some early adapters. But it wasn't un l 2019
when they really made some substan al progress. Hey, be er late than never, right?

Nikon released the Z6 in 2019, and within the past few days, they released the Z5. And unlike Canon, their correla ve
numbers do make sense. But, what's under the hood of this compact full- frame mirrorless camera?

All people have their own personal reasons for wan ng a full-frame photo camera by their side, especially those
thinking about making a living with professional photography. And here we are talking about commercial newborn and
engagement photographs, to landscape, architecture and portraiture. Some other genres don't necessarily bene t from
having a full-frame sensor, but the small size of this camera could s ll be a posi ve thing. So if you are willing to do
some travel photography or simply ge ng some family pictures, then this camera could be an interes ng gadget to
have.

So, what you should know about the new camera built around Nikon's Z
mount?
In brief, it is designed for a broader audience beyond the Z7 workhorse and even the aforemen oned Z6. It is a
lightweight camera that will allow you to consistently develop as a passionate photographer (either at amateur or
professional levels) thanks to its lightweight, high quality images and precise autofocus.

Star ng at $1,399.95 (body only), we wouldn't dare on calling it an entry level camera (we'll leave that tag for the Z50).
But we are con dent about the promising opportunity it gives for people willing to move from DSLR cameras to
mirrorless systems. Basically, one gets a limited version of the Z6 ($1,999.95).

Nikon has put on some thoughts in their Z mount system, and we dug deeper into this new promising camera!

About the Sensor

A er some in-depth research, we've come to the conclusion that the recently announced Z5 comes with a sensor
which could be de ned as the sweet-spot between the decently iconic Nikon D750 and the Z6. Despite its limita ons,
it delivers great control when shoo ng under almost any light thanks to its 24.3 megapixels and image processing
technology.

Overall, it is a very well-known fact camera manufacturers have been improving their sensor capabili es. High ISO
values are not to be feared anymore, and this camera can crank up its ISO sensi vity up to ISO 51,200 (expandable to
ISO 102,400). Nikon states that even at those wicked values, the camera can achieve superb sharpness, detail and
clarity. And we are pre y excited to know if this statement corresponds with reality.

Shoo ng Capabili es

For some reason, there has been quite a marke ng emphasis on the swi changes one can get while toggling from Auto
to Manual. Something that might not seem as much, but pre y useful when shoo ng under speedy situa ons like
street, photojournalism and even wedding photography.

Mirrorless camera systems are quite stealthy, but if you need extra quietness (like in a maternity or pet session), then
you can shoot with the Silent Mode on, which delivers a totally inconspicuous experience.

The Z5 performs extremely well at high-speed shoo ng modes, with a minimum shu er speed of 1/8000s, enabling us
to shoot at very wide apertures even in the brightness condi ons. Therefore, you can achieve massive creamy bokeh
(with the proper lens) in the middle of the day without any problem with a speed like that. Its con nuous shoo ng rate
is 4.5 fps, which is decent for general shoo ng purposes.

Some people like using mechanical shu ers rather than electronic ones. If you t into this category, don't worry; you'll
be able to switch between modes. Although, we recommend shoo ng with the fully-electronic mode when shoo ng
with long lenses to reduce any vibra on produced by your hands.

The autofocusing system on the Z5 gets very close to what you can nd in more capable Nikon cameras like the Z6 and
even the all-mighty Z7. thanks to it you won't have sharpness issues while taking photos of both people and animals. Its
tracking mode operates impressively, and the 273 focus points cover 90% of the frame in both horizontal and ver cal
shoo ng modes.
Last but not least, this camera comes with a built-in 5-axis in-body stabiliza on, which gets even more powerful when
considering the 5 stops of exposure correc on its sensor can handle. This par cular feature takes this camera out of
the entry-level concept, making it an excellent camera for anyone willing to move from DSLR systems to Mirrorless
without inves ng too much money.

About the Interface

It might sound like a cliche, but it is true. A camera should become an extension of our vision and our body in order to
shoot in a proper way. This, of course, takes some me. Ergonomics and user accessibility makes this task easy to
perform. The Z5 feels exactly like the Z6, therefore you can expect a rm grip if you are s ll skep cal about using
mirrorless cameras on the outdoors. Beyond not having the top LCD status screen, the camera enclosing is pre y much
the same.

It has a very nice ltable 3.2" screen with 1,040,000 dots, which is lower resolu on but the same size as the more
expensive Z model cameras. Having a ltable screen is perfect when shoo ng from the hip or for major video purposes.

And don't let that plas c look fool you, the camera is s ll very well protected against dust and moisture. So you can feel
safe when using it under odd situa ons. But s ll try to be careful when changing the lens (and this is an advice we've
been giving since the era of DSLR cameras).
Also important about the camera's layout, the electronic view nder on this camera is very good. So no more laggy
experiences, if you see it, you get it. Get everything in control when framing with your eye, from exposure to white
balance and some other picture controls in real me.

Some Interes ng Internals

One might think that having two card slots wouldn't be much of a thing, but demanding shoo ng situa ons have
proven us on the bene t of having this feature in a camera. From regular SD cards to the later UHS-II, now you can
shoot with two cards in this camera.

We nd that dedica ng one card for raw les and another for JPEG is quite an advantage in terms of work ow. Some
other people nd that picking one card for video recording and the other one for s ll images is more useful. Whichever
you might be, we do advise you to use fast cards, and if you are going to mix them out, then you should specify the
camera to record either raw or video les into the most capable one. Or the one you might trust the most.

Pro Tip: When keeping your SD cards in a nice SD Holder, put the full ones with the logo facing down. That way you'll
gain some precious me when changing from one card to another. And who knows, it might even save you from
dele ng a batch of photos on the eld. Trust me, it happens.

Mirrorless cameras have had an everlas ng issue with power, which is understandable due to the amount of energy
they spend. But this camera comes with a decent ba ery which allows on average 400 shots. A decent amount if you
are not a crazy nger person. Also if you need to, you can charge the ba ery through USB power with the op onal UC-
E25 cable.

Z Mount Lenses and More

Since the announcement of the Z7, Nikon has unveiled some interes ng lenses at a s ll slow but consistent rhythm. We
expect that with this new camera, they release more interes ng lenses.

But un l that day arrives, you can bene t from all the Nikkor legacy thanks to the op onal FTZ na ve adapter. This will
allow you to use over 90 F-Mount Nikkor lenses: from full frame sheye to macro lenses, as well as their popular fast
primes and massive super telephoto lenses, and pre y much anything in between. So don't worry if having a lot of F
mount lenses is holding you back from making the switch. But wait, there's more! Nikon's website states that you can
even use approximately 360 classic F-Mount Nikkor lenses with it.

And speaking of which, they have released an interes ng kit-lens, especially for those into street photography. The new
24-50mm F/4~6.3 lens is quite small, making it perfect for this usage. It measures 51mm (2") long when retracted, and
has a feather weight of only 195g (0.43lb). Nikon describes it as dust and drip resistant, which must not be confused
with weather sealing. you can get the lens in the $1699.00 Z5 combo, or for $399.00 on its own.

We do know about the importance of inves ng at some point on a na ve Z lens. And the reason why is pre y simple,
mirrorless camera lenses have been designed to t closer to the sensor, guaranteeing be er image quality thanks to its
reduced gap between elements. When using an adapter, the space gets expanded, reducing image quality to some
extent.

Video Capabili es

This overview wouldn't be complete if we had le out the video mode on the camera, which for $1399.95 we nd it to
be just su cient. And despite the crea ve freedom that Nikon has promised with the camera, we are sure that it
wouldn't impress the heavy content creators.

On the other hand, the casual video users (I'm s ll not sure how to use the video mode on my Fuji lm camera) will nd
this feature to ful ll their using expecta ons.

The Z5 can record 4K/30p video, but not with the en re frame of the camera. For this, the camera makes a 1.7x crop
(which is a bit larger than an APS-C sensor) for con nuous video recording. This "sacri ce" allows the camera to record
without overhea ng, and if you want to use the full sensor's width, then you can always shoot at 1080 (which is the
regular HD we all are pre y used to having around us). Although it seems quite limited, the Nikon folks have built-in
headphone and microphone sockets for a more pleasing recording experience.

Carrying it Around

Interchangeable lens systems are made from freedom, and are rarely xed to a speci c bag due to the mul ple array of
lenses one can a ach to them. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep your camera safely packed when moving,
commu ng, roaming and traveling.

For this ma er, we've designed stylish leather messenger bags for keeping your camera and favorite lenses ed in an
elegant layout. Pick between our mini and larger size genuine leather Torres Messenger Bags here.

And if you are more of an always-in-hand camera type of person, then you'll nd our selec on of shoulder and hand-
straps to be the perfect solu on for never missing a shot!

Pro Tip: Using the na ve logo-branded camera strap will make you more no ceable when shoo ng, something I
personally hate happening to me.

Wrapping-it Up

Full-frame (or 35mm format for the more seasoned photographers) has a long tradi on of being the standard format in
photography. Since the appearance of digital cameras, this par cular image size became almost unreachable for the vast
majority of people. And it is s ll today away from the hand of the masses, but we are perceiving some image democracy
with several cameras on the market so far.
 We've men oned the Z6 and the Z7 a lot in this ar cle, and we excuse ourselves a bit from falling into that pit. But it
had to be done so you can understand how cool the Z5 camera is. It delivers a very similar experience of the more
expensive cameras, at a reasonable price for a full-frame camera. Just a couple of years ago this was the standard price
for a mid-entry (APS-C) DSLR camera. And now we are closer to having cheaper and innova ve ways to access the
mighty desired full-frame world.

Share

Previous ar cle Next ar cle

Leave a comment
All comments are moderated before being published

Name

Email

Content

Post comment

Shop

Photography

Accessories & Gi s

Personalized Goods

Gi Card