I think the Z50ii delivers as a D500

[Lee R]

Me too…20 is fine and I will just settle for jpeg if I want to use Precapture although RAW would be nice to have.

RAW would be fantastic. For now HE RAW set to overflow and record a few minutes of 20fps is working for me . There’s no limit to the buffer that I’ve found.

So I’m not missing anything shots wise and a 1TB card holds a lot of HE RAW. Approximately 40 minutes worth of 20fps non stop actually.

 

[PilotJimL]

I just took my new Z50II out today to photograph alpacas. As soon as I lifted it up to shoot,I saw a little box on the nearest eye in Auto Area AF with Auto or Animal Detection. I was shaking my head. It could have been my Z 8 or Z 6II, but it costs less than $1,000. I love the better ergonomics. Great grip, More physical buttons. Flippy screen.

 

[Woodyg3]

Hi folks - as a longtime D500 user, from my very limited use of the Z50ii at this point, I'm going to say that the camera meets my expectations as a 'D500' replacement. AF is fast and furious, and bird detection mode appears to be working among other AF modes. Focus on eye on bird locks and that's already a winning situation - The D500 didn't have such focus mode detection algorithms so this is a step up by far. The FPS is 1 higher in shooting RAW so that's a bonus. I know many are looking for a true D500 replacement in the Z line, and in many ways the Z50II is delivering more than what a D500 had at the time, and it's as good as it's going to get for now in the Nikon line of APSC for now. For this price point and delivering so much more capability I think this is a bargain!

Hopefully, in the upcoming days in the field will solidify my early claims - sure it doesn't have CF or dual cards, but that doesn't make the camera inferior - using a reputable and fast write SD UHS-II card helps with the write speed to the card minimizing the lack of CF card implementation.

Congrats on the new camera, Kenny. As a D500 shooter I am interested to see reports from users of the Z50II .

A couple of questions for you:

How's the battery life?

Is it easy to set up buttons to quickly change focus modes?

Any blackout in the EVF when shooting long bursts?

So far, does image quality seem to match the good ol' D500?

Any feedback on rolling shutter with the electronic shutter?

Thanks, any enjoy your new equipment!

 

[Kenny88]

Hi folks - I took the Z50II out with the Nikon 180-600mm out today to do some testing on the Auto Focus speed and as well the Bird and Animal Detection mode.

In one short sentence: I'm completely elated to say that the camera and this lens combination is able to track and focus flying birds nicely!! Whether it's 3D tracking, or not, this camera can most definitely track and capture live subjects moving fast. Animal detect mode also works as well - used it on some fast moving squirrels and in both modes, the focus is locked in on the subject's eye.

To summarize things up, I stand by my first post, which I truly believe that the Z50II is the D500 replacement and offers much more. I haven't used the Pre-Capture mode yet, but I did some testing and it's great to have.

This is the best thing next to a D500 real replacement - get a fast UHS-II speed SD card for buffer writes, and I think most definitely it'll make for a great experience.

 

[Kenny88]

Congrats on the new camera, Kenny. As a D500 shooter I am interested to see reports from users of the Z50II .

A couple of questions for you:

How's the battery life?

Is it easy to set up buttons to quickly change focus modes?

Any blackout in the EVF when shooting long bursts?

So far, does image quality seem to match the good ol' D500?

Any feedback on rolling shutter with the electronic shutter?

Thanks, any enjoy your new equipment!

Hi Woody,

Thank you - I'm totally enjoying the Z50II - check my new post out on my first day out with it - didn't spend too much time as I wanted, but I'm convinced.

Battery life is better than the Z50 by a margin, but it depends on what and how you use the camera - I have a total of 3 batteries (2 from the Z50, so I'm not too worried about running out of power).

The button)s) are SO EASIY to set up - it inherits the same features as the Z8/Z9. For example, I can program a button to cycle through all the AF modes instead of going to the menu and choosing...that's just the start of full customization.

The EVF is brighter and you will see blackout for high speed shooting - that's a given for this camera because it's using the same sensor as the D500 and is not a stacked sensor - Regardless of that, it takes a bit of getting used to, but at least for one you'll be able to see what you're shooting before the view finder lags starts to get too much and you'll be shooting blind.

I have no issues with IQ on the Z50 or the Z50II - the D500 was at the time a great camera for delivering great pictures of the camera, and the same goes for here.

I did not use electronic shutter, and I wouldn't use it for fast objects, but for static objects such as animal / birds that don't move much, I'll use it so there's no shutter sound and that works fine.