Nikon Z50 II Launched

[JAJohnson]

Gray's in London are usually reliably informed by Nikon UK, which is why I take the sound bite seriously in their above video. Nikon's subsidiaries, including Nikon USA are not necessarily in the know about arcane technical details.

As a retailer, the fine folks at Gray’s aren’t privy to information not available to other retailers. I suspect Becky may have spoken inaccurately.

Unfortunately, I’ve had frustrating experience with getting accurate answers to thorny questions from customer service at both Nikon UK and Nikon USA.

No matter, though. All will be clear in the coming weeks.

 

[Craig Yuill]

I recently rented a Z 50. I found it to be quite a good camera - but it had shortcomings when it came to shooting birds in flight. The mechanical shutter the frame rate seemed to be well below 11fps. Rolling shutter was very evident when the electronic shutter was used. (I cannot recall if I was shooting 14-bit or 12-bit NEF. I understand it might have been better to use 12-bit NEF.) The AF was more miss than hit. I was also using a D500 - and the D500’s AF was much more hit than miss.

The specs of the Z50 II look promising. On paper the frame rate doesn’t seem to be much different from the Z50. But the AF seems to be improved - similar to the Z 6 III, according to some. We shall see. And the slightly larger body size would be welcome, given that reaching certain controls on the Z 50 could be a challenge due to the cramped space around the grip.

Disappointments include no IBIS, and continued use of the EN-EL25 battery. The much smaller V1 was powered by the EN-EL15. Why can’t the Z50 II be powered by that battery?

 

[Len Shepherd]

It is an entry level camera, not a full pro DX body, though a very capable entry level camera.

It seems directly aimed at younger content creators and I expect will do very well there with the 2 lens kit costing about the same as a high end smart phone.
Product AF and being able to stream direct to a smart phone with only a single cable while unlikely to be important to most on this forum will be perceived as big plusses by a different and expanding segment of the market.

With 2 weeks to go to release (Nikon UK say 21st November) it is too early for independent reviews of RAW files etc.

It can match of beat a D500 in basic performance though being entry level there is no grip.
Whether a pro grade DX body of more direct interest to several on this forum will follow perhaps in the first half of next year is know to Nikon but not to us.