Before attempting to provide a perspective on this (or indeed) any camera it is helpful to be clear about what one hopes the camera will achieve. In my previous post, I sought to examine the reasoning behind buying this camera and the desired outcomes. This review in greater depth, seeks to evaluate how well those outcomes are met.

The Z50 is not designed to be a ‘professional’ camera. By this I mean it is not designed to function in all conditions or to be subject to rough treatment. It isn’t designed to meet the needs of sports photographers or those working in remote areas. It is aimed fairly and squarely at the ‘amateur’ market; it is built and specified with that in mind. Nikon say the camera -

“is designed to attract a generation of users who don't consider themselves to be photographers.”

However if we approach it from the point of view of image quality then as with any camera, the output is defined by five things:

Sensor
Glass
Manufacturing Quality control
Camera Control
Craft

The sensor in the Z50 is ‘only’ 20MP, compared with the leading edge of cameras, very modest indeed. However it is essentially a similar sensor to that in the D500 which is an established high performer albeit in APS format. 20MP is perfectly adequate to make high quality images. As the price was too good to miss out, I purchased the two lens kit believing that the std kit lens was likely to be of reasonable quality while the 50-250mm seemed likely to be of acceptable quality. See below for the conclusions I drew on both of those. I also knew that I could add the outstanding 14-30mm for an equivalent 21-45mm zoom. Further the 50mm and 85mm would give a 75mm f1.8 and 127.7mm f1.8 of exceptional resolving power. Finally via the FTZ I could utilise my Zeiss 100mm f2 Makro, the Nikon 70-300mm f4.5 AF-P and all my legacy Ai/s glass. Amongst that set is glass of the very highest quality if the gap between acceptable and exceptional needs to be bridged.

Camera Control refers to both the degree to which the camera can be made to modify its automation and the extent to which it can be customised (through menus etc) to function in a way that suits a particular way of working. I’ve used the word craft with two meanings. One is to carry over existing skills from general camera craft. This is to ensure that the maximum output is extracted from any given piece of kit. The other is to both configure the Z50 to work in a way that suits me and to learn how to maximise its advantages while minimising the effect of any disadvantages.

As written in the previous post here, I had some specific expectations of the roles I wished the Z50 to fulfill.

A catastrophe backup camera. I’d hope never to make use of it but that's the whole nature of a backup. There is a balance to strike between function and cost.
Holiday walk around camera
Long distance walks, high ground, wild camping.
High Fells - winter. Not the ideal camera for this in terms of features but at times the extra survival kit needed in the rucksack dictates a minimal camera weight allowance.
Quick access grab camera for the front seat while driving between locations. This would typically sit with the longer lens attached for those fleeting moments of light on the hillside across the valley or over the sea.

NB in every single one of these there is the necessary compromise between features and weight/size.

How does the Z50 measure up?

As soon as you unbox and hold the camera, the diminutive size is the first striking feature, closely followed by the lack of weight. The Z7 was a substantial downsize from the D850 but this gap seems even greater and the Z7 now feels like a big camera again.

Given that the height from the base to top plate is about the same as the external diameter of the Z mount, the camera couldn't have been made any smaller. Nikon made a bold and (in my opinion) correct decision to use the full frame Z mount for this camera and to achieve such a size reduction while still accepting the Z and all F lenses (via the FTZ) is a significant achievement. This is accomplished in a body that is not only smaller in some measurements than a Fujifilm X-E3 but also smaller than some fixed lens compact and bridge cameras.

The ergonomics are as good as I can imagine given the diminutive size and I suspect some people may find the body too small. I found the grip just right and the camera immediately felt like a Nikon. Nikon DSLR and Z users should find an overwhelming degree of similarity between the controls and although some are closer together and some have needed to be placed on the touch screen rather than physical buttons, everything pretty much ends up where you’d expect to find it. The same goes for menus, all standard Nikon fare.

The EVF feels a little more cramped than the Z7 but still very pleasant to use and much bigger than the X-e3 for example. I have tried as far as possible to set the Z50 up to mirror the Z7 so my fingers go to the same buttons and the iMenu is similar.

In use, a few immediate aspects have made themselves noticeable. When hand holding, the lack of mass associated with the camera and lens makes it more difficult for me to hold steadily. Others may not find this so. This is exacerbated if using any lens that does not have VR inbuilt. It is further affected by the slow native lenses which wide open are already at f6.3 depending upon focal length.

There is no doubt that the camera feels less robust than the pro and prosumer models. This is contributed to by the fact that the lens bayonet I'd made of plastic rather than metal.

Accessories

First get the bad news out of the way...I always take at least one spare battery with me when heading out. However additional batteries for the Z50 are few and far between and with an already ludicrously high price there is some profiteering going by some places that have stock. Nikon UK have no idea when they’ll see more coming in. Coincidently, there are no third party batteries available through any of the usual channels. If this is a dealbreaker for you, source the battery before committing to the camera. I picked up a third party USB battery charger cheaply.

I’m a confirmed UV filter and lens hood user so they were first on the list. 46mm filters for the 16-50 are less common but still easy enough to find online. The 62mm for the tele zoom is much more common. I bought third party hoods for both as the Nikon items seemed overpriced. I bought an additional rear cap for whichever lens is not on the camera, I don’t like the cheap translucent push on plastic ones. I added a third party wireless remote which is half the price of the Nikon, works ok and probably comes out of the same factory anyway. Whether a flaw in the software , hardware or my setup, the remote doesn’t seem to control the other stated functions (zoom, Fn buttons etc). I only wanted it to fire the shutter so it’s fine for me.

I found that the camera, both lenses, and bits’n’bobs all fit neatly into a ThinkTank Hubba Hubba Hiney belt bag. They are all but ‘lost’ in a Billingham Hadley.

Nikon Z50 kit with ThinkTank Hubba Hubba Hiney

Nikon Z50 kit with ThinkTank Speed Demon

I use an Arca fitting L bracket if I carry a tripod and there is a shortage of these available for the Z50. Currently (July2020) there is only the Zayla from 3LT and the bargain basement models have yet to arrive. I thought the Zayla was a tad overpriced so am currently using a ProMedia gear L bracket that I originally bought for my Fuji X-T2. It works very well.

Finally I added a 46-52mm stepping ring, partly to make use of my 52mm filters but more importantly to allow the use of my Lee Filter system. The 46mm Lee ring is outrageously expensive and the step ring works flawlessly.

Performance and balance sheet

Rather than positives and negatives, I’d prefer to frame the conclusions in terms of the balance between size/cost and features/performance. Where the performance matches higher end cameras I’ll try to highlight and also where the compromises have been made.

Optical output

We first have to register the fact that this is a 20MP camera and not a 46Mp. If you do as I do and crop to 5:4 in portrait orientation or 16:9 landscape, it's a 17MP camera. If your compositions need to be refined by the crop tool, you’ll pretty quickly find it's more of a 15MP camera. If you make photographs to share via the web, it's just fine. If you want to make huge prints, it's maybe not the best choice. (Having said that, there is an enormous amount of nonsense talked about how many MP you need for any given print size)

The supplied lenses in the kit are pretty good. There are specific examples below but I’d say the 16-50mm is a very good lens, at least as good and probably better than the old 24-85mm (which was much better than generally recognised). Used at the sweet spot of around f8-f11 it will pass most tests. The 50-200mm is also a very good performer especially at the shorter to middle end. The edges tail off a bit at the long end but its still pretty usable and often more effect will be noticed due to haze, wind or ability to hold steady. The VR on both lenses is very effective and I’d be happy to believe Nikon’s claim of 5 stops equivalent.

The sensor is a reworked version of the one that graces the D500. It has been tried and tested and is well known for giving fine images. The lenses, in my opinion, redefine what can be expected at this price point. If I found myself in Assynt with a broken Z7 and lenses, I’d carry on shooting with this set rather than abandon the trip.

The modest maximum apertures do entail compromises on shallow dof, bokeh and shutter speeds with low light. However as I work mostly from a tripod, this is not an issue for me.

For some reason the internet seems to be full of criticism regarding the lack of focus peaking or focus peaking with old manual lenses. This is inaccurate. There is focus peaking with current lenses when manual focus is selected or with old ai/ais lenses. In my opinion, it doesn't seem to be quite as obvious as the Z7 but it's there and it works just fine. Confusingly (to me) Nikon refers to it as peaking highlights in the menu setting. What you do not get for older lenses is the ability to enter Non CPU lens data.

Crucially, the outstanding Z ‘S’ lenses fit the mount and elevate the performance to the very highest levels. If using Z or ai primes, there is no VR.

I’ve added a few images shot with the kit lenses, they are all under field conditions but I made my best efforts to achieve optimum results.

Sensor cleaning is a confusing aspect. There is no inbuilt sensor cleaning function. Whether this is to save cost, reduce bulk or other reasons is unknown (to me). Nikon are institutionally keen on users returning their camera to service centres for cleaning which is an over expensive and time consuming approach I feel. I’ll happily clean this sensor first with a Rocket air and eventually with a wet swab. A fact that seems to elude many is that if you avoid over processing your skies, the majority of your sensor spots will simply disappear….

Conclusions

If 20MP is enough for you as it is for me, this sensor is excellent and capable of outstanding results. The files are beautiful and very robust even under harsh processing.

The supplied kit lenses perform well beyond their price point and again are capable of results that I find perfectly satisfactory. They don’t have wide maximum apertures so some of the joys of differential focus are lost but in most cases they are just fine. On a dull wet day in woodland, I was quicker to a tripod that I might have been otherwise.

The construction is entirely adequate for the intended purchase audience. This isn't a camera to choose for a once in a lifetime camel trek across the Sahara but for most of us it's just fine.

There’s ample similarity in function with the Z6/7 to mean that the learning curve is shallow and operation will come quickly and naturally.

If you are seeking high quality output from an exceptionally lightweight and compact package, this kit is hard to beat. For my purposes, it precisely meets the needs I have and I’m happy to use it.