Nikon Z50 Samples

The real challenge when choosing a mirrorless system is getting a clear picture of the compromise between image-quality and size. The Comparative Crops below were chosen to show how the Nikon APS-C mirrorless compares to the smaller Micro Four-Thirds system which is built around a 2X crop-factor, allowing those cameras and their lenses to made made considerably smaller. For this purpose the Nikon Z50 is compared here to the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III
Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III. While the Olympus is only a little lighter, it packs even more features, including a similar EVF, and manages to fit a 5-axis image-stabilization system. Plus, Micro Four-Thirds lenses can be made smaller and much lighter than APS-C ones.

All images below are 100% unmodified crops from their respective cameras. Both ISO and custom white-balance were fixed in-camera and the aperture was set be optimal for each lens. As usual, both these cameras were calibrated to give the highest quality and most realistic results possible.

These crops help determine which ISO settings can be acceptably used on these cameras. As image noise increases, most cameras compensate with noise reduction which introduces softness. The point at which a print become unacceptably noisy is a matter of personal taste.

Nikon Z50	Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III
ISO 100	ISO 100
ISO 200	ISO 200
ISO 400	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 800
ISO 1600	ISO 1600
ISO 3200	ISO 3200
ISO 6400	ISO 6400
ISO 12800	ISO 12800
ISO 25600	ISO 25600

The above crops show the remarkably similar output of these cameras, despite a substantial difference in sensor-size. The first observation is that image-noise is virtually the same at low to mid ISO sensitivities. This is what people look at the most and shows that a modern Micro Four-Thirds camera can maintain just as low image-noise as an APS-C camera until ISO 1600. Color rendition is visibly different with these cameras but both offer a considerable degree of control over it. The more important different is that at all ISO settings, the Nikon Z50 captures more dynamic-range which is clearly visible in shadow areas. Essentially, this is the difference guaranteed by sensor-size. Wider dynamic-range requires a larger sensor which requires larger lenses that are heavier due to simply needing more glass.