Nikon Z50 Summary

Nikon Z50

The Nikon Z50 enters the APS-C mirrorless market with the wide-diameter Z-mount introduced for the full-frame Z6 and Z7. Two dim variable-aperture DX lenses were introduced with the Z50, although it works withe all native Z-mount lenses.

A 20 megapixels APS-C BSI-CMOS sensor in the Z50 captures low noise images with nice colors, great dynamic-range and good white-balance. The metering system in this mirrorless is excellent and highly reliable. Details are reasonably rendered yet show some over-sharpening artifacts, perhaps to compensate for lens softness.

This mirrorless is very responsive and generally quite fast, able to achieve up to 11 FPS with the mechanical-shutter. This is only let down by an AF system that cannot keep up with action and slows down considerably in low-light.

Usability of the Nikon Z50 is almost great. The camera is comfortable to hold securely with dual control-dials within easy reach and a protruding EVF. Two buttons, EC and Fn2 are difficult to reach though but the one major issue is touch-only controls for magnification and display modes. The EVF is quite good and even accurate most of the time, something that many cameras struggle with.

For an initial model intended for intermediate photographers, the Z50 offers a good amount of features and fair number of controls to access them. There are two surprising omissions on the Z50: Image-Stabilization and Sensor-Cleaning, both are surprising for a modern mirrorless.

Although the Nikon Z50 is highly capable, it finds itself restricted by a lack of native lenses designed for APS-C cameras without image-stabilization. Fitting a Z-mount lens is possible but would negate the advantage of APS-C while also not benefiting from Full-Frame image-quality.

Neocamera detailed review Read the full Nikon Z50 review here.