Curious to see the final specs and performance. I wish they gave it a fully flipping screen - it seems like that would have given it a competitive advantage. Can understand leaving IBIS off, but it will make it less useful with FF Z glass.
Are those 6 pictures taken with Z50? Looks like a blown out sky on the middle bottom picture, as if taken by a cell phone. Really all those 6 pictures are no better than what an iphone or pixel can do. On the other hand, it would be ironic if those advertising pictures were indeed taken with a cell phone.
From what I have read I am thinking "next please" . Not very impressed ,nothing to make me want it and a lot to say no to. (20 MP ,1 slot, f6.3,price) but its not aimed at me so good luck Nikon , Hope the focus works
To me it looks like it will replace my V2 (a jewel of a camera but the sensor was too small for "real" work) and my coolpix A (great pocketable size but more versatile lens options are desired, I would "zoom" by cropping but you are only starting with 16 mp). I will be happy to have one as an easy-carry-walk-around camera which is reasonably versatile and can produce images which can be reasonably enlarged to 16x24 inches. (Sadly, I might have to start using a man purse because it is not going to fit into a jacket pocket, LOL!) If the kit zoom is as good as the f mount 18-55 kit lens (why would it not be?) then it will produce excellent images. I do hope the EVF is the same size as found on the Z6 and Z7. As far as mounting the camera on a tripod with the flip out screen down there likely will be an existing L bracket that will accomplish the task. I think I have one from the olden days. Also, note that Z50 is a "middle" number which leaves much room for lower and a higher spec crop sensor bodies. It is possible for Nikon to produce a Z30 like the D3500 and a Z70 with a "pro" control layout like the D500. We could even see a Z1 with no EVF and fixed 28mm prime lens which is pocketable. Hopefully, we will soon see a Z8 or Z9 body with either a true add on vertical grip or a build in vertical grip. It would be nice if Nikon eventually offered a crop sensor 24 mp body with a built in vertical grip, a full frame 24 mp body with a built in grip and a full frame 60 to 100 mp body with a built in grip; all using the same control layout. Price them at about $4,000 each. Then we could chose the sensor size needed for the job at hand without having to adjust to different control functioning.
However, I do believe Nikon needs to add one thing to induce cell phone users to buy a camera instead of use the one in their cell phone: connectivity. People today shoot and want to post to social media immediately without waiting until they get home to use their computer. Accessing Facebook with an app over a WiFi network and posting an image needs to be able to be done right from the camera or Nikon won't break into the cell phone photo market. Also, Nikon needs to offer some ability to post process the image in camera prior to posting. Why would those vast numbers of people who now are so hooked on posting selfies and food photos and scenics on facebook to "show off" their great life to people who mostly don't really care buy a camera instead of rely upon the camera in their existing cellphone? Only if they could post much better photos and do it just as easily as using their cellphone. Connectivity and user interface needs to be a very high priority for Nikon in the bottom end of the crop sensor market. Printing photos is dying for the vast number of people. Give them something they can easily do which looks much better than the typical cell phone photo on social media if you want to sell them a camera. Wake up Nikon!
The new 16-50 kit lens looks almost like a pancake lens because it seems to collapse so far. That may be a great feature. Might even make the Z50 pocketable in a large jacket pocket.
So if you " go mirrorless" ie I replace my D850 and D7200 with a D 50 and a Z7 then I got a problem ….The Z7 has image stabilization and the Z50 does not so the lenses will not be interchangeable and I end up with no stabilization....this seems a bad choice for Nikon. All the Z should have image stabilization ..its just typical Nikon they dont get it (quite right.) And so we wait for a full line up to pick from . My wife who is the photoshop guru wants a mobile phone card in the camera so its 50% a mobile phone in that it can send pics to other phones. Is she mad ?
She is not mad. It could be done and should be offered. Mobile phones have added cameras and gone a long way towards including both hardware and software to make that camera better. Have cameras gone even a small way towards a mobile phone? No. That is their failing. The ability should be added. You don't have to use it if you don't to just like you don't have to use two memory cards if you want to shoot with one slot empty. A wedding photographer should have the option of editing about 10 photos in camera and sending them to the client's mobile phone or e-mail before even leaving the venue. Let that client get a few of your photos up on their social media account about their special day ON THAT SPECIAL DAY. I don't know why Nikon and others are so stupid about this. As to your time to convert to mirrorless you are right to wait for more Z bodies. By the end of next year the options should be better for you.
I believe there were some lower end cameras a while back that had mobile data service, maybe done by Samsung?
I used to think that was something Nikon should do, but I've changed my mind. They should put their effort into seamless and no-hassle tethering to smartphones instead.
From nikonusa.com "Built-in Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth make sharing a snap. Install Nikon’s SnapBridge app, and your Apple® or Android™-powered phone becomes a powerful accessory for Z 50. Easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to your phone, and even use your phone as a remote monitor to to see what Z 50 sees, adjust camera settings, take pictures and record video." Maybe this will finally work well.
I checked the info on nikonusa.com this morning. It looks like a great travel camera when you don't need full frame for those family and personal memories. I think you are going to be able to print the images it takes at 11x14 or even 16x24 inch size and they will look fine. Also, I am glad to see the upcoming 28mm and 40mm pancake primes and super zooms like a DX 18-140 and a FX 24-200. Nikon's zooms have been excellent lately and a super zoom may make a great one lens travel kit.
While this camera and the DX lenses may not be for you if you are chasing ultimate image quality, you should be glad it exists for the large number of people who are not like you and whose spent dollars keep Nikon financially stable so Nikon can produce the high end equipment you desire. Don't snub the camera just because you are not its intended market. Remember that no one who abandoned a camera for a cellphone is out there tying to produce photos they will print and sell. Getting these non-professional photographers to buy a camera in addition to their cell phone is the market Nikon needs to tap into. Let's hope the DX Z cameras can do this. Be very glad if Nikon can earn the bucks through mass sales of equipment you don't want to use so that Nikon can produce the equipment you do want to use.
Be very glad if Nikon can earn the bucks through mass sales of equipment you don't want to use so that Nikon can produce the equipment you do want to use.
Exactly. And these arguments about lower end gear being underspecced have been around forever. I remember reading an interview with a Nikon exec almost 20 years ago where he talked about how them selling lots of N60/F60's enabled them to sell things like the F100.
The decision to divorce the image stabilization systems across formats strikes me as curious/questionable. In the past, DX was (for me) a stepping stone to FX. I bought a DX camera and shortly began to acquire FX lenses for it. I then purchased an FX body and was good to go.
This approach makes that a non-starter. Has Nikon decided the DX mirrorless cameras are a technological cul-de-sac?
Capt_Spaulding: don't be too sure IBS will be denied to all DX Z bodies. We have many numbers higher than 50 for a DX Z body with greater features (assuming Nikon finds room in the Z50 size body to fit it in or produces a larger DX Z body for a "pro" DX Z body). I do hope for the latter just as the D500 was not like the D3xxx or D5xxx or D7xxx bodies. But the next Z body we are likely to see could be a bottom of the range Zxx to replace the D3500. In DX Z bodies Nikon may "go low" before it "goes high" in an effort to chase higher numbers of sales (and who can blame them?). Nikon has a lot of bodies to produce at this time: the D6, the DSLR replacement for the D750, the DSLR replacement for the D850, a Z8 or Z9, and both a lower spec and a higher spec DX Z body. Hopefully, that higher end DX Z body will have IBIS and either a built-in or attachable true battery grip.
WEF: Maybe you are correct. In the new lens roadmap Nikon separated the 28 and 40 from all the normal prime lenses and put them into a category Nikon labeled "compact prime lenses." I assumed that meant smaller size like a pancake lens. I don't know though what "compact" really means.
Having watched Fronos review I am more optimistic about this camera ..frontal size is almost like a D3500 though its thinner . The eye focus looked fantastic ..will; it work on birds ? Guess not ..only on captain birdseye . ( british joke) Not at all worried about the Battery grip .I always had a grip on my cameras and never ever used any buttons on them . to change from side to bottom grip you need two hands ..no time for that at a wedding just held the side grip and rotated the camera . So grip ok when its third party for $30 .( and I can get a grey Z50 !!)
@Pistnbroke the problem I had with Froknows review is that he had to abandon dynamic area and revert to autoarea. That's the same problem I have in the Z7... That the automatic mode is the only one on par with DSLR performance.
On a positive note Nikon finally gave us a Z telephoto!
I think it is a huge step forward for Nikon for travel and NEW entrants! DX is hardly going away. FF is NOT the choice I see at race tracks, or wildlife. And when I see final image results, FF Again is hardly dominant. The D500 is still regarded as PRO! I asking think the D7500 is very, very good! Thom Hogan thought the Z6 and the 24-70 and FTZ did not offer much over the D500 or D7500. Make another Z with the attributes of Z6 with DX sensor as fast and highest level processor and out to the edge focus capability and you might find out FF is still not regarded as essential! But the Z50 and two kit lens from just the B&H Isabella review with the two kit lens looks very capable. It does though need some improvement with flash connectors, and after market like Rode sound recording. ....but for entry market? Wonderful!
However, I do believe Nikon needs to add one thing to induce cell phone users to buy a camera instead of use the one in their cell phone: connectivity. People today shoot and want to post to social media immediately without waiting until they get home to use their computer. Accessing Facebook with an app over a WiFi network and posting an image needs to be able to be done right from the camera or Nikon won't break into the cell phone photo market. Also, Nikon needs to offer some ability to post process the image in camera prior to posting. Why would those vast numbers of people who now are so hooked on posting selfies and food photos and scenics on facebook to "show off" their great life to people who mostly don't really care buy a camera instead of rely upon the camera in their existing cellphone? Only if they could post much better photos and do it just as easily as using their cellphone. Connectivity and user interface needs to be a very high priority for Nikon in the bottom end of the crop sensor market. Printing photos is dying for the vast number of people. Give them something they can easily do which looks much better than the typical cell phone photo on social media if you want to sell them a camera. Wake up Nikon!
Can I just say I’ve been using SnapBridge to download & convert RAW images to 2Mb jpegs & then post them on Instagram without a problem. Admittedly I’ve done no post-processing, but it keeps the family up to date with our travels in Japan
The eye focus on the Z50 looks awesome. I would like to ask the Z6 users, as I am weighing trying that over the Z50, is the eye focus now upgraded in the Z6 as I have not really tried the Z6. The ability to do high res video for my use is absolutely essential. When it comes to still photos I find the D500 and actually use the D7500 a lot as I have two.
Comments
However, I do believe Nikon needs to add one thing to induce cell phone users to buy a camera instead of use the one in their cell phone: connectivity. People today shoot and want to post to social media immediately without waiting until they get home to use their computer. Accessing Facebook with an app over a WiFi network and posting an image needs to be able to be done right from the camera or Nikon won't break into the cell phone photo market. Also, Nikon needs to offer some ability to post process the image in camera prior to posting. Why would those vast numbers of people who now are so hooked on posting selfies and food photos and scenics on facebook to "show off" their great life to people who mostly don't really care buy a camera instead of rely upon the camera in their existing cellphone? Only if they could post much better photos and do it just as easily as using their cellphone. Connectivity and user interface needs to be a very high priority for Nikon in the bottom end of the crop sensor market. Printing photos is dying for the vast number of people. Give them something they can easily do which looks much better than the typical cell phone photo on social media if you want to sell them a camera. Wake up Nikon!
My wife who is the photoshop guru wants a mobile phone card in the camera so its 50% a mobile phone in that it can send pics to other phones. Is she mad ?
I used to think that was something Nikon should do, but I've changed my mind. They should put their effort into seamless and no-hassle tethering to smartphones instead.
The true specs are here ( yes and it is a sad 21MP)
https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/mirrorless-cameras/z-50.html?cid=img_en_us:EML:LE:na:1092019:eml:P:2019-10-10-Z50:banner:btn:hero#tab-ProductDetail-ProductTabs-TechSpecs
While this camera and the DX lenses may not be for you if you are chasing ultimate image quality, you should be glad it exists for the large number of people who are not like you and whose spent dollars keep Nikon financially stable so Nikon can produce the high end equipment you desire. Don't snub the camera just because you are not its intended market. Remember that no one who abandoned a camera for a cellphone is out there tying to produce photos they will print and sell. Getting these non-professional photographers to buy a camera in addition to their cell phone is the market Nikon needs to tap into. Let's hope the DX Z cameras can do this. Be very glad if Nikon can earn the bucks through mass sales of equipment you don't want to use so that Nikon can produce the equipment you do want to use.
This approach makes that a non-starter. Has Nikon decided the DX mirrorless cameras are a technological cul-de-sac?
The eye focus looked fantastic ..will; it work on birds ? Guess not ..only on captain birdseye . ( british joke)
Not at all worried about the Battery grip .I always had a grip on my cameras and never ever used any buttons on them . to change from side to bottom grip you need two hands ..no time for that at a wedding just held the side grip and rotated the camera . So grip ok when its third party for $30 .( and I can get a grey Z50 !!)
On a positive note Nikon finally gave us a Z telephoto!
Wonderful!