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https://photographylife.com/nikon-dslr-resolution
It basically says that the 105 macro cannot even resolve 36mp on a full frame sensor, which is equivalent to "cannot resolve 16mp on a DX/Crop sensor". What lens are you using that you think going from 20mp to 24mp helps you? Is it on Photography Life's list?
36/(1.5*1.5)=16
This is why I believe people concerned that the Nikon APS-C sensors are only 20mp are focussing on a non-issue. This is equivalent to a 45mp sensor full frame (20*(1.5*1.5). Only the finest lenses will be able to take advantage of this and unless you are shooting birds with expensive telephotoes you are unlikely to be using the finest lenses on DX. And those people are not buying a Z50, but a Z70 if that camera is like a D500. A 24mp DX sensor is equivalent to a 54mp DX sensor. What lens are you using on a D7xxx that will be able to take advantage of that, and should Nikon be making mainstream cameras for that tiny percentage of the market.
Now things are different with Z as the article pointed out. But does that apply to the kit lenses, as good as Thom says the 16-50 is? Is a "30-something mp" sensor on a crop sensor anything more than a marketing scam? I could see a 24mp sensor if the user intends to use the S line lenses on a Z50.
There is the "Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K" with a High Resolution Cinematic Digital Film Sensor! The BMPCC 4K is an amazing camera for the price (here € 1350.-). It has a very good user interface and touchscreen. 13 stops dynamic range, ISO till 25.600 for micro four thirds lenses. Samyang micro four third lenses are great, cheap and super for filming. Everything cheaper, much better for filming then Nikon and available.
Not to forget that with this camera you also get a fully licensed copy of Da Vinci Resolve Studio, a professional coloring and editing suite.
"DaVinci Resolve" is also free for home use and I have seen that this version has more options than I will ever use, when it comes to video I'm still in kindergarten.
Am I not getting any takers for my macro comparison? I'll tell you that nothing short of an image that is at least as good as mine will convince me. If I see an image from a D500/7500 that is as good, I will be very tempted to buy one.
I'll use this image:
Sorry it isn't full res here. Blame Flickr.
If you want maximum resolution more pixels are always better, although the increase in resolution is less for every added pixel.
Our photography hobby can be fun and practical; it doesn't always have to be sharpest lenses and most megapixel bodies. At times it can be "practical sharpness and megapixels" for the use at hand. For example, my wife recently asked me to do some product photography of some of her designer shoes she wanted to sell on line. I was going to use my Nikon Z50 since I had recently been experimenting with that for portraiture. I knew the Z50's "only" 20 mp would be more than enough. But then I thought "What the hell, I will have some fun with this chore I don't want to do and explore practical sharpness and megapixels for a common use in posting an image to the internet." So I got out my "historical value only" ancient outdated 12mp D700 and my equally outdated Nikon 60mm f2.8 D screw drive macro lens. I set the D700 to small image size and basic jpeg. Then I took a series of images and cropped those a bit. Here are two of them. Click on the image to get to flickr and then open the largest size. Look at the detail in the stitching and leather texture. Each image is less than 0.8 mp! So why are we, me included, so obsessed about high megapixels unless we are actually printing much larger than poster size? There is a lot to be said for "practical sharpness and megapixels" for normal uses. Of course, when that 60mp+ Z body comes out I will get one. LOL Just cannot resist the temptation to go "wow" as I pixel peek. Our hobby should be fun.
If you have lots of light or strobes and are not a bokeh hunter who is trying to emulate the current fashion of small DOF popular with FF and f1.4 lenses (or the "MF look") than you can use the 16-50 kit lens at 50mm (75mm equivalent) and crop a bit if you want an 85 or 105 crop. The kit lens is sharp enough and 50mm (75mm) is close enough for traditional portraiture. I don't have the 50-250 kit lens to try but I would expect using that lens from 50 to 75 mm would work equally well, if not even a bit better because you can have an equivalent 85 to 105mm lens. From all reports sharpness is fine. I typically shoot portraits FF at 85 to 105mm at f4 to make sure I have both eyes in focus while keeping sufficient distance between the subject and the background to blur out the background for "portrait pop." This can be done with the Z50 and both kit lenses.
The problem is trying to replicate the look of 85 to 105 f1.4 or f2. That cannot be done with the Z50 and its two kit lenses. There are two alternatives. 1. Use the FTZ adapter and a 50 mm f1.4 prime. I have done that on a test mannequin head but not yet on a real subject. You could also use a 50mm f1.8 prime or a 60mm f2.8 macro prime. I have not tried those. 2. Use the S 50mm f1.8 prime and when it becomes available use the S 50mm f1.2 prime. My guess is that using the S 50mm f1.2 prime will be the closest one can get to the 85mm f1.4 portrait look. I have used the S 24-70 f2.8 and an example is posted below. I did not include a comment about using the S 58mm f0.95 prime. Surely that would be even better to emulate the FF f1.4 look but there are two serious drawbacks: cost and manual focus. I don't see that lens being used on a DX sensor body.
The following mannequin head shots are all at ISO 100, f1.4, 160th, with the Z50 and the Nikon 50mm f1.4 prime. All use eye AF which is how I would shoot all portraits for convenience. You can judge the sharpness of the eyelashes and the depth of field and bokeh achieved with this equipment on a Z50. Click on the photos to go to flickr and view the images larger for closer examination.
The following real person portrait was shot with the Z50 and the S 24-70 lens at 70mm and f2.8. 1,000 ISO and 200th second. You can see how that combination works for sharpness of eyelashes, DOF and background bokeh and higher ISO use. I think it is fine.
My final conclusion: The next time I get a live portrait subject I will start with Z50+FTZ+50mm Nikon f1.4 lens and shoot at f1.4 through f2.8 using eye AF. While the Nikon 50mm f1.4 prime is not so sharp wide open as long as it can resolve the eyelashes it is sharp enough for portraits. While it would be nice to have a f 2.0 or f2.8 DX S zoom lens reaching from a 50 to 100 mm FX equivalent such a DX lens will never be produced by Nikon. No matter. "Real" portraits will be shot on a FF body anyway.
I have not yet tried using the 24-70 kit lens at 70mm wide open for portraits because I thought it would not be fast enough. I was put off by the f6.3 at 50mm since I usually shoot portraits at f4. But I will try it when I get some time. There is an 18 to 140 DX zoom coming. I think we can expect it to run from about f2.8 at 18mm and about f6.3 at 140mm. This may be the lens than can give me about f4 in the 50 to 75mm range for portraits while on travel with a small body and just one lens.
rmp: If a person is using DX because they want small and light the two kit lenses would be able to cover about anything encountered during a trip with the exception of the type of large aperture portraiture I was attempting to do with the Z50 because neither kit lens can give you even an f2.8 aperture. The small and light criteria for the entire kit dictates a portrait specialty fast lens in addition to the two kit lenses which also must be as small and light as possible because it is the third lens you will be carrying. Smallness rules out the FTZ adaptor and F mount f1.4 primes. I would look to the yet to be released 40mm compact lens or the yet to be released 60mm macro lens in Z mount as two likely candidates. I expect them to give us at least f2.8 and maybe f1.8. The compact 40mm prime should be light. The 60mm macro hopefully will be smaller and lighter than the S 50mm f1.8. As of now, that S 50 f1.8 is probably the best third portrait specialty lens to carry along with the two existing DX Z mount zooms. Of course, in the studio or from the car small and light are not important. You can carry and shoot with anything.
PS I just re-read it and I assumed it came to me via NPS UK membership but the phone numbers are US. I just noticed the prices are in $$$. It does say in the small print that you can buy and return an FTZ adaptor but thats not one of the main options. Its stuck down in the FAQ ...Oh, Nikon get it right for god's sake.
First up, the Nikon 50mm f1.4 shot wide open with the FTZ, ISO 100, 1/60sec shutter speed. I didn't expect much sharpness but it was better than expected. I didn't expect both eyes to be in reasonable focus but that also was better than expected. F1.4 allowed me to shoot at base ISO: 100. My conclusion: if you have an FTZ which came in a kit and have an existing f mount 50mm f1.4 or f1.8 that combination will make a fine portrait lens for the Z50. Here is an example. Click on it to go to flickr and look at it larger to see the detail in the eyes and hair. Somewhat surprising to me.
Second up, the small, light and "cheap" 16-50mm kit lens shot wide open at f6.3. Wow, I didn't expect it to be that good! DavyJ is correct. This is great glass and a really great bang for the buck. The only drawback is I had to use ISO 1,000 in the same light that I could use ISO 100 with a f1.4 or f1.8 lens. My test set-up is not a good test for bokeh between the different lenses because I was using a backdrop. My conclusion is that the kit lens makes a great portrait lens as long as you are not concerned with shooting at higher ISOs in lower light and not concerned with the best bokeh when you are not using a backdrop. Here is an example. Click on it to go to flickr and look at it larger to see the detail in the eyes and hair as wall as the added depth of field since you are now shooting at f6. As an additional matter the Z50 does quite well at ISO 1,000. Compare the Image Quality of the three photos in this post (two are ISO 100 and one is ISO 1,000). I would suggest that if all three images were printed at 8x10 inches normal people won't be able to tell any difference. Thus, the Z50 with the kit lens at 50mm (75mm FF equivalent) makes a fine portrait combination because people in your family (or even business?) are going to mostly want prints of 5x7 or 8x10. Any larger size takes up too much room setting around.
Finally, the 50mm S f1.8 wide open with the Z50 body. In many ways this is the best. You can get down to ISO 100 in lower light and it is the sharpest lens. You don't need it if you have the kit lens but you may already have this 50mm if you have or are going to buy a FF Z body so it makes an excellent 75mm equivalent portrait lens on the Z50. Here is an example: