I say yes. Make it small and light with a higher megapixel sensor and the Expeed 7 processer and the latest Nikon AF. Would it become a favorite of birders and wildlife shooters like the D500 was? The Z50 is 4 years old. It seems like Nikon has abandoned crop sensor cameras. Should Nikon instead just produce a very high megapixel full frame body which can be shot in DX mode when more "reach" is desired?
I have been satisfied shooing a 45 mp Z9 (same would go for the Z8) in DX mode when more "reach" is desired birding.
I have also enjoyed shooting a Z50 with the 18-140 zoom as a very light walkaround camera. This combination is very easy to carry and not really limiting for general photography. Here are some Z50 18-140 RAW images taken on this morning's fall walk and processed through Nikon NX Studio. Click through to flickr to see better. What do you think? Is the Z50 outdated or still fully usable?
![Z50_2330A_18](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53272804285_3a3bf3e73d_z.jpg)
![Z50_2323A_19](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53272804400_18e81a5e0b_z.jpg)
Comments
I go back and forth on whether it makes sense or not. I think what people would want would basically be a crop sensor Z8, and I would guess cost would be $2500 or maybe a little higher. Is there enough demand for a crop sensor body at that price? D500 had a big advantage over using D850 in crop mode in addition to price, namely a full size viewfinder. Mirrorless cameras don't have that issue; they just zoom the EVF in.
Although the D7500 is old, it’s a good upgrade in terms of ISO and buffer performance.
Overall the D7500 a solid head and shoulders improvement over the D7000. Losing the dual card slot and the aperture tab with older F-mount lenses is a nonstarter as I barely used a 2nd card and I'm keeping the D7000. Plus the only older F-mount lens I have is the 50mm 1.2 and I rarely use it.
I guess the only thing I could potentially ask for is USB-C power delivery or charging, which would optimize my travel kit to potentially one plug but again, not too big a deal. I wish Nikon had refreshed the D7500 one last time like the D780, but with Nikon iterating mirrorless cameras so slowly, waiting for one last midrange DX DSLR is beyond a lost cause. F-mount cameras are dead in the water at this point. If anything I'm looking around for cheap lenses, maybe I'll pick up a 200-500 for cheap-ish. Oh, also using the 70-300 AF-P on the D7500 has been a joy, the D7000 was only slightly compatible with it, the meter would reset each time you let your finger off the shutter which would make compositions slightly slower. Plus, the battery is still amazing. I would say I get at least 1000 images per charge at a minimum. I really can't say how many photos I get, I'd never been in a situation where I run the battery dry. I'm really happy I got the D7500 as it can be the last camera I buy.