Nikon’s Z50 II targets creators with a devoted movie simulation button

Digicam corporations are beginning to get the hang of promoting entry-level cameras with options that assist freshmen take nice images immediately. Nikon’s $910 Z50 II mirrorless joins that pattern with a devoted “Image Management” button that produces enjoyable, social media-ready seems to be. The brand new mannequin additionally guarantees sooner capturing speeds than the five-year-old Z50, improved autofocus and better-quality video.

There is no query that the Z50 II is aimed on the creator crowd with a bunch of recent options borrowed from Sony, Fujifilm and Panasonic. That begins with the Image Management button (not a dial) that gives 31 presets like Denim, Toy Digicam and Carbon, for each images and video. It additionally allows you to obtain “Imaging Recipes” from the Nikon Imaging Cloud, with customized presets for shade, brightness, hue and extra, à la Panasonic’s S9. On the video facet, it now provides a Product Assessment Mode that instantly focuses from a creator’s face to a product they maintain up, precisely like Sony’s Product Showcase function.

On the similar time, the Z50 II is surprisingly highly effective. You’ll be able to shoot bursts at as much as 30 fps (JPEG solely) in digital mode or 11 fps (RAW/JPEG) with the mechanical shutter. Autofocus has been overhauled to be extra responsive and now consists of 3D monitoring with AI modes for animals, birds and autos — together with an auto mode that selects the topic for you.

Video can also be a lot improved. It provides oversampled 4K 30p (no crop) and 4K 60p (1.5x crop), in comparison with simply 4K 30p earlier than. Higher nonetheless, it now provides N-Log 10-bit capturing in comparison with simply 8-bit with no go online the Z50. That ought to vastly enhance dynamic vary and provides video shooters extra room for creativity within the edit suite.

One draw back to this digicam is the decision, which is on the low facet on this worth vary at 20.9 megapixels. It additionally lacks in-body stabilization, so you will have to depend on digital stabilization for video (which provides a small crop) or buy lenses with in-built stabilization (VR, as Nikon calls it). I am additionally not a fan of the boring physique, however I think about that Nikon might be releasing a Zfc II later with the identical options in a retro design.

Different options embrace a built-in flash, flip-out show, brighter 2.36-million dot EVF (now 1,000 nits), a single UHS-II card slot, mic and headphone jacks, a tally lamp, waveform show, USB streaming assist and a wider ISO vary as much as 512,000. The Nikon Z50 II is now on pre-order for $960 (physique solely) or $1,050 with a Nikkor Z 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 VR package lens.

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