Nikon Z7 Review
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The Nikon Z7 is the company’s most well-rounded camera to date: it’s as well spec’d and well-suited for video capture as it is for stills, and the quality of both is impressive. The Z7’s designed to offer an experience familiar to existing Nikon DSLR shooters in a smaller, lighter body, built around the all-new Nikon Z-mount.
This is Nikon’s first full-frame mirrorless camera: a 4K-capable machine which features a variant of the D850’s 46MP BSI CMOS sensor, but with the addition of on-sensor phase detection AF pixels and mechanical stabilization. The only area where the Z7 comes up a little short is autofocus reliability and usability – something at which Nikon’s DSLRs have long excelled.
Key features:
- 45.7MP full-frame BSI-CMOS sensor with on-sensor phase detection
- In-body 5-axis image stabilization (rated to 5EV)
- 493 PDAF points with 90% horizontal and vertical coverage of the frame
- ISO 64-25,600 (expandable to 102,400)
- Up to 9 fps shooting (JPEG and 12-bit Raw)
- 3.69M-dot OLED viewfinder
- 2.1M-dot tilting touch LCD
- OLED top plate display
- Single XQD card slot
- UHD 4K capture up to 30p
- 10-bit 4:2:2 N-Log output over HDMI
- Up to 100Mbps H.264 8-bit internal video capture
- SnapBridge Wi-Fi system with Bluetooth, including to-PC transfer
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| Edited to taste in Adobe Camera Raw. ISO 4500 | 1/500 sec | F2.8 | Shot using the Nikon Z 35mm F1.8 S |
The Nikon Z7 is available now for a body-only price of $ 3400. It is also available kitted with the 24-70mm F4 S lens for $ 4000 (many retailers are offering additional kits with the ‘F to Z adapter’ for about $ 150 more).
What’s new and how it compares
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The Z7 isn’t just a D850 without a mirror: we look at the key additions and what the Z7 offers. Read more |
Body and handling
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How the Z7 feels in the hand may be crucial to its acceptance with photographers. Have a look at the camera and its control points to see how it could work for you. Read more |
Operation and controls
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The Z7’s user interface will be very familiar to existing Nikon shooters. Up to a point, that is. Read more |
What it’s like to use
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The Z7 is well-suited for a wide variety of photo and video use-cases. Here are the pros and cons of using it for… Read more |
Image quality
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The Z7’s 45.7MP BSI-CMOS full-frame sensor is very capable, but how does it compare to the D850? Read more |
Dynamic range
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On-sensor autofocus points limit the Z7’s effective dynamic range, compared to the D850. By how much? Read on. Read more |
Z7 autofocus performance
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The Z7 mostly offers impressive autofocus performance, but struggles with tracking reliability and low light accuracy. Read more |
Autofocus usability
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AF usability is one area the Z7 lags behind its Nikon DSLR counterparts and the mirrorless competition. Read more |
Video
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Nikon has done a lot to enhance the Z7’s video, even if that’s not immediately obvious from the specs. Read more |
Conclusion
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For a first-generation product, we’re hugely impressed with the Z7. We think it’s the most well-rounded stills+video camera Nikon’s launched to date. Read more |
Sample gallery
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We’ve shot a lot with the Z7, here’s our full gallery of out-of-camera JPEGs and Raw conversions. Read more |
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)