Justin Porter and I got our hands on the new Nikon Z5ii about ten minutes after the embargo lifted, in a hotel courtyard, with no plan and no b-roll. What follows is the most professional first impressions content you have ever seen. Put some respect on their name.
Underneath the yelling, though, there is a genuinely interesting camera here. So here’s what’s actually in it.
$1,699
That’s the number, and it’s the number everything else has to be judged against. Sixteen ninety nine. Full frame. That’s a big sensor in a body at that price.
It Records RAW Internally
For $1,699 you are getting a Nikon that films in RAW. Internally. No external recorder, no monitor hanging off the side, it just does it in the camera.
I can already see the comments on the other side of this. I don’t need RAW, RAW is overkill. Okay, well, half of y’all don’t even set your white balance correctly, and you know what’s going to save your butt whenever you mess it up? RAW will. That’s Justin’s argument and I am not going to be the one to tell him he’s wrong about it.
Honestly, most of you probably aren’t going to use RAW right out of the gate. That’s fine. The point is that it’s there and ready whenever you are. A camera from another brand at this price would simply not have it.
Frame Rates And The Crop
Here’s the caveat, and remember this is first impressions, we just got the thing. You’re getting 4K at 30 frames per second in full frame, which is not bad at all.
Does it do 4K 60? Yes, with a 1.5 times crop. So there’s still a bit of crop there. Is that a big deal? Maybe. Maybe not. Personally I wish it were full frame, I really do, but at this price I understand the decision.
Dual SD Card Slots
Everybody complains about how expensive these cards can be, and rightly so, because storage is very expensive and storage is very boring.
Dual SD card slots. No CF Express Type B. And it still records internal RAW at 30 frames per second onto an SD card. That’s wild. I don’t think that’s a dealbreaker, I think it’s a game changer.
What Carried Over From The Bigger Bodies
This is the part that surprised me most. A lot of what’s in here came straight down from the expensive cameras:
- Same batteries as the Z8 and Z9, so if you already shoot Nikon you don’t have to stress about that at all.
- The flip out screen from the Z6III.
- The same autofocus performance as the Z8, Z9 and Z6III.
- Microphone jack and headphone jack, both there.
- Low light is supposed to have gotten a bump because of the sensor. That one is what we were told, not what we tested, so take it as a spec sheet claim for now.
Where They Cut The Cost
You want to know how they got to $1,700? Micro HDMI. That’s where the price cut lives. You do get USB-C, but the full size HDMI port is gone.
The other thing missing is the little status display on the top plate. I don’t know if that’s a dealbreaker, mostly because I don’t think I’ve ever used it on my Z8. It tells you how many photos you have left to take, which is not a number you’re looking at if you’re shooting video. If that is your thing, though, know that it isn’t here.
Who This Camera Is For
This is Nikon’s entry level full frame body, and I mean that as a compliment. If you have been thinking “I want to start shooting Nikon, what do I buy,” this is that camera.
Right out of the gate you’re getting most of what’s in the premium models for a fraction of what a Z8 or Z9 costs. You can adapt basically any lens to it. It’s full frame, it has the specs you actually need, and it has RAW sitting there for whenever you’re ready for it.
What I like about what Nikon is doing here is that they’re not holding features back to protect the expensive bodies. They’re putting as much tech into every model as they possibly can. This camera from another brand would not have had RAW in it. Not for that price. You can believe that.
Go check out Justin Porter Media, who is responsible for approximately 90% of the yelling in this one. And if you want to get better at the part that happens after you press record, my Edit Videos Like A Pro guide is completely free.