Big test
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system, I tackled various action, portrait and landscape subjects, finding its performance to be very good, if not stellar compared to some rivals. Face and eye AF is a big reason for many to upgrade to a mirrorless body and the Z 50 has this function. Making sure it’s switched on in the AF menu, you then shoot in C-AF and auto-area AF, and it picks out faces and eyes easily, even allowing you to switch between those it’s found. I found it worked well, though not quite as faultlessly as some of its competitors, struggling more so in low light. For action, the AF also performed well, though the supplied 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 zoom doesn’t allow enough light in to see what the system is really capable of. We’ll need to wait for faster Z DX lenses to see that. Setting AF-C and using the subject tracking mode, I got
a good amount of hits – it’s, say, 70% or so – even on subjects that were coming quickly towards my shooting position. At this price point it’s impressive. Single AF was faultless, except in low-light and low-contrast conditions, and again this was most obvious when shooting at the long end of the 50- 250mm lens. Switching to faster optics improved autofocus performance. There is no in-body image stabilisation for stills, but there is Nikon’s Electronic VR, which is used for video and smooths out footage nicely. Both the available Z DX lenses have optical VR, so the only downside is that you won’t get a VR benefit when using non-VR F mount lenses via the FTZ converter. Mounting F-mount VR lenses with the Z 50, such as the 70-200mm f/2.8E, seemed to work perfectly. Lacking any buttons, on the
ISO outside the shooting menu, and the fact that the self-timer mode turns off whenever you switch the Z 50 off and on again, which isn’t ideal when moving from one landscape location to another. Elsewhere on the body, the screen can be tilted up or down, swinging around below the camera in a self portrait configuration, though its path and your view is blocked if you have anything connected to the tripod mount. It’s still handy for low- and high-angle shooting though, and with all main controls grouped on the right of the camera, it’s possible to shoot one-handed if you need to. The Z 50 is Nikon’s DX-format sensor with on-chip phase detection pixels, making it a ‘hybrid AF system’ and it has 209 selectable points covering about 90% of the frame. To test the camera’s AF
PERFORMANCE: ISO
ISO 100
ISO 800
ISO 1600
ISO 3200
ISO 6400
ISO 12,800
ISO 25,600
ISO 51,200
general desaturation, though the fine text on this shop front example was still readable. I′d be very happy to work inAuto ISO, setting 6400 or 12,800 as the maximum. The extended ‘Hi’ settings – equivalents of 102,400 and 204,800 – aren’t worth troubling unless you’ve spotted a Yeti on a moonless night. It′s worth noting that Raws from the Z 50 load into the ACR with presets as standard. One of these is Color NR, which is set at 10, rather than the default 25, so don′t forget that if you pick up a Z 50.
The Z 50 puts in a highly creditable performance when it comes to ISO performance. As with all tests, we shot Raw images throughout the ISO range and converted them in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) with default settings of 0 Luminance NR and 25 Color NR. Images are untroubled up to ISO 1600, and only minorly affected beyond that up to about 6400. Even at 12,800 and 25,600, images are usable. Towards the ISO ceiling of 51,200, you’ll begin to see a lot of grain breaking up image detail and a
ABOVE The DX 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens can be bought bundled with the Z 50 for £989 – only £140 more than the body alone – and its lightweight retractable design makes it a very travel-friendly option. But despite being a kit lens, it provided very respectable sharpness, and the 24-75mm equivalent focal length means it’s a good fit for a range of subjects, from landscapes to portraits. This test image was shot at 30secs, f/14 and ISO 500
Issue 73 | Photography News 39
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