Thom Hogan

Nikon today introduced the highly anticipated Z5II. The short summary: the Z5II is comprised of mostly Zf internals in a body nearly identical to the original Z5. That makes the Z5II the sixth Z9-generation camera with EXPEED7 goodies, leaving only the Z7 line to await such an update (in full frame). I'm told that the Z5 will continue in the lineup at (eventually) a new reduced price. 

Wait, I wrote surprises in the headline, so what were those? I basically see three things that go beyond what was expected for a Z5 update:

1. The price. At US$1699, that makes the Z5II and the Z6II the same price currently, and this price is decidedly higher than what most expected. The good news is that the Z5II is a better camera than the Z6II while using the same image sensor. 
2. The feature set. I was surprised by the original Z5's feature set and how extensive it was, and once again Nikon has put in one heck of a lot of the Z9 generation goodies to load up the Z5II (see below). Curiously, HEIF seems to be missing, but things like 12-bit N-RAW, Hi-Res Zoom, and other more advanced and non-entry features are present. 
3. The offer. At least for the initial rollout, NikonUSA is providing a free one-year subscription to Adobe's Lightroom+1TB Creative Cloud offering when you register your camera. That's US$144 worth of software and cloud goodness that seems to indicate that at least the Nikon and Adobe sales teams are talking to each other.

About that price. NikonUSA's current Instant Rebate program expires in a week, on April 11th. My guess is that the next round of discounting will have to start addressing the problematic log-jam Nikon currently has in pricing of their full frame lineup. I believe that the future pricing will sort into an order that goes like this: Z5 < Z6II < Z5II < Zf < Z6III. All these are 24mp cameras, but with different feature sets at staggered price points. (If you want more of a discussion about this, Mark Comon and I will be doing our usual "new camera launch" type of presentation for the Z5II on Tuesday, at 5pm PST (see Creative Photo Academy site for details and to sign up).)

Let's get to the details about what's in the Z5II. Major things the new camera gets from the Z9 generation change:

• Subject detection autofocus with all the trimmings (e.g. Wide-Area custom settings); yes, and Bird is a choice
• Focus performance has improved to -10EV (at base ISO with f/1.2 lens)
• Pixel shift shooting is included (up to 96mp from 32 images; requires free NX Studio software to stitch)
• Nikon Imaging Cloud support, including downloadable Recipes (i.e. Flexible Picture Controls) to go with the new Picture Control button on the top of the camera (ala the Z50II)
• Restructured menu system (PHOTO SHOOTING, VIDEO RECORDING, CUSTOM SETTING, PLAYBACK, SETUP, NETWORK) 
• Additional customization options
• Maximum frame rate increases to about 14 fps from 4.5 fps (as with the other non-stacked image sensors, the exact frame rate you get depends upon whether you're using mechanical shutter or electronic)
• As with the other Z9 generation cameras, we get button and control position shifts from the original Z6/Z7 positions
• Higher end options such as Voice memo, Skin softening, and High-frequency flicker reduction are surprisingly included
• Better video capabilities show up in spades (10-bit H.265 support, 12-bit N-RAW, N-Log, no crop at 4K/30P, the addition of 4K/60P and FullHD/120P, waveforms, and much more)

And the (few) things the Z5II didn't get from the EXPEED7 bin:

• 10-bit HEIF (Nikon Japan says HEIF is in the camera)
• IPTC data entry
• WR wireless flash support; the MC-DC2 type slot is dropped, replaced by the MC-DC3 remote that plugs into the headphone jack, thus you can't plug an WR-R11 into the Z5II

Battery remains the long-lived EN-EL15 type, again using the C iteration. USB charging happens in camera with B and C versions of the battery, but note that the camera no longer comes with a standalone charger or USB wall wart, just a USB C cable. CIPA ratings range from 330 images to 380, depending upon how you've got the camera set and whether you're using the EVF or Rear LCD.

All of this happens in a body that is remarkably close in size to the original Z5 while gaining an ounce in the changeover (it's still smaller and lighter than the Z6III). Said body is weather sealed and now features an articulated Rear LCD instead of a tilting one. While the EVF has the same dot pattern and most other characteristics as the Z5, Nikon claims that it can go far brighter, up to 3000 nits and "6x brighter than competing cameras" (Nikon didn't state what those are ;~); the Z5, by comparison was 1000 nits).

Nikon made a few other changes that aren't just about Z9 Expeed7 improvements. One is that instead of the old D600/D750 image sensor, the Z5II has moved to the Z6II/Zf image sensor. That means we go from FSI (frontside illumination) to BSI (backside) and add in dual gain to the Z5II. There's no real change in pixel count, but many changes to video capabilities, some rolling shutter improvements, and overall better data transfer speed. Since that last bit impacts focus speed, one should expect Zf level autofocus from the Z5II, which is to say, really good for casual work, and even able to stretch into action, when needed. To reiterate the levels at which I think action works on the various Z9 generation cameras, from lowest to highest:

• Z50II — The electronic shutter speed, rolling shutter, and EVF conspire here to make the Z50II a bit erratic when you press it against the top frame rates with moving subjects you have to follow. Another issue can be top shutter speed if you're using mechanical shutter.
• Z5II and Zf — A small step upward with the EVF, but with some of the same issues as in the DX sibling.
• Z6III — A clear step forward. The partial stack sensor and the EVF do some heavier lifting and rolling shutter is significantly reduced.
• Z8 and Z9 — The full stack sensor and the split-stream off it make for no hiccups and no visible rolling shutter. 

For some reason, the sensor VR on the Z5II is now rated at 7.5 stops CIPA instead of 8 stops (on the Zf). We do get Focus point VR, though. I'm sorting through a few other similar oddities and will report on those as I understand them.

Even at the US$1699 price point, the Z5II probably is going to be a decent seller initially (and it ships to customers "in April"). While Z5 owners have had multiple chances to upgrade already (via the Z6II, Zf, and Z6III) and the new model is at a higher list price, the Z5II significantly undercuts the Z6III. By that I mean that the Z5II is probably 95% the camera the Z6III is, but at 500 fewer shekels. Some future Z6III sales are going to shift to the Z5II because of that. Meanwhile, the original Z5 is still on the market at the US$999 price point, and remains a reasonably compelling entry-level full frame camera; the Z5II sits almost exactly between that Z5 and Z6III in price (particularly if you factor in the Lightroom offer). 

So who benefits from this revised Z5II?

• The remaining DX DSLR folk that were looking for how they'd get into mirrorless and have always envied FX. Accounting for inflation, the Z5II is at the D7xxx price point and offers a ton of upgrades.
• The remaining D600/D750 folk that didn't want to pay US$2000+ to get similar image quality. US$1700 is a large ask, but at least now the bottom entrant of the current full frame mirrorless lineup sees feature and performance gains that would make the switch worthwhile.
• Those that were on the fence about the Z6III. As I've discussed the Z5II with others, we've had a tough time describing the compelling reason to update to a Z6III over now the Zf and Z5II. Yes, you get a better EVF in the Z6III, but you may also need to buy new storage cards (CFexpress) and the other "gains" are all in the not-needed category for some users (e.g. rolling shutter improvement). 

And who is not looking at the Z5II so positively?

• Original Z5 owners looking to upgrade. Yes, they see more performance and features, but they also see a significant price increase. 
• The gift-shopping crowd. Again, the higher price becomes the issue, particularly if you need to buy a lens along with the body. (It's a US$2000 proposition to buy the Z5II with the 24-50mm kit lens.)

Commentary: Despite Nikon's continued insistence that they're primarily targeting high-end products, in reality they're simply rebuilding their very wide DSLR lineup again, though perhaps with a few more features at the lower end this time. By holding older cameras on the market and ingeniously staggering the updates, we now have eleven cameras spread out from US$710 list to US$6000 list. That's fourteen Z System cameras Nikon has come out with in less than seven years. Indeed, by the time we hit the actual seven year Z anniversary, I expect that list to be at least fifteen. Given that at least a third of those cameras sell for less than the historical prosumer/pro lower bar—which has always been somewhere around US$2000 since the D100 first appeared—Nikon's actions speak differently than their words.

On the other hand, I find it great that Nikon is taking the Z9 generation technology all the way down into what can be called more consumer cameras. We now have the Z50II providing current technology without having to go upscale in list price, with the Z5II doing the same while nudging the price (this could be an anticipated tariff adjustment). When you also consider inflation, a new-to-Nikon consumer purchasing in the US$1700 and under category is today getting more camera and better value for less money. Hopefully we'll see this extend to the Z30 soon with II refresh, too.

According to one inside source I've talked to, the camera update that's been problematic for Nikon to figure out how to manage correctly in this generational transition is the Z7. They can't simply make it into a Z8 with no split sensor data, as that would undermine the sales of the Z8. Those sales of the Z8 have continued at higher levels for far longer than expected, and Nikon simply doesn't want to undermine the Z8 until they have to. I've been saying that a Z7III isn't likely until there's an impending change to the Z8 that would clearly differentiate the two, and I believe that may be exactly Nikon's attitude, too. 

So at this point we have six current generation cameras (Z9, Z8, Z6III, Zf, Z5II, and Z50II on EXPEED7) and five older generation cameras (Z7II, Z6II, Z5, Z30, and Zfc on EXPEED6). The older generation cameras will live in the price cracks of the newer generation, giving Nikon what looks to be a broad line of differently priced cameras, again very similar to what they did in the teens for DSLRs.

I expect another EXPEED7 camera—a new, more video oriented model—to be next and further updates of the older cameras will probably stall into 2026 and later. That said, Men's World Cup and the Winter Olympics are in 2026, so I expect high-end action by Nikon to defend the Z9 in late 2025 or early 2026. Whether that's more big firmware updates or a real Z9II is unclear. I actually believe Nikon management is debating that very choice right now in Tokyo as they prepare for their year-end press and business meetings. (I outlined the low-hanging fruit for a modest Z9II update in an earlier article.)

Nikon has entered their new fiscal year (only two days ago) in a relatively good place, with strong sales driven by a fairly strong lineup. This, however, is going to be a fiscal year of tests for Nikon, though. Is a Z5II and a ZV going to be enough to continue growth in sales and market share? Will the tariff and world economic situations become a huge friction to overcome? What new lenses would really keep the Nikkor side of the business moving forward? While Nikon management will pat themselves on the back again in the first week of May, they're almost certainly concerned about the road ahead, as it's about as rocky as ever. 

We're now six years into the Z System, and a number of cameras have had updates. One thing that gets mentioned almost as a throwaway after each update are statements such as "not much of an upgrade" versus "upgrade makes a big difference." 

It's worth taking a moment to consider what Nikon has done in moving the Z System forward, and being more specific about the different progress that has been made for each model. Let's take it camera by camera, starting with DX:

• Z50 to Z50II — This was a massive change, and deserves more respect. The Z50 went from being a somewhat likable, feature limited camera with a lot of small annoyances, to being the most well-rounded and performance-capable camera anywhere near its price point. Customization and controllability got better, focus got way better, video got better, frame rates got better, features got better and extended, plus even the small tweaks to what's shown in the EVF help the camera, too. When Nikon does a job like this, they should be applauded at the standing ovation level, not just a bunch "yeah, buts..." Big win.
• Zfc — No changes yet.
• Z30 — No changes yet. One could say that the Z30 was a Z50 with a very modest update and an EVF removal. Now that we have the Z50II you can see just how modest the Z30 update really was: extremely. No applause necessary ;~). 

Up until the Z50II it seemed that Nikon wasn't all that serious about DX. The Z50 was a low-end placeholder, the Zfc was a way to disguise almost no upgrade work being done by putting that in a legacy-design body and creating an update that catered to nostalgia. The Z30 was really a way of disguising that same modest update as something that would instead appeal to "creators." The Z50II seems to put that to an end, unless by creator you mean someone who never uses an EVF and just wants a smaller camera (and is willing to suffer considerable consequences in doing so). 

Personally, I don't think the Zfc needs an update, but a Z30II incorporating the Z50II changes would be a very useful product, particularly at the price point. The problem for DX now is starting to be the one we've had since 2007: it needs more lens support. I don't care whether that comes from Nikon or third parties, but particularly with zoom lenses we have a number of missing lens components now. 

Moving to FX we see:

• Z5 — No changes yet, though pretty clear indications that it is next for the EXPEED7 makeover (see next article). Will Nikon do what they did with the Z50II? Let's hope so. But given that the Z5 lives at the bottom of the FX price chain and really needs to sell at US$1000 at times, the temptation for Nikon to strip something down will be high. 
• Z6 to Z6II — While the list of changes was actually fairly long in this update—I identified over two dozen in my review—most of these had minimal impact on how good a camera it was. Quite a few seemed to be just addressing something that didn't get done in the original model, as opposed to truly extending performance or feature set. This led to a lot of grumbling and dissatisfaction among the Zsumers, though most eventually came to the conclusion that the Z6II was indeed preferred over the Z6; it just wasn't a dollar-worthy upgrade.
• Z6II to Z6III — A substantive change that improves virtually all the questionable aspects of the II model. That's "marred" by one small thing: some modest reduction of dynamic range at the lower ISO levels. Some might also include a bit of rolling shutter in electronic shutter mode, but both of these things are not likely to be a detriment to someone who understands the camera well. The Z9-level features really do improve the overall operability of this model to the point where it's probably all the camera that most people really need. Major win.
• Z7 to Z7II — Same thing as with the Z6: no performance or feature set extension that made a clear difference, but a lot of small things that made for a slightly better camera. Not worth paying for the upgrade, but it did make those coming into the system for the first time to a Z7II feel a little better about it.
• Z8 — Surprisingly, firmware 2.00 made changes that were well worth getting, and it did it for free. (I'll deal with that more in the Z9 section, next.) Significant win.
• Z9 — Nikon's biggest surprise of all. When you think about it, the Z9 basically "fixed" all the Z7/Z7II complaints in spades with its initial iteration. I took a preproduction Z9 and a Z7II to Africa and almost never picked up the Z7II, as it was such a downgrade. So some might say the Z9 was a pro-level, massive upgrade of the Z7II. But wait, there's more. As in firmware 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, and eventually 5.0. Every one of those major number upgrades simply made an already excellent camera clearly better. What became evident over time is that the Z9 was actually rushed to market (yet still beat the competition up), even though the engineering team still had significant work left to do on it, which they eventually completed. Funny thing is, I don't think they're done, though I now expect firmware 6.0 will more likely be the Z9II. Big win.
• Zf — A substantive update to the Zfc ;~). One reason why I don't have strong hopes for a ZfcII any time soon is that the Zf was really the update. Not only did the Zf get the Z9-initiated EXPEED7 goodies, but there are small differences to how Nikon tackled the legacy body ideas, too. Coupled with a better FX sensor and EVF and all that entails, the Zf became the ultimate retro-style camera, and I don't think Nikon needs two of those. Significant win.

Looking back at Nikon's whole mirrorless history, it now seems clear that there were three turning points: (1) Nikon 1 pioneering on-sensor PDAF and WYSIWIG EVF; (2) Z6/Z7 generation maturing the Nikon 1 technologies into the mainstream ILC market; and (3) EXPEED7 then pushing Nikon's in-camera capabilities to new abilities and extremes. No fourth turning point is on the radar at the moment, but given that there are usually long periods before each major shift, that's not surprising. That actually describes Nikon engineering's modus operandi over many decades: every four or eight years deploy clearly new technology at the top, then work it down through the lineup. 

Some are predicting EXPEED8 is on the near horizon (because EXPEED7 is four years old). I'm not so sure about that as it would be a huge R&D investment right on the heels of EXPEED7, and that's not very Nikon-like. My expectations would instead be that they instead turn to a helper chip, not a new base processor. We've already seen that idea from Sony with their AI processing unit. Moreover, the split data stream Z8/Z9 cameras should be well suited to multi-chip upgrades. Which has me predicting an add-on chip for the Z8/Z9 updates when we get them, and then EXPEED8 integrating that and more for the eventual other model updates. But I could be wrong; maybe Nikon saw a need to push EXPEED updates faster. The reason why I doubt this, though, is that they haven't yet taken full advantage of EXPEED7's capabilities.

As I write this, the "un-upgraded" models are: Zfc, Z30, Z5, and Z7II. I expect the Z5II shortly, leaving Nikon with only three un-upgraded models (the Z8 and Z9 were upgraded via firmware). And to my overall point, we've gotten three substantive upgrades this round already: Z50 to Z50II, Zfc to Zf, and Z6II to Z6III. Nikon's current lineup is pretty strong at the moment, and only going to get stronger.