Nikon Z6 II Evaluate: First Impressions

If you happen to just like the look of the Nikon Z7 II however are content material with 24.5-megapixels, the Nikon Z6 II provides the identical controls, interface and lots of the identical options for nearly £1000 much less.

Introduction

Again in 2020, Nikon up to date its Z line of mirrorless cameras with the Nikon Z7 II and the Nikon Z6 II, with the latter being an replace to the complete body Nikon Z6. 

The 2 Nikon cameras are bodily indistinguishable, however there are just a few distinction between them that enables the Z6 II to undercut the Z7 II by practically £1000, with the primary one being the Z7 II’s high-resolution sensor.

That doesn’t imply the Z6 II doesn’t have its personal strengths, nevertheless, and, at a less expensive worth level, it’s undoubtedly value a glance.

Design and show 

• The Nikon Z6 II has a small, light-weight physique
• There’s a great array of switches and dials
• It has an EVF, tilting contact show and a small display on the highest

If you happen to had been to position the Nikon Z6 II down subsequent to the Z7 II, you’d have a tough time distinguishing the 2 cameras. It is because nearly all of their variations lay of their specs.

Just like the Z7 II, the Z6 II has a compact and light-weight physique for a full body digicam, sitting in between the chunky Nikon Z9 and the small Nikon Z30 within the model’s mirrorless line-up. The grip has a good quantity of depth to it, permitting the digicam to assist most lenses and there’s a strong array of bodily dials and controls providing fast entry to a spread of options and settings.

I discovered navigating the digicam to be straightforward utilizing a mixture of the bodily buttons and contact controls. I switched between the Z6 II and the Z7 II throughout totally different shoots on the occasion and located no discernible distinction between the 2 cameras when it got here to their dealing with or controls.

The Z6 II has a complete of three shows should you rely the viewfinder: a 3690K-dot OLED EVF, a 3.2-inch tilting touchscreen and a black and white prime show that provides a handy view of the digicam’s settings at a look. I’d have most popular the vari-angle show discovered on the Z30 over the tilting monitor on the Z6 II, however this can be a private desire and which display kind you like will rely on what precisely you want from the digicam. If you’d like a tool you’ll be able to vlog with, you would possibly battle with out the flexibility to flip the display out. 

Nikon provides the flexibility to cost the digicam’s battery as you shoot with the USB Sort-C port. There’s additionally an HDMI output and two 3.5mm jacks, one for a microphone and one other for a pair of headphones.

Lastly, there’s twin reminiscence card assist with one slot reserved for CFExpress and XQD playing cards and the opposite for traditional SD. 

Picture high quality and efficiency

• The Z6 II has a 24.5-megapixel picture sensor
• Photographs are sharp and vibrant
• The Z6 II has benefits over the Z7 II with its wider ISO vary and 14fps capturing

The picture sensor is the place the Z6 II begins to pivot away from the Z7 II. The place the Z7 II has a forty five.7-megapixel picture sensor, the Z6 II sticks with a 24.5-megapixel sensor.

That doesn’t imply the efficiency is any much less spectacular, nevertheless. When you gained’t get the identical high-resolution outcomes from the Z6 II, the digicam does function the identical twin Expeed processors and it nonetheless has a full body sensor, that means there’s no crop to take care of.

The images I snapped throughout the occasion got here out fortunately sharp and clear. The colors are vibrant and saturated, although I didn’t get the possibility to make use of this digicam with a flash attachment so it’s tough to say how correct pores and skin tones and different facets of the picture are below the substitute lights.

The Z6 II additionally has a considerably wider ISO vary than the Z7 II at 100-51200. This implies you’ll be able to anticipate the cheaper digicam to have a little bit of a bonus when capturing in low-light settings.

The Z6 II can also be sooner than the Z7 II, supporting speeds of as much as 14fps at full decision with autofocus and auto publicity, that means it must be more proficient at capturing fast-moving topics, although this isn’t one thing I acquired a lot probability to check within the hands-on atmosphere.

The Z6 II comes with the identical hybrid AF system and eye and animal topic detection because the pricier digicam, however with a lot fewer focus factors at 273 (the Z7 II has 493). Nevertheless, I didn’t discover any dramatic variations when utilizing the autofocus to shoot portraits or the above picture of a motorbike.

The Z6 II may shoot in 4K at as much as 60fps. I acquired the chance to check its video capabilities on the occasion and located the footage to be extremely sharp and vibrant.

Early Verdict

If you happen to just like the look of the Nikon Z7 II however are content material with 24.5-megapixels, the Nikon Z6 II provides the identical controls, interface and lots of the identical options for nearly £1000 much less. 

Regardless of its smaller sensor, photos snapped with the Z6 II are fantastically vibrant and detailed and the digicam is able to capturing at as much as 14fps, making it a greater choose than the Z7 II for capturing transferring topics.

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