Nikon Z7 review – in pictures

MOUNT-AIN CLIMBERS

With a if-you-can’t-beat-em-join-em mentality, Nikon are taking a leap to boldly enter the full-frame mirrorless game by launching two new cameras: The Z6 and the Z7. Finally roused from DSLR stubbornness, it’s the company’s largest and most exciting mount yet, the Z-mount, with a diameter of 55mm – which is hay-uge. Sony’s E-mount is 46.7mm and the Nikon F-mount is 47mm for comparison. This new mount opens up new possibilties for exciting new lenses and wide apertures such as the 55mm F/0.95 lens which has been causing excited squarks across the photographic community.

GRIP-ITY DOO DAH

It’s not the most photogenic of cameras, but then Nikon was never known for making products that you see perched on an Eames storage unit in a fancy interior design magazine. Nikon is pre-occupied on a more noble pursuit: How to substantially increase the size of its mount, whilst keeping the body as small and light as possible and yet retaining that super ergonomic Nikon legacy. And it really hits the spot with the Nikon Z7.

STURDY BEAST

It weighs a couple of grams more than the Sony Alpha rIII, and is slightly bulkier too. It promises the same waterproofing and sealing as the much-loved Nikon D850. Walking through the incredible teamLab exhibition in Tokyo with it dangling around my neck, it definitely took a few splashes and knocks from the interactive art, yet didn’t show any signs of weakness. In the hand it feels sturdy and I’m really pleased it’s double down on size but retains a deep grip. Design-wise, Nikon sticks to a very similar setup as its DSLR lineup with the standard mode dial – as to not totally alienate its existing loyal shutterbugs and so the transition for a Nikon DSLR user should be quite natural.

A FANTASTIC EVF

It’s a releif to see that this is a fantastic EVF with a 3.69million-dot OLED panel and a more than decent 0.8x zoom. The screen is no slouch either, with 2.1 million dot tilt angle touchscreen. There’s a fair amount of rubber grip so it’s very easy to open the card slot due to the curved lump on the side of the body. Opening and shutting this felt sturdy and secure. The top right has the shutter release button (as expected) along with the on and off switch and around it are three controls: ISO, exposure control and movie recording. It’s the same story with the menu screen and interface. There are well-sealed ports for headphone, microphone, USB-C, HDMI and remote ports, both the Z6 and Z7 take an XQD memory card, with Nikon explaining the unreliability and flimsiness of SD Cards prompted the switch.

HANDY SCREEN

The 3.2inch 2100K dot tilting touch-screen is great, but it would’ve be brilliant to see the fully articulated screen like the D850 and other pro-level DSLRs. Eye-detection, face tracking, 0.80x magnification and dioptre correction are all covered here too. The tap screen and capture option is really sensitive and sometimes you can accidentally take a shot via this method if you’re not paying attention. There’s the option to turn that off, and we’d advise you do that. As well as the 3.2in LCD screen, the Z7 features a small display on the top plate. This shows aperture, shutter speed, ISO and battery at a glance. This isn’t something that Sony offer, so it’s a nice addition and I found it to be quite handy, especially at night or when I didn’t want to attract too much attention to myself.

FINE FUNCTIONS

The thing I found most handy was the ‘i’ button. It allows you to access all the setting options and you can even use the touch-screen too. Maybe for those who are used to using Nikon cameras full time wouldn’t need to rely on this, but for those who are less familiar with the layout – it’s a huge plus. There are two function buttons next to the lens base where you can set custom settings and then shortcut to your favourite set ups for whatever kind of scenes you keep on coming back to. There’s built-in WiFi and Bluetooth and it works a treat too. When I connected to Nikon’s SnapBridge app, it paired seamlessly, and I was able to see the shots I’d just taken in an instant and share them, save them, or simply savour over the incredible amount of detail evident.

FOCUS POCUS

The F to Z adapter works well with older Nikkor lenses, so it’s good news that it’s compatible with over 350 Nikkor lenses. The Z7 uses a new hybrid autofocus system with 493 phase detection AF points, meaning it has 90% of the frame covered. There’s a choice of: auto-area, wide-area and single-point modes, and even a pin-point one which I found to be my favourite when I want to focus on a on tiny something or other. The focusing was always swift and accurate The AF joystick on the Z7 is practically identical to the D850 and it’s easy to reach when holding up the camera to you face. It moves effortlessly in all directions and will become your best friend while shooting.

IT’S A KINDA MAGIC

With a new 45.7MP sensor and the fact that Nikon consider itself professionals in optic design physics, it comes as no surprise that the image quality is superb. There also a new processing engine involved – Expeed 6. This allows the Z7 to shoot up to 9fps. Despite having a slightly different sensor, the quality is believed to match the Nikon D850, which is pretty much the gold standard when it comes to top-notch photography.

MAXIMUM RES

Images from the Z7 output at a maximum res of 8256 x 5504 but can also shoot 14-bit raws with the options for compressed or uncompressed. TIFFs are also an option, making it really versatile for all manner of photographers. Stills have incredible detail, even at night shooting hand-held. I was able to read the text on brightly-lit shop fronts a whole 50 metres away set against a jet-black sky

HOLD YOUR COLOURS

Striaght out of camera, and the jpegs have a pleasing and true to nature colour. All the standard settings can be seen here such as: vivid, monochome, landscape, plus there’s a load of new creative picture controls – such as ‘denim’ should you want a Levi finish to your photos?! I prefer a natural look to photos and found the dynamic range to be really quite excellent. Review samples images below…

GREAT VISIONS

You get the same features for video as you get for stills, including 5-axis IS and the hybrid AF system. The Z7 goes even further and supports focus peaking, zebra patterns, time code and 10-bit Log output over HDMI. The camera can record 8-bit video internally and externally at the same time. There’s a whole host of options in the menu to adjust video settings and the connection options for mics and headphones mean that, should you wish, you can shoot an entire film on this. Make sure you back a couple of extra batteries though…

NIKON Z7 VERDICT

There’s no denying that the Nikon high-end Z7 is capable of incredible image quality. The new mount is an exciting prospect for a slew of new lenses we cannot wait to get our hands on the 58mm f/0.95. At £3399, it’s an investment for sure, but the image quality from the 45.7MP sensor, 493-point and super speedy AF system, we reckon the Z7 won’t disappoint. On top of that, you get 9fps burst shooting, an awesomely high-resolution 3.6-million dot display EVF and fast 60p refresh rates. And the only negative I can see at this stage is perhaps only having one card slot and the average battery.