Nikon Z50 II

Brand's original DX-format Z-series mirrorless gets turbocharged with Expeed 7 processor

- Adam Waring

£849/$910 (body only)

The Nikon Z50 II is the follow-up to Nikon’s first crop-sensor mirrorless and comes just over five years after the original Nikon Z50 launched back in 2019. Smaller and lighter than the full-frame Z-series cameras further up the range, its downsized APS-C (or DX, in Nikon parlance) sensor enables it to be used with an equally more compact range of lenses.

There are plenty of similarities between the Z50 II and its predecessor, with the same 20.9MP sensor, 3.2in 1.04 million-dot rear screen and 2.36 million-dot viewfinder. The ISO range remains at 100-51,200 (204,800 expanded) as does the 11fps shooting rate when the mechanical shutter is used. However, it does have a newergeneration Expeed 7 processor – the same as used in the newer full-frame Z-series cameras from the Nikon Z f through to the Nikon Z 9, and this chip offers a vast improvement in autofocus performance, cleaner images compared to those from a Z50 at the same ISO settings, and increases the frame rate to up to 30fps when using an electronic shutter.

Build and handling

While the Z50 II looks similar to the Z50 at a glance, it is a little bigger and has a deeper, more comfortable grip. The control layout has more in common with cameras like the Nikon Z 6III, with a dedicated button for drive mode, which was absent on the Z50 and had to be accessed via the menu system. It also gains physical buttons to zoom in and out, and a ‘Disp’ button to toggle between various on-screen information overlays. On the Z50, these were ‘soft’ buttons built into the rear LCD.