Nikon Z5 II - £1,599/$1,699 (body only)

Affordable full-framer packed with powerful features

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The Nikon Z5 II is the successor to the Z 5, released five years earlier as a more affordable entry to Nikon's full-frame mirrorless ecosystem than its other full-frame cameras of the day, the Z 6 and Z 7. While the original Z 5's 24.3MP sensor almost matched the 24.5MP of the Z 6, it was underpowered compared to that camera, with a much slower burst rate, underwhelming video and inferior rear LCD display.

A lot has changed since then and the Nikon Z5 II has been endowed with much of the same tech that's trickled into the Z 6Ill from the cameras above it, including its next-level subject detection autofocus. The Nikon Z5 II is a better camera in almost every way than the Z 6II – making it a viable upgrade for owners of that camera, too.

Build and handling

On the exterior, the Nikon Z5 II looks almost identical to its forebear, which is no bad thing. It’s reasonably compact considering it packs a full-frame sensor, has a good (though minimalist) control layout and is comfortable to hold, with a decent-sized grip (the Z5 II's is deeper than the Z5's by a couple of millimetres).

It's also similar in feel and layout to the Z 6/Z 7 line, although like the Z 5, it has no top-plate LCD to show at-a-glance shooting info. All the top-plate controls sit under the right hand, with a mode dial, shutter release button within a circular on/off switch, and buttons for video record, ISO and exposure compensation. It also gains a new Picture Control button that was introduced with the Nikon Z50 II APS-C sensor camera and which by default enables easy access to Picture Controls - Nikon's in-camera processing that determines the 'look' of jpegs shot in-camera. This can be assigned to another function if you shoot raw.