NIKON Z 5

Is Nikon’s entry-level full-frame camera enough to persuade you to make the move to mirrorless?

- Adam Waring & Mike Harris

For what’s supposed to be an entry-level full-frame mirrorless camera, the Nikon Z 5 is surprisingly well-specced. It’s fully weather-sealed, featuring five-stop in-body image stabilisation, a 24.3MP sensor that goes up to ISO51,200 in native settings, and a class-leading electronic viewfinder. It seemingly matches the more upmarket Nikon Z 6 feature for features in all the important places.

Even the control layout is almost exactly the same as on the Z 6, offering a near-identical handling experience. There’s a thumbstick, a D-pad and an array of buttons to access key controls at the back, along with a touchscreen rear LCD and finger and thumb-operated control dials in easy reach, and a pair of well-positioned programmable Function buttons on the front.

For those making the move from a DSLR, though, the lack of direct access buttons can take some getting used to. While Nikon DSLRs typically allow you to change between single, continuous and self-timer shooting modes by turning a dial, or between AF-S, AF-C and manual focus with a dedicated button, here you’ll need to select these options from the on-screen menus.

Key features

While the Z 5’s 24.3MP sensor is practically the same size as the Z 6’s 24.5MP one, it’s not exactly the same. The 0.2MP difference translates to a 6,016 x 4,016 pixel resolution on the Z 5, versus a 6,048 x 4,024 resolution on the Z 6. This handful of pixels is certainly not enough to lose any sleep over, and images from either camera can be printed to the same resolution or cropped to the same degree without any noticeable difference –but it does indicate some differences in the sensor.