Nikon’s latest Z-mount mirrorless is now available to the masses. Designed as an ‘entry-level’ full-frame camera, the Z5 II replaces the long-in-the-tooth Z5 and will become Nikon’s cheapest full-frame mirrorless, once stocks of the old Z5 run dry. But while the older Z5 was noticeably inferior to cameras higher up the range at the time of its launch, the same simply can’t be said for the Z5 II. Which begs the question: why would you buy anything else?
There’s no debate that the Z5 II is streets ahead of the Z5 it replaces, as I explored in my Nikon Z5 II vs Z5 comparison. But where things get murkier is that the new camera is really not much of a step down from the Nikon Z6 III, yet costs around $800 / £900 / AU$1,400 less to buy at the current street price. That’s a lot more to pay for a Z6 III for the minimal improvement in performance that the vast majority of photographers will never notice.
