[IT Home Evaluation Room] Nikon Z 8, a bucket flagship camera with both image quality and control, experience review

On May 10 this year, Nikon released the flagship full-frame mirrorless camera Z 8. Its performance is very close to the Z 9, but it is nearly 30% smaller in size and weighs only 910 grams. It is equipped with a 45.17-megapixel stacked sensor and EXPEED 7 image processor, which not only has extremely high photo imaging standards, but also supports high-standard video shooting such as internal recording of 8.3K / 60FPS N-RAW. The Nikon Z 8 is priced at RMB 27,999 for a single body. The current price in the secondary market has been increased to more than RMB 30,000, which is enough to show the popularity of this camera. As a full-frame imaging flagship, the image quality of the Nikon Z 8 is still at the peak level. This article will start with photography. Experience, video experience, control experience and other practical dimensions will help you understand Nikon Z 8.

Photography experience

The Nikon Z 8 is equipped with a full-frame sensor with an effective pixel of 45.71 million pixels , the sensor size is 35.9mm×23.9mm, and even when shooting in DX mode with APS-C format, it still has 19.4 million pixels. Higher pixels can not only obtain more picture details, but also reserve more space for secondary composition. For example, in this random photo of a corridor, a little girl just ran by, contrasting with the woman who was reading quietly. Thanks to the high pixels of the Z 8, I can crop out the excess white space and highlight the two main characters.

This photo of a cat taken by the Z 8 camera in a dim environment still shows rich details after zooming in. The clearly visible whiskers, slightly moist pink nose, and vivid blue-green cat eyes have all been restored to life.

Unlike the lowest ISO of 100 for most cameras, the Nikon Z 8 has a lowest ISO of 64 and a highest ISO of 25600. A lower ISO allows photographers to open a wider aperture for a shallower depth of field or slow down the shutter to capture a decent motion blur effect in brighter light without using an ND filter.

For the convenience of comparison, we conducted an actual measurement of the high-sensitivity performance of Nikon Z 8 on this site. Except for the lowest ISO64, we all shoot at ISO100 and enable the default noise reduction function to shoot JPEG format photos. Observing the picture, we can find that at ISO3200, the image output in RAW format still maintains a high degree of purity; while at ISO6400, noise begins to appear, but after post-processing of noise reduction, the usability of the image is still quite good.

Tolerance determines the post-processing space of a photo. The measured tolerance of Nikon Z 8 is really surprising. The overexposure can be pulled back by two stops, and the highlight information can basically be retained. The highlight information is seriously lost after the overexposure is pulled back by three stops. As for the underexposure state, it can be pulled back by five stops, and the details in the shadows are still rich. However, The number of noise points is high and the usability is average. Nikon Z8 can pull back between 2EV and -4EV, giving it a very high error tolerance rate in early shooting and leaving more room for later stages. Of course we tested at ISO100, and higher ISOs will result in less latitude.

The ISO of this dark light environment photo is 1250. After increasing the exposure by two stops and correcting the white balance, there are still rich details in the dark parts, and the overall The noise level is still within the acceptable range.

▲ The photo on the right increases the exposure by two stops and corrects the white balance

Like the Z 9, the Nikon Z 8 has canceled the mechanical shutter design. With the image processing speed of EXPEED 7, it can achieve real-time view without black screen and Ultra-high-speed still photo burst shooting. The Nikon Z 8 can achieve 20 RAW high-speed continuous shooting per second, 30 full-pixel JPEG high-speed continuous shooting per second, and 120 11-megapixel standard-quality JPEG continuous shooting. When C120 is enabled and the simulated shutter sound is used, it feels like holding a Gatling gun with blue fire in your hand. It makes people want to stop.

I believe that many friends who follow cameras have heard of a meme about Nikon focus: "The background is as sharp as a blade, and the subject melts like butter." This time, Nikon Z 8 also has more focus and autofocus There are many improvements, such as the addition of an airplane option for AF subject detection. This undoubtedly provides a lot of convenience for photographers with aviation themes.

Nikon Z 8 supports phase detection AF and contrast AF consistent autofocus, with 493 focus points, and the autofocus detection range is Between -7 and 19EV, If you turn on the starlight view mode, it can drop to -9EV, which can achieve fast focusing even in dark light.

Nikon claims that the Z 8’s algorithm using machine learning has also improved compared to the Z 9. We did a simple test on the rooftop. Even though my face accounts for less than 5% of the frame, and occasionally my face is obscured by a profile or hat, the Nikon Z 8 can still accurately identify and focus.

Nikon Z 8 image RAW files are in NEF format and can be previewed and edited through the official Nikon workshop or the latest Adobe Camera Raw 15.4. The Nikon Z 8 uses RAW to record pictures with a dynamic range of 14.2 stops. Nikon Z 8 also supports dynamic D-Lighting function, and you can quickly adjust the appropriate dark details of the picture through Nikon Workshop later. We selected a photo in NEF format for comparison, and we can see that the dark parts of the picture are significantly brightened at extremely high settings.

In addition to the well-known JPEG and RAW format image output, Nikon Z 8 also supports HEIF format, which supports HLG high dynamic range recording , if the monitor supports it, you can directly preview and edit with HDR effect in Nikon Workshop. Adobe Camera Raw currently cannot open HIF format photos taken by Nikon Z 8.

Video experience

Nikon Z 8 supports the same high-standard video recording as Z 9, and the internal recording specification supports up to 8.3K / 60FPS N-RAW (12Bit), in addition to its own N-RAW, it also supports common industry formats such as Apple ProRes HQ (12Bit). Of course, high-quality video capabilities are valuable, but the recording time determines the true practical level of Nikon Z 8. This site has conducted actual measurements on the Nikon Z 8’s video recording fever. In order to better suit the actual usage scenario, we chose to conduct the test on the rooftop at 2:00 pm. At this time, the outdoor temperature was around 32°C, the relative humidity was 68%, it was cloudy, and the wind was level 3. How much effect would the gentle breeze have on the Z 8? Certain heat dissipation effect. The memory card is a 128GB SanDisk Extreme Pro CFexpress. Considering the limited capacity, our recording specification is 8K / 30FPS 10Bit H265 N-log.

The camera prompts that the memory card is overheating around 7:00, around 12:30 the camera has a yellow heating sign, and around 16:30 seconds a yellow The camera heating sign turns red, and the camera displays a red high temperature warning around 35:00. At this time, the 128GB memory card just indicates that it is full. This kind of performance makes those of us who use Canon R5 as our main machine extremely envious.

In addition, if you are pursuing the ultimate recording time, you can open the cover of the camera's memory card to record, which will speed up the heat dissipation of the camera and memory card to some extent.

We also briefly tested the jelly effect of Nikon Z 8 video recording. From the material point of view, when the lens is quickly panned left and right, the picture The jelly effect is still somewhat obvious.

Like many flagship models, Nikon Z 8 also supports in-camera time-lapse video recording, which is located at the bottom of the photo shooting menu. There are two options. After entering, you can choose options such as shooting interval, shooting time, and generated video file specifications. Nikon Z 8 can shoot H265 time-lapse video up to 8K / 30FPS 10bit. It should be noted that if you want to record 10bit time-lapse video, you need to select the tone mode as HLG in the photo shooting menu first, not in the time-lapse video or Make adjustments in the video shooting menu.

The author directly used the Z 8 to shoot a sunset time-lapse photography. Because the 85mm focal point is still not long enough, I chose the DX mode for shooting. Equivalent to the angle of view of a 130mm lens. The video specification is 4K/60FPS 8bit H265. The transitions in both tone and brightness of the picture are very smooth. Of course, if you want more room for adjustment, you can also choose to shoot 8K, 10bit or interval shooting photo sequences, and then create your own time-lapse video later.

Nikon Z 8 provides 5-axis body anti-shake and 2-axis lens anti-shake, which can achieve up to 6 levels of anti-shake compensation. The 85mm f1.8 NIKKOR S lens I paired with it does not support anti-shake. You can take a look at the comparison after turning on the 5-axis body anti-shake. The anti-shake effect of handheld shooting. The author is not an expert, and the actual picture usability is still good.

▲ Turn off anti-shake

▲ Turn on anti-shake

In terms of video recording function, Nikon Z 8 supports waveform display. Compared with histogram, waveform chart can better reflect the position distribution of brightness information and is more conducive to observing the overall or partial exposure of the video. Nikon Z 8 provides two Waveforms of three sizes are available. If you don’t care about screen obstruction, you can choose a large waveform, which is more intuitive to observe.

Appearance & Control

Compared with the current mirrorless flagships of various brands, the body design and control of Nikon Z 8 More like a SLR, the operation logic is clear. As long as you have some experience in using cameras, you can easily get started. However, the author here recommends that you read the manual before use, and you can discover many hidden and convenient operations.

The Nikon Z 8 weighs about 910g (including battery, memory card, excluding lens), and the camera size is about 144 x 118.5 x 83mm , this size is definitely not considered “micro” among full-frame mirrorless cameras, but the author personally believes that if you want to have fast and efficient control and a comfortable and stable hold, a large-size body design is inevitable.

The Nikon Z 8’s wide and thick handle feels full and the curve fits the palm; there are many button pulsators on the surface of the fuselage, but they are reasonably positioned and distributed. Uniform, the key distance is moderate, and the misoperation rate is very low.

Moreover, Nikon has designed many different details for the buttons to facilitate blind operation by photographers. For example, the Nikon Z 8 has two shortcut buttons next to the lens, but these two buttons are located in the visual blind area. Nikon has made the surfaces of the two buttons convex and concave respectively, so that they can be distinguished by the touch of your fingers, which reduces the number of Probability of incorrect operation.

Another detail that improves control is the button backlight of Nikon Z 8. As long as the power switch is pushed to the end, the Z 8 will click The illuminated buttons and shoulder screen allow you to quickly adjust and confirm camera parameters even when shooting outdoors at night.

In addition, Nikon Z 8 is also designed with starlight view and warm display color. The former can increase the brightness of the display or image display. Allowing photographers to better preview dark information, the latter can change the display color to a low-brightness red tone to avoid disturbing other photographers.

In addition, Nikon also specially set a shortcut key for exposure bracketing on the "four-leaf clover" button. Press it to pass The front and rear wave wheels can quickly adjust the number of frames and steps for bracketing exposure. Together with the Z 8’s RAW continuous shooting capability of 20 frames per second, errors can be avoided to a large extent when shooting subjects with many uncertain factors such as humanities and scenery. Exposure and missing wonderful moments.

The shoulder screen of Nikon Z 8 has a very practical design. When the phone is turned off, the shoulder screen will also display the status information of the memory card. Including memory card format, number of remaining photos or video recording time. Removing the memory card while the computer is powered off will also update the memory card status. Just scan the shoulder screen before going out to avoid the embarrassment of forgetting a memory card or battery.

Nikon Z 8 not only has a full range of body interfaces, but also has very high specifications. In addition to the MIC interface and headphone interface, it is also equipped with a full-size HDMI interface, two USB C interfaces, and a 10-pin remote control terminal interface on the front. What deserves praise is the two Type-C interfaces. The USB C at the bottom can be used for charging/power supply, and the other Type-C interface can perform high-speed data transmission. The full-size HDMI independent USB C power supply is very convenient for those who need to live-stream the camera without having to worry about the live broadcast being interrupted due to the camera running out of power midway.

It should be noted that to use the USB C interface for power supply, you need to turn on "USB Power Delivery" in the settings menu in advance, and only after inserting the battery Z 8 can only use USB power supply, and the battery will not be charged at this time.

The battery model supported by Nikon Z 8 is EN-EL15c, with a capacity of 16Wh (2280mAh, 7.0V). It takes about 2 hours to fully charge from 0 35 minutes. One battery can record H265 video at 8K/30FPS for over 1 hour.

In terms of card slots, the Nikon Z 8 adopts a CFexpress (B-type) SD dual card slot design, which is the basic configuration of current flagship cameras from various manufacturers. Compared with the Z 9's dual CFe cards, each has its own advantages. SD cards are cheap and plentiful, but if you want to internally record high-standard material, you still need to use a CFexpress card.

The screen of Nikon Z 8 adopts a 4-axis folding design, which can be folded horizontally and vertically at a certain angle, but cannot be folded 180 degrees. The advantage of the flip is that most camera operators can see the screen. The disadvantage is that the selfie cannot be previewed and a heat dissipation module is installed on the back of the fuselage, which is somewhat inconvenient for users with Vlog recording needs. This 3.2-inch display has a maximum brightness of 3000nit, so you can see the content on the screen clearly even under the scorching sun at noon.

In addition, although the Nikon Z 8 does not use a mechanical shutter, it still has a shutter-like CMOS protective cover structure, which will fall when it is turned off to prevent the CMOS from falling. Dusty or scratched.

Summary:

The Nikon Z 8 is positioned the same as the Canon R5 and Sony A7R5, both of which are high-performance bucket flagship machines. Compared with these similar models, Nikon Z 8 has higher internal video recording specifications, longer video recording time, better photo control experience, and focus performance has also improved compared to Z 9 and other models. The original price of 27,999 yuan is very competitive within the 3W yuan range. If the budget is sufficient, it is a safe choice for most professional creations in one step.

Sample display:

The following sample photos were taken with Nikon Z 8 and Nikkor Z 85mm F1.8 lens. Some photos have a small amount of cropping or exposure and white balance correction.

##▲ ISO250 f/1.8 1/100s

▲ISO80 f/1.8 1/25s

▲ ISO500 f2.8 1/200s

▲ ISO500 f2.2 1/4000s

##▲ ISO200 f6.3 1/2000s

▲ ISO125 f2.2 1/4000s

##▲ ISO500 f2.0 1/320s

▲ISO64 f4.5 1/125s

▲ISO500 f2.2 1/125sAdvertising statement: The external jump links contained in the article (including but not limited to hyperlinks, QR codes, passwords, etc.) are used to convey more information , save selection time, the results are for reference only, all articles on this site contain this statement.

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