Nikon Z5 II hands-on review: big glow-up for this mid-range full-frame camera
Lightning quick with a 'night-vision' sensor
Pros
✅ 📸 24.5MP full-frame BSI sensor is fantastic for shooting in the dark
✅ 😌 Almost no noise at a high 8,000 to 12,800 ISO
✅ 🫨 Shake-proof with 7.5-stops of in-body stabilization
✅ ⚡️ Quick shooting, processing, and general operation with the Exeed 7 engine
✅ 🤩 Super bright EVF hits 3,000 nits of brightness
✅ 💵 Fair $1,699 price for a camera with great specs
Cons
❌ 🎥 4K60 movie shooting requires a 1.5x crop
❌ 🪫 Battery life reduced by 90 shots compared to the previous Z5
The new Nikon Z5 II is a lightning-quick and almost night-vision camera for a fair $1,699 price. That's a steep increase over the previous $1,299 Z5, but the Z5 II is being pushed out as a much more capable camera. The Z5 II features a better-performing low-light 24.5MP BSI sensor and a far faster Exeed 7 image processor that speeds up it's focusing, processing, and general operation.
Nikon has also given the Z5 II some other highly requested upgrades like 120fps Full HD slow motion and crop-free 4K30 movies. It also has one of the brightest EVFs I’ve ever looked through, with a brightness of 3,000 nits, perfect for gauging highlights and shooting on a bright day. Battery life has taken a small hit thanks to all these high-performance upgrades. However, if you’re looking for a mid-range camera with top features, the Nikon Z9 II seems like a perfect choice so far.
🌃 Shooting in the dark. The Nikon Z5 II features a 24.5MP full-frame BSI sensor. That’s more than enough pixels to outshine the 24.2MP Canon R8, but the fact that the sensor is back-side illuminated makes it more effective for low-light shooting. The sensor has a maximum native ISO of 64,000 and an extended 204,800 ISO that will basically let you shoot in the dark. I got to shoot a few photos at ISO 8,000 and 12,800 during my hands-on, and you really can’t see any noise at at even with a 300% crop.
👁️🗨️Nightvision AF. Not only can the Z5 II shoot images in pure darkness, but Nikon claims it can easily focus in the dark too. The camera features a 299-point AF system with detection that works at up to -10EV. I wasn’t able to find any extremely dark settings in the NYC Subway, but I was able to focus on a subway train before it even fully came out of the tunnel.
⚡️ Need for speed. The Nikon Z5 II focuses fast, shoots fast, and generally operates lighting quick and it’s all thanks to having the same Expeed 7 image processor as the Nikon Z9 and Z8. This top-tier image processor also gives the Z5 plenty of buffers to work with for shooting up to 14fps with the mechanical shutter and 30fps with the electronic shutter. You can also set prerelease to hold up to a full second of photos whenever you half-press the shutter in C15 or C30 modes.
🫨 Shake-proof. Another thing that greatly improves the Nikon Z5 II’s shooting capablities is 7.5 stops of in-body stabilization. That’s a fantastic level of IBIS when most cameras only have 5-stops of stabilization. With how focused the Z5 II is on low-light capability, 7.5-stops of IBIS will help it shoot extremely long exposures of up to multiple seconds.
🎥 RAW movie shooting. The Nikon Z5 II can shoot 4K30p movies without any crop. Unfortunately, if you want some faster 4K60p, it’ll require a 1.5x crop. This is also a nice little slow-motion camera with the ability to shoot up to 120p at Full HD. If you’re a colorist or just love tweaking video colors in post, you’re in luck. The Nikon Z5 II can record 12-bit N-RAW directly to an SD card and in N-Log tone for an even flatter start to your color grading.
💵 Fair price. I haven’t gotten fully into the specs yet, but the Nikon Z5 II offers top-shooting capabilities for a fair $1,699 price – even if it’s a steep increase from the Z5’s $1,299 price. There are also kit configurations that include lenses like the Nikkor Z 24-50mm f4-6.3 for $1,999 or the Nikkor Z 24-200mm f4-6.3 VR for $2,499. The body-only price puts the Z5 II squarely between the $1,999 Canon R6 and the $1,299 Canon R8. The $1,699 Z5 II is also a better value if you want a full-frame sensor over an APS-C camera like the Fujifilm X-T5.
🤩 Way brighter EVF. Peering through the Nikon Z5 II’s electronic viewfinder is a treat. It has a peak brightness of 3,000 nits, so you can more accurately gauge how bright the highlights are at a glance. It also makes it easier to see the EVF generally when you’re shooting on a sunny day. The camera’s 3.2” Vari-angle touchscreen isn’t nearly as innovative; it sticks with a 2100K dot panel that is sharp enough to check for video focus, and it rotates freely for overhead, low-angle, and shooting at any crazy angles.
📸 Familiar shape. Ergonomically, the Nikon Z5 II isn’t rewriting the book either. The grip is basically the same, and so is the placement of the controls. The only discernable physical difference I could see on the Z5 II was its slightly more forwardly pronounced EVF bump, likely to make room for the brighter internal display.
🪫 Shorter battery life. I didn’t get enough time to test the Nikon Z5 II to fully exhaust its battery, but on paper the camera gets about 350-380 shots on a single EN‑EL15c battery. That’s a slight dip from the up to 470 photos you could get on the Nikon Z5, which used the same batteries. The power draw of the new BSI and high-speed Expeed 7 engine are likely to blame. However, up to 380 shots should be more than enough for a few days of extensive vacation shooting. I’ll be able to further test battery life when I get this camera in for full review.
Kevin Lee is The Shortcut’s Creative Director. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam.
