Nikon heavily teased its full-frame mirrorless system prior to its launch.
The company is starting out with two cameras—the Z 7 ($3,399.95, body only), reviewed here, a 45.7MP powerhouse for photographers who demand the most pixels, and the more affordable Z 6, a 24MP model with a faster burst rate for capturing action.
Even after a pair of worthwhile firmware updates, the Z 7 doesn't quite outclass the best high-resolution model we've tested, the Sony a7R IV, but it's good enough to be included in the same conversation with its 60MP competition.
Editors' Note: This review has been updated to reflect the changes made with the Firmware 3.0 release and additions to the lens system.
Superbly Built
The Z 7 looks and feels like a Nikon.
The handgrip has the classic red stripe, an adornment dating back to the film era, but what's most impressive is how well it conforms to the hand.
The camera feels right and is balanced well, though it's not that far ahead of what Sony has done with its a7 III family.
I do like the way it feels more than Canon's entry into the space, the EOS R.
Despite sporting an image sensor very similar in design to the D850, the Z 7 is smaller and lighter.
It measures 4.0 by 5.3 by 2.7 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.5 pounds.
The D850 is 4.9 by 5.8 by 3.1 inches and a half-pound heavier.
The general size and shape of the Z 7 are about what we expect from a mirrorless design—dropping the moving mirror assembly and swapping an optical viewfinder for an EVF are to thank there.
Like the Sony competition, but unlike a Nikon SLR or even the Canon EOS R mirrorless, the Z 7 features in-body image stabilization.
The image sensor moves to compensate for camera shake, adding stabilization to lenses that don't offer it, and working in conjunction with lenses with their own stabilization system.
It's good to see Nikon embrace sensor stabilization, especially given how robust the Z 7's video capabilities are.
Nikon bills the Z 7 as having weather-sealing, which is an expected feature on a camera that costs this much.
But how good is it? Roger Cicalia at Lensrentals has taken a Z 7 apart.
He reports its sealing is the best in any mirrorless models he's disassembled for repair, a list that also includes the Sony a7R III and Canon EOS R.
You won't have to fret over taking the Z 7 out in the rain or snow.
The Z 7 has a very good feel and a good number of physical controls, but it does drop one of the nicer touches found on the D850, backlit control buttons.
I definitely miss them.
Buttons are laid out a bit differently than the D850, which can exacerbate the problem if you are using both bodies as part of your workflow.
But if the Z 7 is your main camera, you'll learn its button placement and be able to locate the ones that matter by feel.
As for controls, you'll find the front command dial right where you expect it, toward the top of the handgrip.
The unusually large lens mount—big to accommodate f/0.95 lenses—is flanked by two programmable buttons, Fn1 and Fn2.
I mapped them to focus settings, using Fn1 to cycle through focus area and mode settings by holding it while turning the front or rear dial.
I set Fn2 to magnify the frame, useful for working in manual focus mode.
Aside from the Fn controls, the only other front button is the lens release.
And yes, the Z system still mounts and unmounts lenses in the opposite direction as most other camera systems.
Long-time Nikon devotees will feel right at home.
On the top you'll find a locking Mode dial.
This is a bit of a departure from Nikon's pro SLR series, which use a Mode button and dial turn to switch between Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Manual operation.
The dial gives you a bit quicker access, as well as full automatic operation if you want, and three custom user profiles to quickly toggle through settings for different situations.
The lock design is the type that requires you to push and hold a center button while you turn the dial, not my favorite choice.
I prefer the locking dials that can be locked or unlocked with a button press, but that's simply a matter of personal taste.
To its right is the hot shoe, which sits atop the raised area that houses the EVF.
There's a button on its left to toggle EVF only, rear LCD only, or automatic eye-sensor switching, and a locking diopter adjustment dial to tune the focus of the EVF to your eyesight.
The hot shoe can mount a microphone, external flash, wireless flash trigger, or other accessory.
The Z 7 is fully compatible with Nikon's current Speedlight flash system.
There is no in-body flash, which is true for every full-frame mirrorless model to date.
The camera doesn't have a PC Sync socket, so you'll need to use a PocketWizard or similar accessory to trigger off-camera strobes.
To the right of the hot shoe, you'll find a monochrome OLED information display, just as you would with a pro SLR.
It's something we don't see in every mirrorless camera.
The rectangular display shows all of your exposure details, battery life, and estimated shots left on your memory card.
The rear control dial is positioned at the far right corner, while other top controls are further ahead, atop the grip.
The On/Off switch surrounds the shutter release, and it's flanked by Record, ISO, and EV compensation buttons.
The Z 7 isn't as big as the D850, so there are some understandable changes to its rear control layout.
Play and Delete are at the top left, in a corner framed by the LCD and EVF.
Running along the same row at the top, but to the right of the eyecup, are the Still/Video toggle switch, with the Display button at its center, the AF-ON button, and the rear control dial.
The position of the AF-ON is just about perfect.
My thumb rests on it naturally, and while I'm not a personal fan of splitting the function of autofocus away from the shutter release, photographers who are will appreciate the placement.
If you're like me you'll be happy with the ability to reconfigure the function of the button.
I set it to move the focus point to the center position, but you can also set it to lock in automatic exposure, focus, or both at once.
Directly below AF-ON, to the left of the rear thumb rest, is a small joystick, used to move the active focus point around the frame.
The i button is below—it brings up a small menu that allows you to quickly adjust certain camera settings.
The menu features 12 banks, all of which are customizable, with more than 30 options available to fill it.
The menu can be navigated using physical controls or via touch.
Continuing to move down the column, there is a directional control pad with the OK button at its center.
Below that are the plus and minus buttons, used to zoom in or out when reviewing photos, along with Menu and Drive Mode/Self-Timer buttons.
That's another departure from the D850, which uses a control dial to cycle through its various Drive settings.
I don't particularly mind the change to a button, but I'm not a fan of how Nikon has implemented it.
An on-screen display shows the different Drive modes available right after it's pressed, but while my instinct is to scroll through the options with the d-pad, that's not how it works.
You'll need to use the rear command dial to swap through the options.
Conspicuously absent is a lock switch, a staple of Nikon pro cameras.
I don't think I'll miss it.
I use the D850 quite often—it's our standard test body for Nikkor lenses—and more often than not I find that the Lock has been turned on inadvertently, which means I can't move the focus point when I first try.
But I recognize that many Nikon pros love the ability to quickly lock in the focus point.
Nikkor Z lenses use electronic manual focus rings.
Instead of letting them lie fallow when the camera is set to autofocus, the Z 7 allows you to set the ring to adjust EV compensation or the aperture.
But there's a big problem—sensitivity.
It's very difficult to dial in a small adjustment, and on some lenses the control ring occupies most of the barrel.
It's way too easy to turn it by accident, and if it turns it's likely dialing in at least a full stop of compensation, which can ruin an exposure.
Even after two major firmware updates, the control ring is still extremely sensitive—too sensitive for my tastes.
I recommend disabling it, it's just too easy to make unwanted changes to settings when it's turned on.
If you want easy control over EV, you can assign it to a camera dial, just as with the D850 and D500.
One of the benefits of a mirrorless camera is a seamless transition between the rear LCD and EVF—you don't have to lock the mirror up to switch to Live View.
The Z 7's rear display is 3.2 inches in size and very sharp at 2.1 million dots.
It's bright, with broad viewing angles, so you can use it on bright days.
It supports touch input and is mounted on a hinge, so it tilts up and down.
It doesn't swing out to the side or face forward, which is a bit disappointing for videographers and vloggers.
The EVF is right up there with the best you'll find on any camera.
It's an OLED panel with stunning (3.69-million-dot) resolution, smooth display of motion, and big, 0.8x magnification.
It's on par in quality, and slightly larger, than the 0.78x OLED EVF that Sony uses in the a7R III.
Using an EVF has some advantages over an optical viewfinder.
The size and weight savings gained by omitting a mirrorbox and optical pentaprism are palpable, for one.
But it also means that you're seeing an image that's much closer to the one the camera is capturing as you're setting up your shot.
Changes to exposure are visible, and if you want to take advantage of the Z 7's built-in artistic filters, shoot in black-and-white, or create images with dramatically mixed lighting you'll be able to see the effects in the viewfinder, in real time.
Studio shooters working with external lights, don't fret—you can turn off the exposure preview via the menu.
Connectivity and Power
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are built in.
The Z 7 supports Nikon SnapBridge, which uses Bluetooth for automatic, low-resolution image transfer to your phone, but also supports manual full-resolution JPG transfer.
Wi-Fi is used for remote control from Android or iOS devices.
Setting up SnapBridge is rather quick and painless.
I paired the Z 7 to my iPhone via Bluetooth using the app, a process that takes about a minute.
The app can automatically switch your phone's Wi-Fi from your home network to the one broadcast by the Z 7 for image transfer.
You can browse a gallery of thumbnails and pull a 2MP or full resolution JPG to your phone over Wi-Fi.
Small files transfer in about a second, but it takes about 15 seconds to copy a 45MP JPG from the Z 7 to my iPhone 8 Plus.
The thumbnail gallery loads quickly.
This is an upgrade from how it worked last year when we looked at SnapBridge around the time of the D850's release.
At the time, the app was very slow to render thumbnails, to the point where Wi-Fi transfers were a cumbersome task.
I'm happy that Nikon has fixed this issue.
Remote control is available.
You get a live feed from the lens, with the ability to tap on part of the frame to set the focus point, and full manual exposure control if desired.
Video capture is also an option, although I was disappointed to see that manual controls aren't available on the app control screen for movies.
The Z 7 seems to use the same settings for stills as it does for video when controlled remotely—this is not the case when using physical controls for video, more on that later.
So you'll either need to dial in your exposure from the still capture screen before switching to video, or use an automatic exposure mode for remote control video recording.
Hopefully Nikon fixes this bug in its app.
Automatic image transfer is also an option if you'd like, albeit only at 2MP resolution.
You can have the Z 7 send every photo you capture to your smartphone, but I don't suggest doing so.
Instead, change the setting to only transfer images you flag—it'll save your battery on both camera and phone, and won't clutter your phone's memory with unwanted images.
Press the i button when reviewing photos to flag each one you'd like to transfer via Bluetooth.
As long as the app is running on your phone, the photos will copy automatically.
Physical ports include 3.5mm headphone and microphone jacks, a USB-C port, mini HDMI, and an accessory port, all located on the left side of the body.
The battery loads in the bottom.
It uses an EN-EL15b battery, which is identical to the EN-EL15a used by the D850, D500, and other Nikon SLRs in this size and shape.
But the EL15b is a darker shade of gray than the EL15a, and it can be charged in-camera via USB.
If you have multiple Nikon cameras, be happy to know the EL15b can be used in other models (though it will only charge in a Z 7, Z 6, or the included external battery compartment.) Likewise, you can power the Z 7 with an EL15a, but you won't be able to charge the light gray battery in-camera.
You can also use the first EN-EL15 version, which is identified via its matte black plastic casing.
But it's a lower power capacity, so you won't get as many shots as you would with an "a" or "b" version.
With the latest battery, CIPA rates the Z 7 for 400 shots when using the LCD or 330 with the EVF.
The D850 is a lot more efficient—it's rated for 1,840 shots—while the Sony a7R III sits in between, with 650 shots using the LCD and 530 with the EVF.
An add-on battery grip, the MB-N10 Multi-Power Battery Pack, which holds two EN-EL15b batteries, sells for $199.95, but doesn't add any sort of veritcal controls.
It does not compromise the Z 7's dust and splash protection when attached.
Nikon has opted to only put one memory card slot in the Z 7.
With Firmware 3.0 it supports both CFexpress and XQD media.
It's located on the right side of the camera.
The door that covers it is part of the thumb rest, which makes the body look a little odd when it's opened.
There has been a lot of noise made on the internet about the decision to only offer one slot in a camera sold for professional use.
Memory card failures are rare, but can happen.
It's the reason event photographers opt to save images to two cards simultaneously, even if they've never personally experienced a card failure.
Couples would be understandably upset if they lost their wedding photos because of a failed memory card.
So if you need two slots, the Z 7 isn't for you.
But I'm happy to...
