Nikon’s Z50 II targets creators with a dedicated film simulation button

Camera companies are starting to get the hang of marketing entry-level cameras with features that help beginners take great photos right away. Nikon’s $910 Z50 II mirrorless joins that trend with a dedicated “Picture Control” button that produces fun, social media-ready looks. The new model also promises faster shooting speeds than the five-year-old Z50, improved autofocus and better-quality video.

There’s no question that the Z50 II is aimed at the creator crowd with a host of new features borrowed from Sony, Fujifilm and Panasonic. That starts with the Picture Control button (not a dial) that offers 31 presets like Denim, Toy Camera and Carbon, for both photos and video. It also lets you download “Imaging Recipes” from the Nikon Imaging Cloud, with custom presets for color, brightness, hue and more, à la Panasonic’s S9. On the video side, it now offers a Product Review Mode that immediately focuses from a creator’s face to a product they hold up, exactly like Sony’s Product Showcase feature.

At the same time, the Z50 II is surprisingly powerful. You can shoot bursts at up to 30 fps (JPEG only) in electronic mode or 11 fps (RAW/JPEG) with the mechanical shutter. Autofocus has been overhauled to be more responsive and now includes 3D tracking with AI modes for animals, birds and vehicles — along with an auto mode that selects the subject for you.

Video is also much improved. It offers oversampled 4K 30p (no crop) and 4K 60p (1.5x crop), compared to just 4K 30p before. Better still, it now offers N-Log 10-bit shooting compared to just 8-bit with no log on the Z50. That should greatly improve dynamic range and give video shooters more room for creativity in the edit suite.

One downside to this camera is the resolution, which is on the low side in this price range at 20.9 megapixels. It also lacks in-body stabilization, so you’ll need to rely on electronic stabilization for video (which adds a small crop) or purchase lenses with built in stabilization (VR, as Nikon calls it). I’m also not a fan of the boring body, but I imagine that Nikon will be releasing a Zfc II later with the same features in a retro design.

Other features include a built-in flash, flip-out display, brighter 2.36-million dot EVF (now 1,000 nits), a single UHS-II card slot, mic and headphone jacks, a tally lamp, waveform display, USB streaming support and a wider ISO range up to 512,000. The Nikon Z50 II is now on pre-order for $960 (body only) or $1,050 with a Nikkor Z 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 VR kit lens.

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