An In-Depth Look at the Brand New Nikon Z8

An In-Depth Look at the Brand New Nikon Z8

The Nikon Z9 was a groundbreaking camera that took a step in the right direction for those who wanted to use the Nikon Z series professionally. Today, we’ll be looking at the brand new Nikon Z8; the successor to the D850, and what could be considered the baby Z9. Could this be Nikon’s best camera ever? Let’s find out.

 

Order your own Z8 here

 

Watch our video review of the Z8 Here 

Firstly, let's go through a few of the external specs of the Nikon Z8. The first thing you’ll notice is that the new Z8 is about 30% smaller than the Z9, mainly because it doesn't have that section at the bottom for your vertical grip. This means it’ll give you a nice and compact form factor, making it a great camera for you to take out onto the field for longer periods of time.

Now, in looking at the similarities between the Z9 and Z8, the Z8 has the same 3.68 million dot EVF at the top, giving you a blackout free, and nice bright, experience. In terms of your control layout, it's very similar to the Z9, with the mode buttons on the top left to access your most common shooting features, and a top LCD for settings. Moving onto the back, the Z9 comes with a full access tilting screen, which is similar to the Z9, giving you a lot of versatility when you're shooting in both portrait and landscape modes.

The camera also boasts a nice, deep and comfortable grip, and its comparability means you can use it easily on an all-day shoot, without wasting too much space. Physically, it also sits at a medium, comfortable size.

On the side of the camera, you have access to a CF Express and SD card slot, so you can do either backup, rollover, or if you’re shooting those high frame rates that the Z8 is capable of, the CF Express card is going to be your best friend in that regard. On the opposite side you've got all your necessary ports, including a mic port, headphone port, and full-sized HDMI port. And finally, at the bottom, you've got two USB-C ports, which serve two different purposes. The first is for charging and file transfer, and the second allows you to apply a USB-C to an ethernet adaptor, so you can do fast tethering when you're out on the field professionally.

Finally in terms of battery, the Z8 is shipped with an EN-EL 15c battery, which will give you up to 340 shots, although going off experience with these Nikon batteries, you do tend to get much more out of that. If you are switching from a Nikon Z series system, or even the D series, you’ll be able to use your old batteries for the new Z8.

Now let’s get Into the nitty gritty, looking at the inside of the Nikon Z8.

Firstly, it sports the same 45.7MP CMOS sensor, paired with an Xspeed7 image processor. This is going to give you a lot of speed and data that you can work with. In terms of continuous shooting speeds, it can shoot as fast as 20 FPS in RAW, 30 FPS in JPEG, and at a downsized resolution, up to 120 FPS.

In terms of the autofocus, it also shares the same sophisticated system that is in the Z9, that’s going to enable you to have 3D and live continuous tracking, which is going to make your life so much easier when you're shooting action, or even general video or photo in a scenario where there's a lot of fast moving subjects. Speaking of which, the autofocus is further enhanced now, with an extra enhanced aeroplane tracking mode, which is used to track military planes, or basically any fast aircraft. In addition to that, there have been improvements in the general autofocus system, which allows you to subject track faces 3% faster.

 

If you’re using the same as a hybrid camera, it is packed full of video features that will allow you to do professional video as well. So firstly, let's talk about raw video. It can shoot 8K in N-RAW up to 60 FPS, and 4.1K in Pro-res up to 60 FPS, giving you a large variety of raw flexibility. In terms of standard video, you can shoot 8K up to 30 FPS and 4K up to 120 FPS, giving you a lot of versatility in frame rate, including if you want to shoot in slow motion, you'll be able to in 4K. Furthermore, in terms of file compression, you can shoot in pro-res, h265 and h264, and for all you colour graders you can shoot in n-log, or HDR, as well as working in the 8 and 10 bit colour spaces.

As expected, like the Z9, the Z8’s autofocus capabilities are extremely sophisticated. The subject detection works wonders, following subjects and animals as they move, and keeping them in focus. The In-body image stabilisation (IBIS) is also very impressive in the Z8, giving you stable, clear shots in faster conditions. A standout feature is the Z8’s multitude of slow motion options at multiple focal lengths, working in conjunction with the cameras IBIS and 4k video capabilities.

And for all you action photographers, you’ll be glad to know the Z8 shoots amazingly quick, and the autofocus during fast pace conditions is reliable for those fast-paced shooting conditions.

So who is this camera for? If you’re a high end enthusiast or professional looking for a hybrid camera that not only grants you high resolution images, but also a large amount of flexibility in video, then the Z8 fits that bill. Further, if you’re a Z9 owner looking for a B camera, or a camera that fits the same feel and look as the Z9, this is a great camera to have out on the field.

 

Order your own Z8 here

 

Watch our video review of the Z8 Here