The nikon Z50

The Nikon Z50 is a 20.9MP mirrorless camera: the first time the company has put an (unstabilized) APS-C sensor behind its new, larger 'Z' lens mount. The company says the camera is designed to attract a generation of users who don't consider themselves to be photographers.

Alongside the camera, Nikon has announced two lenses designed for this sensor size: a 16-50mm F3.5-6.3 collapsible standard zoom and a 50-250mm F4.5-6.3 telephoto zoom - both with built-in image stabilization (which Nikon calls Vibration Reduction).

The version of the sensor included in the Z50 has a series of masks over the top of the sensor, meaning that some pixels only receive light from one or the other side of the lens. The data from these masked pixels allows the differences between the image entering the left and right-hand-side of the lens to be compared, which is then used to assess depth in the scene, underpinning the 'phase-detection' autofocus system.

Key specifications

• 20.9MP CMOS sensor
• Twin control dial interface
• Up to 11 fps shooting with AE/AF, 5 fps with live view
• 4K video at up to 30p
• 2.36M-dot OLED viewfinder
• Rear touchscreen tilts up by 90° or down by 180°
• Single UHS-I SD card slot in battery compartment
• Bluetooth-enabled Wi-Fi (via Snapbridge app)
• Creative Picture Control effects

Effects modes / Creative Picture Control

In keeping with its Instagram-friendly intent, the Z50 can shoot images with a series of significant processing effects applied. These are handled in two ways, depending on whether they just affect the color and contrast or if they manipulate the underlying image.

The first set are the Creative Picture Controls, which come in addition to the more conventional Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, Landscape and Flat color modes. The Creative Picture Control options can be used in any shooting mode, including video shooting.

The Creative Picture Control options can also be applied retrospectively to Raw files using the in-camera Raw conversion interface.

Creative Picture Control modes:
01 - Dream 02 - Morning 03 - Pop 04 - Sunday 05 - Somber 06 - Dramatic 07 - Silence	08 - Bleached 09 - Melancholic 10 - Pure 11 - Denim 12 - Toy 13 - Sepia 14 - Blue	15 - Red 16 - Pink 17 - Charcoal 18 - Graphite 19 - Binary 20 - Carbon

The filters with a more dramatic impact are accessed via the 'Effects' position on the mode dial, accessing options that actively manipulate the image itself, adding vignetting or blurring parts of the image.

Effects modes:

Night vision

Super Vivid

Pop

Photo Illustration

Toy

Miniature Effect

Selective Color

Silhouette

High Key

Low Key

Because they can only be accessed via the Effects position on the mode dial, you get less control over your other shooting options. Depending on the mode, flash, autofocus or Raw shooting may be unavailable, and movie shooting may result in stop-motion-style slowed playback. These effects cannot be retroactively applied to Raw files.