My goal here is to remove technical friction so you can focus on what matters: taking pictures. Whether you’ve just unboxed your camera or are simply eager to start shooting without getting lost in complex menus, this guide is designed to get you up and running as quickly as possible.

Getting Started: Your First Steps

The first thing you are going to want to do when you get your new Nikon Z50II is to check that you have everything that is supposed to be included. Sometimes this varies by region. My Z50II was bought in a kit with the Nikon Z 16-50mm kit lens and is official UK stock bought from Amazon. Here is what’s included:

• Nikon Z50II camera body with lens cap.
• Nikon EN-EL 25a rechargeable battery with plastic battery cap.
• NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR lens and white plastic rear lens cap.
• Official Nikon Camera Strap
• USB-C Charging Cable
• Official Nikon warranty paperwork

The Nikon Z50II does not come with a separate charger so unlike older models, you will have to charge it via the USB-C cable before your first use.

Both the battery and SD card fit into the same compartment at the bottom of the camera, underneath the camera grip.

Ensure that you put the SD card in with the sticker side facing towards the outside of the camera as is shown below. Don’t force the card as it should fit in perfectly and you will feel a gentle click as it correctly fits in to place.

Once you have slotted in your memory card, check the orientation of the battery by aligning the metal pins with those inside the camera.

Slot into place and you will feel the battery catch within the latch. Then close the battery compartment door and you will again feel a click as the door locks in to place.

Now it’s the bit all photographers hate, charging up the camera and being patient. Make sure you fully charge the camera before first use as that maximises the power and battery condition, ensuring it performs as well as possible.

Simply plug the supplied USB-C cable in to a USB-C compatible charger and the other end in to your camera. On the left hand side of the camera you will see a small orange light indicating that the camera is charging. When the light goes off, the camera is fully charged.

Once the camera is fully charged you will need to attach your lens to it in order to access all shooting menu options.

If you haven’t done this before then it’s a simple process. Loosen the rear (white if you have the kit lens) lens cap so that you can take it off one handed. leave the lens face down in a safe accessible place.

The best way to put a lens on your camera in order to minimise getting dust on the sensor is to have the camera held in your right hand, front of the camera facing towards the floor.

Now press the lens release button on the camera (I find using my left thumb for this easiest). It’s located to the left of the lens mount as you hold the camera (you can see it in the picture above, just above where I’ve marked up the photo saying ‘lens mount marker’) . As you press the lens release button, turn the plastic lens cap on the camera to the left (counter clockwise as you hold the camera) until the white dot on the lens lines up with the white dot on the lens mount of the camera. The lens cap will then come off if you gently pull it away from the camera body.

Now remove the rear lens cap from the lens, and line up the white dot on the rear of the lens with the white dot on the camera’s lens mount. You will know when you have them lined up correctly as the lens will sit flush to the camera lens mount. Once lined up, simply turn the lens to the right (clockwise as you hold the camera) until it clicks in to place. Your’e now ready to power up your camera for the first time. One tip, always switch the camera off before changing lenses to avoid dust being attracted to the sensor by the electrical charge of the camera.

Understanding your Shooting Modes (The PASM Dial) Before turning the camera on, set the shooting mode by turning the top-right PASM dial. Here is a quick breakdown of what they do:

• M (Manual): You have full control over Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO (if not using Auto ISO).
• A (Aperture Priority): You control the Aperture and ISO (if not using Auto ISO), and the camera adjusts the shutter speed to get the correct exposure.
• S (Shutter Priority): You control the Shutter Speed and ISO (if not using Auto ISO), and the camera controls the Aperture.
• P (Program): The camera controls Aperture and Shutter Speed, while you control ISO (if not using Auto ISO).
• SCN (Scene Mode): The camera controls all settings based on a specific scene you select (e.g., food, portraits, landscapes).
• Auto Mode: The camera controls almost everything. Note that many advanced functions—like manual White Balance or custom AF modes—are locked here.
• C1–C3: These are custom slots for your saved settings. Ignore these for now; I’ll cover how to set these up in my advanced guide.

My Recommendations: If you are just starting out, P mode is a great place to begin. The camera handles the heavy lifting of exposure, but it finally lets you make adjustments and access the menus restricted in Auto mode.

If you want to get creative but don’t want to be overwhelmed, Aperture Priority (A) is where you should head next. Controlling the aperture allows you to creatively manage your depth of field (how much of your frame is in focus) while leaving the camera to handle the shutter speed. It’s a very fast way to get the professional-looking results you want while being able to shoot quickly.

Turning the camera on for the first time

Nikon has the best on/off method in the industry. Simply flick the switch located around the shutter button to the on position. It’s the best as it allows you to quickly turn the camera off and on one-handed.

To navigate through Nikon’s menu system use the multi-selector 4-way controller located around the OK button. Of course you can always use the touch-screen if you prefer.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the controls:

Multi selector buttons:

• Enter – Right on the multi selector or press the OK button
• Back – Left
• Return to main menu – Press the Menu button
• Resume shooting – Half press the shutter button

The first thing you will need to do is set the time and date for your camera. This is located in in the setup menu denoted by the spanner icon on the left hand side of the menu page).

I’m in the UK so I set it to:

• Timezone: London
• Date format: DMY

Next, we will set up the basic camera options in the Photo Shooting Menu (denoted by the Camera Icon on the left hand side of the menu page.

I’m not going to recommend changing too many settings here initially as the aim is to get you shooting as quickly as possible. If I haven’t mentioned it below, then I don’t think it’s worth changing at this stage.

If you’re a beginner and don’t want to spend too much time editing photos after you have taken them then the settings below will get you great results.

Select Image quality > Jpeg/Heif> Fine: The best image quality straight out of the camera. By shooting in Jpeg, the images the camera produces won’t need heavy editing. They are a final product, ready to use. They will have had color and sharpening applied to them and are ready to share or print. You can still edit them in an app further if you wish with small adjustments to exposure, adding filters for film looks etc. Note: The Z50II has a dedicated picture control button on the top right of the camera where you can manually select your preferred Picture control profile. Why Nikon calls them that rather than just color profiles I don’t know. Anyway, although it’s totally subjective, I tend to use Standard for color shots and Deep Tone Monochrome for black and white images.

Why not shoot in RAW? Every “expert” will tell you to shoot in RAW format for the best possible quality. While that is technically true, when you are just starting out, the last thing you want to be doing is spending hours editing every single photo in software. Unedited RAW files look inherently flat and lifeless. Often, you will struggle to make a RAW file look better than a “straight out of camera” JPEG, so why not save yourself the time? Despite what you’ll often hear, you can still edit JPEG files if you want to apply a creative look, and they are perfectly usable even if you never touch a piece of editing software.

Select Image Size > Large: This gives you the maximum resolution from the Nikon Z50II. 5568 × 3712 pixels or 20.9mp.

Next we are going to set up the ISO settings of the camera so that it will change this for you automatically. Think of ISO as the ability of the camera to brighten or darken the image based on your other exposure settings. It’s a little more technical than that but for now, just understanding this will be enough to get started.

We want the camera to choose the ISO setting so you don’t have to keep changing it whenever the light changes but we want to give the camera certain parameters to work within so that you always get sharp photos.

Select ISO sensitivity settings > Auto ISO Sensitivity control ON and then under Minimum shutter speed select Auto and click again. Now select Faster +2 setting. This ensures that the camera will give you a fast enough shutter speed to get sharp shots based on your focal length. I set Maximum sensititvity to 12800 as thats about the limit of what I consider to be acceptable image quality from the Nikon Z50II.

Next we’re going to make sure you have white balance set to auto so that the color of your photos will be correct even when the light changes. We’re going to make a tweak to the white balance behaviour though to keep pictures looking natural.

In the Photo Shooting Menu select:

• White balance
• Auto1:Auto
• Keep overall atmosphere

They are the only changes in the Photo Shooting Menu I would recommend making if you are brand new to the Nikon Z50II as a beginner. But next we need to take control of the autofocus because as good as cameras are these days, there are still times when you need to overide what the camera is trying to focus on or you will end up very frustrated.

Autofocus setup for beginners

I’m going to keep this section as simple as possible and offer the two best autofocus options for when you’re just starting out. This isn’t the complex “pro” setup I use, but that level of configuration simply isn’t necessary—or helpful—when you are still learning the ropes.

To focus the Nikon Z50II, simply half-press the shutter button to start the autofocus system. If you take your finger off the button, the AF system stops. To take the photo fully depress the shutter button after obtaining focus (indicated by a green AF box in the viewfinder or on-screen.

My recommendation for general photography is to start in Auto-area AF. This allows the camera to scan the scene and identify the subject, and the Z50II does an excellent job of selecting the right focus point.

To set this up: In the Photo Shooting Menu, select AF-area mode > Auto-area AF.

If the camera struggles to choose the right subject, you’ll want to take control. The easiest way to do this is by switching to 3D tracking mode.

The fastest way to switch: Press the i button, select the AF-area mode / Subj. detection icon, and use the rear control dial to select 3D-tracking. It’s just one click to the left.

How to use 3D-tracking: Once active, place the autofocus box over your subject and half-press the shutter button. While keeping the button half-pressed, you can move the camera to “recompose” your shot exactly as you wish. The Z50II will “stick” to your subject and retain focus, even as you shift your framing. It’s that simple—no complex button configurations required.

While I use other focusing modes, this setup keeps things simple and still allows you to get great results while not overwhelming with complicated setups and simply allows you to focus on taking pictures. When you eventually do want more control you can come back here to see how I have set up my own personal Z50II including the full configuration and customisations.

Viewing images

The last thing we are going to do is customise the playback operation and settings so that you can see useful information when you look back over your images.

By default, the Nikon Z50II gives very little information in when you look at the images you have taken. At the very least, we want to be able to see basic shooting information so you know what settings were used as well as ensure that your photo was correctly exposed.

To do this choose the playback Icon in the main menu. It’s a play button in a rectangle (4th from the top on the left hand-side.

Select playback display options and check the following:

• Exposure info
• Highlights
• RGB Histogram

Then press the Menu button to let the camera know you’re done.

Now when you look back through the photos that you have taken, you can cycle through the information by pressing display or the up and down buttons on the multi-selector. You will be able to see your exposure settings, any blown highlights (areas that are too bright) which will be flashing black and also a full histogram which represents the tonal values in your image, from dark on the left, to bright areas on the right.

Next, I always turn picture review off because it becomes irritating when it constantly shows you the photo that you have just taken and it interrupts your flow when taking multiple photos quickly. Select:

Playback menu> Picture review> Off

That is it for the basic setup of the Nikon Z50II. With the settings above you will be free to go out and start taking photos and get great results. To get those photos quickly on to your phone and to update the camera’s firmware to the latest version to ensure maximum performance, you should also download the Nikon Snapbridge app and connect your camera to it. I’ll walk you through that below.

Connecting the Nikon Z50II to Nikon Snapbridge

Firstly, download the Nikon Snapbridge app to your device. I use an Iphone and Ipad so I go to the App store. If you’re on Android then get it from the Google Play store.

Once downloaded, open up the app. On the home screen, you will see a cog icon at the top right of the screen, tap on this and click Add camera. Select the correct type of camera (Z50II) which is the second option under mirrorless camera section.

Next select Pairing (Bluetooth) and then:

On your camera’s menu, navigate to the Network Menu (second from bottom on the left)and select Connect to Smart device now select pairing (bluetooth) and then Start Pairing.

Your camera should now show as a bluetooth connection option in the Snapbridge app. Click on it. You will see a screen saying connecting to camera and then this screen may show for what seems like an eternity. Be patient as eventually your camera will show up on the select an accessory page.

You will eventually see your camera ( i just did mine again for this article and it took about 1 minute for the camera to show up) in this list.

Select the on-screen options to pair and also confirm the pairing on the camera and you are done. A screen should pop up in the app saying ‘pairing complete, connected to camera. hit ok and you’re app and camera are now paired.

From the app you can download photos, update the firmware and control the camera remotely. There is also a feature called Easy shooting setup where you can download settings for specific shooting scenarios where it will load what Nikon deems the best settings for that shooting scenario.

Pro tip: Keeping SnapBridge connected also allows your phone to sync GPS location data to your photos—a lifesaver when you’re out in the Scottish Highlands and want to remember exactly where you took a particular shot.

The app will automatically tell you when there is new firmware for the Z50II and you can simply press the notification and follow the on-screen instructions to update your cameras firmware wirelessly via the app. Just make sure you have plenty of battery power remaining on your device and camera. I’ve updated the firmware on my Nikon Z cameras many times and it works flawlessly.

The Nikon Z50II is a fantastic camera when just starting out. it’s light years ahead of the camera I learned photography on and as I continue using it here in Scotland, I’ll be writing more articles about it, publishing more advanced custom setup guides as well as putting it through its paces for a wide variety of subjects. I hope you found this setup guide useful but if there’s anything that I missed or that you would like to see included then please feel free to comment down below.

Last night, I’d had enough of the kit lens, so I took it off and put the Nikon Z 50mm 1.8S lens on instead. Stupidly, I forgot about the Dx crop factor which results in the 50mm lens giving a 75mm field of view. Yes, my head is elsewhere at the moment. So after a couple of shots where things didn’t feel quite right, I realised my mistake and adjusted to the more narrow 75mm field of view.

The Nikon Z50II is touted as one of the best cameras for beginners, it usually comes up in people’s lists but I’m finding that while it may be a ‘beginners camera’, or at least a camera that is a good choice for beginners, it’s actually just a really capable little camera. To start to test my hypothesis about this camera, I decided that it’s time to roll out my selection of high quality Nikon Z lenses and see if the Z50II started to show any limitations.

Struggling with your Z50II settings? If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the menus or aren’t sure you’ve got your camera configured for the best results, I’ve put together a dedicated Nikon Z50II Quick Start Setup Guide. It covers the essential configurations I recommend to get you shooting with confidence—minus the complex technical jargon.

At the moment, there is a fair amount of turmoil in our house as we are navigating visa options for my wife, so my focus wasn’t really on subjects, so much as the beautiful evening light we were getting. Sofia and I have taken to regularly walking a neighbour’s two dogs in our local park as she is sadly, no longer capable of doing so herself. As well as doing something nice for the dogs and their owner, which I always feel is a good example to show Sofia, it gives me the perfect excuse to get out a little later in the evening and witness the beautiful late summer evening light that we get here in perthshire.

Teddy (Yorkshire terrier) and Poppy ( Cairn/Yorkshire terrier cross) happily walked alongside Sofia and my mum while I had the Z50II + 50mm 1.8S attached to my Peak Design Camera Leash. The 50mm is substantially larger than the 16-50mm kit lens but it pairs well with the Z50II and the balance feels excellent thanks to the camera’s decent grip.

As I followed behind the dog walkers, pockets of light amongst the woodland kept catching my eye. Patches of woodland spot-lit by the Sun breaking through, huge Scots Pine tree trunks partially lit, partially in shadow and open fields with sheep grazing amongst patches of light. It was the perfect evening to capture the warm, Instagram esque colors of summer.

However, my youngest daughter Izzy, who we have developmental concerns over and have been having assessed since she arrived in Scotland, and in fact was the whole reason that we moved here, is leaving Scotland tomorrow with my wife, at her insistance.

My wife has to obtain a long term visa from her home country. A rule implemented by the UK Government that seems totally illogical in our situation,. So both the frustration and exhaustion of dealing with this over the last few months, as well as the conflict over what’s best for Izzy between my wife and I meant I was in no mood to capture pretty colors or the beauty of summer. I shot in dark, moody black and white using Nikon’s Rich Tone Monochrome picture profile, reflecting my mood as I prepare for Izzy to leave for an unkown length of time.

The Z50II and 50mm 1.8S combination easily coped with the harsh highlights and shadows of the evening. I found myself often reaching for the exposure compensation button, which is placed exactly as it is on my full frame Nikon Z cameras. The only ergonomic annoyance was the lack of a joytstick, which thanks to my muscle memory being used to having one, on a few occasions slowed me down. But for this kind of shooting, it didn’t really matter that much.

In this kind of light, with heavy shadows, the lack of IBIS (in body image stabilisation) was a factor that meant I had to keep my shutter speed at 1/100 or more. That’s not usually the case for me, but I tested how low I could go with the 50mm giving a 75mm field of view and as I dropped the shutter speed to 1/60, I found I was introducing motion blur. I think someone with a steady hand could manage slower shutter speeds than I did last night, their blood pressure may be a little lower than mine currently is.

As we sat by the now empty lake on the estate, the evening light raked across the landscape and after taking a few shots of Sofia, we just sat there for perhaps half an hour. I put the camera down, and we just enjoyed some much needed rest and relaxation with the Sun warming us, dogs by our side. ‘So this is what it feels like to simply be‘, I thought to myself. I need more of that and photography, again, along with Sofia, act as the facilitators for that.

So how does the Nikon Z50II perform when you put a high quality lens on it like the Z 50mm 1.8S? Exceptionally well. Over the coming months I anticipate having a lot more time to dedicate to this website and photography as Izzy leaves us for 6-12 months. My images may well become darker for a time, but I hope that through photography, I can start to see the light again and bring more value through articles, photos and, if I can gather enough energy, Youtube. If you are interested in what’s next then you can subscribe to my newsletter down below. I don’t send out emails very often as I value your inbox.

As I wanted the day to be about her and not photography, I took the Nikon Z50II and the diminutive 16-50mm kit lens to keep things small, light, and unobtrusive. In the morning, I checked the camera over; everything was fine, the battery had only one bar depleted after it’s last outing, and the memory card was inserted and formatted. I attached it to my Peak Design Leash camera strap, and we headed out to Auchingarrich Wildlife Park.

I thought I was prepared for a relaxed day of shooting. It didn’t quite turn out like that.

Struggling with your Z50II settings? If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the menus or aren’t sure you’ve got your camera configured for the best results, I’ve put together a dedicated Nikon Z50II Quick Start Setup Guide. It covers the essential configurations I recommend to get you shooting with confidence—minus the complex technical jargon.

As we walked around the park, shadowed by two particularly greedy young goats, Sofia’s mood seemed to lighten. I could tell she was really enjoying the interactions with the animals as she fed them the contents of the little animal snack bag we had bought.

After around 10 minutes of walking, I’d estimate I had taken 20 photos when, to my surprise, the camera’s battery warning light started flashing at me. How could that be? At home, it had shown only one bar depleted. I turned it off and on again; the indicator briefly returned to white, but within seconds, it went back to flashing red. Despite the battery issues, I still rate the Z50II as a great camera for beginners. You just have to be aware of your battery level throughout the day and perhaps buy a spare.

‘Okay, it’s Sofia’s 10th birthday. It’s important, and I want some memories of the day‘, so I switched into battery management mode. I reduced the number of photos I took and picked my moments a little more, making sure to switch the camera off after every single opportunity.

I only have the battery that came with the camera, so I knew it was unlikely I’d be able to shoot through the day unless I seriously restricted my shot count. Instead, I decided to focus on the experience and spend time with Sofia, even more than I’d planned.

I watched on as my little girl—now a ‘big girl’ at 10 years old, as she likes to tell me—smiled as a meerkat approached her until it was literally on the other side of the glass. Sofia moved her hand slowly towards it, I’m certain wishing she could stroke it. She has an unbreakable love of animals, and this was exactly the kind of medicine she needed today.

We continued around the park, seeing owls, searching for the elusive Scottish Wildcat (who never made an appearance), and walking amongst wallabies and emus in the Australian section, before heading for a delicious lunch at the restaurant. Sofia’s mood had perked up, and I’d still managed to avoid the dreaded black screen of death by carefully managing the battery level.

At lunch, I remembered I had an Anker Nano powerbank with an integrated USB-C cable in the car, so I nipped back and retrieved it. I expected to have to leave the camera and powerbank in my pocket for at least half an hour, but in the end, I managed to rig it up so that the camera could remain around my neck and the powerbank could stay in a chest pocket of my waterproof jacket, allowing the cable to reach without having to put the camera away.

After lunch, now with me feeling more relaxed knowing I could continue capturing moments, we enjoyed wandering the park, which is actually half wildlife experience and half working Scottish farm. The highlights weren’t actually the exotic animals but the interactions Sofia had feeding sheep, donkeys and Fallow deer which shes dreamed of seeing up close for a long time. Our day ended with Sofia spending plenty of time stroking and fussing the beautiful resident sheepdog of the farm before letting her choose a soft toy in the giftshop to add to her collection.

So how did the camera perform for a day of family photography?

I actually found the camera really good; it was light and fast to focus, although I miss a focus joystick as using the rear 4-way controller is not as intuitive. Autofocus with my setup—which I’ve configured to replicate my Nikon Z8 and Z6III—worked well.

The 16-50mm lens is competent and sharp in the centre, but it feels a bit meh. It’s interesting, actually: you can’t use shallow depth of field as a crutch, which makes you work a little harder for compositions. On a day out where spending time with family is the priority, that resulted in fewer keepers, as I didn’t want to keep re-taking shots and delay the day. Having to always unlock the lens is also irritating, but the incredibly small size and weight is a trade-off I think is fair.

I didn’t use the rear LCD screen even once during the day. I found the viewfinder adequate for shooting; it’s not the best at 2.36 million dots, but it never felt like a deal-breaker. It does the job well enough to function, and that’s what I care about. A better viewfinder is always nice, but I’d take this over not having one at all.

When I got home, after eating a slice or two of the cake my mum had made for Sofia, I took the opportunity to view the photos I’d taken. I shot 117 photos throughout the day and ended up with 12 that I thought were worth editing. Some are nice; others I edited simply because I liked Sofia’s expression or because they serve as a record of the time we spent together—especially during what has been the hardest three months of our lives. A few were edited specifically to give me more insight into how the Z50II RAW files behave in post.

Overall, considering the lens used, I was happy with the files. They felt like Nikon files in terms of color and dynamic range, and I was even able to shoot a couple of indoor shots at ISO 12800 that turned out to be perfectly usable—one of which I converted to black and white just to see how the result looked.

Would I have gotten ‘better’ images using a full-frame Nikon Z camera with a prime lens? Almost certainly. But would I have even taken it with me on a day meant for Sofia? I doubt it. That is what I took away from today regarding the Z50II: it’s just like a Nikon, only smaller.

For a bit of context, if you have not read my site before, I shoot with the Nikon Z8 (full Z8 review here) , Z6III (full Z6III review here), and Zf (full Nikon Zf review here). I’ve been using Nikon cameras for over 10 years, dating back to the DSLR days, and I’ve also shot a lot of different systems, including Fuji, Canon, Sony, OM Systems, and Panasonic, as well as the Ricoh GR series. I started off with entry-level cameras before moving to my first full-frame Canon 5D MK II while working as a professional landscape photographer before moving toward travel photography. My writing comes from the point of view of someone who is used to using professional-level tools.

Struggling with your Z50II settings? If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the menus or aren’t sure you’ve got your camera configured for the best results, I’ve put together a dedicated Nikon Z50II Quick Start Setup Guide. It covers the essential configurations I recommend to get you shooting with confidence—minus the complex technical jargon.

Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you

My Nikon Z50II + 16-50mm lens arrived from Amazon on Monday; I paid £851.44 (just over US $1100). I don’t remember the exact price of my Canon 450D, but I recall it was somewhere in the region of £400 (just over US $500) back in 2008. These are my initial thoughts, from my notes, after having unboxed it, set it up, and taken it out for a couple of hours on a local walk in the countryside. I’ll be writing much more on the Nikon Z50II as I continue to use it as I did at Sofias birthday recently and when I finally took the kit lens off.

It doesn’t, for the most part, feel like a beginner camera; it feels more like a miniaturized proper Nikon Z camera, almost like a miniature Z6III. The ergonomics feel familiar, with only a few things noticeable, one being the smaller battery, which on a two-hour walk with intermittent shooting, dropped one bar. Other differences include the memory card slot not being on the side of the grip but within the battery compartment, and the Z50II having a dedicated picture mode button on the top of the camera. The PASM dial also has an extra scene mode and is located on the right-hand side of the top plate where, on my Z6III and Z8, the top LCD screen would normally be.

Handling Impressions

In terms of handling, it feels incredibly light and compact. Combined with the 16-50mm kit lens, I hardly even noticed it when it was clipped onto my Peak Design Capture clip, attached to my backpack. At a combined weight of 685 grams (or about 1.51 lbs), it’s getting into compact camera territory.

First thoughts about the ergonomics are that they are way above what I was expecting; the grip is deep, really ergonomic, allowing my hand to get great purchase on the camera. The on/off switch is in the usual Nikon place, wrapping around the shutter button, and the top plate features the familiar 3-button setup just behind the shutter button—Record, ISO, and exposure compensation—exactly as my Z8 and Z6III. There are some other slight variations in button feel; they are not quite as solid as the higher-end cameras, but it feels very similar and coherent with the rest of the Nikon Z line.

Setup

I already did an initial custom setup to replicate my Z8 (I detailed my Z8 settings for wildlife here) as closely as possible in terms of button functions so that I can swap pretty seamlessly between my full-frame Nikon Z cameras and the Z50II. The fact that this is even possible surprised me, and it shows Nikon’s intent to make the Z50II more than just an entry-level camera.

I initially set the display button on the rear of the camera to activate single-point AF but found that the button is slightly awkward to activate due to the position my hand sits in. So, I am changing that customization and swapping that function to the AE-L/AF-L button instead, as that’s easier to reach more naturally. In terms of ergonomics, this is a world away from how I remember my beginner camera, the Canon EOS 450D. It feels refined, well-built, and capable. Surprisingly so, if I’m honest. I didn’t expect quite this level of customizability and feel from a camera aimed at this level.

My First Outing

For my first outing, I took the Z50II with just the 16-50mm kit lens on a walk where beavers are located. We knew we wouldn’t see them in the daytime, but I wanted to show Sofia their lodges. The walk there initially cuts through some farmland with beautiful ancient trees lining a narrow path before entering woodland and signs of beaver activity all around.

We got slightly off-track due to the incredible amount of fern growth which has sprung up since the last time I was here. We ended up having to find our way through dense woodland, across the pools and bogs that the beaver activity has created. Eventually, and after pushing through foliage that dwarfed Sofia, we got back on track and made our way toward the lodges. All along the walk, I was picking out shots and getting a feel for what this camera and lens combination could do.

I’ve set the autofocus up exactly as I have it on my other Nikon Z cameras for familiarity. A couple of things immediately impressed me with the Z50II, the first being that it was even possible to so closely replicate the functionality and setup of professional-level Nikon Z cameras. The fact that Nikon has allowed this, rather than differentiating the Menu system between a beginner-level camera and pro-level cameras, is an inspired choice in my opinion. It allows someone like me, who uses top-of-the-line gear, to pass down my experience from those cameras and use it with the Z50II. I never got the feeling that the camera had been dumbed down, which in turn gave me a feeling not of “ah god, this is restrictive and basic,” but more so that Nikon genuinely set out to make a smaller, cheaper version of their pro-level bodies. It feels every bit a Nikon Z camera of this generation.

My subjects were mainly trees, farmland, and the odd shot of Sofia, so I didn’t get to test out autofocus tracking, subject detection, or the more advanced AF elements yet. My default AF mode is Wide-Area AF S on all my Z cameras and so I set the Z50II up in exactly the same way. It feels responsive in my limited testing so far, but I will dig deeper into that in future outings.

A lot of the time I used my custom setting button to activate Single-point AF to ensure accuracy when photographing the landscape and ensuring the correct depth of field in shots. Speaking of which, due to the smaller APS-C sized sensor, depth of field is naturally deeper than my full-frame Z cameras which makes it easier to get front-to-back sharpness with larger apertures, something quite useful for landscapes. So instead of shooting at my usual f/8, I found myself at f/5.6 more often. One issue of course is the variable aperture of the Nikon Z 16-50mm kit lens, which when zooming through the focal range, sometimes makes f/5.6 impossible. At the long end, you’re at f/6.3.

Another factor I had to keep reminding myself of was that the Z50II does not have In-Body Image Stabilisation, so I had to remain aware of shutter speed so as to not introduce any camera shake into images. I rarely dropped below 1/30–50 of a second for this reason, and so on a couple of shots, the camera was at a higher ISO than I would normally have chosen.

Image Quality: Initial Impressions

Still, the image quality seems excellent, especially considering this is a kit lens. My initial instinct, although I will test this properly later, is that the lens is sharp in the centre, may soften slightly as you zoom towards the extreme end of its focal length, but as someone who uses some of Nikon’s top Z lenses, I never felt like the lens was terrible; in fact, for its tiny size, I was pleasantly surprised.

I should mention that the weather for this walk was pretty grey and overcast for the most part with drizzle turning to more persistent rain as we headed back towards the car. The Z50II has weather sealing and so I simply left it out in the elements, either on my Capture clip or in my hand, and continued to shoot.

When I got home, I went through some of the files and applied my usual editing style in Lightroom on my iPad. The files look good; they seem to offer the same ability to edit in terms of colour, dynamic range, and malleability that I’ve come to expect from Nikon. Technically, I haven’t tested them side-by-side to the full-frame photos coming off my Z6III or Z8, and will do so in due time, but as an initial impression, they seem to be in the same ballpark, if you allow for the sensor size difference. Overall, so far, my initial impressions of the Nikon Z50II are that it’s every bit a modern Nikon Z camera, in a smaller package, not a stripped-down beginner camera. That’s what impressed me the most when I first unboxed it and after taking it out on an initial shoot.

You can see the latest price for the Nikon Z50II kit I bought here.