What happens when you pair the Nikon Z50II with a decent lens..

I’ve now owned the Nikon Z50II for some time now In that time the 16-50mm kit lens has been glued to it as I wanted to get a feel for what that combination offers.

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.