Why This Professional Photographer Loves the Nikon Z50

You're a professional photographer using cameras to make a living, and you suddenly end up with no cameras in your possession. What do you do?

For the last 6 years I worked at a Fortune 500 company that owned a generous amount of equipment. The list included a D850, D800, D750, D500, GH5s, as well as a number of accessories and lenses to compliment the camera bodies I used. For a while at the beginning of my tenure there I owned a D700, but quickly sold it realizing my highly loved camera was much worse than the equipment now available to me. That left me in a position where I didn't actually own any cameras for many years (aside from my 500C/M), so when I knew I was making the switch to a new company I quickly figured out which camera I wanted to get for myself to fill the equipment gap I had. 

I was formerly an SLR-holdout being a fan of the real viewfinder and instant-on features however, after using the perks of Nikon Professional Services, I was able to borrow and test the Nikon Z 6 / Z 7 which gave me a real confidence boost in Nikon's mirrorless offering. Both of those cameras are wonderful and only offer a few compromises versus my old D850. After some consideration I ended up buying a lowly Nikon Z50 with the 16-50 kit lens and FTZ adapter for a single Nikon lens I still own. I was able to play with the camera and test ergonomics in the local camera store to make sure the camera fit my hand. The decision to purchase an entry-level, mirrorless, crop-sensor camera may not seem to make sense at first but I have become a proponent of the Z50 in a way that I was not originally thinking I would be. Let me explain!

The Z50 is kind of the ultimate travel camera in my opinion. The 16-50 kit lens condenses down to nearly as short as the right side grip on the camera. This makes travel and packing with at least the body and kit lens super easy. The last camera I used regularly was the wonderful D850 with the battery grip. That camera is a beast next to my Z50 and aside from the megapixel count and a few other features really isn't that much better than the Z50.

The megapixel count being the big difference between my Z50 and the D850 I used isn't always all that relevant. I did a job last year to photograph a museum's collection of motorcycles and I would certainly rent a higher megapixel camera if I were to do that job now, but for a vast majority of things I shoot 20.9 MP is plenty. These days when most things are being viewed on a tiny phone screen, I feel like megapixel count is even less relevant.

Buying the Z50 allows me to do most of the jobs I would normally do and for the small percentage that I need more specialized equipment it makes sense to rent. Considering the cost of the Z50 kit versus a D850 with a body only, we are roughly one third the total cost and roughly one quarter the size. During these unsure times I'm very glad I have waited to invest in a more expensive photo and or video kit. I still have my eye on that D850 body — I love that camera nearly as much as my D3 back in the day. And for video productions the Z50 is lacking a bit in terms of frame rates and resolution. It's good enough for a lot of social media-based projects, but I am also considering trying out a ZCAM E2 kit.

Either way I go in the years to come, the Z50 will stay as part of my kit. Being as this camera is small and light it makes a great secondary camera or as a dedicated travel camera. Who else has made the discovery of how wonderful small cameras can be?