Nikon Rumored to Announce a Brand New Full Frame Mirrorless Camera and Three Z-Mount Lenses

Nikon Rumored to Announce a Brand New Full Frame Mirrorless Camera and Three Z-Mount Lenses

It’s being reported that Nikon is close to launching an entry-level, full frame mirrorless camera and three new lenses, with the announcement due to come within the next three weeks.

The rumor mills have been discussing the arrival of the mooted Z 5, an affordable full frame mirrorless camera that would rival the Canon EOS RP. Speculation has wavered over whether this camera would include an EVF, perhaps only featuring a rear LCD with the option of a bolt-on EVF that could be added via the hotshot.

The chatter now seems to have decided that Nikon has not taken this route, choosing to ditch only the top-panel LCD, and borrowing the EVF from the existing Z 6. Other guesses include a 24 megapixels sensor, dual card slots, IBIS, a 1.7x crop in 4K, and stills at 6 frames per second.

Perhaps of greater interest to existing Z 6 and Z 7 owners are the three new lenses that may be announced at the same time. The three lenses are:

  • Nikkor Z 24-50mm f/4-6.3
  • Nikkor Z 50mm f/1.2 S
  • Nikkor Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S

These are three significant additions to the Nikkor Z lineup and you can get a glimpse of them at Nikon Rumors. The 14-24mm f/2.8 brings Nikon a step closer to completing a trinity of fast zooms, though many will be wondering when the 70-200 f/2.8 S will arrive; the 50mm f/1.2 will finally offer Nikon fans their first truly fast prime lens that has autofocus and doesn't cost eight grand; and the 24-50mm is mooted to be a near-pancake lens with a collapsible design, offering a convenient, compact, lightweight, walk-around option that will pair well with the new Z 5.

Are you excited to see what Nikon is about to announce? How will Nikon price these various products? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Andy Day's picture

Andy Day is a British photographer and writer living in France. He began photographing parkour in 2003 and has been doing weird things in the city and elsewhere ever since. He's addicted to climbing and owns a fairly useless dog. He has an MA in Sociology & Photography which often makes him ponder what all of this really means.

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23 Comments

The only lens that I might be interested in is the 14 - 24 f2.8 but I'm not planning on investing in any more lenses until the 70-200mm is finally fixed. Looking at the road map there are only 2 or 3 that I'm interested in.

Two lenses I wish they would come out with are a 70-250 f4s (I already have and love the 14-30 and 24-70) that is lighter and more compact than the 2.8S and the proposed 28mm pancake for compact street shooting.

But its good to see them continuing to expand the lineup.

Before they start adding new lenses, can they please get out the 70-200mm f/2.8? We've been waiting around for that one since February. They say it's delayed because of the pandemic, but other manufacturers are getting stuff out and they even just released the 24-200mm lens that was announced AFTER the 70-200mm. I've been waiting for this lens forever!

Hopefully it comes out soon! I saw initial reviews from at least 2 people receiving shipments the last week or so.

It’s almost like there’s a pandemic and all camera manufacturers and electronics companies are delaying? Hopefully it comes out soon, but let’s be realistic here.

I’ve even had simple metal water bottles delayed for months for a travel backpack due to certain parts not shipping from certain countries. Nikon, Canon, Sony, and other companies all have had various announcements of supply delays.

Nikon still exists? Why?

For people like you to post useless comments.

It is a pretty lame comment.

Photographers who take photos appear to enjoy using them.

Totally. Did I say otherwise?

I also was a huge Atari fan.

Does Atari still exist?

Why not? Their DSLRs are great and their mirrorless are promising especially with the optical performance of the Z mount.

Do you care to explain why they shouldn't exist anymore?

Nikon is like the Atari great product without the ability to scale up in a reasonable time. Their cameras are good although unimaginative, their lenses are fine but not as good as the competition. Their business has been struggling for decades.

Why does Nikon still exist.

Because people like me still buy their cameras.

Because other people have a different attitude than you.

Isn't it just your perception of what Nikon is? Yah, maybe true that Nikon is struggling compared to Sony or Canon. But are Nikon cameras really that inferior? I doubt it.

Also, Sony has heavily invested on marketing their products enough to cover up the design flaws of their cameras. Canon is famous because they're like the Toyota of cameras in terms of brand popularity.

I have the EOS R, A7R IV, and Z6. I can vouch for the Z6's design and functionality. It's on par or even sometimes better on some aspects.
The "internet infamous" 1.8 S series lenses are sharper than what Sony and Canon offers.
All camera companies have been struggling since smartphones started offering good everyday cameras. It affected them because entry level cameras are cash cows of manufacturers back then.

Nikon exists because they still can. They still have a huge user base.

Photographic equipment increasingly is like Vinyl. Small profits, mainly a hobby for larger companies, and only used by the pros and some lovers of true sound.

Sony has an empire behind it to cross finance and both Canon and Fuji have too (maybe kingdoms). Nikon is stand alone and is struggling to keep up. A slow and painful death.

Why do any of us exist? Are you or I useful to more people than Nikon?

Irrelevant because I don’t cost anyone any money to run. I make money and run for myself. I suppose you do too.

I love incredibly myopic people

Me too... Which myopic event are you referring to?

The one when Nikon tried to convince everyone early 90ies that APS-C was just as good as 35 mm and then came late to the game after half their users jumped ship to Canon?

Or when they insisted on keeping the F-Mount on digital which reduced their capabilities to create great lenses which was especially apparent by all the bulging elements and, well, image quality. To be fair Canon had bad sensors so that somewhat saved Nikon in this instance.

Or when Nikon ignored Mirrorless and saw another half of their users leave for Sony and Fuji?

I’m not quite sure which one was worse

Referring to your glib dismissal of Nikon, as if people have no reason to make a living with their D5/6's or D850's. So, sure, it's easy to be Monday morning quarterback. Why shouldn't APS-C be as good as full frame (a 100 yr old form factor) - look at Fuji? Where is their full frame? You just contradicted yourself. Z series is actually a damn good platform. And, good for Nikon that their FTZ adapter works great and allows you to use decades of Nikkor glass investment. Frankly, mirrorless is 90% sheeple mentality. Build a camera with a laggy, fake EVF view of the world and sensor that is running continuously to drain the shit out of your battery. Great, so I get slightly better focus in low light.

You do have a sense of history? Doesn’t look it.

Yes in ~2015-202x APS C’s have caught up.

This was NOT the case in ~2003 to 2008.

I’m actually using an APSC now. And a Medium Format.

Nikon got it backwards. Or they got the timing really wrong. Whichever it is.

I’m not saying Nikon doesn’t have good equipment. I just wonder how they still are around after some pretty massive hickups and constant decline of users.

If the Z6 was introduced with the capability to record 4k/60 (like the Lumix S1 was a few months later) I would for sure own one today.

We are seeing DR drop severely with high mp now and this is a Sony a7rV repackaged meaning DR most likely will suffer.
Z9 isn't known for great DR either.
Will be interesting to see.
Nikon needs to work on catching up in AF with the Z9 still lagging behind the Sony and Canon products and with Nikon behind the much less costly Canon consumer cameras.