This is, by far, the most technically advanced camera I’ve ever owned. So what’s it like?
By now, the Z5 is four years old, but the camera I bought is in excellent condition, I’d say as new.
I took it for a walk around our little town, with the 40mm F/2 SE lens. It was quite a joy to use.
It looks and feels good. Not as good as the Nikon F5, my all-time favorite, but pretty darn good. All the buttons and controls are in the right places, I feel right at home. I’d love to have the grip extend a bit further down, not leaving my pinkie hanging. And the MB-N10 grip does that, but I don’t see it in my future because it does not add controls for vertical shooting: it is just a battery grip. Sure, some people love it, but I have my doubts.
Especially compared to the D800e, which was heavy to begin with, but really became a brick with battery grip and heavy lens, the Z5 is light as a feather. In fact, it’s 675g with battery, and this particular lens is 170g. I’d say it’s pretty close to the D7200 in size and weight, or at least it feels like it is.
The top shooting speed is 4.5fps, nothing to brag about. And, to be honest, I’m sure I’ll miss a higher speed eventually, but I rarely shoot action. Usually, the 4.5 will be fine for me.
It is full frame and 24 megapixels, so I expected high photo quality, and I’m not disappointed. Of course, quality depends on so many variables, but pixel peeping a bit on these shots, I’d say the Z5 performs very well.
I expect I won’t use the electronic viewfinder much, relying on the rear display instead, but as far as electronic viewfinders go, it’s pretty good. And the display on the back is probably not the brightest and clearest I’ve ever seen, but more than good enough for me.
The Z5 has two SD card slots, that fit my 128gb Sandisk cards nicely. I set the camera to write to both cards for backup, which gives me a nice sense of security.
Obviously, there’s a lot left to explore, but for now, I love the Z5.
