Nikon is perhaps the most famous camera brand in the world, but with the decline of DSLRs it has fallen behind Canon and Sony. In 2022, it released the Z9, a flagship mirrorless camera that could finally keep up with its competitors, but the $5,500 price tag put it out of reach for most. To appeal to a wider audience, Nikon introduced the Z8 last year with the same sensor and almost the same specs as the Z9 for $1,700 less.
With a 45-megapixel stacked sensor and the latest Expeed 7 image processor, the Z8 can do everything from sports to wildlife to scenic photography. It’s also a powerful video camera, offering 8K RAW recording internally at up to 60 fps.
The only other model that really compares in terms of speed, resolution and video is the Sony A1, but it costs a whopping $2,200 more. To find out how the Z8 compares to this model and others, I rented the Z8 and shot it around Vancouver, Canada with my photographer cousin.
Body and handling
In terms of design, you can think of the Z8 as the Z9 with the battery grip cut off. It’s still a hefty camera at 910 grams (2 pounds) compared to 737 grams for the Sony A1. This may suit professionals or those who like a larger camera body, but the size and weight aren’t ideal for travel. By the way, a battery grip for $346 (MB-N12) with secondary controls is available for the Z8, effectively transforming it into a Z9 for a lot less money.
The Z8 has a nice big grip and all the controls you’d expect, including a joystick, D-Pad-style menu controls, a switch for camera/video settings, and front and rear dials. Nikon users will enjoy the layout, as it is largely similar to past models, but everything is different enough that it might feel uncomfortable for users coming from other brands.
Unlike the A1, the Z8 features a display on top that shows key settings such as shutter, aperture and battery life. Although it takes up space that could be used by buttons or dials, it’s a handy way to see everything at a glance, and I miss it now on models that don’t have it. If you do have to dive into the menus, they take a little getting used to, but work well once you get over the learning curve.
One of the key negative points is the lack of a fully articulating display. Instead, the rear 3.2-inch, 2.36-million-dot screen only tilts up and down and left or right. That’s too bad, because the Z8 can be a powerful vlog camera, and a flip-up display is a must for this type of work (especially since it makes selfies easier).
The 3.69 million dot electronic viewfinder is a bit low resolution for a camera in this price range, especially compared to the Sony A1’s 9.4 million dot display. Even Canon’s cheaper R5 has a 5.76 million-dot display, which makes checking focus much easier.
Battery life is on the weak side at 420 shots (one to two hours of video shooting depending on resolution), compared to 490 shots for the Canon R5 and 530 for the A1, according to CIPA ratings. Again, though, you can almost double that with the battery handle. Other notable features include UHS-II and CFexpress B memory card slots, a full-size HDMI port for external capture, and two separate USB-C ports for power and data.
productivity
With the fastest high-resolution sensor stacked, the Z8 is incredibly fast for a 45-megapixel camera. You can shoot RAW photos at 20fps, slightly slower than the A1’s 30fps RAW, but the Z8 can shoot 30fps in JPEG mode. It can handle 40 uncompressed RAW frames before the buffer fills up, but can store more compressed images if you have a fast CFexpress card.
Hybrid phase-detection autofocus is Nikon’s best yet thanks to an improved image processor, a stacked sensor and a huge number of AF tracking points. It offers reliable object tracking, and face, eye and animal recognition is also fast and accurate. In fact, the company said it’s almost identical to the much more expensive Z9 from the latest firmware.
However, the Z8’s AF isn’t as reliable as the Sony A1 when shooting at top speeds. There were occasional issues with tracking objects, especially those moving towards the camera, resulting in some out-of-focus shots. The Z8 (and Z9) is quite sensitive to setting, so it’s best to fine-tune the AF settings until it works the way you want.
There’s no mechanical shutter, but the Z8’s sensor is fast enough that a rolling shutter isn’t an issue, even with fast-moving subjects like airplane propellers. In-body 5-axis stabilization reduces shake by six stops, enough to get sharp shots down to a quarter of a second or so. That’s better than the A1, but well short of the EOS R5’s 8 stops.
Image quality
The Z8 has the same excellent sensor as the Z9, so of course the image quality is identical in every way. At 45.7MP on tap, it delivers sharp photos on par with the 50MP A1 and second only to Sony’s 60MP A7R V in the full-frame realm. Dynamic range is also exceptional, perhaps a little better than the A1.
JPEG images are bright and vivid straight out of the camera, with the best color results from the Auto Light natural white balance setting. Colors are accurate, although skin tones aren’t as warm as Canon’s R3 or R5.
Meanwhile, 14-bit RAW images contain a lot of detail that can be brought out in Lightroom or ON1, especially in the highlights. Like the Z9, the Z8 no longer has an “uncompressed” option, but now offers “lossless compression” and two highly efficient lossy modes. I’ve usually used the highest compression RAW setting because it’s super efficient and honestly, I don’t see any difference between that and lossless compressed RAW.
The Z8 performs reasonably well in low light as well. Grain is well controlled up to around ISO 6400, and photos are usable at ISO 12800. Beyond that, noise can become distracting. It’s in line with Canon’s R5, but Sony’s A1 performs slightly better in low light.
Video
The Z8’s video specs are pretty mind-blowing for a non-cinema camera, and far exceed the capabilities of the A1. You can shoot RAW video at up to 8K 60p in Nikon’s 12-bit N-RAW or 8K 30p with 12-bit ProRes RAW HQ internally, only for CFexpress cards of course. It also captures full-width 4K video oversampling from the sensor at up to 60p and full-width 4K at up to 120p — again, all in RAW.
It’s worth noting that Nikon recently bought RED cameras, so it now owns the RED RAW video patent that tripped up so many other companies, including Apple. It will be interesting to see if Nikon loosens this enforcement and if the acquisition affects the technology in its own future models.
As with stills, video autofocus is fast and reliable, while doing a good job tracking subjects, faces and animals. It can handle challenging situations like subjects moving towards the camera, but again not as well as the A1.
8K and 4K oversampling video is extremely sharp. Colors are accurate, but again, skin tones aren’t as beautiful as Canon’s latest models. Dynamic range is top-notch, especially at ISO 400-800 in ProRes mode, making it easy to adjust shadows and highlights in post. If you like to shoot ProRes footage, be sure to get some high-capacity CFexpress cards because the files can get huge.
One area where the Z9 beats the Z8 in video is thermal performance, as the Z9’s larger body allows for 125 minutes of 8K 60p recording compared to the Z8’s 90 before overheating. However, there are very few content creators who will need to continuously shoot 8K video for that long.
Summary
Nikon’s Z8 is an extremely capable camera and shows that the company needs to offer as much speed and power as possible if it wants to catch up with Canon and Sony. For many hybrid shooters, the Z8 is a better option than Sony’s A1, especially when it comes to video.
Although it beats Sony’s specs in a number of areas, the Z8’s autofocus isn’t quite as good – and it’s arguably the most important feature of any camera. Shooters who need a mechanical shutter (for flash photography, etc.) will also need to look elsewhere. Another 8K-capable full-frame mirrorless is Canon’s R5, which falls short of both models in many ways, but is $3,200 cheaper.
The decision to buy this camera may be based on what system and lenses you already like. However, if I were starting from scratch, I would prefer the Z8 over the Sony A1, as you get the camera plus a very good lens for the same amount of money.
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