Nikon Z 7II
The Nikon isn’t as action-packed as the sporty EOS R6 but it’s certainly no slouch and can deliver exceptional levels of fine detail
EVEN THE MORE BUDGET-FRIENDLY NIKON Z 6II (£1,819/$1,997) OUTGUNS THE CANON EOS R6
FOR RESOLUTION, WITH ITS 24.5 MEGAPIXEL IMAGE SENSOR, BUT THE Z 7II SLAMS IT FIRMLY IN THE SHADE FOR RESOLVING POWER, BOASTING A 45.7 MEGAPIXEL SENSOR. IT PUTS ALL THOSE MEGAPIXELS TO VERY GOOD USE AS WELL, ENABLING THE CAPTURE OF IMMENSELY FINE DETAIL AND TEXTURE WHEN PAIRED WITH PRETTY MUCH ANY OF NIKON’S Z-MOUNT LENSES, WHICH
WE’VE FOUND UNIVERSALLY FABULOUS.
IN OTHER RESPECTS, BOTH NIKON CAMERAS ARE VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL, WITH THE SAME FEATURE SETS
AND LAYOUT OF CONTROLS. THAT SAID, THE Z 7II HAS
493 PHASE-DETECTION AUTOFOCUS POINTS ON ITS SENSOR, COMPARED WITH THE Z 6II’S 273 POINTS,
BUT THAT STILL FALLS A LOT SHORTER THAN THE EOS
R6’S PRACTICALLY FULL-SENSOR COVERAGE WITH 6,072 SELECTABLE AF POINTS. AUTOFOCUS PERFORMANCE IN NEAR-DARKNESS ALSO LAGS BEHIND THAT OF THE CAT-LIKE R6.
FOR TRACKING MOTION IN CONTINUOUS AUTOFOCUS MODES, THE Z 7II IS VERY ADEPT AND FEATURES SPECIALIST MODES FOR PEOPLE AND ANIMALS BUT, AGAIN, THE EOS R6 HAS THE EDGE THANKS TO
ITS ARTIFICIALLY INTELLIGENT SYSTEM. IMPRESSIVELY, DESPITE THE COMPARATIVELY COLOSSAL MEGAPIXEL COUNT, THE Z 7II NEARLY MATCHES THE EOS R6 FOR MAXIMUM BURST RATE, AT LEAST IN MECHANICAL SHUTTER MODE, AT UP TO 10FPS COMPARED WITH
THE CANON’S 12FPS. UNSURPRISINGLY, HOWEVER, THE BUFFER CAPACITY IS SOMEWHAT LOWER, EQUATING TO 200 JPEG FRAMES AND BETWEEN 46 AND 82 SHOTS IN RAW QUALITY MODE, DEPENDING ON THE SELECTION OF IMAGE SIZE, BIT-DEPTH AND COMPRESSION OPTIONS.
UNLIKE THE ORIGINAL EOS R, THE FIRST INCARNATION OF THE Z 7 HAD IBIS, PUTTING IT ONE STEP AHEAD FOR IMAGE STABILISATION WITH ANY LENS. A DRAWBACK IN COMMON WAS THAT BOTH CAMERAS ONLY HAD A SINGLE MEMORY CARD SLOT BUT THAT’S BEEN RECTIFIED IN BOTH THE EOS R6 AND THE Z 7II. WHEREAS THE R6 HAS DUAL SDXC UHS-II CARD SLOTS, THE
Z 7II ADDS THIS FORMAT WHILE RETAINING THE XQD CARD SLOT, WHICH IS ALSO COMPATIBLE WITH CFEXPRESS CARDS, BOTH OF WHICH ARE ROBUST
WITH EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE, BUT ARE
NOTORIOUSLY EXPENSIVE.
HANDLING CHARACTERISTICS ARE
VERY MUCH PAR FOR THE COURSE IN
BOTH OF THE CANON AND NIKON
CAMERAS, BUILDING ON THE TWO
COMPANIES’ TYPICAL DESIGN
ETHOS. SOME WILL FIND THE
CANON’S CONTROL LAYOUT
MORE INTUITIVE, WHEREAS
OTHERS WILL FIND IT EASIER
TO NAVIGATE THE NIKON’S
BUTTONS, DIALS AND MENU
SYSTEM. HOWEVER, THE Z 7II
DOES FEATURE A TOP-PANEL
OLED DISPLAY THAT ENABLES
YOU TO KEEP TRACK OF IMPORTANT
SETTINGS WITHOUT ALWAYS RESORTING TO
THE REAR TOUCHSCREEN OR OVER-CLUTTERING
THE INFO DISPLAY IN
THE VIEWFINDER.
AS YOU’D EXPECT, THE Z 7II’S MUCH HIGHER MEGAPIXEL COUNT COMES AT THE EXPENSE OF HIGHISO PERFORMANCE. IMAGE QUALITY TENDS TO LOOK MUCH NOISIER, ALTHOUGH FINE DETAIL AND TEXTURE IS FAIRLY WELL PRESERVED. THE APPEARANCE OF IMAGE NOISE IS RATHER REDUCED IF YOU RESIZE HIGH-ISO IMAGE SIZES TO THE SAME PIXEL DIMENSIONS OF THE EOS R6.
FOR VIDEO, THE Z 7II MATCHES THE EOS R6 FOR TOPPING OUT AT 4K UHD 60P, WITH AN ALMOST IDENTICAL CROP FACTOR OF 1.08X. BOTH CAMERAS
CAN ALSO SHOOT FULL HD 1,080P AT UP TO 120FPS. THE TILTING REAR TOUCHSCREEN IS GOOD FOR MOVIE CAPTURE IN GENERAL, BUT LACKS THE FULL ARTICULATION OF THE R6’S SCREEN FOR FRONT-ON VIEWING.