NIKON Z FC
The Nikon Z fc has a traditional design based on a film camera from the 1980s. ANGELA NICHOLSON investigates how that works in the digital age
Classic Nikon camera design meets innovative Z series technology, but is it a pro offering?
The Z fc is only the second APS-C (DX) format mirrorless camera in Nikon’s Z series – the first was the Z 50, which was announced in October 2019. Internally, the Z fc has much in common with the Z 50, not least in that they have the same 20.88MP (23.5 x 15.7mm) CMOS sensor and Expeed 6 processing engine. This means the Z fc has a 209-point hybrid autofocus system, but the Z fc has eye-detection AF for humans and animals in both stills and video mode.
Like the Z 50, the Z fc has a stills sensitivity range of ISO 100-51,200, which can be expanded to ISO 204,600 and ISO 100-25,600 for video. The maximum continuous shooting rate is also 11fps.
The big difference between the Z 50 and the Z fc is in the design because the new camera was inspired by the Nikon FM2 film SLR from the 1980s. Consequently, the Z fc has a collection of metal dials for setting the sensitivity (ISO), shutter speed and exposure compensation to specific values. However, as Nikon’s Z-series lenses don’t have an aperture ring, the aperture is set via a command dial on the camera and the value is shown on a small screen on the top plate.
This means that Nikon has adopted a different approach to Fujifilm, with cameras such as the X-T4, X-E4 and X-T30, when it comes to exposure mode selection. As the traditional dials don’t have an ‘A’ for automatic setting, they are paired with a switch to select auto, program, shutter priority, aperture priority or manual exposure mode.
While this may appeal to photographers who are used to an exposure mode dial, it also means it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you have set a specific shutter speed via the shutter speed dial. However, if the camera is set to auto, program or aperture priority mode, it will actually set the shutter speed value itself.
The same is true of the ISO dial as Auto ISO is set via the Z fc’s menu, there’s no option to do it via the ISO dial, nor can you set a button or an option in the ‘i’ menu to access it. Hopefully, Nikon will address this with a firmware update shortly.
Nikon gave the Z 50 a tilting screen, which is useful for landscape orientation shooting but doesn’t particularly help with portrait orientation photography. Also, you need a special plate to mount the camera on a tripod so that you can see the screen when it’s flipped down through 180° for shooting selfies or vlogging. These issues have been solved with the Z fc, as it has a vari-angle screen that can be flipped out to the side of the camera and rotated to face forwards or angled up or down in portrait or landscape orientation.
As usual with Nikon Z-series cameras, the screen is touch-sensitive and can be used to navigate the menus and make setting selections. One thing you can’t do, however, is set the AF point with the screen while you look in the viewfinder. Instead, you have to use the navigation pad, which is okay, but not quite as slick as using a joystick.
Inspired by the Nikon FM2 film SLR of the 1980s, the Z fc has a collection of metal dials
While the Z fc’s screen gives a good view and doesn’t suffer from excessive glare, the viewfinder is a great alternative means of composing images, especially in bright light. This has a retro-style round eye cup, which is fine unless you wear spectacles. Because you can’t get your eye as close to the viewfinder when wearing glasses, the edges of the frame are harder to see and you have to move your head around.
While the Z fc has a retro design, there’s nothing retro about the quality of the images that it produces. The default matrix metering system takes most things in its stride and, because the viewfinder and screen give accurate previews of the captured image, there are only a few occasions when you need to switch away from it.
There’s also an accurate preview of the image colour, so you can use the viewfinder to assess the white balance and your choice of Picture Control. I tend to favour the Standard and Neutral Picture Controls routinely, but also regularly dip into the Creative options for more interesting results.
Further good news is that the Z fc’s autofocus system can be relied upon to get most subjects sharp, even in quite low light. It can also keep moving subjects sharp, but the flat front and back of the Z fc don’t make it a natural partner for the long, heavy lenses that you might wish to use for shooting sport.
There’s a good level of detail in the Z fc’s images and it is maintained well up to around ISO 6,400. In some cases, ISO 12,800 also produces acceptable results, but some jpegs look unnaturally smooth in places. On the video front, the Z fc produces results that are a good match for its stills and the eye-detection AF is decent but not entirely reliable.
While the Nikon Z fc has a retro design, there’s nothing retro about the quality of the images that it produces