Nikon’s latest Z6 The camera brings the camera manufacturer’s high-end autofocus to a more reasonably priced mainstream camera. In almost every important way, the new Z6 III matches or surpasses the company’s much more expensive high-end model. nikon z8.
While it’s not perfect, the Z6 III is one of the best full-frame mirrorless cameras on the market and is capable of handling virtually any photography situation most of us can encounter. Landscape and wildlife professionals will probably stick with their Z8s for the higher resolution sensor, but for everyone else, this is the ideal Nikon.
Leaping forward
Nikon’s new Z6 III is a much bigger upgrade than the previous version of the original. It brings most of the flagship features of Nikon’s much more expensive Z8 and Z9 models to the Z6 line.
Photography: Scott Gilbertson
The body design has been modified, although it is not very different from the Z6 II. The camera weighs 1.7 pounds, which balances well even with larger lenses, and the Nikon grip is the largest I’ve used, making it comfortable and easy to carry. Unlike the retro-inspired Nikon Zf, there aren’t many external controls here. There’s a dial to change shooting modes, along with various other dials, buttons and scroll wheels, giving you plenty of customizable options that you can configure however you want, but it lacks that movie-inspired feel of the Zf.
The flagship features of the Z6 III are the new partially stacked sensor (more on this below), an updated, very fast and accurate 3D subject tracking system, and ProRes encoding for video. There are also a number of great little updates that make daily capture a better and smoother experience.
The Z6 III features a new 24-megapixel CMOS sensor, which Nikon calls a “partially stacked” sensor, meaning you get some of the performance benefits of a stacked CMOS sensor, like those found in the Nikon Z8 and Z9. , but not the disadvantages, or at least fewer disadvantages. Stacked sensors, ahem, stack the processing circuitry right on top of the sensor itself (technically it’s behind the sensor), which means the RAM is directly connected to the sensor, allowing for incredibly fast reading. This is what allows high-end cameras to take more than 12 RAW images per second without the viewfinder going dark.
Photography: Scott Gilbertson