Nikon Z5 Review and Specs (2024)

Nikon Z5 was announced in 2020 and is a Full Frame (35.9 x 23.9 mm) Mirrorless camera with 24.3 Megapixel CMOS sensor. Its native ISO ranges from 100 to 51,200 and expands to 50 - 102,400 in boosted mode. The camera has a Tilting 3.2" screen with 1,040k dot resolution and built-in 0.5" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 3,690k dot resolution. It has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in body image stabilization.

Nikon Z5 can capture video up to 3840 x 2160 resolution.

Here is the Nikon Z series lineup, where you can view and compare the main specifications of the cameras within the same series.

Nikon Z series lineup

	Model	Date	Sensor	Native ISO	Screen	Price
	Nikon Z f Compare	September 2023	24.4 MP Full Frame	100 - 64,000	Articulated 3.2" 2,089k dots Touchscreen
	Nikon Z8 Compare	May 2023	45.7 MP Full Frame	64 - 25,600	Tilting 3.2" 2,100k dot Touchscreen
	Nikon Z30 Compare	June 2022	20.9 MP APS-C	100 - 51,200	Articulated 3.0" 1,040k dot Touchscreen
	Nikon Z9 Compare	October 2021	45.7 MP Full Frame	64 - 25,600	Tilting 3.2" 2,100k dot Touchscreen
	Nikon Z fc Compare	June 2021	20.9 MP APS-C	100 - 51,200	Articulated 3.0" 1,040k dot Touchscreen
	Nikon Z6 II Compare	October 2020	24.5 MP Full Frame	100 - 51,200	Tilting 3.2" 2,100k dot Touchscreen
	Nikon Z7 II Compare	October 2020	45.7 MP Full Frame	64 - 25,600	Tilting 3.2" 2,100k dot Touchscreen
	Nikon Z5	July 2020	24.3 MP Full Frame	100 - 51,200	Tilting 3.2" 1,040k dot Touchscreen
	Nikon Z50 Compare	October 2019	20.9 MP APS-C	100 - 51,200	Tilting 3.2" 1,040k dot Touchscreen
	Nikon Z6 Compare	August 2018	24.5 MP Full Frame	100 - 51,200	Tilting 3.2" 2,100k dot Touchscreen
	Nikon Z7 Compare	August 2018	45.7 MP Full Frame	64 - 25,600	Tilting 3.2" 2,100k dot Touchscreen

You can view their side-by-side comparison here: Nikon Z f vs Z8 vs Z30 vs Z9 vs Z fc vs Z6 II.

In this section we present pros and cons of Nikon Z5.

Tilting Touchscreen

Nikon Z5 has a 3.2" Tilting touchscreen with 1,040k dot resolution. Tilting screen makes this camera very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting.

Nikon Z5 with Tilting screen

Electronic (OLED) Viewfinder

Camera has a built-in 0.5" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 3,690k dot resolution. It has a 100% coverage and 0.80x magnification.

Nikon Z5 features a 24.3 megapixel Full Frame CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.9 x 23.9 mm and a total area of 858 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 51,200 and expands to 50 - 102,400 in boosted mode.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how Nikon Z5's Full Frame sensor compares with other types of sensors:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	35.9 x 23.9 mm	858 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Camera is equipped with EXPEED 6 processor and can take pictures up to 6016 x 4016 resolution.

Lens Mount

Nikon Z5 has Nikon Z lens mount. Due to Full Frame sensor its crop factor (also called lens multiplier) is 1x. This means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length.

In-Body Image Stabilization

The camera has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) with 5 stops of compensation. This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi

Camera has a built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5, 802.11ac/b/g/n, 2.4/5 GHz) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

Bluetooth

Camera has a built-in Bluetooth (version 4.2) which lets you to connect the camera to a smartphone or a dedicated remote control device. This allows you to remotely trigger the camera, adjust settings and controls remotely through a paired mobile app. While Wi-Fi is generally faster for transferring larger files, Bluetooth can be used for small, selective transfers, it can provide real-time information about your camera's battery status, memory card capacity, and other key settings directly on your paired smartphone or smartwatch.
Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in Bluetooth.

USB Input and HDMI Output

Nikon Z5 has a USB 3.2 Gen 1x1 (5 GBit/sec) Type-C input for data transfer and battery charging. There is a Micro Type C HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Nikon Z5 comes with EN-EL15c battery pack with battery life of 470 shots.

External Storage Slots

The camera has Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slots.

Shutter

Nikon Z5 has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec. Camera can shoot continuously up to 4.5 fps.

Focusing

Nikon Z5 has Hybrid phase-detection/contrast AF system with 273 focusing points and from 3 to +19 EV detection range. Touch-to-Focus allows users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording. There is also face detection feature which automatically finds and focuses on faces and additional eye detection further locks the focus on one of the eyes and tracks it down during the motion.

Exposure

Camera's exposure metering ranges from -3 to +17 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment.

Flash

Nikon Z5 has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/200 sec. Flash compensation can be set from -3 to +1 EV with 1/3 or 1/2 EV step increments.

Nikon Z5 has dimensions of 134 x 101 x 70 mm (5.28 x 3.98 x 2.76"). It weighs 675 g (1.49 lb / 23.81 oz) which is neither heavy nor lightweight.

Nikon Z5 dimensions

We give scores to the camera for different type of photography based on its features and specifications. Let us see how Nikon Z5 is suitable for six different types of photography.

We evaluate Nikon Z5 and give score of 80 out of 100. We also give separate scores for 7 different categories according to the available features and specifications some of which are listed below. These evaluations are relative and may change each time a new camera is added to the database.

For a full specification list please go to the specifications page: