Filmmakers can rejoice thanks to the new Full Frame Mirrorless DSLR camera, the all new Nikon Z6III with an included 24-70 mm Nikkor prime lens, designed to be an upgrade over the Nikon Z6II. Nikon is taking full advantage with the release of it’s new camera into the competitive full frame mirrorless camera market. The new Nikon Z6III offers tremendous features and specs, including some upgrades in it's already impressive lineup of cameras including the Nikon ZF, and Nikon Z6II. This is an interchangeable lens camera mounted on Nikon’s patented Z mount system, so if you are looking for a lens from a different manufacturer like Sony, Canon, Panasonic and others, you will need to get a mounting adapter to ensure compatibility. When Nikon designed the Z6III, they wanted this new camera to have a premium design feel to it, and it comes through with an ergonomic design of a DSLR camera, and it is extremely portable. You will find many identical features and specs found in other Nikon cameras like the Nikon Z6II, the Nikon Z7II, but this new camera is designed to outperform the previous Z6II.
The Nikon Z6III DSLR Full Frame Mirrorless camera comes with a 24.5 million megapixel partially stacked CMOS sensor with the powerful Expeed 7 processor (found on the Z6 II). This powerful processor allows for 6K full video and it gives the camera the availability to shoot 4K UHD videos.
Amazing video recording at 6K 60 FPS internal RAW video with HDR support for HLG and N-Log or N-RAW and Full HD at 240 FPS (which is a blazing frame rate) captured for 10X slow motion. When you are not shooting in N-RAW and instead shooting in ProRes RAW or Apple ProRes 422 HQ (10 bit), H.265/HEVC (8 bit/10 bit), H.264/AVC the refresh rate will maximize at 30 FPS. So as a user of the Nikon Z6III, you will get high image quality and amazing video recording from every pixel in their new digital camera.
If you are landscape photographer, videographer or a Vlogger looking to have amazing video features, and a camera with fantastic runtime as this new camera can get you approximately 2 hours and 5 minutes of HDR video recording. So you can feel at ease and confident that the include battery can get you great usage time for long video recording sessions. You can always upgrade to the more powerful MB-N14 Power Battery Pack which gives you almost 2 times the recording time than the included EN-EL15c Rechargeable Li-ion Battery. This more powerful battery can also be charged while in camera via the USB-C power delivery port.
The Nikon Z6III’s design and ergonomic DSLR styling and weight of approximately 23.7 oz. gives this DSLR camera the versatility for portability and storage. Content creators will love this new camera which can take up to 410 high resolution photos (depending on the photo mode that you choose), plentiful storage with 2 memory card slots, for a SD card rated for UHS II memory cards and a CfExpress card, and great connectivity via Wi-FI and Bluetooth. In addition when using the Nikon Imaging Cloud service, you can share upload photos and videos from your camera to the Cloud for additional storage and making it easier to share your exposures with your friends and loved ones on social media. The cloud picture control allow you to edit your exposures from a many different presets downloaded to your camera. This app also checks for firmware updates and you can downloaded to your camera as well, to ensure that you are getting the most out of all the features offered by the Nikon Z6III.
Now we can take a deeper first look at some of the configurations, features and specs of this wonderful new DSLR camera.
Please remember you can purchase the camera body only as well and as previously mentioned attach a lens of your choosing. Therefore the model that we will examine is the Nikon Z6III Mirrorless Camera Full Frame FX Body + NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S Lens, and the specs will apply to the camera body model as well without an included lens. If you already have lenses that meet your needs or are looking at camera lenses from other manufacturers than we would recommend going with the camera body model only.
The Nikon Z6III’s in camera Deep Learning autofocus technology is superb. It can automatically determine your shooting situation and automatically adjusts aperture settings, ISO and shutter speed to match the lighting environments of your scene. This will work very well in any lighting condition, including harsh lighting conditions like low light photography.
Low light performance on this new camera is perfect thanks to the new and upgraded image quality at high ISO sensitivities, and it’s low-light autofocus performance in the detection of subjects and objects. You can use the Starlight mode on the camera to get shots even in near complete darkness.
Don’t worry about shooting handheld with this camera, as the 8.0 stops of 5-axis VR image stabilization, allows you the freedom to shoot with confidence knowing that shake and blur will be eliminated. This focus-point stabilization camera, the Nikon Z6III focuses it’s image stabilization directly to the area around the active focus point, wherever it is in the frame, providing accurate and precise correction right where you need it for an excellent readout of your exposure.
The Nikon Z6III also has a the ISO ranges that you need for your still photography and video recordings. The ISO range is 100-64000, with extended range up to Hi 1.7 (equivalent to ISO 204800) It’s recommended to use 100-64,000 ISO range for stills with low noise across the entire range, and ISO 100-51,200 for impeccable video recordings.
The new partially stacked CMOS sensor on the Nikon Z6III’s Full-Frame camera with it’s Expeed 7 processor which gets a good effective pixel count of 24.5 million. Plus with the included Expeed 7 sensor you get impressive “3D tracking” as well as enhanced subject detection and tracking. This includes animals such as dogs, cats, squirrels, birds and more. This processor also provides 3.5 times faster readout speed than the Z6II.
As an interchangeable lens camera, with the included 24-70 mm lens is our top pick as this is is a nice all round prime lens that is great for all around daily usage. Being an interchangeable camera means that you can use other amazing Nikkor lenses or purchase a lens from a different manufacturer like a zoom lens, telephoto lens or a different prime lens, you will need a mounting adapter to ensure compatibility for your lens with this new camera.
This camera now can get you a 120FPS max frame rate when taking JPEG photos. So your images should appear blur and shake free even in fast action scenes. When shooting in RAW you can expect a max of 20 FPS. This incudes the expanded color gamut equivalent to DCI-P3 which ensures a more accurate reproduction of delicate tones in your exposure.
The NX Studio is designed to help you save time, be more efficient and work smarter. The software included in the NX Studio streamlines your browsing workflow with a wide variety of views for thumbnails, metadata of the still photo or video recording, location data of where the photo was taken, side-by-side comparisons and full screen images. Meaning this is a great editing software for your new camera to ensure you get the best high quality images and video recordings, ready to be shared with your colleagues, friends or loved ones.
The Nikon Imaging Cloud app which can be found in the Apple app store and the Google Play Store on Android devices, is a must have for Nikon camera users. Photographers can also photograph their subject or object in the HEIF (High Efficiency Image Format) formats. The HEIF option which is commonly utilized by an Apple iPhone as the default photo setting, allows for data to be compressed for file storage purposes without loosing image quality. You can convert an HEIF file into a jpeg easily if a website or social media sharing are not compatible with HEIF photos, ensure you are using the the proper software to accomplish this task.
With the Nikon Z6III, you will have the capability for “Enhanced Subject tracking” when the camera is set in autofocus mode. The Nikon Z6III recognizes a variety of subjects with it’s subject detection capability such as people, animals, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, aircraft and trains. This also includes enhanced eye detection, soft skin tone applications, and use the Portrait Impression Balance to get tremendous control over brightness and the hue of your shot.
Using this new camera in a continuous shooting setting, needing fast shutter speeds, the Nikon Z6III doesn’t let you down with it’s wonderful rolling shutter being an electronic shutter and mechanical shutter on the Nikon Z6III. The mechanical shutter is better for slower shutter speeds not in a fast paced action scene.
Taking video footage in 6K internal RAW is an awesome boon for users of this new camera. The Nikon Z6III’s powerful processor will provide tremendous clarity, sharp detail and great color vibrancy from the sensor’s 6K image data. You can also use the video camera to take slow motion shoots as well in Full HD or 1080p recording at a blazing 240 FPS frame rate. Plus this new camera offers up to 2X digital zoom during HD recording, and 1.4 times zoom during 4K recording, without loosing any of the detailed quality that you can expect from photos and video recordings.
There is a gorgeous built in touch sensitive LCD screen with a 170 degree viewing angle and the touchscreen Vari-Angle EVF (electronic viewfinder) with a brightness of 4,000 nits, and a 120 fps maximum refresh rate. The LCD and EVF offer great playback options to view your exposure or video and prepare for any post processing editing you may want.
Built with the Magnesium alloy and Sereebo body, rated to operate down to 10°C or 14°F, this new camera offers protective dust and drip-resistance. So, if you are photographing in harsh conditions such as extreme temperatures the user has the peace of mind of knowing the Nikon Z6III has tremendous durability, which means you can expect great longevity and usage out of this new camera.
The Flat and Deep Tone Monochrome Picture Controls give you additional controls for video recordings and photos. You can even upload your custom picture control to the camera via a memory card rated for this new camera.
There are dual memory card slots with one slot rated for cards such as SD (Secure Digital), UHS-1 and UHS-II compliant SDHC and SDXC memory cards, microSD cards (UHS-1 compliant microSDHC and microSDXC memory cards), and the second slot for a CfExpress super speed memory stick. Therefore, storage should not be a concern for you when using the Nikon Z6II. However, we do recommend having spare memory cards. You never know when you might need more storage or a backup if there is a failure with one of your existing memory cards. Memory cards from manufacturers like Samsung, Lexar and Sandisk as an example offer high end memory cards that are compatible with this new camera.
There are many connectivity options on the Nikon Z6III. Starting with the USB-C connector port (SuperSpeed USB) a Type A HDMI connector and 3.5” AUX stereo microphone or headphone jack is also included. Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi AC is also present offering the user to access the faster 5ghz wireless spectrum for faster speeds uploading content to a social media platform of your choice. While the 5Ghz spectrum offers faster speeds it will have less range than the 2.4Ghz spectrum. This is great if you are a Vlogger or Content Creator and need your content uploaded at a fast rate to your social media site.
With the Bluetooth 5.0 standard, allowing for good distances between the camera and the device you are connecting to without interruption. GPS locating which is available when using the SnapBridge App can also be activated on the Nikon Z6III allowing you to transfer files from your new camera to a compatible device such as a PC, Tablet or others.
Charging this camera is a breeze. The in-camera battery charging via the charging port and USB power for extended shooting makes your shooting session more efficient. The included EN-EL15c rechargeable Li-ion battery is included rated at the following: Viewfinder only selected for monitor mode up to 410 still shots. These may change if you choose energy saving mode on or off. For Video Recording (Viewfinder only) the battery can provide up to 100 minutes of shooting time. We previously mentioned that you can add the more powerful MB-N14 power battery pack with it’s grip for longer shooting sessions. Please note if you it is always a good idea to purchase a spare battery, especially if you are going on lengthy photography or videography sessions.
You can also purchase the Nikon Z6III Mirrorless Camera 24MP Full Frame FX-Format Body Only which comes without a lens. However as we previously mentioned you can attach over 300 Nikkor lenses from Nikon or a lens from a different manufacturer. The camera body only option will have a lower purchase price than configuration including the 24-70mm lens. However, the specs are identical to that model. You just need to attach a lens of your choice.
The new Nikon Z6III camera was recently announced and made available for purchase in the USA in late June. It will come in the competitive $2,500 range of the DSLR body only market or a more expensive option with the included Nikkor 24-70mm lens. Either option will give you a great camera with expansive features and specs.
With it’s upgrades over the previous model the Nikon Z6II, such as improved autofocus, upgraded HDR and 6K photo and video capturing, are just a few of the new features of this amazing DSLR camera. So if your are looking for a great new camera look no further than the tremendous Nikon Z6III.