The Nikon Z5 is aimed at ambitious photographers and professionals who don’t want to spend several thousand euros on starter equipment. But you hardly have to accept compromises: The Z5 takes excellent pictures and the 5-axis stabilizer does a great job. Only for continuous shooting is the Nikon model not particularly fast at 4.5 frames per second. The fast autofocus with eye AF (people and animals) scores again for this. Subject tracking is also good – at least as long as the light is right. In low light, the Z5 may lose the subject for a short time.
Videographers have to make a few compromises: Although UHD films can be recorded with up to 30 fps (60 fps with Full HD), the test shows that the material is cropped by a factor of 1.7 (crop, e.g 68mm focal length instead of 40mm). The image is therefore smaller than one is used to from the focal length. This doesn’t make the videos bad, but you should be aware of this limitation. However, the following also applies here: At the asking price of the Nikon Z5, there is hardly an alternative in the full-frame area that would be better.
Our conclusion at the time of testing:
“In the test, the Nikon Z5 proves to be a solid mirrorless full-frame camera that is well equipped for most photo situations. You only have to accept slight compromises when filming and photographing fast action scenes. […] If you are looking for a cheap and handy full-frame DSLM, you will get a lot for your money here.”