Last week I received an email from Nikon with an offer for a 30-day trial of their Z30 mirrorless camera with 2 kits lenses and a creator kit with microphone, remote and stand. At first, I blew it off. I then did a little research.
I have been wanting a camera that shoots good video and is uncomplicated. I shoot a lot of cell phone video for my content generation and it is hit and miss. It looked like this camera was designed to fit that bill.
I decided to dive in and give it a whirl. I really like making videos but I do not like to the inconsistent quality of my cell.
The camera arrived on Tuesday when I was out of town. I returned home yesterday morning. I was able to play with the camera for a few mins, but nothing serious. However, this afternoon I was able to got to Utah Lake State Park and play around with the camera.
The kit camera with the camera body, a Z DX16-50mm f3.5-6.3 VR lens, a Z DX 50-250mm f4.5-6.3 VR lens, and the Creator’s Accessory Kit containing a shoot grip and tripod with handheld remote control, an on-camera microphone and a cute furry mic windscreen.
When you order the trial, Nikon sends a link to a video that helps with the basic operations and capabilities of the camera. While it was basic, it was most helpful.
While my test drive today at Utah Lake State Park was by no means a full or robust review of the camera, it did provide some needed input into whether or not I want to keep the camera. Below are some of the pix I took at and around the lake. The first group are shots made with the 16-50mm.
The following shots were taken with the 50-250mm Z lens.
Below is a video I made of the visit. I was really pleased to see how well the camera did on my stand up shot. It started with the mountains in the background in focus. When I stepped into the frame, it immediately found my face and stayed in focus the entire time. That was one of my most important tests.
To get to the point, my early conclusion is that the camera will do fine for most of my video creations. I am not as sold on the still images. The seem fine, but not exceptional. I am not sure if that is a factor of the camera, the lenses or some combination. I am tempted to buy the converter so I can use my F lenses on the camera. The only reason that I would see the need to do that would be to shoot video. My Nikon 800e is a superb camera for image quality and I feel certain the Z30 will not compete with it. Even so, it would be fun to experiment.
Hmm.
I have about 25 more days to make up a my mind. So I am going to use this camera as much as possible during that time frame. I will come back and update this post when I make a final decision.
If you have any feedback on the video or picture quality, I would love to hear it.
I have taken a screenshot of the camera’s spec’s. They are below.
Z30 Tech Specs
The Umenum 