On paper, the new Nikon Z30 does everything right. It’s picking out a growing audience of influencers and vloggers, taking its existing tried-and-trusted technology and crafting a camera just for that audience — even making it cheaper than anything else in its lineup.
The Z30 drops the viewfinder like an irrelevant vlog, has a full vari-angle screen as a vlogging necessity, and drops the price well below a front-facing camera – and it’s smartphone upgrades that Nikon is trying to attract .
But this has all been done before. Olympus’ entire PEN line has been designed and sold on the same principle over many years, and Fujifilm did exactly the same with its entire XA series. Also Canon with its EOS M mirrorless cameras. The only thing these other brands have in common is that they don’t care anymore (although Canon might argue†
At least Nikon can take heart from the success of the Sony ZV-E10a redesigned and cheaper ‘vlogging’ version of the A6000 series mirrorless models – although even that is a cleverly repurposed warm-up of the camera maker’s existing technology.
But that doesn’t matter – here’s my question.
(opens in new tab)
Is a mirrorless camera REALLY a smartphone upgrade?
Of course it is (we hear you say). The sensor is bigger, the quality is better, there is much more creative control and you can use interchangeable lenses.
But there are a number of ways that a mirrorless camera is definitely worse. You can’t shove a mirrorless camera in your pocket, you certainly won’t always have it with you, and if you’re giving it to someone else to take a picture with, you’ll have to explain what to do. to do.
Then there’s the screen. The LCD screen on the back of a mirrorless camera is half the size of the screens smartphone users take for granted. A smartphone is perfect for both capturing and consuming images – a mirrorless camera is only suitable for the first part.
Worse, it doesn’t matter how well Nikon makes its SnapBridge mobile app, how easy it is to connect and how fast you can transfer images – a camera phone doesn’t need that. With a phone, you can share images with just a few taps over an always-on cellular connection.
Then there is computational imaging. Let’s take the iPhone 13 Pro. It can create and sew full-resolution live seamless panoramas. It has a multi-shot low light mode for amazing quality in the near dark. It shoots HDR out of the box, has normal and cinematic video modes, seriously impressive stabilization (the Z30 doesn’t have IBIS), and a three-lens camera array that goes wider than any native Z DX lens available for the Z30 to date. .
Or even filter effects. The in-camera effects of just about any mirrorless camera (I make an exception for Olympus’ art filters) are quite weak compared to a smartphone’s camera apps – and there are many to choose from.
It’s a bit unfair on Nikon (or any other camera brand) to claim that a mirrorless camera is an ‘upgrade’ of a smartphone. An upgrade in image quality and movie-making potential perhaps, but a serious step backwards in other key areas smartphone users take for granted.
Mirrorless cameras are no better than smartphones (or other recording devices with small sensors), they are just a different product for a different use. They offer better picture quality than smartphones at the expense of features that smartphones do much better.
(opens in new tab)
What could Nikon have done?
Here are some very simple features that I like. I’m sure I can think of more.
1. I have a DJI Pocket 2 that connects to my iPhone via the Lightning port for quick and easy file transfers and live camera control without the faff or latency of Wi-Fi.
2. My iPhone switches to video recording when I hold down the shutter button.
If the Z30 or any other mirrorless camera did any of these brilliantly simple things, I’d be very happy. But they don’t.
This is not technically difficult. The fact that camera makers just don’t innovate in the same way that action camera, 360 camera or smartphone makers do is a lack of imagination in my humble opinion.
Mirrorless Cameras vs. Small Sensor Cameras
It’s not just the things mirrorless cameras CAN do. There are things that mirrorless cameras can’t do that smaller cameras can.
In a drawer in front of me I have a Insta360 Go 2 which can be folded into a pebble-sized charging case and clipped onto my jacket or cap. I just finished reviewing a Insta360 ONE RS 360 that can level the horizon wherever you point the camera and allow you to frame, pan, and track subjects AFTER you shoot the video.
The Nikon Z30 (and Sony ZV-E10, and the rest) can beat all those things in terms of quality and lens choice (if Nikon can make a few more), but mirrorless cameras are beaten in size, versatility, cost (often) , ease of use and sheer inventiveness of all these smaller devices. You can photograph things with a GoPro Hero10 Black you could never shoot with a mirrorless ‘upgrade’.
(opens in new tab)
If you compare the stabilization of a mirrorless camera to your phone or GoPro, you might be in for an unpleasant surprise. It turns out that smaller sensors are easier to stabilize – and neither the Z30 nor the Sony ZV-E10 have IBIS. Even those mirrorless cameras that do have IBIS are stable only when held fairly still. Video devices with smaller sensors are much more forgiving than mirrorless cameras for action scenes, POV footage, and shootings.
It’s easy to assume that the quality of video and stills that only a mirrorless camera can provide is in itself a testament to their superiority, and too easy to forget that you’re losing a multitude of creative possibilities from the latest camera phones. , action cameras, 360 cameras and wearable cameras.
This is something you have to decide for yourself, but I think Nikon or Sony or Canon or any other camera manufacturer is suggesting that a mirrorless camera is inherently superior to any of these other devices just because of sensors and lenses, and all while keeping their overlooking limitations, she is extremely brutal.
Read more:
† Best cameras for video
† Best cameras for vlogging
† Best mirrorless cameras