Nikon Z 8 review: A solid all-round full-frame mirrorless camera

Note: This review was first published on 24 August 2023.

Introduction and Features

There is no way to sugarcoat this. The Nikon Z 8 is essentially a condensed version of its cousin, the Z 9, the Japanese imaging giant's flagship full-frame interchangeable-lens mirrorless camera. But this is not a bad thing. In fact, it is great for photographers looking for a full-frame mirrorless camera that is smaller and cheaper.

The TL;DR version:



With its superb build, intuitive handling, responsive performance and fantastic image quality, the Nikon Z 8 will please even the most demanding photographers.

The Z 9 is hefty in both size and price, weighing 1,340g (with battery and memory card) and costs S$8,399 (body only). On the other hand, the Z 8 is 30 per cent smaller, 430g lighter (with battery and memory card), and is priced at a lower S$5,999 (body only).

Yet, the Z 8 shares many similarities with its flagship cousin, including a 45.7-megapixel full-frame stacked CMOS image sensor, Expeed 7 image processor, 8K video shoot up to 30fps and a maximum continuous shooting speed of full-resolution still at 20fps.

Likewise, the Z 8 also features the same tiltable 2.08-million-dot 3.2-inch touchscreen display and an electronic viewfinder (EVF) with a high resolution of 3.68 million dots.

The Z 8 comes with 493 autofocus (AF) points with automatic tracking of up to nine different subjects, including humans, cats, birds and aeroplanes. To reduce camera shake, Z 8 also has a 5-axis in-built image stabilisation system that offers up to six steps of stabilisation. 

However, the Z 8 lacks GPS found in Z 9, and uses a different battery with a lower power rating. Plus, while Z 9 comes with dual CFExpress Type B or XQD memory card slots, Z 8 has 1 x CFExpress Type B camera slot and 1 x SD card slot. Having an SD card slot is probably a good idea, as XQD cards are more expensive, so the Z 8 caters for the middle ground.

In addition, while the Z 9 supports unlimited recording in any mode, the Z 8 can only record 8K video at 30fps for 90 minutes, and 4K video at 60fps for 120 minutes.

Design and Handling

In terms of design, the first thing anyone will notice with the Z 8 is the lack of a built-in vertical grip found in Z 9. Sports photographers and photojournalists will find the vertical grip useful. For the rest of us, it is probably something we can do without. In any case, you can buy the optional MB-N12 Power Battery Pack to be used as a vertical grip for the Z 8.

Despite the reduction in size and weight from Z 9, the Z 8 still feels super solid and sturdy with its magnesium-alloy body. Its generous and ergonomic rubberised grip easily accommodates all your four fingers, thereby allowing you to hold it firmly. 

The left side of the camera houses a microphone-in audio port, a headphone port, a HDMI port and two USB-C ports protected by rubber flaps. One USB-C port supports direct connection to your laptop for transfer of files, while the other USB-C port allows for charging of the camera. 

If you have been using Nikon flagship cameras, you’ll be like a fish in water navigating the controls of Z 8. But if you are new to Nikon cameras, it might take some time dealing with its buttons and dials. However, once you are used to it, it will all make sense and controls will become second nature.

On the top right of the camera, you will find the monochrome screen displaying all the essential information like battery level, shooting mode, etc. On the top left, there are four buttons for Mode, Bracketing, White Balance and Shooting Speed. To change these settings, you need to hold one button and turn a dial at the same time.

For example, changing shooting modes requires you to hold down the Mode button with your index finger and adjust the right rear dial with your thumb. 

A front command dial sits on top of the grip under the shutter release, while a rear command dial is sited above the rear thumb rest for easy changing of settings. A dedicated video-recording button, an ISO button and an exposure compensation button reside behind the shutter release for you to shoot videos quickly and change respective settings swiftly.

There is a mini joy-stick just beside the rear thumb rest. This joy-stick lets you select the AF point quickly when you compose your picture. An Info button below the mini joy-stick lets you access a quick menu on the display for swift changes of settings such as focus mode and image quality.

Overall, the handling of the camera is stupendous. It is seriously a delight to use the camera.   

The only slight downer for me is that the tiltable touchscreen display cannot be rotated 180 degrees for selfie shooting. It can only be tilted upwards or sideways by 90 degrees. 

Thankfully, the EVF is big, bright and sharp, almost like an optical viewfinder with almost zero lag. Thus, you can always capture the decisive moment using the EVF.

Imaging Performance

For this review, Nikon has provided us with the Z 24-120mm f/4 S lens (S$1,699) to use with the Z 8. This is a rather fast lens with a versatile focal length range at a reasonable price.

Operation of the Z 8 is as swift as it gets. It takes around half a second for both start-up and shutdown. This is a lot quicker than the average two-second start-up and shutdown times of most mirrorless cameras.

Using an XQD card with a writing speed rated at 400MB per second, the Z 8 took 69 RAW full-resolution images in 3.9 seconds before the shooting slowed down. This translates to roughly 18fps. While it might be slightly less than its advertised 20fps, it is still superb for its class. 

Furthermore, its AF speed is lightning quick. The Z 8 is always super responsive and enthusiastic to lock into a focus almost immediately under good lighting conditions. Even in dim lighting conditions, it takes at most a second for it to get the focus sharp with the aid of AF assist light. 

In terms of subject tracking AF, the Z 8 is probably half a notch slower than the likes of Sony A7 series. For instance, when photographing a community cat, the Sony A7R V will be able to track and keep the cat's face in focus as it moves towards the camera. In similar circumstances, the Z 8 tends to lose focus. 

But at the same time, it was able to capture aeroplanes flying in the air with ease despite the inadequate focal length of the lens used in this review.

However, in terms of image quality, the Z 8 is right up there with the very best. Photos are always sharp and vivid with large amounts of detail, even in the darker areas. As you can see from the photo below, the still image quality is superb with good dynamic range.

Furthermore, the Z 8 was able to render colours vibrantly and skin tones accurately. 

And you do not need to wait for a Super Moon event to photograph the moon. As you can see from the photos below, you can easily crop the full-resolution JPEG image by almost 12 per cent and you can still see the details of the moon's crater. 

Noise performance is excellent too. The still images shot look clean and noiseless even at ISO 6,400. In fact, you can hardly make any image noise at ISO 12,800. Only at ISO 25,600 is there a slight loss of details with evident chromatic noise artefacts.

Using ISO 51,200 or above is not recommended, as the loss of details is quite visible. As you can see from the photo below, the photo almost becomes "water-colourish" due to the significant amount of chromatic noise artefacts. 

Video quality, whether it is full HD or 8K, is superb with great detail and sharpness. It does pick up a fair amount of ambient audio though. And as you can use from the video below, keeping track of the cat's face is a challenge. 

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Battery life is rated at 340 still shots on a full charge. In my tests, the battery level was still at 50 per cent after shooting around 700 still images. Not bad, but this is considered average battery life for a mirrorless camera of this stature. We do also note that the battery compartment at the camera's base feels hot during an afternoon shoot after only an hour. 

Conclusion

Apart from some minor quirks and its price of nearly S$6,000, the Nikon Z 8 is a solid all-rounder interchangeable-lens mirrorless camera that performs superbly in almost all situations. 

With its superb build, intuitive handling, responsive performance and fantastic image quality, the Z 8 will please even the most demanding photographers. For Nikon users looking for a flagship mirrorless camera without paying top dollars, this is the model to get.

More Stills from the Z 8 (click for full-res)

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