When I attended the Nikon press briefing for its new, affordable vlogging camera, I was not convinced. I thought it was a rather lazy and predictable reworking of Nikon’s Z50 and Z fc cameras with essentially the same hardware in a new skin.
I haven’t really changed my mind about that, but having actually tried the Z30 for real, I do like it more than I thought I would. You can find out more in the Nikon Z30 review on Digital Camera World, written by Mike Harris. I just did the video testing and shot and edited the sample video.
The thing that’s changed my mind is this camera’s general feel and handling – it’s a lot nicer than I was expecting. I’m used to mirrorless cameras being hard-edged and angular, but this one uses curved edges and softer-feeling materials. Even the plastic retracting kit lens feels firm and positive. Nikon DSLRs always had that extra touch of class in their feel (just my opinion), so it’s good to see that carrying forward in the mirrorless models.
It’s not all good. I was pretty skeptical about the lack of in-body stabilization in this camera, and while I realize Nikon didn’t have much choice – it doesn’t have a stabilized sensor mechanism for its APS-C format mirrorless cameras yet – this does put it at a disadvantage against some key rival cameras from Olympus and Panasonic, not to mention the Fujifilm X-S10.
My testing bears this out. The lens VR helps, but isn’t quite the same as a good IBIS system, while the Z30’s electronic VR is really patchy. Even when using both, the Z30 is only properly ‘stabilized’ when you’re keeping the camera still. If you attempt a pan or a little walk-and-shoot style filming, it just becomes very jerky.
This isn’t unusual for a mirrorless vlogging camera. The problem is that the Z30 is being pitched at smartphone upgraders, and they won’t be expecting a ‘better’ camera to be like this.
More experienced vloggers will know to swap to a gimbal, use a tripod or monopod, or adapt their expectations to the limited stabilization levels, but new users may still wonder if they’ve bought the right camera.