Nikon Z f vs Nikon Z50

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Nikon Z f and the Nikon Z50, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Nikon Z f was introduced in September 2023 and Nikon Z50 was introduced in October 2019. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Nikon Z f over Nikon Z50.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Nikon Z50 over Nikon Z f.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Nikon Z f and Nikon Z50 have 3.2" screens with 2,089k dots and 1,040k dot resolutions respectively. Nikon Z f has a Fully Articulated screen which makes it selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Nikon Z50 has a Tilting screen which makes it very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Both models feature touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Viewfinder

Nikon Z f has a built-in 0.5" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 3,686k dots resolution and Nikon Z50 has a built-in 0.39" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 2,360k dot resolution. They both have 100% coverage.

BSI-CMOS Sensor

Nikon Z f features a 24.4 megapixel Full Frame BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.9 x 23.9 mm and a total area of 858 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 64,000 and expands to 50 - 204,800 in boosted mode. Nikon Z50 features a 20.9 megapixel APS-C BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.7 mm and a total area of 246.5 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 51,200 and expands to 100 - 204,800 in boosted mode.

The cameras have BSI-CMOS sensor, short for Backside Illuminated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor sensor. In traditional CMOS sensors, the wiring and circuitry are located on the front side of the sensor, which can block some of the incoming light. BSI technology flips this design by placing the photosensitive elements (pixels) on the backside of the sensor, allowing more light to reach the pixels. This significantly enhances light sensitivity and improves low-light performance. BSI-CMOS sensors are particularly effective in low-light conditions, as they can capture more light, resulting in brighter and less noisy images. This makes them well-suited for indoor and night photography. BSI-CMOS sensors deliver a higher SNR and reduced cross-talk.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Nikon Z f is equipped with Expeed 7 processor and can take pictures up to 6048 x 4032 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4528 x 3024, 3984 x 2656, 3024 x 2016, 2976 x 1992, 1984 x 1328 with 1:1, 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios. Nikon Z50 is equipped with EXPEED 6 processor and can take pictures up to 5568 x 3712 resolution.

Lens Mount

Cameras have Nikon Z lens mount. Due to Full Frame sensor in Nikon Z f its crop factor is equal to 1x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length. Due to APS-C sensor in Nikon Z50 its crop factor is equal to 1.5x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 1.5.

No Low-Pass Filter

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on either of the cameras. This results in a slightly sharper image but may also introduce moiré patterns and aliasing artifacts when photographing subjects with fine, repetitive patterns or details.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Nikon Z f

Nikon Z f has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) with 8 stops of compensation. This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi

Cameras have built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5, 802.11ac/b/g/n, 2.4/5 GHz) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

Bluetooth

Nikon Z f and Nikon Z50 have built-in Bluetooth (version 5.0 on Nikon Z f) which lets you to connect the camera to a smartphone or a dedicated remote control device. This allows you to remotely trigger the camera, adjust settings and controls remotely through a paired mobile app. While Wi-Fi is generally faster for transferring larger files, Bluetooth can be used for small, selective transfers, it can provide real-time information about your camera's battery status, memory card capacity, and other key settings directly on your paired smartphone or smartwatch.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in Bluetooth.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB inputs for data transfer and battery charging. Nikon Z f has a Micro Type D HDMI and Nikon Z50 has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Nikon Z f comes with EN-EL15c battery pack with battery life of 380 shots and Nikon Z50 comes with EN-EL25 battery pack with battery life of 320 shots.

External Storage Slots

Nikon Z f has two card slots - one for SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) and one for microSD/microSDHC/microSDXC (UHS-I). Nikon Z50 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slot.

Shutter

Nikon Z f has Electronically-controlled vertical-travel focal-plane mechanical shutter and Electronic front-curtain shutter and Electronic shutter. Nikon Z50 has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Nikon Z f, and up to 1/4000 sec on Nikon Z50. Nikon Z f can shoot continuously up to 15.0 fps with electronic shutter and up to 14.0 fps with mechanical shutter. Nikon Z50 can shoot continuously up to 11.0 fps.

Focusing

Both cameras have Hybrid phase-detection/contrast AF system with Nikon Z f having 273 focusing points and from -10 to +19 EV detection range and with Nikon Z50 having 209 focusing points and from -2 to +19 EV detection range. The ability to focus at as low as -10 EV is a feature exclusive to top-tier professional cameras. and Nikon Z f having from -10 to +19 EV detection range and Nikon Z50 having from -2 to +19 EV detection range. The ability to focus at as low as -10 EV is a feature exclusive to top-tier professional cameras.

Exposure

Both cameras' exposure metering ranges from -4 to +17 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Nikon Z f and ±5 EV range on Nikon Z50. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Nikon Z f and exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Nikon Z50.

Flash

Nikon Z50 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 7.00 m at ISO 100 and also accepts external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe. Nikon Z f has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Shoe Mount or Wireless connection. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/200 sec on both cameras.

Nikon Z f body has dimensions of 144 x 103 x 49 mm (5.67 x 4.06 x 1.93") and Nikon Z50 body has dimensions of 127 x 94 x 60 mm (5 x 3.7 x 2.36"). Nikon Z f weighs 710 g (1.57 lb / 25.04 oz) and Nikon Z50 weighs 450 g (0.99 lb / 15.87 oz).

Nikon Z f

Nikon Z50

144 mm

103 mm

127 mm

94 mm

103 mm

94 mm

49 mm

60 mm