Nikon Z30 vs Sony Alpha 6100

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Nikon Z30 and the Sony Alpha 6100, 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 Z30 was introduced in June 2022 and Sony Alpha 6100 was introduced in August 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 Z30 over Sony Alpha 6100.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony Alpha 6100 over Nikon Z30.

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 Z30 and Sony Alpha 6100 have 3.0" screens with 1,040k dot and 922k dot resolutions respectively. Nikon Z30 has a Fully Articulated screen which makes it selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Sony Alpha 6100 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.

Electronic (OLED) Viewfinder on Sony Alpha 6100

Sony Alpha 6100 has a built-in 0.39" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 1,440k dot resolution. It has a 100% coverage and 1.07x (0.71x 35mm equivalent) magnification. There is no built-in or optional viewfinder available on Nikon Z30.

Nikon Z30 features a 20.9 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.7 mm and a total area of 369 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 51,200 and expands to 100 - 204,800 in boosted mode. Sony Alpha 6100 features a 24.2 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.6 mm and a total area of 243.4 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 32,000 and expands to 100 - 51,200 in boosted mode.

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 Z30 is equipped with EXPEED 6 processor and can take pictures up to 5568 x 3712 resolution. Sony Alpha 6100 is equipped with BIONZ X processor and can take pictures up to 6000 x 4000 resolution.

Lens Mount

Nikon Z30 has Nikon Z lens mount and Sony Alpha 6100 has Sony E lens mount. Due to their APS-C sensor their crop factor (also called lens multiplier) 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 on Nikon Z30

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Nikon Z30. 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.

No Image Stabilization

The cameras do not have image stabilization. On Nikon Z30 it means that you need lenses with optical image stabilization for vibration reduction. As for Sony Alpha 6100 nothing can be done. On Sony Alpha 6100 it means that you need lenses with optical image stabilization for vibration reduction. As for Nikon Z30 nothing can be done.

Built-in Wi-Fi

Cameras have built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5 802.11ac/b/g/n 2.4/5 GHz on Nikon Z30, 802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz on Sony Alpha 6100) 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 Z30 and Sony Alpha 6100 have built-in Bluetooth (version 4.2 on Nikon Z30) 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.

NFC on Sony Alpha 6100

Sony Alpha 6100 has Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which simplifies the process of pairing it with other NFC-enabled devices like smartphones or tablets. It allows to quickly transfer photos and videos or remotely control the camera from compatible device. NFC can also be used for authentication and security purposes. It can verify your identity before accessing certain features or transferring sensitive data. It can be used with NFC-enabled accessories as well, such as lenses, flashes and GPS devices.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB inputs for data transfer and battery charging. Nikon Z30 has a Micro HDMI and Sony Alpha 6100 has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Nikon Z30 comes with EN-EL25 battery pack with battery life of 330 shots and Sony Alpha 6100 comes with NP-FW50 battery pack with battery life of 420 shots.

External Storage Slots

Nikon Z30 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slot. Sony Alpha 6100 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC/Memory Stick Duo Hybrid (UHS-I) card slot.

Shutter

Nikon Z30 has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Sony Alpha 6100 has Electronic shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Nikon Z30, and up to 1/4000 sec on Sony Alpha 6100. Cameras can shoot continuously up to 11.0 fps.

Focusing

Nikon Z30 has Hybrid phase-detection/contrast AF system with 209 focusing points and Sony Alpha 6100 has Fast Hybrid AF (Phase-detection / Contrast-detection) system with 425 focusing points. Nikon Z30 has detection range from -4.5 to +19 EV and Sony Alpha 6100 has detection range from -2 to +20 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Nikon Z30 and Sony Alpha 6100 range from -4 to +17 EV and -2 to +20 EV respectively and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Nikon Z30 and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony Alpha 6100.

Flash

Sony Alpha 6100 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 6.00 m at ISO 100 and also accepts external flash which can be connected via Intelligent Hot Shoe or Wireless connection. Nikon Z30 has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/200 sec on Nikon Z30 and 1/160 sec on Sony Alpha 6100.

Nikon Z30 body has dimensions of 128 x 74 x 60 mm (5.04 x 2.91 x 2.36") and Sony Alpha 6100 body has dimensions of 120 x 67 x 59 mm (4.72 x 2.64 x 2.32"). Nikon Z30 weighs 405 g (0.89 lb / 14.29 oz) and Sony Alpha 6100 weighs 396 g (0.87 lb / 13.97 oz).

Nikon Z30

Sony Alpha 6100

128 mm

74 mm

120 mm

67 mm

74 mm

67 mm

60 mm

59 mm