Nikon Z5 vs Nikon Z6

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Nikon Z5 and the Nikon Z6, 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 Z5 was introduced in July 2020 and Nikon Z6 was introduced in August 2018. 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 Z5 over Nikon Z6.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Nikon Z6 over Nikon Z5.

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 Z5 and Nikon Z6 have 3.2" Tilting screens with 1,040k dot and 2,100k dot resolutions respectively. Tilting screen makes cameras 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 Z5 has a built-in 0.5" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 3,690k dot resolution and Nikon Z6 has a built-in 0.5" Electronic viewfinder with 3,690k dot resolution. They both have 100% coverage and 0.80x magnification.

Nikon Z5 features a 24.3 megapixel Full Frame CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.9 x 23.9 mm and a total area of 858 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 51,200 and expands to 50 - 102,400 in boosted mode. Nikon Z6 features a 24.5 megapixel Full Frame BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.9 x 23.9 mm and a total area of 571.2 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 51,200 and expands to 50 - 204,800 in boosted mode.

Nikon Z6 has 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

Cameras are equipped with EXPEED 6 processor.

Lens Mount

Cameras have Nikon Z lens mount. Due to their Full Frame sensor their crop factor (also called lens multiplier) is equal to 1x. This means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length.

In-Body Image Stabilization

The cameras have a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) with 5 stops of compensation. This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when cameras are 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 Z5 and Nikon Z6 have built-in Bluetooth (version 4.2 on Nikon Z5) 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 3.2 Gen 1x1 (5 GBit/sec) Type-C inputs for data transfer and battery charging. Nikon Z5 has a Micro Type C HDMI and Nikon Z6 has a Mini HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Nikon Z5 comes with EN-EL15c battery pack with battery life of 470 shots and Nikon Z6 comes with EN-EL15b battery pack with battery life of 330 shots.

External Storage Slots

Nikon Z5 has Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slots. Nikon Z6 has a single CFexpress Type B / XQD card slot.

Shutter

Nikon Z5 has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Nikon Z6 has Mechanical Focal Plane shutter and Electronic shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Nikon Z5, and up to 1/8000 sec on Nikon Z6. Nikon Z5 can shoot continuously up to 4.5 fps. Nikon Z6 can shoot continuously up to 12.0 fps.

Focusing

Both cameras have Hybrid phase-detection/contrast AF system with 273 focusing points. and Nikon Z5 having from 3 to +19 EV detection range and Nikon Z6 having from -6 to +19 EV detection range.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Nikon Z5 and Nikon Z6 range from -3 to +17 EV and -4 to +17 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 both models.

Flash

Cameras have no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected to both of them via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/200 sec on both cameras.

Nikon Z5 body has dimensions of 134 x 101 x 70 mm (5.28 x 3.98 x 2.76") and Nikon Z6 body has dimensions of 134 x 101 x 68 mm (5.28 x 3.98 x 2.68") and they both weigh 675 g (1.49 lb / 23.81 oz).

Nikon Z5

Nikon Z6

134 mm

101 mm

134 mm

101 mm

101 mm

101 mm

70 mm

68 mm