Nikon Z8 vs Sony FX3

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Nikon Z8 and the Sony FX3, 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 Z8 was introduced in May 2023 and Sony FX3 was introduced in February 2021. 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 Z8 over Sony FX3.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony FX3 over Nikon Z8.

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 Z8 has a 3.2" Tilting screen with 2,100k dot resolution and Sony FX3 has a 3.0" Fully Articulated screen with 1,440k dot resolution. Tilting screen makes Nikon Z8 very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Fully articulated screen makes Sony FX3 selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very 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 Nikon Z8

Nikon Z8 has a built-in 0.5" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 3,690k dot resolution. It has a 100% coverage and 0.80x magnification. There is no built-in or optional viewfinder available on Sony FX3.

Nikon Z8 features a 45.7 megapixel Full Frame Stacked CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.9 x 23.9 mm and a total area of 858 mm². Its native ISO range is 64 - 25,600 and expands to 32 - 102,400 in boosted mode. Sony FX3 features a 10.2 megapixel Full Frame BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.6 x 23.8 mm and a total area of 566.4 mm². Its native ISO range is 80 - 102,400 and expands to 50 - 409,600 in boosted mode.

Nikon Z8 has Stacked CMOS sensor. The key feature of such sensor is its three-dimensional structure, which consists of multiple layers of semiconductor material and circuitry stacked on top of each other. This allows the sensor to have dedicated layers for image capture and signal processing. This separation allows for faster data readout, reducing rolling shutter effects and enabling high-speed shooting and video recording. It is also more power-efficient.

Sony FX3 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

Nikon Z8 is equipped with EXPEED 7 processor and can take pictures up to 8256 x 5504 resolution. Sony FX3 is equipped with BIONZ XR processor and can take pictures up to 4240 x 2832 resolution.

Lens Mount

Nikon Z8 has Nikon Z lens mount and Sony FX3 has Sony E 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.

No Low-Pass Filter on Nikon Z8

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Nikon Z8. 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

The cameras have a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) (6 stops of compensation in Nikon Z8). 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 Z8 and Sony FX3 have built-in Bluetooth (version 5) 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 FX3

Sony FX3 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 3.2 Gen 1x1 (5 GBit/sec) Type-C inputs for data transfer and battery charging. Nikon Z8 has a Full Size HDMI and Sony FX3 has a Full Size HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Nikon Z8 comes with EN-EL15c battery pack with battery life of 330 shots and Sony FX3 comes with NP-FZ100 battery pack with battery life of 600 shots.

External Storage Slots

Nikon Z8 has two card slots - one for CFexpress Type B / XQD and one for SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II). Sony FX3 has Dual CFexpress Type A / SD card slots.

Shutter

Nikon Z8 has Electronic shutter. Sony FX3 has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/32000 sec on Nikon Z8, and up to 1/8000 sec on Sony FX3. Nikon Z8 can shoot continuously up to 30.0 fps. Sony FX3 can shoot continuously up to 10.0 fps.

Focusing

Nikon Z8 has Hybrid phase-detection/contrast AF system with 493 focusing points and Sony FX3 has Fast Hybrid AF (Phase-detection / Contrast-detection) system with 759 focusing points. Nikon Z8 has detection range from -9 to +19 EV. The ability to focus at as low as -9 EV is a feature exclusive to top-tier professional cameras.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Nikon Z8 and Sony FX3 range from -3 to +17 EV and -3 to +20 EV respectively and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Nikon Z8. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Nikon Z8 and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony FX3.

Flash

Cameras have no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected to both of them via Hot Shoe to Nikon Z8 and via Intelligent Hot Shoe to Sony FX3. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/200 sec on Nikon Z8 and 1/125 sec on Sony FX3.

Nikon Z8 body has dimensions of 144 x 119 x 83 mm (5.67 x 4.69 x 3.27") and Sony FX3 body has dimensions of 130 x 78 x 85 mm (5.1 x 3.1 x 3.3"). Nikon Z8 weighs 910 g (2.01 lb / 32.10 oz) and Sony FX3 weighs 715 g (1.58 lb/ 25.3 oz).

Nikon Z8

Sony FX3

144 mm

119 mm

130 mm

78 mm

119 mm

78 mm

83 mm

85 mm