The full-frame Nikon Z6 II convinced me to finally upgrade from my Nikon DSLR in 2021 and since then it has been my camera of choice for personal and professional work.
It’s proven to be a real all-rounder, delivering stunning 24 MP photos in good and bad light, and reliable autofocus with eye detection for portraits. The powerful processor and fast continuous shooting make action scenes easy, while the video chops got me through one-person productions, especially since I opted for the ‘Essential Movie kit’ which comes with an external Atomos Ninja monitor.
Needless to say, I had a lot of hands-on time with my Z6 II and it remains one of the best mirrorless cameras today. It’s not perfect, though, and since its 2020 release, new mirrorless cameras have brought new skills with them. As I used my Z6 II in various scenarios and tested the cutting-edge technology as Ny Breaking’s camera editor, I mentally registered a wish list should Nikon ever update this mid-range full-framer.
Naturally, the recent rumors about an upcoming third-generation model have caught my attention. Has Nikon read my thoughts about improvements in what will likely be called the Z6 III? The following three improvements would make the most difference to my daily photo and video rigors.
1. More versatile autofocus with subject detection
When I first used the Z6 II, I was extremely impressed with how effective the autofocus is, especially compared to my full-frame DSLR. For example, ‘Auto-area AF (people)’ ensures reliable face detection and quickly switching between left and right eye preference is super convenient. However, the excellent AF performance for people does not apply to photographing various subjects, such as animals and vehicles.
Cameras like the Sony A7R V, OM System OM-1 and Nikon’s own Z8 and Z9 have since taken things a step further. The AI-powered animal detection autofocus in the A7R V provides even greater confidence and detects a wider range of subjects, even including animal-eye AF. After shooting with those cameras and then returning to the Z6 II for a recent safari trip in Kenya, my own camera’s autofocus felt somewhat limited. I had to intervene regularly with manual focus refinements and sometimes missed the moment.
Ultimately, it can be tricky to know which animals are being tracked by the Z6 II’s autofocus and whether they’re in focus or not. According to Nikon Rumorsthe Z6 III will have Nikon’s best subject detection autofocus yet, surpassing the Z8. It seems that my greatest wish may come true.
2. Design and processing adjustments
Nikon has perfected its camera design over the years and the overall feel of the Z6 II is top-notch for serious photographers. However, I do have a few negatives. The Z6 II’s well-defined grip fits comfortably in the hand, but the thumb grip doubles as a battery card cover and opens too easily – I’m afraid it will break completely.
The tilting touchscreen is fine and the touch functionality covers all the basic levels, but personally I would prefer the versatility of a vari-angle LCD screen. I find that the EVF gets in the way of the tilt screen when I have it extended to shoot from low angles. And not that I’m concerned with numbers, but while we’re on the EVF, the 3.76 million pixel resolution is a bit disappointing.
The rumored third-generation model will reportedly have design features from the Nikon Z8 that would address these issues. The obvious downside going that route, however, is a physically larger and heavier camera, and I think the Z6 II already has a decent form factor – more in line with competing models. I hope Nikon can refine the design without adding much to the size and weight.
3. Improved speed
Apparently the Z6 III will use a ‘faster’ 24MP full-frame sensor than the Z6 II. Not a stacked sensor like in the Z8 (which would push the price well above the $2,000/£2,000 that the Z6 II sells for), but a faster one. That’s pretty vague, but presumably refers to the readout speed of the sensor and would be a boon for action photography and high-resolution video, for which the Z6 III will now offer 6K 60p in N-Raw and 4K 60p in ProRes Raw, or a cropped 4K 120p .
For photos, I don’t mind the Z6 II’s lower resolution compared to a Ny Breaking favorite, the 33MP Sony A7 IV, especially since it has such good continuous shooting performance with dual Expeed 6 processors. That performance will only get better with the reported use of the latest Expeed 7 processor and up to 20fps. I hope that if the resolution remains at 24 MP, the Z6 III will be able to shoot at that higher speed for as long as you want without slowing down and without distortion of fast-moving subjects. In short: the Z6 III could become that the Nikon speed machine. If there is no speed improvement, I would hope for a resolution improvement instead. What excites me more than higher frame rates, however, is the improved in-body image stabilization, which will reportedly be the same as the Nikon Z f, which has up to 8EV.
Rumors point to a disappointing price increase, to around $2,500/£2,500. Perhaps there will be decent improvements, but the early signs are that the Z6 III will repeat the Z6 II by refining the model it replaces. Nothing groundbreaking, but these incremental improvements could be what I was hoping for and possibly worth an upgrade.