Nikon is expected to announce the Z5 mirrorless camera in July

Nikon’s been pretty quiet about new mirrorless camera developments since the launch of the Z6 and Z7. Other than the Z50, we’ve seen very little action at all on the Z mount system at all, except for the obvious lens expansion.

But now, according to Mirrorless Rumors, Nikon is getting ready to announce the Z5 next month. If the Z6 is analogous to the D750, the Z5 looks like it could be a continuation of the potentially-discontinued D600 series, set to compete with Canon’s EOS RP. But, with extras – like dual UHS-II SD card slots.

It’s taken Nikon a while to respond to the EOS RP, but it looks like the Nikon Z5 won’t be too terrible if these specs are correct – unless you want to shoot video, where it offers a slightly tighter crop than the EOS RP when shooting 4K. Right now, the rumoured specs are…

• The Z5 will have the same EVF as the Z6
• No top panel LCD
• Dual SD UHS-II memory card slots
• 24MP full-frame sensor (not sure BSI or not)
• IBIS
• Magnesium alloy camera body
• 1m dots LCD screen resolution
• New battery: Nikon EN-EL15c
• USB-C camera powering, not just charging
• Same AF system as in the Z6
• 1.7x video crop in 4k, no SloMo option
• 6fps burst
• Official announcement expected in the second half of July
• The camera will start shipping later this year

If you’re after a low budget full-frame Nikon mirrorless body for stills, it looks like it’ll be a great entry into the Nikon Z system.

The only real downside seems to be for video shooters, with that 1.7x crop when shooting 4K. The Canon EOS RP has a 1.6x crop, although that’s not quite as bad as it sounds, as it’s the exact same perspective as Canon’s APS-C bodies that people have been shooting video with for years. If Nikon could give us a 1.5x crop to match their DX DSLRs when shooting 4K, that would be fine, but 1.7x just seems awkward.

And it’s odd, given that the rumoured specs say that you can power the camera directly from USB – a feature that’s arguably much more useful for video shooters than photographers. Of course, there are exceptions, like timelapse, long exposures and astrophotography. There’s no word yet on whether this Type-C USB socket will also allow the Z5 to act as a webcam.

MR says that they have conflicting reports on the exact date on which Nikon will announce the new camera, although an official announcement is expected sometime in the second half of July.

[via Mirrorless Rumors]