Nikon Z6 Mark II vs Nikon Z5 - 2023

Nikon Z6 Mark II or Nikon Z5 – Which is the best camera for you in 2023? Should you buy Nikon Z6 Mark II vs Nikon Z5?    I am getting many questions from wedding photographers too related to the same topic.

It’s all about the budget you have

If your budget allows then the best camera is Nikon Z6 Mark II with its advanced Artificial Autofocus system and BSI CMOS full-frame sensor.  So, with the Nikon Z6 mark II camera, you get an advanced AF system and a better low-light performing sensor. The cherry on top is the Nikon Z6 mark II features dual card slot support for professionals.

Why is Nikon Z6 Mark II Sensor better?

Nikon Z6 Mark II camera features a BSI CMOS sensor and due to the presence of BSI tech, the sensor should deliver better performance in low-light conditions, to test that we have visited the dpereview image comparison tool. Does the BSI tech really help to perform better in low-light

At ISO 102400 both image samples are almost unusable, but we are not here to find out the usable ISO range of both cameras. We want to see the actual difference between the BSI and the FSI sensor, do you guys notice any visible difference between the two sensors? do it worth the price difference between them? Let me know in the comments

Nikon Z6 Mark II vs Nikon Z5 Image Analysis

As we can clearly see the Nikon Z6 mark II camera is able to reserve more details at a Higher ISO range compared to the Nikon Z5 camera.  You can see the difference in the color block. The outer edge of the Brown color block is distended at the same time the color noise is also too high.

If we change the ISO one-stop

As you can clearly notice if we change the ISO, 1 stop lower than of Nikon Z6 Mark II (102400 vs 51200), Then we can notice the Nikon Z5 performance not only matches with the Nikon Z6 Mark II but is also slightly better too.

Image Sensor Part Conclusion

Getting a BSI sensor does help to preserve details, but not in a dramatic way. But, we have to see the other significant advantages too, of having Nikon Z6 Mark II camera.

Autofocus System

Image processors do have a very high impact on the type of AF system your camera carries. The Nikon Z5 suffers from limitations and to save up the production line cost Nikon added a single-line processor in Nikon Z5 on the other side we have a DUAL IMAGE PROCESSOR in Nikon Z6 II.

• Z5: -2Ev, or -3Ev when using Low Light AF
• Z6 II: -4.5Ev, or -6Ev with Low Light AF

As you can see the AF sensitivity range of the Nikon Z5 is limited when compared to the Nikon Z6 Mark II camera.

Single Image Processor, Slow Sensor, and Fewer updates for Upscaling AF

The same number of AF points but Slow Sensor readout and slow image processing. Both of the cameras share the same number of 273 focus points across the frame, But due to the FSI sensor and slow image processor the Nikon Z5 camera burst speed remains limited to 4.5 FPS, and the Nikon Z6 Mark II can shoot up to 14fps with fulltime AF and AI tracking speed.

Continuous Firmware Updates for Nikon Z6 Mark II loaded with NEW AI AF Algos. If you will check the firmware update history from the time of the announcement of the Nikon Z6 Mark II camera, Nikon is very serious about improving the AF performance of the Nikon Z6 Mark II camera. And the updated pattern also tells us may Nikon Z5 isn’t getting that much attention from Nikon.

Nikon Z6 Mark II firmware F1.0 to F1.50 we have a massive upgrade in the AF performance of the camera

Nikon Made the following improvements Nikon Z6 Mark II AF Algo after the announcement

Changes from “C” Firmware Version 1.30 to 1.40

• – The camera focuses more readily on the subject in the center of the frame if it fails to detect the face or eyes of a portrait subject when Auto-area AF is selected for AF-area mode.

Changes from “C” Firmware Version 1.10 to 1.20

• • Improved low-light autofocus detection times at a Focus mode setting of Single AF.

Changes from “C” Firmware Version 1.02 to 1.10

•  Improved eye-detection performance in Auto-area AF (people) and Wide-area AF (L-people) AF-area modes.

Changes from “C” Firmware Version 1.00 to 1.01

• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused overexposure in photos taken in continuous release modes using an AF-area mode with human or animal face/eye detection.

Vs Nikon Z5 Firmware updates related to Autofocus Upscaling after its announcement

Changes from “C” Firmware Version 1.02 to 1.10

• Improved low-light autofocus detection times for Custom Setting a11 (Low-light AF).

Nikon Z6 Mark II has the basic ingredients or better to say good hardware inside (which includes a faster readout base BSI sensor and dual image processor to processor AI algo) which allows the Nikon team of developers to upscale the AF performance of the camera flawlessly.

Best Camera for Video?

Nikon Z5, as well as the Nikon Z6 Mark II Cameras, can record 4K video up to 30p but, unfortunately, the Z5 applies a heavy 1.7x crop in 4K video recording mode which makes it almost unusable for professional use.
The Best thing about The Z6 II can record oversampled 4K. And also, the Z6 II can also record 4K up to 60p but only with a 1.5x crop (firmware 1.10 required).

The reason for the heavy crop is that the Z5 old FSI sensor has a slow readout speed, which doesn’t allow the camera to read the entire sensor.

Even in Full HD mode the Nikon Z5 is limited to 60FPS and the Nikon Z6 Mark II goes up to 120p (when using the Slow Motion mode).

ISO range in Video

Z5: 100-25600 ISO
Z6 II: 100-51200 ISO (up to 204,800 with the extended range)

Now, the set of features that only the Nikon Z6 Mark II camera supports at the moment is 12-bit RAW HDMI output. When the Nikon Z6 Mark II is Coupled with an external recorder such as the Ninja V or Blackmagic Video Assist, you can record 10-bit 4:2:2 with N-Log or HLG gamma, or output 12-bit RAW (Apple Prores or BlackMagic RAW). ( paid upgrade)