Nikon Z6 III Camera Review – From a Z6 I Owner’s Perspective

You can pick up a Nikon Z6 III on Amazon. If this article has inspired you to get a deal on a used Nikon Z6 or Z6 II body, you can find those at KEH, which one of my favorite places to pick up used gear. Using these affiliate links costs you nothing and helps me keep this site free for everyone. Thank you!

I’ve been shooting the Z6 (one? mark one? I?) professionally for years. This has included product shots, portraits, event work, corporate, and more. I love the Z6 because some of my clients want hundreds, if not thousands of images, and the resolution of the Z6 is more than enough while not being so massive that the files slow down the process of dealing with huge sets of images. It’s also a low-light champ, which is helpful when shooting on sets lit for video cameras.

I’ve tried out the both Nikon Z6 II and Z7 II but didn’t find them enough of a compelling upgrade to justify their cost. The Z6 has been a great workhorse, but I’ve been eagerly anticipating the Z6 III as the first true step forward for the series. I’ve seen a lot of people comparing Nikon’s new Z6 III with the more premium (and expensive) Nikon Z8 and Z9 cameras, but I bet many who are considering the camera are more likely to be existing Z6 I users like me. So that’s where I come in.

Well after all that waiting, the Z6 III (three/3/Mark III) is here. Is it enough of an upgrade to justify dropping 2.5K USD? Or is that money better spent on a great lens like the 24-70mm f2.8 to use with your existing Z6?

After shooting the camera for a few months, I found the Nikon Z6 III’s image quality mostly indistinguishable from the original Nikon Z6… but the camera still manages to be a huge upgrade over the original. Let’s get into it.

Love that flippy screen.

Ergonomics

I shoot with Canon and Sony gear on a regular basis, but it’s always the Nikon ergonomics that keep me coming back. The Z6 I really nailed it from day 1 with button placement, body design, and DSLR-fast startup. So to say that the Nikon Z6 III is largely the same as the Z6 in regards to ergonomics is actually a pretty good thing. The Z6 III, like the first one, is ready to shoot the instant you turn it on. The buttons are even in (mostly) the same place. Heck yeah.

The screen of the original Z6 sort of flipped up in a single direction, but its limitations made it a pain to use for video without an external monitor. Thankfully, the Z6 III has fixed that issue with a flip-out screen that can fully articulate. I’ve always found it head-scratching that cameras would use any other design (I’ve used DSLRs like the Canon 60D that were sporting these over a decade ago, so it I know it’s not a technical limitation).

I’ve heard some photographers prefer the older, simpler style of the Z6 I’s screen, but with the Z6 III’s focus on video I think Nikon made the right choice. A flippy screen is just infinitely easier to use as a monitor, especially if you’re filming yourself. I also really like being able to fold the screen closed in such a way that it protects it from scratches (though to be fair, I never had a problem with scratches on the screen on my old Z6).

Some small quibbles: The grip could stand to be ever-so-slightly bigger and deeper for those with larger hands. Also, the door for the memory cards is often obstructed by the location of the camera strap, which is annoying.

Overall, using the Z6 III feels great. This is hard to quantify, but it is so important for a camera to feel good to use, to be something you want to pick up. You’re going to take a whole lot more pictures with something you love rather than something you tolerate. This can be subjective, but the Z6 felt like a glove, and the Z6 III fits the same way.

Viewfinder

The viewfinder on the Z6 III is great, and it gets so bright I had to make sure I adjusted it correctly so I wasn’t accidentally underexposing my images. It also runs at a very high framerate, which goes a long way towards making it feel more competitive with a DSLR’s optical viewfinder.

I’ve heard complaints that the viewfinder’s live feed is low res compared to the image review feed and… I don’t know what they’re talking about. I physically can’t see it. Maybe it’s the limits of my vision, but this viewfinder looks great in all modes.

As with all mirrorless viewfinders, I love that I can zoom in anywhere in frame to double check critical focus. Also, I find the flexible grid line modes to be incredibly helpful.

Auto-switching modes work great generally, but I found my straps often made the camera think that I was looking through the viewfinder and blacking out the display.

The camera can automatically switch between the viewfinder and monitor, but they will never run simultaneously. This can sometimes be a pain if an errant strap or hand causes a monitor blackout because camera thinks you’re looking through the viewfinder. However, it’s easy enough to manually switch using the button on top of the camera, and you can customize which modes to toggle through.

Even in conditions that challenge dynamic range, raw photos from the Z6 I and III are very, very similar.

Photo Image Quality

The Z6 III can take amazing pictures. The Z6 could also take amazing pictures. Image quality is kind of a ‘solved’ aspect of Nikon full frame cameras these days. The Nikon D750 was the last midrange upgrade that made me sit up and go ‘holy sh*t’ at the improvement over previous generations. (Seriously, if you’re tight for cash, you can build an amazing kit from a used D750 and decades of F-mount lenses).

However, the Z6 III does have the same issues as the original Z6 with moiré showing up in fine textures. This can be devastatingly difficult to remove when it occurs. Shooting comparison shots, I found moiré appearing equally between the two cameras. I had less problems with my older DSLRs, but it is likely due to the slightly less sharp optics in F-mount lenses. I’m not sure what Nikon can do about this, but hopefully this can be improved.

Technical publications have seen some weakness in extreme dark areas with the dynamic range, but I haven’t noticed anything in practice. As far as dynamic range goes, I’m getting results in line with the Z6 in high contrast situations. If I shoot both cameras, I often have to check metadata to know what shots came from which body.

One big plus here is that the Z6 III maintains this dynamic range even in electronic shutter mode thanks to that partially stacked sensor. Which brings us to…

Silent Mode and Electronic Shutter

Yup that partially stacked sensor, first of its kind. While this doesn’t impact image quality, it does dramatically improve sensor readout processing speed. This dramatically improves electronic shutter performance and largely eliminates jello wobble in photos and videos. In practice, the camera bounces between electronic and mechanical shutter automatically unless you specify otherwise. It’s an interesting bridge between the traditional sensors of lower-end cameras and the fully stacked sensors of high-end bodies.

The improved electronic shutter performance offers pure silent shooting with almost no penalty in dynamic range or image quality (this was definitely not the case with the Z6 I). This is huge for those photographing in environments where sound is critical – think shooting behind-the-scenes on a set or during a quiet event. I actually found silent mode somewhat unnerving at first, which is why I assume by default the camera will make a shutter sound with the electronic shutter. Turn it off. Embrace the silence.

Video

On the original Nikon Z6, video features were okay but not amazing. Rolling shutter, no raw modes, somewhat oversharpened footage, and a non-articulating screen meant I rarely used it for video. But video is where the Z6 III completely turns things around from previous generations. The partially stacked sensor is a big reason for this, as well as the increased processing smarts in the camera itself.

The video features on the Z6 III are insane. I am a professional videographer who typically shoots on the Sony FX9 and FX6 and I am blown away by what’s possible with the Z6 III. 6K recording, prores formats, raw internal recording, RED LUTs… I can’t get over what this camera brings to the table. It all looks great too. Here’s a video I shot recently entirely on the Z6 III if you want to check it out for yourself.

Speaking of those RED LUTs, I would love if I could upload them straight to the camera and bake them into footage. Currently, to use those excellent LUTs you have to apply them in post, forcing you to shoot gigantic raw files for the best results. This is more of a professional video camera feature but… I mean, so is a lot of stuff already in the Z6 III. Fingers crossed this comes with a firmware update.

If you’re a video professional, I still believe that you’re going to be better off with a video-first camera (think something like the Sony FX30). However, if you’re doing a mix of video and photography (especially at the same time) the Nikon Z6 III is a fantastic option, especially if you’ve already invested in glass for the Z mount system.

Beginner video bloggers who don’t need all the Z6 III’s more advanced capabilities or those on a budget may want to consider the Nikon Z30, which I use for all kinds of low-stakes YouTube video work.

Nikon is clearly getting serious about being a competitor in the video space alongside Sony and Canon, and I’m excited to see what comes next. Nikon’s photography ergonomics have kept them my camera of choice for photography work, but I may reach for Nikon for video more often now…

AF-D lenses have to treated like manual focus lenses. I wish Nikon would release a FTZ III that fixed this, but at least manual focus on mirrorless is relatively painless.

Lenses

As much as I love my collection of traditional Nikon F and Canon EOS DSLR lenses, the glass modern camera makers produce for their mirrorless systems are truly sharper and better than their forebears. I’ve seen this firsthand with Sony, Canon, and Nikon – if you’re in a mirrorless system it is worth investing in mirrorless glass if your budget allows for it.

That’s why I believe you’re much better off with a Z6 III paired with a life-changing lens like the Z 24-70mm 2.8 rather than blowing everything on a higher-end Z8 or Z9 and compromising on the lenses.

However, there still in a place for that vintage glass, and it still drives me nuts that Nikon has no official way to use AF-D F mount lenses with the Z system. My FTZ adapter works great with AF-S G lenses, but I have some glass (like the Nikon 105mm DC) that has no equivalent in AF-S, much less Z mount. C’mon Nikon, this is your entire legacy! Give us a proper FTZ adapter for AF-D!

I found my AF-S F-mount lenses often had better autofocus performance with my Z cameras than they did on my old DSLRs.

Autofocus

The original Z6 caught a lot of flack for its autofocus being a weak point, but I personally found it worked fine for my purposes. But this is an area where it really comes down to the photographer – I use single point autofocus (for those DSLR holdouts, I love that in mirrorless systems I can pick any point in the frame, it’s the whole reason I switched). I also don’t shoot birds or sports, so I’m not pushing an AF system to its limits like those shooters can.

Regardless, the Z6 III has tons of autofocus modes and features if you want to get into the weeds. I found video autofocus performance better than the original Z6 but still behind Sony. I generally consider Sony to be the gold standard for video AF, but the Z6 III gets close enough to get the job done. I can set the camera up and be confident it’s going to catch my eye without footage-ruining focus hunting.

Speaking of focus, while mirrorless systems have unsatisfying focus-by-wire lenses, it is much easier to successfully manually focus in a mirrorless viewfinder than a DSLR. So while I whined earlier that the FTZ drops AF-D autofocus, you can still use all of Nikon’s great vintage glass if you’re willing to put in a little extra work. Just zoom in when shooting to check critical focus and you’ll get tack-sharp results. With DSLRs all you had to check was your eyeball and a dot indicator, so this is a spot where modern tech can compliment old. Still not as fun as a vintage split prism viewfinder though…

Three generations of Nikon batteries along with the charger that should really be included.

Battery

What is this, an iPhone? There’s no battery charger in the box! Plugging an entire camera body into a USB charger to juice the battery sucks. It’s also not a feasible option if you need to charge batteries while shooting. Nikon, knock this off. These aren’t phones. At this price point, we should get a charger. Raise the cost of the camera by ten bucks if you can’t handle the dent in your margins, I don’t care.

The included battery is the EL-EN15c, the third revision of the same form factor Nikon has used in the bulk of their midrange cameras since the DSLR days. The Z6 III will still use your older EL-EN15a and EL-EN15b, but I’ve definitely noticed that the type C lasts longer due to its increased capacity. (Note: I’ve used original EL-EN15 batteries with no problem in my Z6 III but according to Nikon’s website they are not officially supported, so use caution. Also, these older batteries will not charge in-camera).

For photography I rarely come close to killing the EL-EN15c battery in the course of a day-long shoot, but my older batteries can’t quite make it. Video will crank through batteries much faster. For your sanity I recommend picking up at least one additional battery and a charger.

Recording Media

The Nikon Z6 III includes a CFast Type B/XQD slot alongside an SD card slot. I love that we get both. In an emergency, you’re not going to be able to run down to Best Buy or Walmart to pick up an XQD card, but you will be able to find an SD card.

I recommend using a CFast Type B card for the best results. SD cards, even good ones, are just too slow, especially for video. I appreciate being able to use my old XQD cards with this camera too, even though that format is a bit of a dead end these days. There’s no reason to pick up an XQD card over a CFast Type B, especially since CFast Type B is both faster and cheaper.

Regardless of which format you pick up, be sure to only buy brand name cards. Personally, I buy my media from stores that directly manage their inventory and don’t have third-party sellers. I recommend local camera shops, B&H, KEH, Adorama, or even Best Buy in a pinch.

I love my Z6 III, but only upgrade if one of the features I mentioned really appeal to you. Otherwise, the Z6 I is still an excellent photographic tool.

Recommendations

If you’re perfectly happy with your Nikon Z6, you really don’t need to upgrade. The image quality isn’t fundamentally different, especially for photographers. However, if you’re shooting places where being silent is critical (think: film sets, events, etc), the vast improvements in electronic shutter mode is awesome.

It’s a different story if you’re shooting video on the Nikon system. The Nikon Z6 III is about as good as it gets across the entire system. The Z8 and Z9 are great, but don’t have that flippy screen. The new LUTs are welcome, and I’m curious to see if Nikon pulls a page from the Sony book and makes a true video camera version of the Z6 III (especially now that RED is part of the family).

Personally, I’m very happy with my purchase of the Z6 III, but I’m somebody who can take full advantage of video and silent shooting. My Z6 is sticking around as a secondary camera though, and I’ll have no hesitation when it comes to using it.

If you’re a photographer only and looking for a camera, the best thing about the release of the Z6 III should be the downward pressure on prices for older Z5, Z6, and Z7 cameras, all of which are remain fantastic. Image quality has largely plateaued, and that is a very good thing for shooters on a budget. As someone who’s been shooting digital Nikons since the days of the D40, it’s wild how good things have gotten.