Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsGreat Entry-Level Full Frame Mirrorless, completely botched autofocus.
Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2021
Pros- Outstanding color rendition. Great in camera jpg, even better raw. 2 full sized SD slots! Can accept ENEL15 batteries that have been around for about 10 years. When the AF works properly, this camera produces excellent images (see cons).
Cons- Nikon, despite having issued numerous firmware updates, still cannot get the auto focus working properly. Not even when you are using the camera outside with plenty of light. If you are taking a full length picture of a person in the shade on a sunny day the camera most of the time just won't find the person you are taking a photo of. This is in the auto af mode, with face and eye detection turned on. I exclusively take pictures of people (most are full length) and have only seen the eye detection work once (after 1000's of pictures).
I compose the shot, the AF box appears on the face of the subject (is red), the AF box goes green, I take the photo, and when I get back to look at the image in PS I get -3 times out of 10- a back focused image. What good is having a camera with a non-functional or partially functional AF? Switching to single point focusing does improve the AF, but not having the face and eye detection can be a major inconvenience.
Also bad (compared to DSLR cameras anyway) is the battery life on mirrorless. For events and weddings, you should have as many backup batteries as you are willing to carry with you - I would recommend at least 4 if shooting all day. This thing (and mirrorless in general) just eat batteries.
I can't recommend this camera until Nikon can fix the autofocus. If they release another AF improvement firmware update I will test it and update this review as necessary.
