Perhaps the most anticipated midrange mirrorless camera of the year, the Nikon Z6 III launched today June 17, 2024 at 5am Pacific Time to a broad audience of enthusiasts and professionals alike.
Nikon Z6 III
6K60 N-RAW, 6K30 ProRes RAW
New Partially Stacked 24.3 MP Sensor
4000 nit EVF
Flippy screen
$2500
RAW
Internal RAW video recording in both N-RAW and ProRes RAW is the most sought after feature that thankfully became realized following months of rumors. For Dynamic Range and Rolling Shutter data we will wait for the results from our friends at CineD.
Internal RAW video mirrorless hybrid cameras as of June 2024.
Nikon Z9, Z8, Z6 III
Canon R3, R5
Panasonic GH7
No 32-bit Audio
Earlier this month on June 6, Panasonic released the GH7 that with an external unit can record 32-bit floating-point audio to internally recorded video on SDXC/CFexpress Type B cards. Unfortunately, the Nikon Z6 III sticks to 24-bit audio.
Bright EVF
Those who photograph mid-day know all too well the eye fatigue of your eye adjusting too quickly from a dim EVF to extremely bright sun and back. With a brighter 4000 nit EVF there is now less luminance difference.
Price
$2500 body or $3100 with 24-70 f/4 S kit lens (a $400 savings from the $1000 lens list price).
Future
Never too early to start thinking about cameras to come, here are some thoughts on what Nikon may/could release:
Z9 II / Z8 II: If Nikon decides that there are other important factors besides pushing higher megapixel count, we may see 14-bit RAW video and 16-bit RAW photo with a new 45 MP sensor and Dual Expeed 7/ Single Expeed 8 processor. Depending on the RED acquisition terms we may even see 16-bit RAW compressed internal video capabilities.
Z7 III: Unlike the Z6/7 and Z6/7 II releases, Nikon decided to not launch a Z7 III alongside the Z6 III. Though I have not seen the sales numbers, the Z6 range always seemed to garner more attention than the Z7, especially after the Z9 and Z8 unveilings. Besides a smaller form factor, a Z7 III with 8K60 N-RAW, 4000 nit EVF and partially stacked 45MP sensor would give slim reason to purchase a pricier Z8 instead. We may See an 8K30 N-RAW cap and $3000 price tag just to keep a line in the sand,
Z6 IV: Same 24MP resolution with full stacked sensor & global shutter. Too much to ask? on the current timeline we won’t see the Z6 IV until 2028. Looking at camera development from this perspective, it would be rather disappointing if global shutter wasn’t more widespread by our next decade.