Nikon Z7 Image Quality

Here we compare base ISO of the Z7 to its DSLR sibling, the D850. As expected, resolving power appears identical given the same pixel count, but the Z7 image has higher contrast, darker blacks and more saturated reds. Overall color balance is slightly warmer and more reddish from the Z7 here as well. The Z7 appears a bit sharper than the D850, however that's due to the different lenses used (the Z 50mm f/1.8 S vs AF-S 60mm f/2.8G Macro). The D850 yielded better contrast in our tricky red-leaf swatch, though that pattern has likely faded just a bit since the D850 was shot. Overall, the two siblings display very similar image quality at base ISO, though with some tweaks to contrast, saturation and color.

Here we compare the Z7 to the EOS R, Canon's only full-frame mirrorless camera as of this writing. It's easy to see the 45-megapixel Z7 easily out-resolves the 30-megapixel EOS R, as expected. Not only is the resolution higher and thus the image larger and more detailed, but the Z7 doesn't have an anti-aliasing filter like the EOS R has (which introduces some very slight blurring in an attempt to reduce moiré and other aliasing artifacts). The lack of an AA filter coupled with more aggressive processing yields a sharper, crisper image from the Z7, though ironically we can still see aliasing artifacts in the fabrics and elsewhere from both cameras. The Z7's image is also more contrasty and vibrant, giving it more "pop" than the EOS R's, while colors are warmer if less technically accurate. Noise levels are very low from both cameras here at base ISO, but luminance noise does appear a little higher from the Z7 in flatter areas, so it'll be interesting to see how they compare at higher ISOs.

The 50-megapixel 5DS R is a DSLR and doesn't really compete with the Nikon on performance or size, but it does on price and resolving power. The main reason we decided to include it is as a comparison between Nikon and Canon's highest resolution ILCs. As you can see, this time it's the Canon that out-resolves the Nikon with its higher resolution and AA-filterless sensor, but not by much. Both images are very sharp, but the Nikon's is more contrasty and vibrant, however the Canon's colors are more true to life. Noise levels are roughly similar except in the deep shadows where the Canon is a bit noisier. Again, it'll be interesting to see how these compare at higher ISOs.

Here's another somewhat unusual comparison, this time against the "medium format" 51-megapixel GFX Fuji 50R. The 50R is about $1000 less expensive than the 50S, but is still about $1000 more than the Z7. Still, we thought it would be interesting to compare to. Above, we can see the 50R easily out resolves the Z7, but because we frame this shot vertically and the 50R has a 4:3 aspect ratio versus the Z7's 3:2 ratio, the 50R has an "unfair" advantage. Both cameras capture 8256 pixels horizontally, however the 50R's vertical resolution is 6192 versus the Z7's 5504 pixels, spread over roughly the same "height" in the scene. This gives the 50R a larger resolution advantage than relative total pixel counts would imply if framed with the same diagonal field of view. Still, we think it's a useful reference, showing some fine detail that the Z7 did not capture.

The 45-megapixel Nikon Z7 and 42-megapixel Sony A7R III rivals battle it out at base ISO here. Although the Z7 has slightly higher resolution on paper, both produce very detailed, crisp images, however the Sony image appears to retain slightly finer detail while displaying fewer sharpening halos due to its more sophisticated processing. Both cameras lack an AA filter and show moiré patterns in our tricky red-leaf swatch, but contrast in the fabric is noticeably higher from the Sony. Both produce good color, however the Nikon image is warmer with more saturated reds and blues.

As expected, pretty similar results here at ISO 1600 between the two Nikon siblings, however the Z7 continues to push reds a little more while the D850 does noticeably better in the red-leaf swatch. Interestingly, while noise levels look very similar, the Z7's noise "grain" appears a little coarser and more uneven than the D850's in flatter areas.

Here at ISO 1600, the Z7 continues to produce a crisper, more detailed image with brighter, warmer colors and higher contrast. Luminance noise is however higher from the Nikon, though that's no surprise given the smaller photosites coupled with more aggressive sharpening. The Canon again does better with contrast in the red-leaf swatch, while the leaf pattern in the Nikon image is more broken up by individual thread segment remnants. Interestingly, moiré patterns continue to be more obvious from the Canon here, but that would change depending on the subject and distance.

The 5DS R continues to capture more detail than the Z7 here at ISO 1600, however noise in flatter areas is higher. The Nikon image continues to be more vibrant and contrasty overall, even though the Canon does noticeably better with contrast in the red-leaf swatch.

Again, like we saw at base ISO, there really no contest here with the medium format 4:3 50R capturing significantly more detail with lower noise levels than the Z7.

The Z7 image is a little softer than the A7R III's with fine detail that appears slightly smeared in comparison, yet it contains more obvious sharpening halos around high-contrast edges. Luma noise appears a little lower from the Sony in flatter areas, but the Nikon's noise pattern looks a little more natural, chroma noise in the shadows is lower, and there's no black "peppered" effect in the red-leaf fabric. Colors continue to be warmer and more vibrant from the Nikon. Still, the Sony holds onto more detail in the mosaic and red-leaf swatch, making it the overall victor here.

Once again, very similar image quality here between the two Nikon siblings, however again contrast is a little higher, red is more pumped, and luminance noise grain is a little coarser from the Z7. And again, the D850 did a little better with contrast in our red-leaf swatch, though both cameras struggled to hang onto fine detail there.

The Z7 continues to produce a crisper, more detailed and more vibrant image here at ISO 3200 than the EOS R, however luminance noise appears to be stronger with a less consistent grain pattern in flatter areas. The EOS R however shows fewer noise reduction artifacts overall, and manages to eke out a better representation of our troublesome red-leaf swatch.

Here at ISO 3200, the 5DS R really begins to struggle with high luminance noise levels, which combined with strong noise reduction interferes with fine detail and takes away much of its resolution advantage. While the Canon's luma noise is quite high, its "grain" pattern is much more consistent and film-like than the Nikon's.

As expected, there's really no contest here at ISO 3200 either, with the 50R easily besting the Z7 with much more detail, lower noise and fewer noise reduction artifacts.

The Z7 image is again a little softer and less detailed here at ISO 3200, but like we saw at ISO 1600, the Nikon's luma noise "grain" looks a little more random and natural, chroma noise is lower and colors are more punchy than from the Sony. Overall, though, we'd say the A7R III still comes out ahead here again.