For almost half a decade, Sony has dominated the Mirrorless full frame mirrorless market. This has limited the choices on what filmmakers could go for until Nikon and Canon stepped into the ring earlier this year.  On the “affordable” end of the mirrorless full frame market sits the Sony A7 Mark III, Canon EOS R and the Nikon Z6.  On paper, the Nikon Z6 stands tall against its Sony and Canon counterparts. Offerings include 10bit N-log video which was developed with Atomos, 120fps, full frame 4K read-out and internal image body stabilisation.

We went out and tested the Nikon Z6 to see if it could live up to a filmmakers expectations.  Well it’s specs sounded great, real-world experiences truly tell us what a camera is capable of.  The Nikon Z6 offers 10bit video but it’s only available when you link the camera to an Atomos external recorder, otherwise you’ll be stuck with the 8bit video.  With regards to the N-Log video, the colour accuracy was incredible with great skin tones and great detail in the blacks and highlights, however there was not a great amount of differences when colour corrected between N-Log and a flat profile however the difference in the dynamic range was clear with the N-Log offering greater control in post.

However, the Nikon Z6 by itself without the Atomos doesn’t quite meet the requirements for professional use as the N-Log is only available when linked with the Atomos Ninja. It offers no built-in gradable profiles other than “Flat” to shoot and grade from which doesn’t offer enough control even for grading.  But with the Atomos external recorder it really is the best current full-frame camera out there for professional work.

To find out more, check out our review on the Z6 from a filmmaker’s perspective and don’t forget to like and subscribe!