I've been undecided about buying a Z50 for some time now, mainly because of the rather low pixel count, only 20mp, and the lack of a lightweight, long, good quality, DX telephoto lens designed for the mirrorless system with no IBIS.
The DX 50-250 mm is fine, but what do I do if I want a longer reach? I already have a Nikkor 80-400 G AFS, but the VR is likely not as good as the VR of the DX 50-250, and the combined weight, with the additional weight and size of the FTZ adapter, negates one of the main advantages of the Z50.
However, as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, which has prevented me from travelling overseas to a warmer climate, during the Australian autumn and winter, I see that I've been saving some money, so I've decided to splash out on the Z50 with the two kit lenses. It will basically be a replacement for my D5300 with 18-140 mm zoom lens.
For the past few days, when doing my usual walking exercise to keep fit, I've been carrying the Z50 with 16-50 and 50-250 zooms, photographing the local wildlife and taking various shots to assess general resolution, corner sharpness, shadow detail, and image stabilization.
I'm very impressed. If Nikon were to include in their Z50 road map, a DX 250-500 mm zoom, of the same quality as the current kit lenses, I'd be delighted, even if it were only F6.3 to F8.
The three factors that have impressed me greatly, so far, are;
(1)The excellent image stabilization which allows a sharp image, hand-held at 250mm (375mm FF equivalent), using a shutter speed of just 1/40th sec, provided the subject is static, of course.
Refer attached 100% crop with girl in the bottom right corner. The grass is sharp, although the girl not so much because she's moving.
(2) The over all sharpness of the zoom lenses, even in the corners, which is similar to using a full frame lens on a DX format.
Attached images of the Australasian Darter bird, and the Australian Pelican seem reasonably sharp to me. The Darter, in rather poor light, was shot at just 1/100th sec, F6.3, ISO400, and 250mm. The Pelican, in slightly better lighting, was shot at 1/200th, at ISO 100, F8, and 250mm.
(3) The over all weight and convenience. The pancake 16-50mm zoom will even fit in my shirt pocket, with flap buttoned, although it makes me look as though I have one unusually prominent breast.