Something new. something old?
Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2026 6:27 pm
Okay, it's not a reference to weddings, but trying something new that takes one back to former times. That for me would be the new Nikon Z5IIC.
You all may recall how much I liked my old Nikon Coolpix P7700, a compact with no viewfinder but instead it had a fully articulated screen. I took so many photos with that camera because it was small enough to fit in a jacket pocket, so I tended to take it with me a lot when the weather was cool. It also had full controls via the front and rear dials just like their DSLRs, so I could shoot it in manual mode whenever I wanted. It had really nice color rendition in the JPEGs, and a really nice monochrome setting. I even had a flash rig for using it at events that demanded more light than the built-in unit could supply and also had a rotating platform so I could flip the camera back and forth from portrait to landscape. It had a 28-200mm equivalent lens, so it was very handy in many situations, especially when trying to compress the scene. There was even a decent built-in grip.
https://www.dpreview.com/products/nikon ... n_cpp7700/
But it had two faults. The screen, as big and maneuverable as it was, wasn't easy to see in bright light as it was somewhat dim and the surface was very reflective. I found myself just looking over the top of the camera at the scene to see if I was framing it correctly when the bright sun was directly behind me, then taking extra shots just in case. Secondly, it had a small sensor, a 1/1.7" which is just a bit bigger than what they could cram into the phones of that time. Sure, it was a 12.2mp BSI-CMOS chip which you couldn't even find in some of the high end DSLRs, but all that still could not make up for what it lacked in size. I was looking at some of my images today on Flickr that I took with the P7700, and at first glance of the screen they look just marvelous (technically speaking). But zoom in just once and the image starts breaking down, looking more like it came out of a phone instead of a stand-alone camera. Or so I thought. I was looking at some images I had cropped quite a bit before uploading them. Most of all the other images I took with the P7700 look just fine, so maybe I need to rethink things here.
I always said my dream was that they would make a slightly larger version with a bigger sensor and interchangeable lenses, and they finally did a few years ago with the Z30. Only at the time, there weren't a lot of DX lenses on the market in Z mount, so I thought I'd just keep using the P7700. That is until it crapped out on me during my annual Jan 1st photo run. I happened to have my Z50 with me, so I was not left high and dry, but it did make me question if I wanted to replace the P7700 with the Z30 because I was still trying to get used to the Z50 and wasn't sure I wanted another non-viewfinder style camera. Plus, the lack of available lenses back then. So, I tabled the idea. Until now.
Now, it's not like I have a scad of Z FX lenses right now, but I do have a bunch of full frame lenses that can be adapted to the Z mount. And since I have a Z5 I've been using it every once in a while, for just that purpose. I could get many more adapters to create an ultimate collection of "Nifty Fifties" to mess around with. What really intrigues me is that for one, the Z50 is almost the same body dimension as the P7700 if you lop off the viewfinder hump. And the Z5 is not much larger than the Z50. So, it's going to come down to whether I get a Z5II or a Z5IIC when it comes time to upgrade the Z5. It just all depends on what is my ultimate single system set-up I would like to have if I ever had to pare everything down to one camera. I did that once before with the Nikon N90s(F90X) and a raft of Tamron lenses. I still have them but don't use that kit anymore. Likely not worth much on the second-hand market either.
Well, that's enough rambling thoughts from me, what do you all make of Nikon's new "compact" line?
PF
You all may recall how much I liked my old Nikon Coolpix P7700, a compact with no viewfinder but instead it had a fully articulated screen. I took so many photos with that camera because it was small enough to fit in a jacket pocket, so I tended to take it with me a lot when the weather was cool. It also had full controls via the front and rear dials just like their DSLRs, so I could shoot it in manual mode whenever I wanted. It had really nice color rendition in the JPEGs, and a really nice monochrome setting. I even had a flash rig for using it at events that demanded more light than the built-in unit could supply and also had a rotating platform so I could flip the camera back and forth from portrait to landscape. It had a 28-200mm equivalent lens, so it was very handy in many situations, especially when trying to compress the scene. There was even a decent built-in grip.
https://www.dpreview.com/products/nikon ... n_cpp7700/
But it had two faults. The screen, as big and maneuverable as it was, wasn't easy to see in bright light as it was somewhat dim and the surface was very reflective. I found myself just looking over the top of the camera at the scene to see if I was framing it correctly when the bright sun was directly behind me, then taking extra shots just in case. Secondly, it had a small sensor, a 1/1.7" which is just a bit bigger than what they could cram into the phones of that time. Sure, it was a 12.2mp BSI-CMOS chip which you couldn't even find in some of the high end DSLRs, but all that still could not make up for what it lacked in size. I was looking at some of my images today on Flickr that I took with the P7700, and at first glance of the screen they look just marvelous (technically speaking). But zoom in just once and the image starts breaking down, looking more like it came out of a phone instead of a stand-alone camera. Or so I thought. I was looking at some images I had cropped quite a bit before uploading them. Most of all the other images I took with the P7700 look just fine, so maybe I need to rethink things here.
I always said my dream was that they would make a slightly larger version with a bigger sensor and interchangeable lenses, and they finally did a few years ago with the Z30. Only at the time, there weren't a lot of DX lenses on the market in Z mount, so I thought I'd just keep using the P7700. That is until it crapped out on me during my annual Jan 1st photo run. I happened to have my Z50 with me, so I was not left high and dry, but it did make me question if I wanted to replace the P7700 with the Z30 because I was still trying to get used to the Z50 and wasn't sure I wanted another non-viewfinder style camera. Plus, the lack of available lenses back then. So, I tabled the idea. Until now.
Now, it's not like I have a scad of Z FX lenses right now, but I do have a bunch of full frame lenses that can be adapted to the Z mount. And since I have a Z5 I've been using it every once in a while, for just that purpose. I could get many more adapters to create an ultimate collection of "Nifty Fifties" to mess around with. What really intrigues me is that for one, the Z50 is almost the same body dimension as the P7700 if you lop off the viewfinder hump. And the Z5 is not much larger than the Z50. So, it's going to come down to whether I get a Z5II or a Z5IIC when it comes time to upgrade the Z5. It just all depends on what is my ultimate single system set-up I would like to have if I ever had to pare everything down to one camera. I did that once before with the Nikon N90s(F90X) and a raft of Tamron lenses. I still have them but don't use that kit anymore. Likely not worth much on the second-hand market either.
Well, that's enough rambling thoughts from me, what do you all make of Nikon's new "compact" line?
PF