My Nikon Z8 Review : Best Hybrid Camera in 2025??
Nikon Z8 Review – Still a Game-Changer in 2025?
Welcome to my Nikon Z8 Review and after more than 14 months of daily use, I finally got around to putting this review together. I am going to dive into the serious pros and cons of this camera and talk you through my experiences with it. Now the Nikon Z8 has been called the “mini Z9” by a lot of people but I feel that description doesn’t really do it justice.
In reality, the Nikon Z8 is a powerhouse of a camera and for many photographers, myself included, it might just be the perfect balance between performance, size, weight and handling.
From the very first moment I picked up the Nikon Z8 it reminded me of my beloved D850. My D850 always felt solid, trustworthy and like a camera that was just going to keep going forever. The Z8 brings much of that same confidence back to mirrorless shooting now thankfully.
Unlike earlier Z-series cameras, the Z8 finally feels like it was designed for photographers who want both speed, focus accuracy and reliability without compromise.
So, as you may have already guessed this review is going to be a positive one. But there are two serious questions here… Is the Nikon Z8 really exceptional? and is it really worth all that money?
So come on let’s dive into this long-term Nikon Z8 Review and let me tell you all about it.
First Impressions – The Nikon Z8 in Hand
When I first unboxed the Nikon Z8, the immediate impression was its handling. The grip is deeper, taller and more comfortable than my Z7ii was. The Z7ii grip was just always a bit too short for me and often times left my small finger hanging onto the grip for dear life and the lower part of the grip used to dig into the inside of my palm.
The Nikon Z8 was like a breath of fresh air though and fits my hands perfectly, it just felt more balanced too probably as a result of my hand having more surface area contact, this all made it feel more balanced, even with heavier lenses like the 70-200mm f/2.8 attached on six to eight hour shoots.
Build quality is also reassuring. While it doesn’t quite reach the legendary tank-like construction of the D850, the Z8 still has a tough, professional-grade weather-sealed magnesium alloy body but unlike the Z9 it trims down the weight to a very manageable 910g which is nearly the same weight as the D850.
For landscape shoots in unpredictable weather, the Z8 has been rock-solid, surviving rain, coastal spray and sub-zero mornings without skipping a beat.
For me though the transition to the Z8 was simple as the button layout is very similar to my previous cameras and again it just felt natural like I had always been using this camera, so muscle memory could kind of take over straight away, with little to no learning curve involved.
For me that was huge, but I will say you do need to change the way you auto focus, but it’s all good and I have you covered here with a great video further down the page. This will dramatically improve your autofocus for all genres of photography.
So, from a build quality and feel perspective the Nikon Z8 felt like a DSLR reborn, but with all the benefits or brains of mirrorless technology crammed under the hood.
This already seemed like an awesome prospect for me and unlike the Z7ii, which I left on the shelf for nearly three months before I took it on my first commercial shoot, I took the Z8 on its first paid shoot with me after only two weeks and it hasn’t left my side since.
That’s about as much praise as I can give any camera.
Nikon Z8 Price – Is It Worth It?
At around $3,500 – $4,000 USD, the Nikon Z8 sits firmly in the professional camera category as it’s certainly not cheap, but you have to remember you’re getting flagship performance at a much lower price point than the Z9. So, for photographers who want the best Nikon camera you can get but without the bulk and weight of the Z9, the Z8 is the camera for you.
When you consider that the Nikon Z8 delivers 46MP stills, it’s capable of 20fps bursts, 8K RAW video and Nikon’s best autofocus system yet, that price tag starts to look more like an investment in you and your art.
In my opinion, the Nikon Z8 is one of the best price-to-performance cameras Nikon has ever released. Well maybe the Z6iii might have a thing or two to say about that also. The jury is still out on that one.
Nikon Z8 Positives – What This Camera Gets Right
Here’s where the Nikon Z8 shines:
- Autofocus Excellence: Super-fast, sticky and accurate in almost every scenario, especially with my focus setup below.
- Image Quality: Beautiful color science, rich skin tones and ultra-sharp 46MP files thanks to the lack of a low-pass filter.
- Dynamic Range: 14 stops of flexibility make editing a joy.
- High-Speed Shooting: 20fps RAW burst shooting for sports, wildlife and action.
- Stabilization: In-body 5-axis IBIS gives up to 5.5 stops of handheld freedom.
- Video Features: Internal 8K RAW recording and loads of professional-grade tools for hybrid creators.
- Firmware Support: Nikon continues to roll out meaningful updates, adding features and improving performance. This for me is what sets Nikon apart from other brands right now.
- Practical Touches: Like the awesome sensor shield to protect from dust, dual card slots (CFexpress + SD), blackout-free EVF and a versatile flip screen.
In short, the Nikon Z8 feels like a true all-rounder — a camera capable of handling just about any genre but nothing is perfect so let’s have a look at the negatives now.
Nikon Z8 Negatives – What Holds It Back
No Nikon Z8 Review would be complete without mentioning its downsides:
- Battery Life: The EN-EL15c drains quickly, especially with 8K recording or heavy bursts. Carrying multiple spares is essential.
- Weight: Lighter than the Z9 but still hefty for long hikes or travel.
- Heat Management: Extended 8K shooting can lead to overheating warnings.
- Quiet Shutter Feel: DSLR shooters and serious photographers might miss that shutter slap or thud we used to get, the solid confirmation that yes you just fired off a shot and captured the moment. The Z8 has a very audio “sound” to imitate this. Personally, I so hated that for months.
- Tethering Problems: Recent firmware updates broke Lightroom tethering, forcing workarounds that slow down studio workflows.
None of these are deal-breakers, but they’re worth keeping in mind depending on your style of photography of course.
Image Quality – The 45.7MP Sensor Shines
At the heart of the Z8 is Nikon’s 45.7MP stacked CMOS sensor, delivering stunning details and great dynamic range. Paired with the EXPEED 7 processor, this camera handles everything from golden-hour landscapes to high-contrast cityscapes with remarkable clarity. Highlights roll off smoothly, shadows retain clean details and the Raw files straight out of camera are incredibly flexible in post.
Skin tones are natural and of course Nikon’s color science still has that signature richness without looking oversaturated. This for me always makes editing my photographs so much easier.
It’s one of the slight differences I noticed between my Z7ii and Z8 is that the colouring on the Z8 is just that slight bit nicer, looking more natural and just requiring slightly less work in post processing.
It’s high ISO performance is very good too of course as it performs exactly the same as the flagship Nikon Z9 as they both use the same sensor of course. Now ISO is always a tricky one as we all have different acceptable levels for noise and for me personally I feel comfortable around ISO 3,200 and at a serious pinch up around ISO 6,400 but again as I say that’s just me and how I perceive noise.
Sensor Shield
Before we move on from the sensor it would be very wrong of me not to talk about the sensor shield in the Z8. This is a fantastic addition, especially if you change lenses a lot out in the field. The shield pops into action when you switch off the camera and it basically helps prevent dust and micro fibres from getting sucked onto the sensor via static electricity.
Yes, sensors generate static electricity and this can attract these little particles onto your sensor so having a shield there really does help. Now of course nothing is perfect but anything that helps is appreciated.
Autofocus Performance – A Game Changer in the Nikon Z8 Review
One of the standout points of this Nikon Z8 Review has to be the Z8’s autofocus. Nikon has made massive improvements here over the years and with every update we see more and more improvements.
With my old Nikon D850, I would finish a day on a commercial shoot with hundreds of perfectly sharp images and only a handful of shots out of focus, usually about 3 or 4 out of 700 plus images. With early mirrorless cameras they just couldn’t compete here — I’d often lose dozens of photographs only half way through a shoot due to inconsistent focus. That lack of reliability was frustrating and yes I tried every different focus setup out there.
The Nikon Z8 changed everything though as its autofocus system locks on with confidence, it’s amazing for tracking eyes, animals and birds with speed and precision. The Eye-Detect AF is fast and accurate and the ability to shoot at 20fps RAW bursts means I rarely miss a critical moment anymore.
For videography, its continuous AF is smooth and confidence-inspiring. The transition speeds and sensitivity can be fine-tuned of course, making it equally at home for cinematic pulls or documentary-style work.
For me, this is where the Z8 truly became the DSLR replacement I’d been waiting for.
Video Capabilities – True Hybrid Powerhouse
The Nikon Z8 isn’t just a stills camera, its video capabilities are nothing short of outstanding with internal 8K 60p NRAW 12 bit recording, ProRes RAW HQ 12 bit, ProRes HQ 10bit and H.265 codecs also. You have multiple video0 code and quality options so you can focus more on quality or recording space and compression if you prefer.
8K 60P 12 bit NRAW gives us huge dynamic range, gorgeous colours and massive flexibilty in post processing for grading or cropping if needed. We also have stunning oversampled 4k 60P from the 8K readout so from a video flexibilty viewpoint this is an amazing machine.
The stacked sensor gives the Z8 a super fast sensor readout of approx 3.7ms, this is what makes 8K possible and also practically eliminates rolling shutter issues also.
The Z8’s focusing is smooth and immediately inspires confidence and with subject detection it locks onto the eye and keeps your subject in focus. You also have the ability to control transition speeds so you can fine tune the look of your footage making it incredibly suitable for all genres of work.
Of course you have a very wide range of accessories and supports for professional rigs now too and adding all this together give us without doubt one of the best hybrid cameras on the market today.
Nikon’s recent acquisition of RED also suggests an even brighter future for Nikon videographers, so investing as a hybrid shooter in Nikon equipment is a step in the right direction it would seem.
The thought of seeing RED technology integrated into Nikon bodies is a super exciting thought and hopefully we will see that now very soon. In short Nikon are now aggressively competing in the professional video space.
Finally for gimbal use, the Z8 is a lot easier to use here than the Z9 as it’s just not as heavy and or bulky. For Gimbal use though I have to confess I have used more towards my Z6iii now as it’s even lighter again and I personally find 6K is more than what I need right now.
Firmware Updates – Why the Nikon Z8 Keeps Getting Better
One of the biggest selling points of the Nikon Z8 is Nikon’s ongoing commitment to firmware updates. Instead of releasing new bodies every year, Nikon is steadily improving the Z8 with new features like:
- Bird-detection autofocus
- Shutter angle
- Pixel-shift for ultra-high-resolution images
- Rich tone portrait profiles
- Pre-capture JPEG support
- Image authentication (coming soon)
- Auto Capture (coming soon)
This kind of support extends the camera’s life and makes the Z8 an even stronger long-term investment.
Battery Life & Storage
Dual card slots (CFexpress Type B + SD UHS-II) make it adaptable for different jobs, though heavy video work definitely favors CFexpress for speed and for the added bandwidth needed too of course. Battery life is solid for stills, but for full-day video shoots, I always carry lots of spares.
USB-C PD charging has been a lifesaver on location — one good power bank can keep me running all day if I need it.
Long-Term Reliability
Over the past year, the Z8 has become my primary workhorse. It’s been through heat, cold, dust, and rain, yet it’s never let me down. Firmware updates have only improved AF performance and video options, which is a huge plus for a camera that’s already so capable out of the box.
In short it just keeps getting better in fact it feels like a completely different camera now to the one I bought as soon as it launched.
Who Is the Nikon Z8 For?
- Landscape photographers who value dynamic range and resolution without lugging around a Z9.
- Wildlife and sports shooters who need pro-level AF in a lighter package.
- Hybrid shooters balancing professional stills and high-end video production.
If you shoot casually, it’s probably overkill. But for professional creatives, it’s an investment that pays for itself in reliability and image quality.
Nikon Z8 Review Conclusion
So, after 14 months of daily use, where does this Nikon Z8 Review land? Simply put: the Nikon Z8 is one of the best cameras Nikon has ever produced.
It combines the handling of the D850 with the speed, versatility, and forward-looking technology of mirrorless. It’s not flawless, but its strengths far outweigh its weaknesses. Whether you’re a portrait photographer, a landscape shooter, a wildlife enthusiast, or a videographer, the Nikon Z8 delivers.
If you’re considering the Z8, my advice is simple: stop hesitating and get it. The Nikon Z8 is exceptional and it’s just getting better with time.
Thanks for reading my Nikon Z8 review and don’t forget to checkout my Youtube videos where I have a ton of very useful information for you on your Z8.
See you out there,
Kieran.
Frequently Asked Question
Nikon Z8 Review : Taming this incredible beast in 2025
Welcome to my Nikon Z8 Review and after more than 14 months of daily use, I finally got around to putting this review together. I am going to dive into the serious pros and cons of this camera and talk you through my experiences with it. Now the Nikon Z8 has been called the “mini Z9” by a lot of people but I feel that description doesn’t really do it justice.
4.9
Pros
- Autofocus Excellence: Super-fast, sticky and accurate in almost every scenario.
- Image Quality: Beautiful color science, rich skin tones and ultra-sharp 46MP files
- Dynamic Range: 14 stops of flexibility make editing a joy.
- High-Speed Shooting: 20fps RAW burst shooting for sports, wildlife and action.
- Stabilization: In-body 5-axis IBIS gives up to 6 stops of handheld freedom.
- Video Features: Internal 8K RAW recording for hybrid creators.
- Firmware Support: Nikon continues to roll out meaningful updates.
- Practical Touches: Sensor shield to protect from dust and a versatile flip screen.