I'm not going to pretend that I'm in touch with the Gen Z mindset, or that my elder millennial eyesight is as good as it was twenty years ago. So when a representative from Nikon showed me the svelte, dare I say sexy, Z5IIC, I approached it with an open mind. After a few hours walking around New York City, from Chinatown up through Little Italy into Union Square, snapping photos, I have a couple of immediate takeaways. One, it's a great camera for lightweight carry, especially when paired with a small lens. Two, it's not a camera for me; my eyes want an eye-level viewfinder, especially on bright days. But I'm not arrogant enough to think that my opinion is the only one that matters. Creators who thrive with just a rear display will love this camera.

Full-Frame Power in a Pint-Sized Body

As you might have guessed from the name, the Z5IIC is based on the Nikon Z5II, an excellent camera I gave an Editors' Choice award to last year. The "C" is for compact, and it's not a marketing ploy—the Z5IIC is notably smaller and lighter than the full-size Z5II. It largely makes up for it by omitting the eye-level viewfinder, though there are a couple of other differences—the Z5IIC has just one UHS-II SDXC slot, while the Z5II has two, and its 3.2-inch rear touch LCD isn't quite as sharp (1.04 million dots versus 2.1 million for the Z5II).

I don't count those as huge limitations, at least not when compared with losing the viewfinder. The Z5IIC keeps up with its larger sibling in every other way. It has the same 24.5MP full-frame image sensor, 7.5-stop stabilization system, and Expeed 7 processor, so picture quality is, for all intents and purposes, identical, plus the autofocus is just as fast and capable. Likewise, the controls and menus are pretty close; the Z5IIC doesn't have a focus control joystick like the full-size Z5II, but that's a feature that's most useful for action photography with long lenses—with the Z5IIC, you can just tap on the screen to set the focus point, or let the camera's subject recognition system make the choice for you.

Nikon brought two Z5IIC bodies along for my photo walk. I ended up using the silver body (pictured here) with the Nikkor Z 26mm F2.8 lens, while another journalist ended up with the black version. I didn't argue; the silver edition looks great. It's more stylish than the basic black edition, though I'm sure creators who prefer a discreet camera will opt for the black one. Both versions cost the same: $1,399.95 as a body-only unit or $1,699.95 with a 24-50mm F4-6.3 zoom. Nikon also says it will sell the camera in soft bundles with either the Nikkor Z 26mm F2.8 or Nikkor Z 40mm F2 through select retailers. I think these are especially good choices for creators and enthusiasts who want a compact, full-frame kit for everyday carry.

The Viewfinder Trade-Off: Where the Screen Falls Short

As much as I like the Z5IIC's tiny size (for full-frame) and light carry weight, it comes with a cost of functionality. The Z5II has one of the best viewfinders you'll find in an affordable full-frame camera. An EVF makes it easier to compose a frame in bright sunlight, plus makes it practical to handhold a big telephoto lens. If you're not looking to take wildlife photos or work sidelines as a sports photographer, you won't mind, but I wouldn't even think about using the Z5IIC with a Nikkor Z 180-600mm zoom for bird photos; it's just not practical without an EVF.

I used the Z5IIC on a bright August morning in New York to take some street photos and capture some architecture, street art, and graffiti. It's a type of photography where I didn't mind using the rear display at all—it's not like I only use the EVF. I appreciate an articulating screen for shots where I want to hold the camera above my head to get a higher angle, shoot from the hip, or lower it to the ground to get a good angle on my cat.

It's silly to criticize the Z5IIC for not pairing well with long lenses, though. There are plenty of cameras with EVFs that work well with big glass. But there are two areas where you might miss having an EVF.

One is bright weather: The Z5IIC lets you pump up the backlight to cut through sunlight, but I find it hard to judge whether a scene is too bright or too dark. You'll want to pay more attention to the histogram—the wavy graph that shows the overall brightness in a scene—to make sure you're getting the exposure you want.

My second gripe is about image playback. The Z5IIC's screen gives you a good idea of the color, but it's not as good at showing fine detail. I ran into this when trying out the Z5IIC's new film grain effects. I wanted to go for a gritty look with my photos, so I turned the film grain simulation on. It's a new feature for Nikon, so I wasn't quite sure where to dial in the settings, and I definitely overdid it. I'm sure if I had been able to review the images in the field on a sharp EVF, or if my eyes were as good as they were twenty years ago, I'd have decided to dial the grain sliders back a few notches.

Nikon tells me that about half of Gen Z creators prefer the LCD full-time. I'm not surprised by that figure at all. Most of the 30-and-under crowd hasn't yet had to deal with getting reading glasses, and many lean into video recording, which is frankly easier to manage with the LCD versus an EVF. It's easier to hold a camera stable for longer periods by holding it lower and closer to your body than at eye level.

Film Grain and Filters: Analog Magic, Right Out of the Box

I already alluded to the Z5IIC's best new imaging feature, its film grain mode. The camera lets you add a grainy texture to images, with configurable intensity and size. Nikon isn't the first camera company to implement this. Fujifilm has been doing it for years with its Film Simulation engine, but Nikon is putting its own twist on the concept. Its image processor randomizes the grain pattern from photo to photo, so the effect feels more natural and less like a filter.

The grain is just one layer in an imaging engine that gives you the tools to produce highly stylized pictures right out of the camera, without spending time fiddling with settings in Adobe Lightroom or another Raw processor. The Z5IIC has a load of playfully named filters and color profiles built in—I used Sunday for the color photos in this article and Deep Tone Monochrome for the black-and-white snaps. If you're not happy with the results from the bevy of built-in looks, you can adjust settings on any of them, or create and load your own onto the camera. This is another area where Nikon borrows a page from a competitor; the Panasonic Lumix line does the same thing with its Lumix Lab app.

Even if Nikon didn't cook up the idea on its own, I think the customizable color and film modes are something that photographers of all ages will enjoy. As much as I like the editing flexibility that comes with a Raw file format—I'm a tinkerer by nature—the reason that many photographers leaned on Raw for many years was that most default picture profiles look the same. They're faithful to reality, but that can be boring. In-camera filters and grain recreate a little bit of the magic from the film era. With film, your choice of emulsion had a huge influence over the colors and texture of an image, and since the engine is configurable, you can make a profile that matches your creative vision. Raw editing is great, but why bother when you can get the look you want right out of the camera?

Scene Modes Are Back (And Experts Need to Get Over It)

The Z5IIC's Mode dial has a setting that was once ubiquitous on consumer cameras, but has largely disappeared—SCN. That's short for Scene modes, which configure the image parameter, focus, and exposure settings for different photo ops. Experts may turn their noses up, but they're a great way for creators to achieve good results without taking a photo class. The Z5IIC includes 15 Scene modes for portraits, sports, sunsets, autumn colors, and more.

Scene modes are still pretty common in entry-level cameras, even those that use interchangeable lenses. You'll find them on the Nikon Z50II and Canon EOS R10, for example. They're rare in full-frame models, though, and the Z5II doesn't include them. I think Nikon is copying Canon a bit here. Canon has an SCN option on all three of its starter full-frame cameras (the EOS RP, R8, and R8 Mark II). It's easy to wax about imitation and flattery, but to me it's just a matter of a company recognizing that photography is something that everyone should be able to enjoy, even folks who don't know what f-stop to use for a portrait or what shutter speed to use at a soccer game.

4K Video Performance and Vlogging Features

Nikon Z cameras have had good video features since the system launched in 2018, and they've only gotten better since the company acquired Red Cinema in 2024. The Z5IIC supports full-width 4K60, cropped 4K120, and digital stabilization to supplement its mechanical IBIS system. There are a few different encoding options, including 8-bit H.264 (great if you use an older computer or phone to cut video), 10-bit H.265 (for more powerful computer systems and more flexibility to grade color when using the flat N-Log color profile), and N-Raw for experts. If you're not savvy enough to grade Log video, you can record footage with any of the color profiles.

I'm sure vloggers will dig the Z5IIC. It's small, stylish, and its stabilization is good enough to record many scenes without dragging a tripod along. It also includes a pair of 3.5mm jacks, one for an external microphone and another for headphones, so you can attach an external mic or wireless receiver and get clear audio. I consider myself more of a photographer than anything else, but I know a good vlogging camera when I see one, and the Z5IIC measures up.

Early Verdict: Who Should Preorder the Z5IIC?

By the time you read this, it'll have been more than a month since I tried the Z5IIC, and my early access was with a preproduction model. This means the photos you see in this article aren't final-quality, and I wasn't able to dive into the Raw images—though I'll say that, given the shared image sensor and processing engine with the Z5II, I have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

Preorders are open today, though, and given Nikon's track record and the fantastic job it did with the full-size Z5II, I don't have any hesitation in recommending the Z5IIC to creators who want a small, affordable full-frame camera and are happy without an eye-level viewfinder.

For me, though, an EVF is still a must-have, so I guess it's time to kick back and watch some Matlock.

About Our Expert

Images, and the devices that capture them, are my focus. I've covered cameras at PCMag for the past 15 years, which has given me a front row seat for the changeover from DSLRs to mirrorless cameras, the smartphone camera revolution, and the emergence of drones for aerial imaging. I have extensive experience with every major mirrorless and SLR system, and am also comfortable using point-and-shoot and action cameras. As a Part 107 Certified drone pilot, I’m licensed to fly unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for commercial and editorial purposes, and am knowledgeable about federal rules and regulations regarding drones.

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