Low Light, High Performance: A Review of the Nikon Z8 from a Blackwater Expert

I’ve owned a series of cropped-sensor DSLRs since I started shooting. This lineup, however, is slowly going extinct, necessitating a complete switch in systems as I move to upgrade. I was recently offered a Nikon Z8 to try for a few weeks. When Nikon released the D800 in 2012, it had no competition. The dynamic range and pixel depth of the 800-series cameras produced single-exposure images that looked like HDR. I hadn’t seen anything like it! The release of the D850 in 2017 once again prompted many reviewers to claim it was the perfect camera. The Z8 is the next celebrated generation in a line of high-end photo royalty, so I had to try it when the opportunity came up.  

There is another side to this story. I live in Kona, Hawaii. Kona has lots of photo opportunities, and given this camera’s pedigree, I assumed it would perform beautifully on reef life and manta rays. However, my main obsession is blackwater, a dive that is known for strange conditions, odd creatures, and low contrast in lower light that famously dazzles even the most advanced mirrorless focusing system. My camera preference for a cropped sensor DSLR is because they have a dedicated focusing sensor that is quick, sharp, and accurately recognizes clear plankton. Despite the leaps that technology has made, mirrorless camera focusing systems have always spent more time hunting on blackwater than most photographers have patience. I’ve seen the best blackwater photographers scream profanity out of frustration at the next, latest mirrorless performance on blackwater. I expected superior image quality and assumed it would perform well with practical, normal underwater images. Drifting offshore at night, on the other hand, my expectations were low.

I only had a few weeks with this incredible machine, so the intention was to put its mustard to the test. I took the camera underwater every chance I could, finding subjects at night, during the day, in bright sunlight, in overcast conditions, macro, and wide angle. The headline here is that the Z8 is fast, responsive, and the quality of images it produces is nothing short of ridiculous. The advantage of the Z8 for still photography is all about two things: focusing and that incredible sensor.

The 3D focus on the Z8 is brilliant. The mechanism of subject detection is cloaked behind a wall of AI, but it intuitively found the most interesting thing in the frame and zeroed in on it. This was true of both wide subjects and blackwater. Once the focusing system was locked in, every photo was a stunner. The experience of finding focus from this mirrorless was noticeably different than the DSLRs I was used to. The Z8 hunted for the subjects for just a split second before locking in. Once it found focus, the Z8 channeled its inner Jack Russell terrier and wouldn’t let go. Oddly, the conditions where the 3D focus seemed to struggle were while looking for brightly-colored nudibranchs in muck. 

Once focus was achieved, the incredible sensor took on a life of its own. The 45.7 MP images meant that I didn’t have to get the framing exactly right off the bat, because there is always the option of cropping in and still maintaining enough pixels to blow it up to internet quality. Of course, getting close is the best practice, but the sheer image size of the Z8 gives you options. Another area where the sensor excelled was in noise. After spending so much time with cropped sensors, the blue channel has always been a traditional noisy spot. On the Z8, however, the blues are smooth even under low-light/high ISO conditions. Finally, I would be remiss without mentioning how much flexibility the extra dynamic range gives. Highlights that would be blown out are recoverable in post, and shadows maintain shocking details. This thing was built by a team of people who knew what they were doing.

DLSRs have traditionally treated video as an afterthought. Today’s mirrorless cameras produce some of the best quality still photos and use the same system to excel at shooting video. The Z8 is equipped with one of the best sensors on the market. So, while it creates stunning photos, its creators wanted it to make some of the best videos available to the prosumer market. They succeeded. 

My old camera left me wanting two things out of a video system-better stabilization and a higher frame rate. The 5-axis stabilization system in the Z8 produces a smooth video every time, no matter how much surge is pummeling around you. I recall back-finning while filming a sea turtle at Puako when my elbow bumped a boulder. When I went back to edit the incident, it wasn’t anywhere to be seen. And while the stabilization was rock-stable, the high frame rate was the icing on the video cake. The Z8 shoots 4K at up to 120 frames per second, meaning you can slow it way down in post and still have a smooth shot. Everything looks better in slow motion—mantas, turtles, octopods, plankton, and even nudibranchs! I may have gone overboard, slowing wildlife down. Add in the fact that it will shoot 8K in RAW Video, and you have a monster of a video machine.

Nikon has combined a solid lens lineup, the best sensor in the class, and supporting systems to create beautiful imagery. What is working in the background to hold everything together is unparalleled processing power. For starters, the buffer is seemingly endless, so you never have to stop shooting. I found a manta cleaning station and fired away at 4K, 120p for a solid 15 minutes, and the camera kept up the whole time! The other thing the processor does is maintain a perfect balance of light in the scene. To test this, I swam through a length of giant pipe at midday that lies at 90 feet (27 meters). The system adjusted the exposure such that I was able to see every detail inside the pipe while also seeing the fish swimming outside. 

The question remains: how did it fare in my home environment of blackwater? It took me two dives before I was nailing shots. The longer minimum focusing distance of the Z 105mm Macro took a while to get used to, but the monitor allowed me to quickly find the animals and know exactly what they would look like on the computer screen later. The 3D focusing was slightly slower than my traditional DSLR, but once focused, the system kept up with the erratic movements and low contrast of plankton better than any system I have used previously. 

Every time I’ve looked for a new camera, the search has devolved into a balance of compromises. It might be a choice between video capabilities, megapixels, dynamic range, focusing, or stabilization. No camera seemed to offer everything, even though the hardware should have been able to handle it. In the Z8, you have one of the best sensors in the class combined with a superior focusing system, 8K RAW video, 4K at up to 120p, and stabilization that can keep up with more sophisticated video systems. Nikon has produced a camera that makes no compromises and maximizes the systems in place to deliver exactly what you will want now and in future photographic endeavors.