Nikon Z6III- First Look Hands on. Autofocus + Overheat test. 

Hey Everyone ! the Z6III is here and I Can finally tell you about it ! Let me know if you have any questions !

My order is placed. BTW, glad to see you back on RU-vid. I hope to see more of your informative and inspiring content moving forward. Cheers!

I do like that Nikon took one lesson out of Sony’s playbook: They continue to innovate with each new camera, even if it means cheaper cameras do some things better than their older, more expensive flagship. Started with new IBIS in Zf, and now new EVF in Z6III.

Useful? Yes! This is exactly what makes your videos great: Providing all the information you need. Thanks a lot and keep going Ricci!

Finally a fully flippy screen, for video, this is beautiful! This camera is amazing and I can't wait to get my hands on one! GAS activated!

Another winner from Nikon. Thanks for the comprehensive review, Ricci. Great stuff as always.

This camera is a straight up beast for the price! Can’t wait to get mine

Thanks Ricci. This is the best overview I’ve found for this. Glad to see you covering its uses for more than just action stills and video.

Thanks Ricci. We've been waiting for this 😄 Very interesting design oversight on the strap hook.

Thanks for taking the time to make this comprehensive review. Looking forward to more detailed reviews now that it’s released. Particularly impressed with the bird in flight tracking video clip. Cheers

Ricci: I appreciate your videos. I find them to provide valuable insights.

Terrific overview, Ricci! I placed my pre-order. Can’t wait to get it in my hands.

Definitely the best analysis and comparison of this camera with other models. Thanks Ricci!

Awesome video Ricci! Thanks for showing it! Im excited for it. The Z6 has been my main workhorse for the past 5 years and im excited to get the Z6iii. Been wanting the articulating screen for a while now, haha.

I like the honest reviews that you do Ricci. Well done and thank you.

An excellent summary thanks Ricci!

Well done Ricci, nice roundup and very informative TY

You're always my first stop on anything Nikon, and you delivered again on the Z6iii review --as did Nikon I might add! Looking forward to getting one later this year [after the initial rush] and seeing how the video functionality interfaces with my current workflow [2x Z6ii's and a Z6 all with RAW conversion]..

Very helpful overview of this exciting new camera. Thank you, Ricci!

This is the camera I was just waiting for. All I need now is the coin.

Looks like a total winner to me! Great job Nikon!

What an exquisite camera!!!

Thank you, Ricci! I knew you'd have great information and some experience with the Z6III to share. Hope you're doing well.

Always like Ricci’s videos. Clear concise and in a language everyone can understands.

It’s here!!

Thanks for a very useful overview!

Always refreshing to watch your vids as opposed to a multitude of others, we've grown to trust your opinions. You've earned it.

This is why u didn’t upload vid for past 4 month😂

Thank you for the (customary) great and concise summary.

Thanks Ricci, that was a very well put together first look. I am very tempted to upgrade my Z6ii to it.

Great review. Thanks for sharing.

Hey mate, Gerald Undone also did a great review on this. The capabilities of this are game changing at this price point. Great video Ricci.

Fantastic camera! Well done Nikon

Super informative video. Thanks Ricci

Most excellent video Ricci

Excellent info. Thanks!

Great video. Can't wait to get mine.

Thanks, looks like a must have

Great shots, Ricci. Wish we were back in Capetown with that great bunch.

Very nice detailed review . . Loved It ! Thank You Very Much :)

Thank Ricci for such a COMPREHENSIVE review Nikon Z6III. I love it when you talk about its disadvantage too i.e. the strap loop is in the way of the memory card door when it opens.

A great video, thank you for all your effort. 🎉

At 16:48 that 99% focusing hit rate is what i’m waiting for the last 5 years on a smaller Z body! No more missed focus as on my Z6/Z6ii/Z7ii👍 sold my Dslr for a smaller body, now it’s here finally..thats the only reason for me to upgrade AGAIN😂

Thanks for tge review Ricci!

I hate those side pivot screens but they do allow it to be flipped completely around and have the shiny side protected for what it's worth.

Very nice review. Appreciate how detailed your Z6iii analysis is vs. some other far more superficial treatments.

As someone with an original Z6 this does seem like a great upgrade

Thank you very much for the very interesting video.

wow superb review! glad i waited- might get this instead of the Zf ;-)

Thank you for reviewing this highly anticipated camera! Is the Z6III's mechanical shutter quieter than that of the Z6II?

It might be my new sports camera. 👍🏾

Excellent review.

I really appreciate your calm and concise way of explaining the camera, so much easier to understand and less aggrivating that some other you tube reviewers, but I think seemingly deceptive to do the overheating testing mounted to the heat sink of an L bracket and tripod (like your previous testing of the Z8 and likely others) you should mention that as probably helping to cool it.

so you had this in your bag when I met you on the ferry on the way back from the farnes ,you could have given me a wee look 🤣🤣

Thanks for the great review. I really appreciate your comments that explain the camera and how features are used in real life. I also appreciate the balance you provide regarding things you don't like or prefer a change. I'm very excited to have a high performance camera with "standard" resolution - as opposed to high resolution with the Z7ii, Z8 and Z9. I've already sold my Z7ii and ordered the Z6iii with NPS priority. I'll pair it with my Z8 so I have the high resolution space covered. The AF improvements and high frame rate are important to me. It's also important to have similar layout of controls for times when I use two bodies side by side. The EVF improvements will be a positive but not critical for me. The flippy LCD is fine - and the Z8 version is fine - but I prefer the flexibility to rotate the LCD in vertical orientation. The video specs look great and this will be my primary camera for video replacing the Z6 in that role. The lug position won't bother me - I do use a strap so it's not an issue. For me - the lack of Cycle AF is a relatively big issue since it works so well on the Z8 and when setting up custom controls. I also miss the ability to have Pre-capture Raw - even at a lower frame rate or with limited duration.

Wonderful info and well presented details. Comprehensive and engaging. I will be upgrading from my Z6ii for sure. One small request - please can you increase the depth of field so that all the cameras, in particular the subject, is always in focus. It is very distracting to try and see the camera you are presenting but it is usually out of focus. Cheers.

Good stuff Ricci, interesting camera... I just still think I am heading down the 2nd Z8 body route though... I do not really have much use for the 24MP count. The Z8 is simply better and ideal for what I actually do! Interesting you note the card door jamming... when using a strap on all the other Z cameras this has been the case when the strap is 'loose'. I continually have to move it out of the way. I wondered when a reviewer might mention this.

Another great review. My go to place for informative, balanced, no nonsense assessments. Z6III not enough for me to change from the Z7

Another great video, Ricci. As always, your videos are the most informative and helpful discussing many aspects of the camera or lens that nobody else.would. The Z6III seems like a very capable camera and I'm sure Nikon will have a long queue of buyers for it. For me, however, I can't get past that flippy screen. It really is a huge point of detraction and frustration for my use case. I understand the benefits for vloggers, or I guess for people that feel the need to spend $2500 on a camera to take a selfie, but for the stills photographer a flippy screen brings zero benefit and several downsides. The main issue is that when I am shooting a landscape image from a low angle, or simply from below eye level, you have to have the screen off to the side of the camera. I often will look at the overall scene in front of me and go back and forth between what is on the screen and what i can see in front of me. With the screen to the side it forces you to constantly move your head back and forth from left to forward, whereas with a proper tilt screen all I have to do is move my eyes up and down. It may not seem like a big deal, but it's really annoying and frustrating. It's just unnatural. I have a Zf, which uses the same screen, and I find the screen really frustrating to use to the point that I rarely use it anymore and solely use the EVF. Plus, the flippy screen is a very weak design compared to the tilt screens on the Nikon Z6/7 I & II, Z8 and Z9. With the screen off to the side it is very susceptible to damage by an errant impact in the wrong direction. I can pick up my Z9 with a 70-200mm f2.8 by the tilt screen without any concern of damaging it. It's a shame that Nikon has allowed its design to be influenced by a vocal minority. While I am not a fan of Sony cameras, I wish that Nikon had taken a page from Sony's design book and used a screen design similar to the A7RV that uses a combined tilt screen and a flippy screen and satisfy the entire spectrum of its users.

Looks like it's finally time to upgrade from my 2014 D750.

Phantastic news made clear by your video, thanks! How about a sensor protection like the z8?

Thanks for the review. Two small follow-up questions 1) which L-bracket are you using? Worried whether my Ellie would fit with the fully rotating screen. I agree I personally would have liked a Z8 style screen as well 2) have you had a chance to test out the “Starlight mode”? Especially interested in that for nightscape/astro landscape photography Thanks for the review

I love Nikon ! ❤

Great video

Thank for the great video. Do you think some of the features such as the viewfinder brightness and colour improvements will find their way into the Z8 and Z9?

Very detailed review, thanks. But if you can make Z6III with photo and video comparison with Z8

0:07 yip, I thought that was Table Mountain in the thumbnail. My hometown :) Enjoy the travels!

It’s a great camera, if I wasn’t in the E Mount ecosystem with all the lenses I’d buy one. Nikon can now bring out a stripped down version of this with no mechanical shutter and no viewfinder for the growing market like the ZVE1 and ZVE10, video centric the new Lumix etc, compact camera, they could get the price under £2000 they’d really take the fight to Sony. People may baulk at that but Sony now makes a huge amount of its profits from the ZV cameras. Nikon has has some success with the Z40. Great little camera. Sony now has to raise its game. Well done Nikon.

Great to see ack on the 'tube, @RicciTalks. The partially-stacked sensor raises questions. As someone who makes a living in high ISO environments, I am curious about the impact on dynamic range and high ISO performance compared to the Z6II and Zf. Does the Z6III have the same -10 EV (at f/1.2) capability as the Zf? Having owned both the Z9 and Zf since their release dates, I, along with many others, find that the Zf performs better in autofocus in darker situations than the Z9. I'm curious if the Z6III, with its partially-stacked sensor, would perform better or worse than the non-stacked sensor in the Zf, in similar conditions?

Very thorough look through the camera. I'd be really tempted if it/when it gets closer to £2,000. It's way too close to the Z8 price at the moment.

Great overview, Ricci. The Z6iii looks like a winner. Do you think Nikon will make new compact vlog lenses like a pancake 18mm or 20mm F2.8 lens? I was watching Nigel Danson's video and he was using a huge lens on the Z6iii for vlogging.

The strap anchor point... I remove these on all cameras. I mount a QR foot on my cameras and long lenses, I then use a Rapid Strap. So, if I have to quickly place my camera on a tripod, the foot is already on my camera body. Works seamlessly for me on production days. :)

Great video, Ricci. Did you have favorite Z lenses or Z lenses that disappointed on this body? Who would need a Z7III with the higher megapixel count? Landscape only? How about focus stacking? Thanks for everything you do. I'm staying put for now with my Z7 and Z9, but I'm so very tempted to switch from the old Z7 to the Z6III.

Best review and so beautifully thorough! Can you select to use “mechanical shutter only”? I find it useful in theatres with LED lighting…

Will likely be my next camera, thanks for the insights. Any experiences regarding low light performance and dynamic range of the new sensor? Thanks!

Nice sounding camera… But as a Zf owner I am ecstatic about the update for “flexible colour” profiles in NX studio paired with the Nikon Image cloud. This is sure to make Fujifilm nervous as the flexibility to create film sims (amongst others) will be awesome but also to upload straight to Lightroom is game changing… Please make a video on these announcements as I think this is huge news!!

Looking good, thanks very much for this. I am with you on the flippy screen! A couple of questions Can it work with a Z6/7ii L bracket? In the absence of recall shooting functions but Z8 menus can you assign spot metering to a function button?

Looks good, but I think I'll stick with my Z6ii/Z8 combo. 😍

Thanks for another insightful and informative video. You’ve been instrumental in my deciding to go mirrorless and sell my D610, 105DC, 70-200, 20 and 50 - and get a Z8! I hired one recently together with an 85 f/1.2 and it’s enough of a step change for me to change systems. I wanted to see what the Z6 iii would be like and, whilst it’s obviously way ahead of my D610, as are the Z lenses, that Z8 just felt right, and I think I’d wish for some of the advantages of the Z8 if I went Z6iii. I can pair it with my AE1 Program 😅 - bought new wayy back!

Thank you for the great information one important thing for me does it have the 30 minutes limit when you record h.265 like the older z6ii ? Or it can do longer on 4k or even on 1080

Please make a video with the picture control edit and upload to use in camera...I'm curious about this more than everything

Thank you for the review! As a Nikon Z6I user, I was ready to switch to Sony. One of the reasons I didn't consider the Z8 is due to its size. As a photojournalist, I need to carry the equipment all day long. I have watched some videos regarding Z6III autofocus. Even though it seems as a great improvement, compared to other brands, it does not seem as sticky to the subject and often hunts to the background or to an undesired subject. Hence, I am still undecided specially since I want to shoot sports and challenging events more often. Also, I am very disappointed that the Z6III does not have a sensor door to protect it from dust. This is one of my biggest complaints (besides the AF) from my Z6 since many footage got ruined.

Have they (finally) added the function to see highlight blinks before taking the picture? Thanks.

I am thinking about getting the ZF

Hi ... thanks for the review. How about the starting time for this Z6iii? I hope it better than my Z6ii.

Nobody else has addressedoverheatng yet so thanks for that. Hopefully bird detection will be added soon? Without it I may as well keep my Zf.

At 2:30, the shutter curtain looks to have lots of scratches. Or are they dusts? Great overview video, Ricci.

did you just tease an upcoming box style video camera? i do hope so! :)

Great review! Just curious, Can you set the U1-U3 modes to a custom button(s)

hi @RicciTalks , I'm very interested in the new vertical grip and how it feels in relation to the native main grip. I felt the Z6 II vertical grip didn't feel similar enough to the main grip, kind of fatter and rounder without the subtle fingertip hook. Is the new mbn 14 vertical grip kind of the same as the mbn 11 or is it more similar to being a clone of the Z6 III's main grip and hard to tell the difference which one you're holding? Thanks!

I have yet to read or watch a good, clearly expressed explanation of the benefits of the partially stacked sensor, (what it does would be a good start). Thanks for the previews, as the owner of two Z6II and a Z8 nothing has got me past the “ooooh, new, bright and shiny” stage regarding the III).

Ricci san, a very nice review of the Z6iii. But my heart is there where proposed Z90 is. Hopefully it arrives soon.... BTW I do have a Z6 which is serving me well. Nikon could do better to upgrade it's firmware to make it come closer to the Z6iii.... whatever technically possible with it's limitations.....

It's not the camera for me due to the screen and MP count, but I'm excited Nikon keeps improving its video offerings. I'm holding out for the Z7III or will save up for the Z8.

can you record proress raw 6k 60 externally on an Atomos Ninja? or just internally on a memory card

I praise your ability to hold secrets for long period.Every time i visited your channel there was no clues due to mistakes

They use the same Expeed 7 processor, so any chance that Z8 will get 1080p 240 f/s as well via fimware?

Thank you, Ricci. Is the 3legged thing l-Bracket compatible with the Z6III?

I was hoping for something different, unfortunately. I had hoped for a Zf in a Z6 body. Instead it got the flip-out screen I don't like, bigger, heavier and more expensive. Maybe a Z5II will fit my bill, this doesn't. Thanks for the video.

Question - Does your L-Bracket interfere with the operation of the flippy screen? What L-Bracket did you use?

Very good and useful review. Great camera but, like you, I don't like flip screens much either, as I find they are in the way a lot. I wish Nikon would offer both options, as they already make them both for other cameras, and the rest of the camers is exactly the same. Still a nice camera though.