Nikon Z6 III review: A hybrid camera for the masses

January 25, 2025No CommentsTech

Nikon’s latest Z6 The camera brings the camera maker’s top-end autofocus to a more reliable mainstream camera. In almost every way that matters, the new Z6 III matches or surpasses the company’s much more expensive, top-end Nikon Z8.

Although it’s not perfect, the Z6 III is one of the best full frame mirrorless cameras On the market and it is capable of handling pretty much any photographic situation that most of us will encounter. Landscape and wildlife professionals will probably stick with their Z8S for the higher-resolution sensor, but for everyone else, this is the Nikon to get.

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Nikon’s new Z6 III is a much bigger upgrade than the previous version for the original. It brings most of the flagship features of Nikon’s far more expensive Z8 and Z9 to the Z6 line.

Overhead view of a Nikon Z6 Three black digital camera showing the front lens and a small dial on the upper left side

The body design has been optimized, although it is not very different from the Z6 II. The camera weighs 1.7 pounds, which balances well even with larger lenses, and Nikon’s grip is the largest I’ve used, making it comfortable and easy to carry. In contrast to that Retro-inspired Nikon ZfThere aren’t a lot of external controls here. There’s a dial for changing shooting modes, along with several other dials, buttons and scroll wheels, all of which give you customizable options that you can set up however you like, but it lacks the film-inspired feel of the ZF.

The flagship features in the Z6 III are the new partially stacked sensor (more on that below), an updated, very fast and accurate 3D subject tracking system, and PRORES encoding for video. There are also a number of great little updates that make everyday life a better, smoother experience.

The Z6 III doesn’t have the disadvantages, or at least fewer of the disadvantages. Stacked sensors, er, stack the processing circuitry directly on top of the sensor itself (technically it’s behind the sensor), which means the RAM is tied directly into the sensor, making for incredibly fast layouts. This is what allows high-end cameras to shoot over 12 raw frames per second without the viewfinder being black.