The compact Nikon Z5 is now almost as cheap as the Z50 II – I hope that means the Nikon Z5 II is coming

The Nikon Z5 launched as the brand’s most affordable full-frame camera – but now that the camera is nearly five years old, the budget model has dropped to nearly crop-sensor prices. Price drops on older cameras can sometimes hint towards a new model coming. With the Nikon Z5 now costing only slightly more than the Nikon Z50 II, is Nikon gearing up to launch the Nikon Z5 II?

The Nikon Z5 didn’t have to experience the latest price drop to be the brand’s most affordable full-frame camera. At launch, the Z5 sat as Nikon’s entry-level mirrorless with a full frame sensor. But while the Nikon Z5 is more affordable than models like the Z6 III, the camera’s $1,396 / £1,249 / AU$2,438 list price still sat above options like the Canon RP and the Panasonic S9.

That’s not the case currently, with price drops pushing the Nikon Z5 to under $1,000 in the US at $996.95 body-only, which is only around $90 more than the crop sensor Nikon Z50 II. That’s only around $15 more than the camera’s lowest-ever price in the US when it hit $983.94 in November. In the UK, the full-frame camera has dropped to its lowest price yet at £809 (compared to the Z50 II at £849), while photographers in Australia can find the camera for around AU$2,153.

While the current sale isn't the first time the camera has dipped below the four-figure price mark, the price drop together with the camera’s fifth birthday coming up this summer makes me hopeful that a Nikon Z5 II could be imminent. Naturally, Nikon has stayed quiet on when – or whether – a Z5 II is coming. But, both compact cameras and affordable cameras seem trendy right now, and the Z5 series has both going for it.

As Nikon’s entry-level option and a nearly five-year-old camera, the Nikon Z5 doesn’t have features that photographers can’t find on another camera. But, the Z5 offers a large full-frame sensor, a viewfinder and dual card slots that make it an easy choice over the smaller sensor but newly announced Z50 II, at least while the price drop puts the cameras nearly neck-and-neck for price in the US.

The features on the newly announced Nikon Z50 II could also hint towards what Nikon might include in a Nikon Z5 II. The new crop sensor camera upgrades to the latest Expeed 7 processor, and with the paltry 4.5fps burst a complaint on the Z5, I hope the second generation gets a speed boost as well as improved autofocus performance. The Z50 II also improves the ergonomics, and with the Z5 as the compact option in the full-frame line-up, I hope a successor would see similar improvements.

CP+ 2025, a large camera trade show currently happening in Japan, would have been a perfect time to make such an announcement, but with the first day of the show already past, a summer launch, like the original Z5, would seem a safer guess. For now, the Nikon Z5 II remains just another Nikon rumor.

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