Top Wildlife Cameras: R5 II v Z8 v ⍺1 II
What do you give the photographer who has everything…?
£3,195/$3,899 (Amazon)
Mirrorless
45MP full-frame stacked BSI CMOS sensor (8192 x 5464, full frame, 36 x 24 mm)
DxO sensor scores
Overall: n/a
Colour depth: n/a
Dynamic range: n/a
Low-light ISO: n/a
Subject detection: People, Animals, Vehicles, Auto
Eye detection: People (including drivers’ helmets), Animals (including birds), Vehicles
30 fps lossy Raw (C-RAW) up to 170 frames
Pre-capture
1/32000th to 30 seconds
5,940 focus points
ISO 100 - 51200 (expands to 50-102400)
Slot 1: CFexpress Type B
Slot 2: SD/SDHC/SDXC UHS-I and UHS-II
No GPS
1.64 lb (746 g)
620 shots with LP-E19 lithium-ion battery (EVF)
£2,474 or $3,796
Mirrorless
45MP full-frame stacked BSI CMOS sensor (8256 x 5504, 35.9 x 23.9 mm)
DxO sensor scores
Overall: 98
Colour depth: 26.3 bits
Dynamic range: 14.2 EVs
Low-light ISO: 2548 ISO
Subject detection: Humans, Animals, Vehicles
Eye detection: Humans, Animals
20 fps Raw up to 1,000+ frames
Pre-capture
1/32000th to 15 minutes
493 focus points
ISO 64 - 25600 ( expands to 32 - 102400)
Slot 1: CFexpress Type B
Slot 2: UHS-II SD
No GPS
2.01 lb (910 g)
330 shots with EN-EL18d lithium-ion battery (EVF)
£6,323 or $6,998
Mirrorless
50 MP full-frame stacked CMOS sensor (8640 x 5760, 35.9 x 24 mm)
DxO sensor scores
Overall: n/a
Colour depth: n/a
Dynamic range: n/a
Low-light ISO: n/a
Subject detection: Humans, Animals, Birds, Insects, Airplanes, Cars/trains, Auto
Eye detection: Humans, Animals, Birds, Auto
30 fps Raw (lossy compressed) up to 160-165 frames
Pre-capture
1/32000th to 30 seconds
759 focus points
ISO 100 - 32000 (expands to 50 - 102400)
Dual slots: CFexpress Type A, UHS-I or UHS-II SD
No GPS
1.64 lbs (743 g)
520 shots with NP-FZ100 battery (EVF)
I swapped my old Nikon D810 and D850 DSLRs for a pair of new Sony ⍺1 mirrorless cameras a few years ago and then traded in one of those for a Nikon Z8 with Pre-Release Capture. However, the world has moved on since then, so let’s take a look at the three main contenders for the best mirrorless wildlife camera currently on the market: the Canon EOS R5 Mark II, the Nikon Z8 and the Sony ⍺1 II.
Some might argue that the R1 is Canon’s flagship camera, but I just can’t accept a sensor resolution of only 24.2 MP. Others might say the Z9 is better than the Z8, but the specifications are almost identical, and I don’t like the extra size and weight of the Z9’s built-in battery grip.
Features
If you’re a wildlife photographer looking at buying a top-of-the-range camera, you’re probably most interested in the sensor size and resolution, the frame rate, the AF system and, of course, the price!
As I say, I own a Nikon Z8 and the original version of the Sony ⍺1, but I haven’t used the ⍺1 II or the R5 Mark II. That means I won’t be able to come up with a definitive comparison, but I hope the specifications speak for themselves!
I’ve based this article largely on data from the Camera Decision website. This is a very useful tool for comparing cameras, and you can see detailed comparisons of the three cameras here:
Price
The Sony ⍺1 II is by far the most expensive of the three cameras. However, none of them is cheap, and equipping yourself with good glass is going to add an extra few thousand to the bill. I guess if you have to ask the price, you probably can’t afford it!
There’s best, and there’s second best. And that’s all I have to say about that…
Sensor
There are different aspects to any camera sensor, but the main ones are the size and the resolution. All these cameras have full-frame sensors, and their resolutions are similar enough not to matter a great deal. However, there are a couple of trade-offs to bear in mind.
Frame rate v resolution
In the past, the major camera manufacturers just didn’t have the technology to be able to produce a high-resolution sensor with a read-out speed fast enough for a frame rate of 30+ fps. That’s changed now, and the great strength of the R5 Mark II and the ⍺1 II is that they offer both high resolution and Raw frame rates of up to 30 fps (in lossy compressed format).
The Z8 has a slightly lower resolution and can only manage 20 fps in Raw. You might think this isn’t a huge disadvantage, but you try photographing little bee-eaters at anything less than 30 fps!
Canon has finally managed to improve its sensors enough to avoid this trade-off with the R5 Mark II. However, it still insists on calling the Canon EOS R1 its ‘flagship’ mirrorless camera even though the sensor only offers half the resolution! Bizarre…
Resolution v low-light performance
The other trade-off is between resolution and low-light performance. The more pixels you try and squeeze on to a full-frame sensor, the smaller each one will be—and that means its light-gathering capability is compromised.
There’s no real way around this problem, but all three of these cameras have similar enough sensors that there shouldn’t be much of a difference in low-light performance. Normally, you’d be able to check this sort of thing by comparing the DxO Low Light ISO scores. However, neither the R5 Mark II or the ⍺1 II has yet been tested, so that doesn’t help!
Frame Rate
This is one of the key features for a wildlife photographer, and I was desperate to max out my frame rate when I bought my first mirrorless camera. Both the Sony ⍺1 and ⍺1 II can shoot at 30 fps, and that’s invaluable when shooting birds and other fast action.
I admit that it can only do it in lossy compressed mode, but I’ve shot thousands of frames in both lossy compressed and lossless compressed, and I honestly can’t tell the difference.
The R5 Mark II matches the ⍺1 II’s frame rate, but the Z8 can only manage 20 fps, and that’s not going to change until the next version—if there is one…!
Buffer
One of the areas where the R5 II and the ⍺1 II don’t score particularly highly is the buffer depth. You can’t take nearly as many frames as you can with the Z8, which blows them both out of the water!
However, it’s important to bear in mind what actually happens when you reach the limit. With my Sony ⍺1, it does slow down slightly, but it never actually stops. That means you can carry on shooting at a lower frame rate until the card ‘catches up’. I imagine it’s the same with the ⍺1 II.
The one exception is when you don’t use a fast CFexpress Type A card. I’ve had to switch to SD cards as a last resort on a couple of occasions, and they’re glacial by comparison. In fact, I almost lost hundreds of images a few years ago when I tried to switch out my SD card before the camera had finished writing the files!
Pre-capture
All these cameras offer pre-capture, which is an absolutely essential feature for bird-in-flight photography. I’ve lost count of the number of times I missed the take-off of a little bee-eater, lilac-breasted roller or African fish eagle. It was incredibly frustrating, so when Nikon brought out the Z8 with Pre-Release Capture, I jumped at the chance!
Autofocus
Sony has historically held the lead in the capabilities of its mirrorless autofocus systems, but Canon and Nikon have arguably caught up. Based on various expert reviews and YouTube videos, there’s now very little to choose between the subject detection and eye detection of all three. However, I still prefer my Sony’s AF system to the one on my Z8…
I find it very annoying that my ⍺1 forces me to switch between human, animal and bird eye detection manually. I’ve set up a custom button to toggle between the different modes, but I still screw up shots when I accidentally end up in the wrong one! In fact, the Auto mode on my Z8 isn’t very good either, so it’s pretty much unusable.
The other problem is that there’s no way to tell which mode you’re in while you’re looking through the EVF, so a little icon would be very welcome. I’ve been waiting a long time for a firmware upgrade to solve either of these problems, but I’ve lost hope now. Fortunately, the ⍺1 II has new Auto eye detection and subject tracking modes, so that won’t be an issue for anyone buying the latest version of the camera.
The R5 Mark II’s unique advantage is its Eye Control AF feature, which lets you move the focus point by simply looking around the frame. It’s potentially a really convenient time-saver, but it has to be calibrated first and doesn’t work for everyone.
Shutter Speed
All these cameras can manage exceptionally fast shutter speeds. There won’t be many occasions when you have to shoot at 1/32000 of a second, but it’s nice to have the option!
The Nikon Z8 has been used to photograph a speeding bullet in flight at 1/32000, and I was often forced to use 1/32000 on my trip to Lake Kerkini in Greece. The problem was that I was shooting white birds on a lake on a bright, sunny day and trying to underexpose by three or four stops! That was just impossible when shooting wide open unless I pushed my shutter speed to the limit.
GPS
I know GPS doesn’t sound like it’s the most critical feature of a camera, but it’s so convenient to have it. If even my iPhone can keep track of where they are in the world, why can’t any of these cameras?!
In the case of my Sony ⍺1, I can use the Imaging Edge app to copy GPS data from my smartphone, but it only works with one camera at a time—which was very annoying when I had two…!
Ergonomics
The R5 Mark II and ⍺1 II are a bit lighter than the Z8, but it’s not really a big deal. None of these cameras has a built-in battery grip, and I like that. I have a detachable grip for my ⍺1, but I very rarely use it these days.
Sometimes, the grip is important in letting me hold the camera ‘normally’ when shooting in portrait mode, but that’s usually more than offset by the extra weight if I’m handholding my camera for long periods—which gets pretty tough with a long lens!
Canon cameras have always had a good reputation for ergonomics, and my Z8 feels comfortable in my hand. However, my original ⍺1 is too small for me to grip it in my right hand. If I wrap my little finger around it, I get blisters, so I have to tuck it under the bottom plate. In addition, it only has a 3” rear screen that has a poor resolution and can only tilt vertically.
That’s obviously not ideal, but the good news is that the updated ⍺1 II is based largely on the body of the ⍺9 III, which means it has an enhanced handgrip and a four-axis multi-angle LCD. As well as that, the IBIS system has been upgraded, which means it now offers eight stops of compensation. That’s always handy if you’re trying to handhold your camera while shooting with a long lens.
Battery Life
I have to say that the official CIPA figures for the battery life of mirrorless cameras are very misleading. Officially, I should only be able to take 430 shots on a single charge with my ⍺1, but I’ve actually emptied three memory cards and taken over 7,000 photos!
The key point is that battery life improves dramatically if you shoot in burst mode. I don’t know exactly how CIPA does its testing, but it can’t possibly be shooting all those 430 frames in continuous mode.
All that means that there’s really no problem with the battery life of any of these cameras—despite the extra power drain of the EVF. I shoot at 30 fps all the time (unless I’m doing slow pans), and I don’t even need to carry a spare battery with me most of the time!
It’s true that the Z8 has poorer battery life than the R5 Mark II or the ⍺1 II, but I’ve never really had a problem with mine. I just carry a spare battery in my pocket, and I’ve never needed any more than that—even if I’ve been out shooting all day.
Lens Choice
Strictly speaking, this has nothing to do with the camera itself, but it’s still an important factor when choosing which one to buy. In fact, one of the main reasons why I swapped my old ⍺1 for a Z8 is that I could replace my 400mm and 600mm lenses and my 1.4x and 2x teleconverters with a 600mm lens with a built-in teleconverter.
This is a godsend. It’s obviously much lighter and more convenient than having to pack and carry around several different lenses and change them in the middle of a game drive or boat ride. Nowadays, I fit my NIKKOR Z 600mm f/4 TC VR S with the built-in 1.4x teleconverter to my Z8 and my 70-200mm lens to my ⍺1. That lets me cover most of my bases—and I can always switch to my 24-70mm if I need a wider angle.
If you’re interested in buying a lens with a built-in teleconverter, you don’t have many options—even if you happen to have a Nikon camera! Neither Sony nor Canon currently offers telephoto lenses with built-in teleconverters for mirrorless cameras, and the only other two on the market are the 2013 Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x and the 2019 Olympus 150-400mm F4.5 TC 1.25x IS PRO.
Your best bet is Nikon, which offers the 400mm and 600mm F4 TC VR S lenses for its Nikon Z mirrorless cameras and the older Nikon AF-S 180-400mm F/4E TC1.4 FL ED VR lens for its DSLRs.
Given all the advantages of lenses with built-in teleconverters, it’s surprising that there aren’t more manufacturers making them—especially Sony! I would’ve loved to buy a Sony lens instead of having to trade in Sony gear for a new Nikon camera and lens, but I didn’t have a choice. I lost a lot of money on the deal, and I now have to carry around Nikon spares as well as Sony spares!
I don’t much mind mixing and matching my camera brands (see article), but it may not suit everyone. Most photographers stick to one brand and one mount—and for good reason. Compatibility is a key issue in photography, and nobody wants to have to buy a new camera just to be able to use a new lens!
Verdict
The R5 Mark II, Z8 and ⍺1 II are all very capable cameras, but I prefer the all-round package of the ⍺1 II. It can do everything, and it doesn’t really have any weaknesses. For what it’s worth, the overall Camera Decision ratings are 94 for the Z8, 99 for the R5 Mark II and a perfect 100 for the ⍺1 II!
In the old days, Canon’s failure to produce a decent sensor meant you had to make an impossible choice between the 30 fps R3 and the 45 MP R5. However, the new R5 Mark II offers both a high-resolution sensor and a high frame rate. Result!
The Z8 is let down by its 20 fps Raw frame rate and its slightly heavier, bulkier build. I’m used to it now, but every now and then, I wish I had my Sony kit in my hands! However, it’s still just about your only option if you want a telephoto lens with a built-in teleconverter, so I’ll be keeping mine for a while...!
My old ⍺1 isn’t perfect. As I say, the fact that it can’t detect whether the subject is human, animal or bird is pretty poor when it can do so much else, and it’s also fiddly to switch between the custom exposure modes. Having to press the unlock button and twist the main dial is far from easy when you’re trying to keep your eye to the viewfinder!
In terms of its performance as a tool for wildlife photographers, it’s served me very well. There’s a huge range of lenses to choose from, and I was very happy with the weight and sharpness of my 400mm and 600mm primes.
In addition, the ⍺1 has never ‘frozen’ and refused to take a picture (except when I accidentally knocked a button on the battery grip!), and the combination of high resolution, high frame rate and market-leading autofocus is unbeatable—if you can afford it!
That experience leads me to believe that the ⍺1 II will be just as reliable, only this time with a Pre-Shooting Buffer, improved IBIS, a larger, higher-resolution tilt-and-flip screen and much-improved AI-based eye detection and tracking that even works with vehicles and insects!
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