Where are they from, these sexy things? Well… Nikon, Panasonic, Olympus, Sony, Fujifilm and Canon. The latest ‘proper’ cameras focus with blistering speed, let you record cinematic video, and track everything from pets to planes –so which of these six options will put your phone in its place?

Nikon Z8

What’s the story?

This is a natural successor to the D850 and an exciting upgrade for Nikon fans. It’s the tenth Z-mount camera, and the seventh with a full-frame sensor, featuring all the power of the flagship Z9 in a smaller, cheaper body. It’s at least 400g and £1000 less than its big sibling, but still sizeable if you travel a lot.

The Z8 is almost hard to recommend for one genre as it excels for all. You get a stacked 45.7MP sensor and RAW file capture at up to 20fps, which increases to 120fps at 11MP resolution. Nikon has removed the mechanical shutter entirely, making it utterly silent and discreet in all situations. Videographers can record 8K at 30fps for over an hour, which is enough for commercial productions. For slo-mo 120fps footage, that drops to 4K.

The weather-sealed magnesium alloy body is well built to withstand years of heavy use, while the button layout will feel familiar to traditional Nikon users. There’s an LCD panel up top for checking settings at a glance, and a four-way joystick to select autofocus.

Is it any good?

If you’re a pro or a serious hobbyist, the Z8 combines everything you’d want from a full-frame hybrid camera. The resolution and clarity are excellent, although they might leave demanding landscape photographers wanting more. The battery life of 340 shots is average, and photographers who shoot away from the mains will want spares.

The autofocus can track pretty much everything, and even has a mode for aircraft. If you’re all about capturing candid moments, the eye AF will lock onto a face in a heartbeat –and Nikon is promising afirmware update in 2024 to improve the detection of birds.

£3849 /go.stuff.tv/Z8

Key specs Full-frame 45.7MP 120fps 8.3K @ 60fps 910g

STUFF SAYS A near-perfect mirrorless for enthusiasts and upgraders★★★★★