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Nikon Z8vs A7R II

GearFrame · Updated March 2026

Nikon Nikon Z8 Nikon Nikon Z8 (2023) Starting from £3999 new Best for Sports, wildlife & hybrid professionals View Nikon Z8
VS
Sony A7R II Sony A7R II (2015) Starting from £799 new Best for Portrait, landscape & studio photography View A7R II

GearScore™ Verdict — Which should you buy?

Sports, Wildlife & Hybrid Professionals — Nikon Z8 (2023): Z9 performance in a compact body — 45MP, 8K/60p RAW, and 20fps burst without the bulk or price of the flagship.

Portrait, Landscape & Studio Photography — A7R II (2015): The A7R II transformed the A7R series — adding IBIS, 4K video, BSI sensor tech, and phase-detect AF in one generation. A landmark Sony camera.

↓ Full specifications below

Nikon Z8 (2023)

  • Professional photographers who want Z9 capability in a smaller body
  • Wildlife and sports shooters who want 8K RAW and 120fps burst
  • Z6 III or Z7 II owners upgrading to pro-grade performance
  • Hybrid professionals who need the best Nikon video and stills in one body

A7R II (2015)

  • Landscape and architecture photographers who want 42MP with IBIS for handheld shooting
  • Portrait and studio photographers who need high resolution with improved AF reliability
  • Sony FE system users who want a capable high-resolution body at a used price
  • A7R I owners who need the stabilisation, 4K, and improved AF the original lacked

Quick take: The nikon z8 has the highest resolution at 46mp; the a7r ii is the most affordable. Scroll down for the full spec breakdown.

Full specifications

Specification Nikon Z8 (2023)A7R II (2015)
Price £3,999 £799
Sensor 45.7MP full-frame BSI stacked CMOS 42.4MP Full-Frame BSI CMOS Exmor R
Resolution 45.7MP 42.4MP
Video 8K/60p RAW, 4K/120p, ProRes RAW 4K/30p (S35 or full-frame), 1080p/120p
Autofocus Subject detection AF, 493-point phase-detect 399 phase-detect + 25 contrast-detect AF points, face detection
Stabilisation 6-stop IBIS IBIS — 5-axis, up to 4.5 stops (first A7R with IBIS)
Burst Rate 20fps RAW / 120fps JPEG 5fps
Battery Life 330 shots (CIPA) ~290 shots (CIPA)
Weight 910g body only 625g (with battery and card)
Dimensions 144.0 × 118.5 × 83.0mm 126.9 × 95.7 × 60.3mm
Weather Sealed Yes Yes
Viewfinder 0.5" Quad-VGA OLED EVF, 3.69M dots, 120fps EVF, OLED 2.36M dots, 0.78× magnification
Screen 3.2" tilting touchscreen 3.0" tilting LCD, 1.23M dots (no touch)
Mount Nikon Z-mount Sony FE (full-frame E-mount)
Memory Cards Dual CFexpress Type B / XQD Single SD UHS-I slot
Connectivity USB-C 3.2, HDMI full-size, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth USB, Wi-Fi, NFC
Genre Nikon Z8A7R II
Sports & Action
9.0
4.0
Wildlife
9.0
Vlogging & Video
9.0
7.0
Landscape
9.0
9.0
Portrait
9.0
9.0
Travel
4.0
7.0
Architecture
9.0

GearScore™ suitability scores are based on aggregated purchaser reviews weighted by photography genre. See how scores are calculated →

⚡ Compare specs side by side Nikon Z8 prices → A7R II prices →

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