Bought this camera as a travel camera and backup to my Z6II so I could utilize the same lenses. The camera is lightweight, portable, and very easy to use. While the lack of viewfinder is a bit of a drawback, it's a trade off to have a camera this light with the high level of photo quality. I even took it out into the backyard for some bird photography, and was able to get photos nearly as good as my Z6II with an adapted Nikon 70-300 lens! I see reviews stating that it overheats while streaming, which if that's your primary usage that's obviously disappointing. However, for my purposes, it's a great camera that has pleasantly surprised me.

One thing that you will notice instantly about the Z30 is that it doesn't have a viewfinder, which given its target market of content creators is perfectly fine although it does make taking regular photographs rather than video a little trickier. Instead you have a fully articulating touch sensitive 3 inch, 1040k-dot LCD screen which you can adjust to 11 levels of brightness depending upon how bright it is outside.

The Z30 is a 21 megapixel DX, crop sensor camera with a standard ISO range of 100-51,200 (which you can limit the upper ISO setting via the menu so that it doesn't hit the upper limit giving you grainy images). This is expandable to ISO 204,000 although image quality really does go down significantly in expended modes. Given that its a crop sensor camera and not a full frame, you need to multiply any lens focal length by 1.5. So the included Nikkor 16-50 VR lens is in reality a 24-75mm equivalent. For a camera aimed at content creators the Z30 does not have built in IBIS (in body image stabilization) so you will need to use VR (Nikon's vibration reduction) to get the best out of it. I'm assuming that the lack of IBIS was to keep the cost of the actual camera down. Luckily the kit lens that comes with the Z30 does feature VR.

The Z30 has a nice sturdy yet light feel to it and fits nicely in the hand with all the controls comfortably within reach. It has a good size grip and a nice shaped thumb rest to give you some stability whilst taking photos or video. It includes all the normal modes you would expect (full manual, Program, Aperture priority and Shutter priority) as well as three fully programmable user modes and has some advanced features like focus bracketing, time lapse and HDR with 3 steps of exposure. During time lapse video, the screen is actually blank and with the silent shutter its actually hard to know if the camera is actually taking the images but you can turn on shutter sound to help.

Overall, I would rate the Nikon Z30 camera (plus the bundled 16-50mm zoom lens) 4 stars as a vlogging camera, and 3 stars as a general photo/videography camera. Given that Nikon makes it clear that they designed this camera specifically for vloggers and content creators, I am giving it 4 stars. You may find the low price of the Z30 (among the current Nikon Z mirrorless camera lineup) tempting, but I personally would not recommend it to someone who is looking for a general photography camera. Because the lack of EVF (Electronic View Finder) - removed to cut cost - in Z30 severely limits its versatility as a general purpose photography camera.

Specifically, Z30 is very unsuitable for action / sports / wildlife photography (think kids running around playing sports) - basically anything that involves hand-holding a camera with a telephoto lens. No EVF means you have to hold up the camera in front of your face to see the LCD screen (like a smartphone); you cannot hold the camera close to you to brace for stability. It works fine for wide angle to mid-tele, using the bundled 16-50mm kit lens. But if you plan on getting yourself a telephoto lens sometime in the future, the Z30 is a poor choice, at least unless you also plan on using a tripod with it. (For videos, lack of EVF is less consequential, as you are more likely to be using a tripod for videos anyway.)

Good image qualities for both photo and video (Nikon Z30 is closely based on the Nikon Z50 model. And the higher-priced Z50 offers very good image quality, which Z30 inherited. Nikon's lightweight 16-50mm kit zoom lens is a sharp lens and a great value.)

This is one fantastic little camera. GREAT picture quality. GREAT colors. FAST and EASY to use. Great feel in the hands and very well made for such a small, inexpensive camera. Opens the door to the world of the Z mount and its ecosystem which is quickly becoming the best of all the mirrorless camera systems. Best camera for vlogging too!!!!

To start, the camera was almost completely ready to go from the moment I first received it. You have your standard setup for date and time, and after that the camera just jumps straight into the action. The screen itself is folded and flipped towards the camera body as "armor" by default to protect the screen from bumps and scratches which is honestly a great design detail that I am glad they included here. The side of the screen cutout has a little groove that makes it easier to get your finger under the screen so you can pop it out and adjust it however you want. Whether you want to use the screen directly attached to the camera body, to the side, or to the side and facing towards you, you can do all of that. The screen is easily adjustable and can tilt in a wide range of angles so you can always get the perfect shot. The screen is also a touch screen, which makes it easier to touch to focus or toggle various settings if you don't want to use the dedicated buttons on the camera body itself. One small complaint, however, is that this camera has no dedicated viewfinder, which means regardless if you are shooting a video or capturing an image, you must use the screen at all times to see what is happening. Not the worst issue in the world since this is primarily for video, but it was worth mentioning.