Nikon Z6 III proves mirrorless camera breakthroughs a thing of the past — why that's okay

After plentiful leaks and rumours, the Nikon Z6 III has officially launched, with a much-improved EVF and processor and sensor updates that make it undeniably more versatile and capable than the Z6 II (curr. $1,596.95 on Amazon). However, these incremental updates — and the ones seen in similar launches this and last year — signal an end in the innovation age in mirrorless cameras. At least kind of. 

Just at the surface level, the Nikon Z6 III features faster autofocus, a substantial EVF upgrade, and a not-insignificant bump in both video and in-body image stabilisation performance. A few flagship features have also filtered down to the mid-range Z6 III, such as Pre-Release Capture, new subject detection modes for AF, and up to 6K 60 FPS N-Raw video capture.

While these features all add up to an impressive camera, the Nikon Z6 III is launching at $500 more than the Z6 II, at $3,099.95 on Amazon, putting it almost in an entirely new price bracket, to begin with. The same trend was observed just a few months ago, when Fujifilm launched the X-S20, X100VI, and the X-T50 more recently — more features, more money.

The Panasonic Lumix GH7 that launched earlier this month suffered from similar issues, although less severely than the recent Nikon Z6 III, thanks to phase-detection AF, improvements to audio capture, and a higher-resolution sensor. Although, it can be argued that the GH7 only saw a substantial feature bump because it was playing catch-up.

These minor changes are nothing to be scoffed at, for sure, especially for professional production houses that have a minimum standard of quality that needs to be met for their production workflows to make sense. That said, we're no longer seeing as many flashy new features or massive jumps in dynamic range performance, read-out performance, or autofocus accuracy that were present in the mid 2010s. With the exception of Sony's A9 III and its global shutter, camera releases are a little more predictable now — the next-generation camera will be a little bit better and maybe a little bit more expensive.

This isn't entirely a bad thing, though. Firstly, new tech drives down prices on old stock from the previous generation and makes for a healthy used gear market. Instead of buying the latest Z6 III for over $3000, the average hobbyist or "prosumer" photographer can get most of the way there with a Z6 II for nearly half the price — again, $1,596.95 on Amazon.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, these sorts of incremental upgrades might dissuade rampant consumerism and GAS (gear upgrade syndrome) that so often plague photographers and camera enthusiasts and their wallets. We already have enough smartphone users buying the new flagship with almost-meaningless upgrades on a yearly basis. Less revolutionary, less frequent camera releases mean that people should feel less compelled to upgrade simply because there is a new gadget lurking around their social media feeds — which, in turn, means less e-waste.

Another handy benefit of samey hardware on new cameras is that new features can sometimes trickle down to older cameras via a software update, although this is admittedly an uncommon practice thanks to the capitalistic nature of camera companies.