You just can’t put a good rumor down. Whispers of a Nikon Z70 have really been heating up. The recently released Nikon Z5IIC was surely the same viewfinderless full-frame Nikon camera rumor that had been doing the rounds, and with a potential Nikon Z9II supposedly pushed back to 2027, all eyes are on the hypothetical Z70.
But this latest tidbit from Nikon Rumors hasn’t been drummed up from an unnamed source; it’s supposedly come from Nikon itself. More precisely, Nikon Singapore. The rumor outlet has released a screenshot said to be promoting the new Nikon Z 120-300mm f/2.8 TC VR S. This included a photograph of the lens attached to a Z-Series camera.
Such is the awkward angle of the photograph, it could be any old Nikon camera, but beneath is a caption that reads: “Pair with the Z70’s Digital Teleconverter and reach stretches to an equivalent of 1,260mm at f/4.”
Doing the math: 1,260mm
If the 'leak' is accurate, it gives us some very interesting information regarding a Nikon Z70. Firstly, a “Digital Teleconverter” sounds very intriguing. Let’s do the math by assuming that the Nikon Z70 is indeed an APS-C camera with a 1.5x crop factor.
Fixing it to the Z 120-300mm would provide an equivalent focal range of 180-450mm. Multiply that by the lens’s built-in 1.4x teleconverter, and you’re left with a zoom range of 252-630mm. Multiply 630mm by two, and you’re left with 1,260mm, the same figure quoted in the email.
Accommodating a digital teleconverter
This suggests that the Digital Teleconverter is 2x (or a ‘doubler’). Since it’s digital, the compromise will be pixels, so this certainly supports rumors of a 45-MP stacked sensor. The upside of a digital zoom is that the aperture won’t be affected, as evidenced by mention of f/4 in the promo screenshot. The only variable affecting the aperture is the Z 120-300mm’s built-in teleconverter, pushing f/2.8 to f/4.
A mirrorless Nikon D500?
Personally, I’ve wanted a spiritual successor to the Nikon D500 for years. This was a pro-grade APS-C DSLR, with flagship Nikon D5 DNA (they actually launched together). Pairing this camera with a top-tier professional lens like the 120-300mm definitely suggests – if it is indeed the Nikon Z70 – that the camera is targeted towards serious wildlife and sports photographers, differentiating it from the more casual Nikon Z50II.
And yet, reliving the launch of the Nikon D500 does make me question rumors of a November release. The second generation of Nikon’s Z-Series is surely in its twilight years. My preference would be that a pro-grade APS-C mirrorless would borrow next-generation tech from the purported Nikon Z9II. The problem is that a Nikon Z9II (or the like) isn’t out yet…
This is pure conjecture, of course, but I suppose there would be nothing stopping Nikon from releasing a Nikon Z70 with next-gen features. However, in an ideal world, you’d think the flagship would come first.
Nikon has only released three lenses and the Nikon Z5IIC all year. If it wants to get something else out the door, there’s still time. However, most of its end-of-year camera announcements tend to be in September and October, so we’ll have to see if that rumored November release date is realistic or not.
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