Complementing the sensor is an advanced processing engine, the EXPEED 7, which offers speeds approximately 10x faster than a Z 7II. This engine works in conjunction with the stacked sensor design to realize impressively fast AF speeds, burst shooting rates, a high buffer capacity, fluid video performance, and quick all-around handling.
Relying on the speed and stacked design of the sensor, the Z9 completely forgoes a mechanical shutter and uses just an electronic shutter for all capture modes. The speed of the sensor enables recording at up to 1/32,000 sec and the stacked structure reduces motion distortion for accurate depiction of fast-moving subjects, like golf clubs, baseball bats, and automobiles. Also, despite the absence of a mechanical shutter, flash sync up to 1/200 sec. is still supported as well as high speed sync functions.
By removing the mechanical shutter, the Z9 can also operate completely silently and there is no worry over mechanical shutter wear or breakdown. A shutter release sound can be added for awareness when a photo is being taken, and the volume can be adjusted to suit different working scenarios.
The Z9 also sees the debut of the 3D Tracking mode in a Nikon mirrorless camera. This popular focusing mode from Nikon’s DSLRs pairs with subject detection to lock onto fast, erratically moving subjects that move parallel and perpendicular to the camera. Additionally, there are three Dynamic-Area AF modes, with a range of focus area sizes, for capturing a broad variety of moving subject types.
Firmware 2.0 has also introduced 20 types of custom Wide-Area AF selection patterns, 12 of which are supported during video recording, for more precise AF and subject detection within a given area of the frame.
Matching the high-end photo attributes, the Z9 is Nikon’s most capable video camera as well, with a variety of resolutions and frame rates available up to 8K. Using full pixel readout, UHD 8K 30p video can be recorded with continuous shooting possible for approximately 2 hours 5 minutes.
Full-frame 4K recording is available, too, up to 120p for slow-motion playback. Using an 8K area, oversampled UHD 4K recording is possible at up to 60p for increased sharpness and detail. Also, high-resolution frame grabs can be recorded in camera from 8K and 4K videos, for producing 33MP or 11MP stills, respectively.
Added with Firmware 2.0, the Z9 is capable of internal 12-bit raw recording at up to 8.3K 60p in the N-RAW format, as well as support for ProRes RAW recording. Raw recording offers greater tonal and color latitude and can improve dynamic range, benefitting color grading needs and post-production flexibility.
Elevating the cinema capabilities of the Z9, Firmware 2.0 introduced a series of production-related updates for the camera:
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