The Nikon Z9 makes use of a Stacked CMOS sensor however with a pixel rely and base ISO shared with the only layer BSI chip utilized by the Z7 and Z7 II. That was already one of many best-performing sensors we have ever encountered, so our have a look at the Z9 is extra prone to be a query of ‘what’s the price of the stacked chip’s added velocity,’ slightly than ‘how significantly better is the IQ.’
Studio scene
Our check scene is designed to simulate a wide range of textures, colours and element sorts you may encounter in the actual world. It additionally has two illumination modes to see the impact of various lighting situations.
The main points ranges on present from the Z9 are a fraction above these of the Z7 II, maybe as a result of the magnified stay view has allowed barely higher focus, but in addition presumably because of the absence of any shutter shock (or mechanical shutter, for that matter). There’s sufficient moiré current to recommend there is no AA filter, however this might additionally recommend the 85mm F1.8 is instantly resolving larger frequencies than the sensor can appropriately seize.
There seems to be a (small) worth to pay by way of noise efficiency at larger ISOs, in contrast with each the Z7 II and its quick rivals, however it’s solely actually seen in side-by-side comparisons, even at very excessive ISO settings.
JPEG coloration appears to be like good, with warmish caucasian skin-tones, pinks that skew nearer to orange than magenta, and stable (not-too-green) yellows. Sharpening is much less delicate than on the Sony, that means the a1 finally ends up trying a contact extra detailed. And, likewise, noise discount at excessive ISOs cannot retain as a lot element because the Sony. Total, the Z9 would not fall too far behind the Z7 II and is not too far off the efficiency of the Sony a1.
Dynamic Vary
The marginally larger noise degree we noticed leads to a slight discount in dynamic vary, in contrast with the Z7 II (and therefore, with the a1). If you happen to underexpose, to guard highlights, then pull the darkish areas of the picture up, you may encounter just a little extra noise, for those who actually push to the digital camera’s dynamic vary limits. It is not a significant distinction in noise, particularly if you may make use of the digital camera’s ISO 64 setting, slightly than the a1’s base ISO of 100.
Elevating the ISO offers an honest enchancment in noise efficiency over what we see at base ISO. Notably as soon as the twin acquire sensor strikes to its larger conversion acquire mode, above ISO 400. From ISO 500 upwards, there’s little profit to elevating ISO, which supplies the choice of utilizing a low-light publicity however pinning your ISO at 500, to protect highlights which may in any other case be amplified to clipping.
Publicity Latitude | ISO Invariance
Uncooked compression
We shot essentially the most excessive push within the digital camera’s three Uncooked compression modes to see if there was any affect on picture high quality. It seems there’s some knowledge loss within the deepest shadows for those who interact the HE or HE* compression modes, however it solely seems as a particularly slight improve within the noise ground, which is unlikely to have any affect on most pictures.
These pictures had been processed with noise discount minimized. Having individually examined the highlights of a real-world scene, we could not discover any seen variations there, that means it is unlikely you’d ever discover a distinction besides by side-by-side comparability and measurement.
