It’s no secret that Nikon has struggled, but that does not stop the company from stopping everything for the upcoming Z9, which has now been officially announced that they will arrive sometime before the end of 2021.
Positioned above the Z6 II and Z7 II, the Z9 will be Nikon’s new, full-frame mirrorless camera, featuring a new FX-format CMOS sensor and a brand new image processing engine. Like the Canon EOS R5 and the Sony Alpha 1, the Z9 reportedly supports 8K video recording, while also meeting the needs of professional photographers and high-end enthusiasts.
In short, Nikon says that the Z9 will “deliver the best still and video performance in Nikon history.”
This is now a bold claim, but three years after launching its first full-frame mirrorless cameras in the Z6 and Z7, it feels like Nikon can finally catch up, and it may not come at a critical time.
Last fall was Nikon said he was in a “serious emergency” after being hit by one of the worst declines in sales in recent history (especially due to the pandemic), with Nikon’s relatively late entry into high mirrorless cameras that enabled Sony to become the dominant player in the segment.
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Unfortunately because the Z9 was unveiled as part of a development announcement (which camera manufacturers use to briefly describe emerging products), other concrete details are relatively sparse. Judging by the one official picture, it seems the Z9 has an integrated vertical grip and room for extra batteries, but that’s all we know at the moment.
After a recent interview in which a Nikon CEO sits down with DP Review, it seems like the Z9 is a pro-grade workhorse designed to completely replace the D6, while also offering the best durability and as Nikon describes in its development announcement: ‘ultimate usefulness. ”
The tricky part is that, since the Canon EOS R5 has been available since last summer and the Sony Alpha is expected to go on sale sometime this month, Nikon may be forced to catch up again when the Z9 is officially released later this year. So, with the expectation that Nikon will release more details as we get closer to the fall, keep an eye out for updates.