Nikon Z9 dynamic range test by Dré de Man: Sensor The camera uses a sensor that looks very similar to the one in the Z 7. That alone is a brave decision because up until now the top cameras for photojournalists from Nikon and others used special sensors tuned to high ISO performance. Personally, I’m very happy with that decision, because the gains at very high ISO values of sensors like the one for the D6 were relatively small and the loss of dynamic range at low ISO was relatively large. It looks like the sensor offers the best of both worlds – as did, in fact, the sensor of the Z 7 (II). Compared to the latter, Nikon did add an extra stack, which does the processing for the autofocus. But it looks like there is more to the sensor than just an extra stack. It has 5.5 million sensor photodetectors more than the Z 7 II, while the effective pixel count is exactly the same (45.7/52.4 vs. 45.7/46.9). I yet have to hear from Nikon what the function of all those extra photodetectors is. You don’t need 5.5 million pixels for dark frame subtraction et cetera, so they might be used for autofocus. If so, it’s strange that the effective pixel count is exactly the same as the one of the Z 7 II. The extra pixels could also be related to IBIS, but almost 2 mm extra sensor length for IBIS sounds weird. Effective pixel count...
Published By: Nikonrumors - Saturday, 6 November, 2021