Nikon Z 9
SENSOR: The Z 9 is Nikon’s first application of a ‘stacked’ CMOS sensor, a design arrangement needed to deliver the faster read-out rates required for high-speed shooting, and also high res and high frame rate video recording. It also reduces rolling shutter distortion while allowing for a blackout free viewfinder during high-speed shooting. Faster scanning has enabled the flash sync speed when using the electronic shutter to be lifted to 1/200 second. The stacked arrangement incorporates a second silicon layer behind the imaging chip that boasts integrated memory (DRAM) – so the data can essentially ‘marshalled’ prior to read-out to speeds things up considerably – and also enables some data processing capabilities. For the record, it’s also a BSI-type CMOS and it does not have an optical low-pass filter.
The effective pixel count is 45.7 million with an imaging area of 23.9x35.9 mm. Sensitivity is equivalent to ISO 64 to 25,600 with extensions down to ISO 32 and up to 102,400.
Interestingly, the sensor actually delivers two data streams – one to the EVF and monitor, and one to the processor. Consequently, the viewing stream
