Two Years With The Nikon Z9

Talking cameras isn’t always about lavishing praise on the most recent release. Nearing two years since I first placed my order, the Nikon Z9 continues to be the best camera I’ve ever owned.

Last week, Nikon announced the latest firmware update (V 4.1) to their flagship camera, the Z9. The new firmware promises to increase overall performance of the camera’s autofocus when dealing with birds and airplanes. It allows for more variations in body shape when accurately capturing birds and improves the camera’s ability to track airplanes, regardless of their size, even against darker and busier backgrounds.

I didn’t rush out with an article about the updates. Not that they weren’t significant. But, after all, many of these improvements were present in the Z9’s younger sibling, the Z8, so it seemed to me that bigger news would be if Nikon didn’t bring these improvements. After four major rounds of firmware improvements, this camera, which was already well suited to my needs at launch, has only improved.

With the release of the Nikon Zf, a camera I desperately want, the internet is already abuzz with questions of when Nikon might announce follow-ups to their Z6 and Z7 lines. Inevitably there will be a Z 6III and Z 7III at some point. And with the successive releases of the Z9, Z8, and Zf, Nikon is on a roll which can only serve to build expectations for those cameras. With my Z9 nearing its second birthday, historical camera release patterns suggest that an announcement of a Z9 II might not even be that far into the future.

But perhaps the biggest compliment I can give to the Z9 is that, even two years after I started using it, I can genuinely say that this camera seems to really be all that I need. It’s not perfect. No camera is. But I can say that for me to conjure up a list of cons for this camera really does require me to nitpick. In an initial review of any camera, I always go out of my way to find every little detail that might possibly cause a problem for any potential shooting situation. After using the camera day-after-day in the field for two years, I can look back at tangible evidence and say that absolutely nothing about this camera has prevented me from doing my job.

Just some of the jobs that this camera has performed for me include shooting major global ad campaigns, creating multiple award-winning photo projects, which have led to major exhibitions, shooting film projects which have screened at major film festivals on the big screen alongside projects shot on more traditional and much more expensive cinema cameras, creating a television pilot with multiple Z9s, and shooting award-winning commercials for some of the larger brands in the country. In other words, this camera has proven itself in the field to be both technically and practically capable of doing all the jobs necessary to be a professional commercial artist. Any project over that time period where I may have fallen short of my own expectations can be chalked up to my own artistic fallings rather than any limitation imposed by my camera system.

And, most impressive of all, the camera seems to have done the impossible. It has cured me of my Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Well, maybe not completely. Again, I really do want the Nikon Zf. But that is less because I expect it to replace my Z9, and more because I am currently without a fun walkabout camera.  As much as I love my Z9, the size of it does give pause about using it too much in casual fun situations. It’s more of a tool I pick up when I want to create an image that might make it into my portfolio. I’m less likely to pick it up when I’m just shooting for fun and the images are not intended to ever make it into the public. But, for the purposes a camera like the Z9 is intended for, the larger size is actually a benefit rather than a quirk. So even calling the size a con, except for in the casual photography context I mentioned earlier, would really be me trying hard to find something negative to say.

The camera even gives me hope that I might be able to go back to my pre-mirrorless purchase strategy when it comes to cameras. In the days of the DSLR, I made a habit of upgrading my camera every other generation rather than always having to have the latest and greatest. For instance, I had a D800 and a D850, but skipped the D810. This saved me plenty of money and the stress of G.A.S. Now that mirrorless cameras have come around, the advancements in camera technology seem to be on steroids, with each successive release adding monumental new features every three months. This has led me to spend way more money than I should have over recent years chasing that “perfect camera” for me. Every camera I bought seemed to take major steps forward in one or two areas, but still be missing at least one major component that I needed to do my work.

The Z9 has proven that it really can do everything I need. Sure, there are jobs that require a larger cinema camera body, or jobs that require medium format or higher megapixels. But the pace of jobs that genuinely need those types of tools tend not to be everyday type jobs. And, when they come around, they also tend to come with equipment rental budgets that don’t necessitate me owning such tools year round.  

As my day-to-day camera, the Nikon Z9 has proven itself to be up to the task of taking on every job I’ve thrown at it. Instead of spurring on more Gear Acquisition Syndrome, it has instead allowed me to stop worrying about the camera in my hand and focus instead of letting my creativity flow into making the best images I can imagine.

In the past two years, firmware updates have added everything from raw video to timecode to autofocus enhancements. I’m sure Nikon will continue to improve the camera as the months roll along. But I can fully say, from real life experience as opposed to conjecture, that the Z9 has proven to be all the camera I’d ever need, and more.