Nikon Z9 Specs, Sensor Size & Crop Factor

Q: What is the crop factor of the Nikon Z9?

The Nikon Z9 has a crop factor of 1.00× relative to 35 mm full frame (diagonal 43.1 mm vs 43.3 mm).

1.00×

Crop factor

35.9×23.9 mm

Sensor size

858 mm²

Area · 99% of full frame

45.7 MP

Resolution

4.35 µm

Pixel pitch

f/6.5

Diffraction-limited aperture

2021

Release year

Specifications#

Brand: Nikon
Model: Z9
Camera type: Mirrorless
Released: 2021
Lens mount: Nikon Z
Sensor size: 35.9 × 23.9 mm (Full frame (35 mm))
Crop factor: 1.00×
Resolution: 45.7 MP (8,256 × 5,504 px)
ISO range: 64 – 25,600
Fastest shutter: 1/32,000 s
Continuous shooting: 20 fps
Max video resolution: 8K
Weight: 1,340 g (47.3 oz)
Sensor type: Stacked back-illuminated CMOS sensor
Viewfinder: Quad-VGA (1280×960) EVF (3,690,000 dots), 0.8x magnification with 50 mm lens, 3000 nits brightness, 120 Hz refresh rate
Focus: Single-servo AF (AF-S); Continuous-servo AF (AF-C); Full-time AF (AF-F; only available in video mode); Predictive focus tracking; Manual focus
AF points / area: 493 points (single-point AF) with 90% coverage
Metering: TTL metering using camera image sensor; Highlight-weighted metering: -3 to +17 EV (ISO 100, f/2.0 lens, 20°C/68°F)
Exposure modes: TTL metering using camera image sensor
Shutter: Electronic shutter
Flash: Built-in: No; Hot shoe
Battery: EN-EL18d; USB-C PD rechargeable; (EN-EL18/a/b/c useable with lower battery life)
Dimensions: 149 xx
Predecessor: Nikon D6
Made in: Thailand
Launch price: JPY 700,000 (body only); USD 5,500
Drive: 20 fps / 30 fps / 120 fps (expand)
Video: 8.3K up to 60 fps in 12-bit N-RAW,; 8K up to 30 fps with N-log,; 4.1K up to 60 fps in 12-bit ProRes RAW HQ,; 4K up to 120 fps,; 1080p up to 120 fps

Specifications merged from Wikipedia, Wikidata and Lensfun. Spot an error? Tell us.

Sensor size compared#

The Nikon Z9 sensor (highlighted) drawn to scale against common formats. Its area is 99% of a full-frame sensor.

Focal length equivalents & field of view#

Multiply any focal length by 1.00 to get the full-frame field of view. Angles are for a rectilinear lens focused at infinity.

Lens on this camera	Full-frame equivalent	Horizontal	Vertical	Diagonal
10 mm	10 mm	121.8°	100.2°	130.2°
12 mm	12 mm	112.5°	89.8°	121.8°
14 mm	14 mm	104.1°	81.0°	114.0°
16 mm	16 mm	96.6°	73.5°	106.9°
18 mm	18 mm	89.8°	67.2°	100.3°
20 mm	20 mm	83.8°	61.7°	94.3°
24 mm	24 mm	73.6°	52.9°	83.9°
28 mm	28 mm	65.3°	46.2°	75.2°
35 mm	35 mm	54.3°	37.7°	63.3°
40 mm	40 mm	48.3°	33.3°	56.7°
50 mm	50 mm	39.5°	26.9°	46.7°
56 mm	56 mm	35.5°	24.1°	42.1°
70 mm	70 mm	28.8°	19.4°	34.2°
85 mm	85 mm	23.8°	16.0°	28.5°
100 mm	100 mm	20.4°	13.6°	24.3°
135 mm	135 mm	15.1°	10.1°	18.2°
200 mm	201 mm	10.3°	6.8°	12.3°
300 mm	301 mm	6.8°	4.6°	8.2°
400 mm	401 mm	5.1°	3.4°	6.2°
600 mm	602 mm	3.4°	2.3°	4.1°
800 mm	803 mm	2.6°	1.7°	3.1°

Depth of field table#

Total depth of field at each subject distance, using a circle of confusion of 29.9 µm (the 0.030 mm full-frame standard scaled by the crop factor). Detailed tables: 24 mm f/1.8, 24 mm f/2.8, 35 mm f/1.8, 35 mm f/2.8, 50 mm f/1.8, 50 mm f/2.8.

Focal	Aperture	50.0 cm	1.00 m	2.00 m	3.00 m	5.00 m	10.0 m	Hyperfocal
22 mm	f/1.8	5.3 cm	22.0 cm	92.5 cm	2.23 m	7.98 m	∞	9.01 m
22 mm	f/2.8	8.3 cm	34.8 cm	1.55 m	4.21 m	33.3 m	∞	5.80 m
22 mm	f/4	12.0 cm	51.3 cm	2.57 m	9.63 m	∞	∞	4.07 m
22 mm	f/8	25.0 cm	1.26 m	88.6 m	∞	∞	∞	2.05 m
43 mm	f/1.8	1.3 cm	5.6 cm	22.9 cm	52.0 cm	1.47 m	6.33 m	34.4 m
43 mm	f/2.8	2.1 cm	8.7 cm	35.7 cm	81.8 cm	2.36 m	11.3 m	22.1 m
43 mm	f/4	3.0 cm	12.4 cm	51.5 cm	1.19 m	3.57 m	22.0 m	15.5 m
43 mm	f/8	5.9 cm	25.1 cm	1.08 m	2.69 m	10.9 m	∞	7.77 m
73 mm	f/1.8	0.4 cm	1.9 cm	7.8 cm	17.8 cm	49.9 cm	2.03 m	99.1 m
73 mm	f/2.8	0.7 cm	2.9 cm	12.1 cm	27.7 cm	77.9 cm	3.20 m	63.7 m
73 mm	f/4	1.0 cm	4.2 cm	17.3 cm	39.6 cm	1.12 m	4.69 m	44.6 m
73 mm	f/8	1.9 cm	8.3 cm	34.9 cm	80.2 cm	2.33 m	11.1 m	22.3 m
120 mm	f/1.8	0.1 cm	0.7 cm	2.8 cm	6.5 cm	18.2 cm	74.0 cm	268 m
120 mm	f/2.8	0.2 cm	1.0 cm	4.4 cm	10.1 cm	28.4 cm	1.15 m	172 m
120 mm	f/4	0.3 cm	1.5 cm	6.2 cm	14.4 cm	40.6 cm	1.65 m	121 m
120 mm	f/8	0.6 cm	2.9 cm	12.5 cm	28.8 cm	81.6 cm	3.37 m	60.3 m

Equivalent aperture#

Exposure is identical at the same f-number on any format; equivalence only describes depth of field and total light.

Aperture on this camera	Full-frame equivalent (depth of field)	Hyperfocal at 43 mm
f/1.2	f/1.2	51.6 m
f/1.4	f/1.4	44.2 m
f/1.8	f/1.8	34.4 m
f/2	f/2.0	31.0 m
f/2.8	f/2.8	22.1 m
f/4	f/4.0	15.5 m
f/5.6	f/5.6	11.1 m
f/8	f/8.0	7.77 m

Diffraction & pixel pitch#

With 4.35 µm pixels, diffraction starts to soften pixel-level detail around f/6.5. For maximum sharpness keep landscapes between f/3.6 and f/6; stopping down further trades detail for depth of field.

Aperture	Airy disk diameter	Spread over	At 100% view
f/2.8	3.8 µm	0.9 px	sharp
f/4	5.4 µm	1.2 px	sharp
f/5.6	7.5 µm	1.7 px	sharp
f/8	10.7 µm	2.5 px	slight softening
f/11	14.8 µm	3.4 px	visibly soft
f/16	21.5 µm	4.9 px	visibly soft
f/22	29.5 µm	6.8 px	visibly soft

Maximum print sizes#

At 45.7 MP the Nikon Z9 produces 8,256 × 5,504 pixel images. See the 45 megapixel guide or the print size calculator.

Resolution	Typical use	Inches	Centimetres
300 DPI	Photo-lab quality	27.5 × 18.3 in	70 × 47 cm
240 DPI	Fine-art inkjet	34.4 × 22.9 in	87 × 58 cm
200 DPI	Wall print	41.3 × 27.5 in	105 × 70 cm
150 DPI	Poster, viewed from 1 m+	55.0 × 36.7 in	140 × 93 cm

Night-sky exposure limits#

Longest exposure before stars trail. The NPF rule accounts for pixel pitch and is stricter than the classic 500 rule — use it for pin-sharp stars on high-resolution sensors.

Focal length	500 rule	NPF f/1.8	NPF f/2.8	NPF f/4
14 mm (14 mm eq.)	35.6 s	13.8 s	16.3 s	19.3 s
20 mm (20 mm eq.)	24.9 s	9.7 s	11.4 s	13.5 s
24 mm (24 mm eq.)	20.8 s	8.1 s	9.5 s	11.3 s
35 mm (35 mm eq.)	14.2 s	5.5 s	6.5 s	7.7 s
50 mm (50 mm eq.)	10.0 s	3.9 s	4.6 s	5.4 s

Open the NPF / 500 rule calculator →

Handheld shutter speed guide#

The reciprocal rule uses the equivalent focal length. High-resolution sensors may need one stop faster than this for pixel-sharp results.

Focal length	No stabilisation (1/equiv. focal)	With 3-stop IS	With 5-stop IBIS
24 mm	1/25 s	0.3 s	1.3 s
50 mm	1/50 s	1/6 s	0.6 s
100 mm	1/100 s	1/13 s	0.3 s
199 mm	1/200 s	1/25 s	1/6 s

Lenses for the Nikon Z9#

Native Nikon Z lenses in our database (71 total). Also adaptable: T-mount (T2), M42 screw mount, Deckel (DKL), Nikon F, M39 / LTM (Leica thread).

Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D 9 mm
Laowa 9mm f/5.6 FF RL 9 mm
Viltrox AF 9mm f/2.8 Z/E/XF 9 mm
Laowa 10mm f/2.8 Zero-D FF 10 mm
Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D 12 mm
Nikon Nikkor Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR 12–28 mm
Viltrox AF 13mm F1.4 13 mm
Nikon Nikkor Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S 14–24 mm
Nikon Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S 14–30 mm
Viltrox AF 14mm f/4.0 14 mm
Laowa 15mm f/2.0 Zero-D 15 mm
Viltrox AF 15mm F1.7 Air 15 mm
Nikon Nikkor Z DX 16-50mm f/2.8 VR 16–50 mm
Nikon Nikkor Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR 16–50 mm
Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary 16 mm
Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 FE/L/Z 16 mm
Tamron 17-70mm F/2.8 Di III-A VC RXD 17–70 mm
Nikon Nikkor Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR 18–140 mm
Nikon Nikkor Z 20mm f/1.8 S 20 mm
Viltrox AF 20mm F2.8 Z 20 mm
Viltrox PFU RBMH 20mm f/1.8 ASPH 20 mm
Viltrox AF 23mm F1.4 XF/Z/L 23 mm
Nikon Nikkor Z 24-105mm f/4-7.1 24–105 mm
Nikon Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 S 24–120 mm
Nikon Nikkor Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR 24–200 mm
Nikon Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S 24–70 mm
Nikon Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S 24–70 mm
Nikon Nikkor Z DX 24mm f/1.7 24 mm
Viltrox AF 24mm f/1.8 Z 24 mm
Viltrox 25mm F1.7 E 25 mm
Nikon Nikkor Z 26mm f/2.8 26 mm
Viltrox AF 27mm F1.2 PRO 27 mm
Nikon Nikkor Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR 28–400 mm
Nikon Nikkor Z 28-75mm f/2.8 28–75 mm
Nikon Nikkor Z 28mm f/2.8 28 mm
Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III VXD G2 (A063) 28–75 mm

Similar cameras#

Other Full frame (35 mm) cameras from around the same time.

Frequently asked questions#

What is the crop factor of the Nikon Z9?

The Nikon Z9 has a crop factor of 1.00× relative to 35 mm full frame (diagonal 43.1 mm vs 43.3 mm).

What size is the Nikon Z9 sensor?

35.9 × 23.9 mm (Full frame (35 mm)), an area of 858 mm² — 99% of full frame.

Is the Nikon Z9 full frame?

Yes — its sensor is the same 36 × 24 mm size as 35 mm film.

How many megapixels does the Nikon Z9 have?

45.7 megapixels (8,256 × 5,504 pixels), enough for a 28 × 18 inch print at 300 DPI.

What lens mount does the Nikon Z9 use?

The Nikon Z9 uses the Nikon Z (flange distance 16.00 mm).

How long can I expose the night sky with the Nikon Z9?

With a 20 mm lens (20 mm equivalent) the 500 rule gives 25 s and the stricter NPF rule at f/2.8 gives 11 s.

Sources & licences#

Wikipedia: Nikon Z9 — CC BY-SA 4.0
Wikidata Q106019991 — CC0
Lensfun camera database — CC BY-SA 3.0

Last updated October 03, 2026 · How we calculate · Sources