Thinking Of Buying A Nikon Z9 When The MkII Is Released? The Pros & Cons For Wildlife Photographers

Thinking Of Buying A Nikon Z9 When The MkII Is Released?

Back in February 2022 I took delivery of the much anticipated Nikon Z9.

4 years on, I've put the Z9 through its paces all over Europe, Africa, Asia, the Arctic and South America photographing everything from badgers to cheetahs, robins to penguins, bats to jaguars. Insects have been a problem, though, and here I honestly say what I think the pros and cons for wildlife photographers are.

This is an updated review, especially aimed at those of you thinking of buying a Nikon Z9 when the Mark II is released.... spoiler, it may not be your best option.

Here Are The Pros & Cons For Wildlife Photographers

Z9: What's To Love?

Firstly I must say that I (almost) love this camera. During my professional life I've always had Nikon's flagship DSLRs, and in almost all areas the Z9 equals or out-performs any I've owned, including:

Frame Rates

10 and 20fps on continuous shooting are fabulous for charging cheetahs and birds in flight. There's even a 'pre-capture' feature mode which, with your shutter finger half way depressed, captures low resolution images for half a second or so before you finally press the shutter release all the way down, meaning you'll never - unless you're really not paying attention - miss a bird taking off again! However, on the Z9 this only allows jpeg shooting and I would expect a RAW version in the MkII.

For video, frame rates of 120 and 240fps allow sublime slo-mo, though beware that your computer may have a meltdown trying to edit the 8k footage option that the Z9 offers.

What You See Is What You Get

I'm really enjoying the creativity that the electronic viewfinder facilitates. Both high and low key images are a doddle, double exposure is a revelation and there are never any worries about spot-on exposure, as what you see in the viewfinder is true to the final image. In truth it feels a bit like cheating its so easy!

For video, not having to use the back screen with a loupe, instead being able to see directly through the viewfinder is a major plus too.

Everything On The Outside

I'm a big fan of programming control buttons on the exterior of the camera, so I can easily recall specific settings, switch focus modes etc without having to take it away from my eye. So imagine my delight that Nikon have kept loads of programmable buttons on the outside of the body (in contrast the Canon R5 has virtually none). In a future article I'll go through the programmable button set-up I use for wildlife.

Battery Life

Much better than I was lead to believe, with a battery often lasting a full day, or only one change needed.

Perfect Peace

I hadn't realised (or perhaps I should say admitted) how intrusive the mirror slap on some DSLRs can be, and how much it can startle wary wildlife. By contrast the silent shooting of the Z9 is a dream, although I do choose to have a very low purr on mine, having shot about 400 photos of the ground without realising!

Build Quality

I worried that the aim of making mirrorless cameras lighter might affect build quality, but I've subjected the Z9 to my usual onslaught of elements: lashing rain, sea spray, dung and dust... although I'm pleased to say I haven't dropped it!

The camera seems impressively impervious to water, mud and everything else that gets thrown at it with me on a day basis...it even survived being dragged through the dust by a cheeky young cheetah at Zimanga!

However, having said all those good things, the Z9 does still have a couple of very significant flaws...

Z9: What's Not To Love?

Autofocus

This is the fundamental aspect that lets the Z9 down for me. I'm finding the autofocus in many modes just doesn't compare to that of my preceding D4s, D5 and D850, and to the mirrorless systems of Canon, Sony and OM.

Yes there have been countless firmware updates, since the Z9 release, that have improved autofocus ...a bit. And yes, I've invested in every conceivable Z-mount lens I would use for wildlife, including the the 400mm f/2.8 prime at a cost of nearly £14,000 ...but I still find myself disappointed and frustrated too often as the camera hunts, misses and loses focus in low light and low contrast conditions that the aforementioned DSLRs had no trouble with at all. I've updated the firmware, juggled between countless combinations of autofocus modes, areas etc, and taken advice form other pros, but find it far too often comes up short on this most vital aspect of wildlife photography. I also own the Z8 and it seems more slightly more reliable in this aspect.

Focus Stacking for Macro

Another super-frustrating shortfall is the focus stacking on the Z9. It is simply not fit for purpose for wildlife (bearing in mind that this camera is sold as the Nikon wildlife flagship). While other systems allow you to see the image through the viewfinder as you shoot during focus stacking, this Nikon system does not. While other systems allow you to simply click the shutter button to start the focus stacking sequence, this Nikon system does not. Instead one has to go through several stages of the menu to switch focus stacking on, whereupon the screen immediately goes completely black!

This means it is not possible to focus stack without a tripod - not practical at all for insects, fungi etc (and frankly even on a tripod I would want to see what I was shooting to ensure at least the first and last frames of the stack are in focus, and not have to dive into the menu for every shot) Focus stacking handheld for nature-related subjects in the field is a non-starter with the Z9 set up as it is:

My advice is categorically do not buy a Z9 if you' shoot a lot of wildlife macro: other brands - particularly OM - offer a much more satisfactory experience.

Conclusion

It's sad that the otherwise wonderful Z9 is let down by focus issues that are pretty fundamental to wildlife photography. Do please be aware of those if you're considering buying a previously owned one or as new prices drop when the Mark II is released.

I'm hoping for significant improvements in the Mark II, and have a feeling it may be worth waiting for one of those to come up second hand or when prices drop in a year or two instead ....I'll let you know as soon as I get my hands on one!

Alternative Option

Meanwhile you could consider the Z8 for its marginally better autofocus capability. It shares the exact same 45.7-megapixel stacked CMOS sensor and the same EXPEED 7 image processor as the Z9, so offers the same image quality, and video capabilities. It may have a lighter, smaller build but it's a lot of camera for half the price.

PS Dear Nikon - I'd also love to be able to see through the viewfinder during exposures longer than 1/8 second, so I can creatively re-frame long exposures and see where to cover the lens at times during them too. I'm not sure if that's possible, but it's top of my creative photography wishlist if you're taking requests - thank you!