The Nikon Z 9 firmware v.5.0 is here!

Nikon Team •Technology & know-how•19 Mar 2024•3 min read

A major update to Nikon’s mirrorless flagship brings enhanced features across stills and video to improve results and assist workflow

The latest update to the Nikon Z 9 has arrived and it’s a biggie. There are numerous new features in the update that are especially useful for sports, action, wildlife and portraiture, across both stills and video, plus many more that give the already amazing Nikon Z 9 a serious upgrade.

Sports and action

New features added to Auto Capture include the ability to set a start date/time and duration so that the remote camera only engages Auto Capture when you need it to, thus saving battery life. There’s support for C15 and C60 release modes, an improved settings interface, a yellow frame to show you Auto Capture is in standby mode and manual focus switching via the camera body. From the recent Z 8 firmware update (v.2.0) the Z 9 now also gets airplane detection in Auto Capture, as well as DX image area support.

Firmware update v.5.0 also adds the slower C15 option and Fine JPEG quality for high-speed frame capture.

New high frequency flicker reduction all but eliminates the problem of LED advertising hoardings causing bands on images, with a series of presets that adjust shutter speed accordingly to sync with the LED frequency.

A major update to Nikon’s mirrorless flagship brings enhanced features across stills and video to improve results and assist workflow

Sports and action

Firmware update v.5.0 also adds the slower C15 option and Fine JPEG quality for high-speed frame capture.

Nikon Team

What’s in our kitbag?

Z 9For remarkable, next-level shots

Portraits

The Nikon Z 9 now gets new portrait features thanks to firmware v.5.0. Rich Tone Portrait, Portrait, Impression Balance and Skin Softening help you to achieve astonishing results in camera, significantly reducing editing time, while support for the Profoto A10, one of the most popular speedlights for portrait photographers, allows the white LED to be used as an AF-assist illuminator.*

Magnified playback options mean you can now more easily and quickly check how a session is going. During playback of images on the monitor, you can choose between maintaining the current zoom position, centring the display on the focus point or on the face detection position. The retouch menu can also now be customised so you can choose only the items you need, while retouching functions can be assigned to custom controls.

Workflow efficiency

A host of new features are dedicated to efficiency and speeding up workflow for pro photographers and filmmakers. For the first time, dedicated settings for stills and video can be set in different menu banks, allowing you to effortlessly change between the two. The thickness of the focus point in the EVF or monitor can be customised to your liking, while you can also exit magnification on the monitor or EVF with a simple half press of the shutter.

Video improvements

For filmmakers further integration with Atomos AirGlu BT improves the timecode display, with a warning in case of lost connection, and allows for Bluetooth connection with USB devices.

And there’s more…

WiFi STA support now means your camera can be automatically linked to your smart device (via WiFi) every time it’s turned on**. The device maintains connection to the network even while communicating with the camera.

With improved AF performance in low light, improved playback when reviewing bursts, an expansion of the functions that can be assigned to custom controls, improvements to video playback and hi-res zoom, the new firmware v.5.0 for the Nikon Z 9 is like having a whole new camera for free.

To upgrade to firmware v.5.0 click the link and follow the instructions to download and install.

* It is necessary to update the firmware of the Profoto A10 to the latest version. Please refer to the Profoto website for details.

** At time of release this function is supported by Android OS only. iOS support is planned for a later date.

Share Options