Nikon released firmware Ver. 5.00 for the Nikon Z9 flagship full-frame/FX format mirrorless camera.
Firmware Ver. 5.00, the fourth major update since the release of the Nikon Z9, improves usability for sports photography by expanding the functions of “Auto Capture” and “High Speed Frame Capture +”.
In addition, portrait shooting functions have been enhanced to help you create the images you want, including “Rich Tone Portrait” that depicts skin details in rich tones, “Beautiful Skin Effect,” and “Human Impression Adjustment.” Furthermore, in response to the voices of professionals, we have achieved improvements in operability that will lead to increased speed and efficiency.
Main features of Nikon Z9 Firmware Ver.5.00
1. Expanded functions to improve usability for sports photography
Nikon Z9 Firmware version 5.00 added a reservation function to “Auto Capture” that allows you to specify the shooting start date and time in advance. Even if there is some time between setting up the camera and actually shooting, it reduces battery consumption and enables efficient shooting. In addition, shooting in DX format, adding “airplane” to the subject detection target, and adding a yellow frame to the screen while waiting for shooting, increase the freedom of shooting with “auto capture” and increase the range of expression. It is said that it has expanded.
In addition, the low-speed “C15” has been added to “High Speed Frame Capture +” to improve the usability of continuous shooting. “High-frequency flicker reduction” has added frequency presets used for general LED lighting and addboards, making it easier to select shutter speeds and efficiently reducing high-frequency flicker.
2. Addition of functions that allow you to take portraits more exactly as you want
“Rich Tone Portrait” has been added to Picture Control, which is suitable for creating base images for shooting scenes that require retouching, such as weddings and photo studios. It also incorporates a variety of functions suitable for portraits, such as “person impression adjustment” and “skin beautification effect.” “NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.2 S” (released in December 2020), “NIKKOR Z 85mm f/1.2 S” (released in March 2023), “NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena” (released in October 2023) ) and other NIKKOR Z lenses to support portrait photography just the way you want.
In addition, the white LED of Profoto’s Profoto A10 speedlight can be used as an AF auxiliary light, and “focus position priority (face detection)” has been added as an operation for frame-by-frame forwarding during enlarged playback, making it even more convenient. Improved.
3. Improved operability and other features
Various improvements in operability have been realized to increase speed and efficiency to meet the needs of professionals.
- When “Expand shooting menu” is turned on, the shooting modes for still images and videos that were previously linked can be managed separately.
- Improved visibility by adjusting the line thickness of the focus point frame
- When using manual focus, it is possible to focus with the live view aperture open.
- Added a function that allows you to cancel the enlarged display by pressing the shutter button halfway during manual focus.
- Changed the operability of “High Resolution Zoom” and the AF frame display color when focusing from red to green
- Further expansion of functions and operation buttons that can be assigned to custom buttons
- “Customize image editing” allows you to select the functions to be displayed in the image editing menu
- Added settings for “loop playback”, “wait time until playback start”, and “automatic continuous playback speed” to continuous shooting.
- The playback speed of all videos can be set in advance from the “i Menu” (1/2 playback, 1/4 playback)
- Added “Station Mode” to the connection method with the app “SnapBridge” that does not occupy the smartphone’s Wi-Fi connection.
- While the remote grip “MC-N10” (released in December 2022) is connected to the camera, it is possible to connect wirelessly to ATOMOS’ “AirGlu” accessory “UltraSync BLUE” via Bluetooth at the same time.
