Comparison Chart: Nikon Z9, Sony A1, Canon R3 and Canon R5

[Clix Pix]

With the release of Nikon's new flagship mirrorless camera body, the Z9, B&H has put together a comparison chart:

Compare Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 vs Canon R3 vs Canon R5 | B&H

Compare Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 vs Canon R3 vs Canon R5 | B&H

www.bhphotovideo.com

 

[Apple fanboy]

With the release of Nikon's new flagship mirrorless camera body, the Z9, B&H has put together a comparison chart:

Compare Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 vs Canon R3 vs Canon R5 | B&H

Compare Nikon Z9 vs Sony A1 vs Canon R3 vs Canon R5 | B&H

www.bhphotovideo.com

Oh look. One is in stock.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

My entire kit (body and 4 lenses) costs less than 3 out of 4. I know those are good, but “too rich for my blood” as they say.

 

[Apple fanboy]

My entire kit (body and 4 lenses) costs less than 3 out of 4. I know those are good, but “too rich for my blood” as they say.

Agreed.

 

[mackmgg]

My entire kit (body and 4 lenses) costs less than 3 out of 4. I know those are good, but “too rich for my blood” as they say.

While that's true (certainly for me as well), it's nice that there's such a spread of cameras right now! Here's that same chart from B&H comparing just Canon's current line of full frame mirrorless (released in the past ~2 years, since they only let you add 4 cameras to compare). There's a $1000, $2500, $3900, and $6000 option now! So if these $6000 cameras let them keep making $1000 cameras, I'm all for it.

And of course while I'll never own an R3 (not the least of which because of the form factor, if they made an RP with IBIS I'd switch to that from the R6 just for the weight savings), I do enjoy listening to these (except the Z9 without a mechanical shutter) in full burst mode!

I'm curious if the release of the Z9 will cause Canon/Sony to reevaluate pricing. Probably depends on the sales results of it, but especially for Canon I don't know where they're going to fit an R1 in this and stay competitive pricing-wise with the Z9.

 

[Clix Pix]

I found it interesting that Nikon priced its Z9 at the price point it chose, but I'm guessing that they are hoping to gain more sales this way and to attract the buyer who is inclined to be budget-conscious but who wants (or needs) the top-of-the-line features and functionality anyway. I doubt that Sony or Canon will feel the necessity to drop their prices -- they've already got the advantage of their cameras and lenses being available right now and in actual use by their customers.

It is likely that due to the current situation of issues with the chip shortage, supply chain and distribution that it may be longer than anticipated before some of those who have already eagerly preordered the Z9 and FTZ II and one or two of the new native lenses actually have the new gear in hand and are able to use it, which is too bad.

 

[Apple fanboy]

No camera manufacturer is about to drop prices. They can’t produce them fast enough as it is.

 

[Clix Pix]

Sony has to recoup the prices of their R&D which resulted in the cameras users such as myself are enjoying today; Nikon, from the looks of the description of the Z9's new features, having "borrowed" much of that same technology, doesn't have to recoup those costs.....

 

[Apple fanboy]

Sony has to recoup the prices of their R&D which resulted in the cameras users such as myself are enjoying today; Nikon, from the looks of the description of the Z9's new features, having "borrowed" much of that same technology, doesn't have to recoup those costs.....

They also have the advantage of producing there’s later. So they can see the oppositions price, and pitch it accordingly.

 

[mollyc]

Sony has to recoup the prices of their R&D which resulted in the cameras users such as myself are enjoying today; Nikon, from the looks of the description of the Z9's new features, having "borrowed" much of that same technology, doesn't have to recoup those costs.....

you think nikon isn’t doing their own r&d? or am i misunderstanding something?

 

[Clix Pix]

Of course Nikon does R&D, but most of the new features and functions they're offering with the Z9 have already been available for a while on other manufacturers' cameras.....

 

[r.harris1]

Sony has to recoup the prices of their R&D which resulted in the cameras users such as myself are enjoying today; Nikon, from the looks of the description of the Z9's new features, having "borrowed" much of that same technology, doesn't have to recoup those costs.....

It’s not clear whether Nikon is using Sony Semiconductor’s sensors (Hogan doesn’t think so) and if they are, what is true is that Nikon did the sensor design (they said so Thursday). And how they’ve approached stacking on the CMOS sensor itself is a bit different from how Sony does it, if I understood what I heard correctly.

Since Nikon holds a number of patents on phase detect autofocus going back at least to the Nikon 1 series, it’s debatable how much of their autofocus and imaging pipeline is licensed from Sony. Probably not a ton, but the camera industry is fairly incestuous so sometimes hard to tease apart some things. Nikon makes equipment used to fab sensors and Sony Semiconductor may have some of that equipment, for example.

The deep learning AF is Nikon designed based on what was said Thursday. The Expeed 7 processors are totally Nikon, not Sony. Their Z lenses are arguably some of the best available glass you can buy, bar none, of any manufacturer. I doubt strongly there’s a ton of “borrowing” on the Z9 from Sony. They did borrow from the D6, with quality build, robustness and the like.

To me, not a lot of debate. Sounds like the Z9 is a superb top-tier flagship offering. Everyone can be happy in their chosen tribe with no angst required . Everyone can produce stunning images and no one will miss any shots if they learn their cameras. Awesome. It’s a great time to be a photographer!

 

[mollyc]

I'm rooting for all the camera companies, and it's great that each one has a solid flagship model now. I doubt there is much borrowing going on, because like cars and computers, I feel fairly certain these things take a couple of years to develop, not to mention patents, etc., preventing theft of proprietary information.

Anyone who has $5,000 or more to spend on a camera body knows what their existing gear cannot do, and with more choices available, it's better for everyone, IMO.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Anyone who can't take a decent photo with any one of these cameras and the right glass, well the camera isn't the issue!

 

[AlaskaMoose]

The Z9 is Nikon's answer to its loyal customers, and the price for it is just right. All Nikon has to do is to produce the most precise lens adapters so loyal Nikon "shooters" can use all the older lenses. Maybe Nikon already produces such adapters (I don't really know sine I use Canon cameras). Anyway, Nikon is renown for its product quality, and I imagine the Z9 is another high quality product.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

Anyone who can't take a decent photo with any one of these cameras and the right glass, well the camera isn't the issue!

You are correct, of course

 

[Apple fanboy]

The Z9 is Nikon's answer to its loyal customers, and the price for it is just right. All Nikon has to do is to produce the most precise lens adapters so loyal Nikon "shooters" can use all the older lenses. Maybe Nikon already produces such adapters (I don't really know sine I use Canon cameras). Anyway, Nikon is renown for its product quality, and I imagine the Z9 is another high quality product.

They've had F to Z adaptor since they launched the Z mount. They work very well apparently.

 

[r.harris1]

Of course Nikon does R&D, but most of the new features and functions they're offering with the Z9 have already been available for a while on other manufacturers' cameras.....

And now they’re implemented really well on Nikon cameras too, so yay!

A lot of early face priority autofocus work was Nikon and probably Canon so nothing springs out of thin air in the depths of Sony Imaging. It’s an iterative industry and each company has fantastic engineers. Sometimes Nikon will be first to something, sometimes Sony or Canon. First literally doesn’t matter except to maybe diehard tribalists. Samsung put out the first foldable smartphone. Apple will be very late to the party if/when they put one out. Will it have mattered that Samsung was first? Not to me, since I am not a Samsung user. While it’s interesting from an engineering perspective if Sony or Canon does something clever first, I don’t use either system so beyond interest and curiosity, it doesn’t matter to me. If Lightroom or DXO come out with something clever that Capture One doesn’t have yet, it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. If enough people clamor for something a manufacturer will likely add the feature, usually with their own take. Fantastic!

Nikon put out one of the “best first” mirrorless systems with Nikon 1 - hybrid AF, 20fps, etc. They didn’t pursue it (openly anyway) past that camera. Even with the Minolta purchase, it was clear to Sony that they were not going to compete with Canon or Nikon in the DSLR space so they took the first leap with full frame mirrorless. But until the A1 (possibly the A9ii), someone with a D4, D5 or D6 was going to have equal or better autofocus performance in a lot of fast moving situations than anything from Sony. Until the A7riv, there wasn’t an effective rival from Sony to something like the d850, in my mind anyway. Point being it’s a small industry, everyone has great stuff. No one is always first and whether they are matters very little. We sometimes think it does (I’m as guilty of that as anyone, I’m human after all), but it doesn’t. It is an “infinite game”.

It’s a beautiful fall day here in Denver with Halloween tomorrow! Time to get outside and stop writing or worrying about the small stuff.

 

[Apple fanboy]

You are correct, of course

Most modern cameras will take a good picture in the right hands. These models are for the pro's who need the advanced features for difficult conditions (BIF or fast moving sports etc.)

 

[AlaskaMoose]

Most modern cameras will take a good picture in the right hands. These models are for the pro's who need the advanced features for difficult conditions (BIF or fast moving sports etc.)

That is true. But some of the features available in the cameras above trickle down to lesser cameras. For example, the Canon R3 may be the latest Canon offering for photographing fast moving subjects (sports and other events), but the R5 is quite similar in features than the R3, except that the R5 has a higher MP sensor. Then, the R6 is nearly the same as the R5 (except for the lower MP sensor), while still being around $1,000 cheaper. Now, for sports photographer using Canon Cameras the R3 and R6 would be better than the R5 for taking a great number of 20 or so MP photos, instead of the R5's 45MP photos. It's much faster to send the smaller images via Wi-Fi to the editing/publishing room.

 

[kenoh]

They also have the advantage of producing there’s later. So they can see the oppositions price, and pitch it accordingly.

and also focus on features the users actually want.

 

[kenoh]

Of course Nikon does R&D, but most of the new features and functions they're offering with the Z9 have already been available for a while on other manufacturers' cameras.....

Ah, yeah but there is a lot of R&D needed to get from "The competition can make their cars go 200miles per hour" and "our car can go 200mph"

Knowing the outcome doesnt mean the route to get there is free. Also remember that Sony were in catch up mode until the A7iii. After that they were the hot contender. When I got my first A7 we had the 35mm f2.8 and the 55mm f1.8 and no back catalogue of immediately usable lenses. It has taken Sony 8 years to get where they are in this market and it started with buying Minolta.

Also, Sony are an electronic company who have moved into cameras. Nikon (and Fuji too) are optics companies moving into electronics. The latter being the harder move.

Well played to Nikon for delivering into a gap in the market. Good to see them active in the market

 

[bunnspecial]

Regardless of who's innovating what, let's also not forget how interwoven these companies are.

There's a pretty darn good chance that even IF Sony is producing the sensors for Nikon(I know there is debate about that, and Nikon isn't exactly a new player in the sensor game), Sony is likely using Nikon equipment and optics to do the lithography in the first place...

 

[Clix Pix]

Well, in the end, it is nice that Nikon is finally offering many of the functions and features that their customers have wanted and asked for -- better late than never!

 

[kenoh]

Regardless of who's innovating what, let's also not forget how interwoven these companies are.

There's a pretty darn good chance that even IF Sony is producing the sensors for Nikon(I know there is debate about that, and Nikon isn't exactly a new player in the sensor game), Sony is likely using Nikon equipment and optics to do the lithography in the first place...

They are all circular. They All have a piece of each other and they all do things like design licensing, fabrication, lithography etc. The magic is in the software and the colour science at this stage.

The truth is, if you have a camera built post 2016, then it is plenty good enough for those of us not doing top end fashion or advertising or F1 coverage.

What is good is that it keeps them all on their toes and they competition alive.