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DPG would like to thank Backscatter for providing the Nikon Z9 camera and various accessories, and Seacam for supplying their Nikon Z9 housing, used in this review.
 

Only a handful of full-frame cameras can claim to have achieved the “holy grail” of high-resolution image capture combined with high-speed shooting. Among Nikon DSLRs, most will agree that honor belongs to the D850, a 45.7-megapixel camera capable of 7fps continuous shooting. With its industry-leading autofocus performance, the D850 has become the weapon of choice for many pro and enthusiast underwater shooters.

While the heyday of the DSLR is behind us, and the specs that seemed so impressive a few years ago have been surpassed by those of the latest mirrorless cameras, the D850 has remained a tough act to follow. Nikon’s first full-frame mirrorless effort, the Z7, fell short, as did its successor, the Z7 II. Although they boasted the same 45.7MP BSI-CMOS sensor as the D850, with the Z7 II capable of 10fps bursts, both cameras were unable to match the DLSR’s fast and reliable autofocus.

The arrival of the Z9 has promised to change all that. Here is a flagship full-frame camera featuring a newly designed 45.7MP “stacked” CMOS sensor, up to 20fps continuous shooting, and the ability to capture 8K/60p RAW video internally, but most importantly, the Z9 marked the return of the “3D tracking” autofocus system found in cameras such as the full-frame D850 and the cropped-sensor D500.

Despite the Z9 receiving rave reviews from professional sports and land-based wildlife photographers, assessments of the performance of the Z9 as an underwater camera have only recently begun to emerge. So when I got the chance to test the camera for myself on a trip to The Bahamas with Master Liveaboards in April this year, I was more than a little stoked. To take the Z9 diving with sharks at Tiger Beach, I was loaned a full Seacam rig, including a shiny new Silver housing, a high-end viewfinder, and ports for wide angle and macro lenses; these were used in combination with my own Seacam Seaflash 160 Digital strobes. As a longtime user of the Nikon D500 DSLR, this was my first time shooting underwater with a full-frame camera, so it was also a great opportunity for me personally to see if it was finally time to upgrade to a mirrorless system.
 

A Caribbean sharpnose puffer poses for the camera (f/16, 1/160s, ISO 250)

The Z9 produces 45.7MP RAW images at up to 20fps with essentially zero buffering issues, more than enough to capture even the fastest-moving underwater subjects and behavior. These high-megapixel images allow for cropping and creative editing while still maintaining large print sizes, and are almost always in focus thanks to the camera’s impressive autofocus system (more of which later). Images are recorded to twin memory card slots, but you will need new faster CFexpress cards to make full use of the camera’s burst speeds and video formats.

At 1/200s, the maximum flash sync speed is the same as that of lower-end cameras like the Nikon Z7 II or Canon EOS R5, but half the speed of the Z9’s nearest competitor, the Sony Alpha 1, which can sync at 1/400s. Thus, in bright ambient light situations, such as when shooting sunbursts or reef scenics in shallow water, you can’t knock out nearly as much ambient light with the Z9 as you can with the A1. Compared with the A1, you’re more likely to run out of strobe power with the Z9 when shooting in such conditions.

In practice, with the Seacam rig, the Z9’s maximum flash sync speed of 1/200s never affected my experience using the camera. This was partly because I spent relatively little time shooting the kind of shallow reefscapes that required maxing out the strobes, as I was generally photographing big animals and small critters, which needed no more than half flash power. But it was also mostly because the Seacam strobes automatically switch to high-speed sync (HSS) mode beyond the Z9’s maximum sync speed, allowing you to dial in any desired shutter speed—up to 1/8000s! I was able to shoot a shark at 1/320s or a reef scene at 1/640s without thinking about it.

The HSS capability of Seacam’s Seaflash 160 Digital is one of the reasons why these strobes are such a compelling choice for wide-angle underwater shooters. Look out for my in-depth assessment of these exceptional flashguns in an upcoming review on DPG.
 

The HSS capability of the Seaflash 160 Digital allowed me to nail the perfect exposure for this sunburst shot without worrying about going beyond the Z9’s maximum flash sync speed (f/11, 1/320s, ISO 320)
 

Anyone who has used a mirrorless camera will know they deplete batteries much quicker than their DSLR counterparts. Having previously owned a Panasonic Lumix GH5 to shoot video, I became accustomed to changing the battery after every dive. With the Z9 and its outsize battery pack, however, I was able to dive four times per day without running out of juice. I often spend the entire day on my RIB, diving multiple times without returning to any power outlets, so for me long battery life is a big plus. It is true that changing batteries more often is a small price to pay for industry-leading tech, but with the Z9, you get the best of both worlds, and this alone may justify the extra cost of the pro body compared to other models.

Existing Nikon users will be pleased to know that the menu system of the Z9 is the same as previous DSLR models, and I found it easy to navigate the settings and set up the camera straight out of the box. The camera body will also look and feel familiar to anyone who has used a Nikon camera before, and so shooting with the Z9 was a straightforward process from day one. I used the camera for a month and was able to put its most important features to the test on a variety of subjects in The Bahamas and at home in the Caribbean.
 

Ready for action: The Seacam Nikon Z9 test system, including the Silver housing, dual Seaflash 160 Digital strobes with Flasharm system, 170mm Compact Port, and S10 Viewfinder

A school of striped grunts around the Sapona wreck in Bimini (f/8, 1/125s, ISO 500)

Nikon full-frame cameras are well known for producing excellent underwater images, and the Z9 is no exception. The 45.7-megapixel RAW files look great straight out of the camera, with accurate colors requiring only minimal adjustments in post. They also offer phenomenal detail and can be cropped significantly—making the Z9 an excellent choice for blackwater shooters.

The dynamic range of the sensor is so good that it was hard to find conditions during my trip that really put it to the test. In The Bahamas, I shot inside a wreck, pushing the camera up to ISO 1800, and the image has good detail in the shadows and no visible noise. In very bright conditions, the lowest setting of ISO 64 maintains excellent detail in the highlights, which was particularly useful when shooting directly into the sun to achieve great shark sunbursts.

Moving from a D500, the improvement in image quality is noticeable immediately, especially once you bring the files into Adobe Lightroom and start to make standard adjustments to contrast and clarity, etc. I captured some of my favorite images to date with the Z9. Viewing online at low resolution doesn’t do them justice; to really appreciate them, you have to see the full-resolution images displayed on a good quality computer monitor.
 

The Z9’s ultra-high-resolution images give you the freedom to crop generously if required and still get impressive results (f/16, 1/160s, ISO 250)
 

Even at ISO 1800, this image of the inside the Sapona wreck has very little noise and plenty of detail in the shadows (f/13, 1/200s, ISO 1800)

Nikon has always been known for its excellent autofocus and subject tracking in its DSLR cameras, and the Z9, which utilises 493 detection points across 90% of the frame, tracks subjects better than ever before. Compare that with the D850, which only has 153 AF points covering less than half of the frame, and it is easy to see why the Z9 is such an improvement on previous models and delivers such cutting-edge performance.

To complement 3D tracking, there are also multiple subject detection modes to choose from, such as animals, people, and vehicles. After experimenting with these settings, I found that standard AF-C 3D tracking without subject detection worked very well underwater most of the time, and I felt no need to complicate things by telling the camera what to look for. In The Bahamas, I was exclusively shooting wide-angle images of big sharks in good conditions, so lightning-fast autofocus was not essential or even necessary. Tracking tiger sharks was light work for the Z9 and all of the images I captured on the trip were sharp and detailed.
 

Caribbean brown Chromis (with or without a passenger!) move fast and provide a good test for the autofocus system with the 105mm macro lens (f/11, 1/160s, ISO 250)
 

Only after returning home to the reefs in the Caribbean did I get the chance to experiment with a Z 105mm macro lens and really put the camera’s new autofocus capabilities to the test. I wanted to see how well the Z9 could track erratic and fast-moving subjects, so I went looking for blennies and jawfish and was super impressed with the results. Using the same 3D tracking mode, occasionally combined with animal detection, the camera maintained focus on the eye of the subject most of the time, making reef fish portraits more fun to shoot than ever. This also made it very easy to open up the aperture and achieve beautiful bokeh backgrounds while still having the important parts of the image tack sharp.

I also went deeper to test how the camera would perform with less ambient light, but even at 85 feet in poor visibility, the autofocus easily locked onto subjects. Without doubt, the Z9 has one of the best autofocus systems of any camera I’ve used, producing more “keepers” than any of its predecessors. We all spend considerable amounts of money traveling to far-flung destinations to take photos, so owning a camera that gives consistently good results is an investment worth every cent, especially for pros on assignment or once-in-a-lifetime encounters that cannot be missed at any cost!
 

Even without a super-macro wet lens, it was possible to get nice shots of small critters such as this spinyhead blenny (f/14, 1/125s, ISO 250)

With a relatively modest 3.69M dots, the Z9’s EVF doesn’t sound nearly as impressive as its closest competitor, the Sony Alpha 1, which boasts an impressive 9.44M dots. But pixel counts don’t necessarily tell the full story. The Z9 uses a 100% electronic shutter that gives a blackout-free experience, and has the lowest latency and brightest EVF of any camera in its class.

In the field, the Z9’s EVF was extemely enjoyable to use, always feeling bright and responsive while maintaining consistent resolution regardless of shooting situation. Compared to optical viewfinders, EVFs can struggle with high dynamic range or low light conditions, but I never once wished I could return to my optical viewfinder or felt like I was having a hard time seeing what I was shooting.

Most significantly for someone like me coming from a DSLR, the EVF experience provided a number of other benefits that I now don’t want to live without! You can review images, adjust settings, and overlay effects and filters; you no longer need to move the camera or take your eye away from the housing to look at the LCD screen. For me, this was a complete game changer.
 

I spent a lot of time at tiger beach shooting directly into the sun in search of the perfect sunburst shark image (f/11, 1/320s, ISO 200)
 

The EVF is especially useful when shooting skittish subjects with a macro lens, but it was also a big plus when shooting sharks and reef scenes in bright sunlight. Looking into a dark viewfinder, it is much easier to see if you are over- or underexposing the image and to check critical focus, and I instantly enjoyed working this way. You can also program the camera to have images automatically appear in the viewfinder every time you take a picture, but I prefer to choose when to review images, so I turned this function off.

Even when surrounded by big sharks, where you need to pay close attention to your surroundings and have your head on a swivel, using the EVF still felt much more intuitive and productive, and I don’t remember looking at the LCD screen on the camera once during the entire trip.

One caveat with regard to using the EVF is that you will almost certainly want to purchase an enhanced viewfinder magnifier for your housing. Seacam sent their S10 Viewfinder, which provides 3x magnification and a 10° viewing angle. I found it to be the perfect compromise between the 45° viewfinder I normally use and a completely straight option. The S10 did an excellent job of accurately reproducing the EVF image, and it is also the lightest and most compact option in Seacam’s range, something worth considering for those already pushing weight limits with big strobes and heavy camera bodies and batteries.
 

Using the EVF, it was possible to see this image in black and white in real time (f/8, 1/250s, ISO 160)

Seacam generously supplied a lot of brand new equipment for the review, including their gorgeous Silver Z9 housing, the 170mm CP Compact Port for the F-mount 8–15mm fisheye lens, a macro port for the Z-mount 105mm macro lens, strobe arms and clamps, and the S10 Viewfinder. I also purchased a pair of Seaflash 160 Digital strobes to round out the package, and picked everything up in Florida just one day before heading out to The Bahamas.

In truth, I was just as excited about using the strobes for the first time as I was the camera, as I am primarily a big animal shooter and had been waiting to buy a set of large, powerful strobes for quite some time. Look out for my forthcoming in-depth review of these mighty flashguns, but for now, I can tell you that they are the best strobes I have ever used for wide-angle work.

Seacam borrows their philosophy from Leonardo Da Vinci—“Simplicity is the ultimate form of perfection”—and that is immediately evident when you unbox their products and set up the rig for the first time. Everything about the housing exudes quality and precision craftsmanship, from the buttons and dials to the stunning silver finish, a patented tech that not only looks incredible but is designed to not fade or deteriorate over time like standard powder-coated housings often do. Extremely tidy on the inside and out, the housing is designed to work seamlessly with the company’s own ports, strobes, and arm system, creating a complete system that is the ultimate tool for creative underwater photography.
 

Allowing full access to the camera’s controls, the Seacam Z9 housing is a pleasure to use and configure
 

There are two sturdy and nicely shaped handles attached to either side of the housing, and the strobe arms connect to the body of the camera instead of the top of the handles, making everything feel reassuringly robust and durable. All of the important controls are perfectly placed where your hands will hold the housing, giving full access to all of the settings you need to change while using the camera underwater. All of the necessary electronics to use strobes with electrical or fiber-optic cables are built into the housing and are also super simple to set up and use. As you’d expect, the ports and viewfinder screw satisfyingly into place and all line up perfectly.

I use my Nikon D500 in a Nauticam housing almost every day, so I anticipated having some issues getting used to a different camera and housing, especially considering I didn’t have much time to play with it before I was surrounded by sharks, but the Seacam system was very easy to figure out and use to its full potential very quickly.

Underwater, the entire rig was just slightly negatively buoyant—just how I like it—so there was no need to add floats or weights to balance the system. The Z9 is bigger and heavier than most pro camera bodies, but once inside the housing with all of the accessories attached, it really didn’t feel any different from other DSLR cameras I have dived with in the past. While I certainly wouldn’t consider the Z9 a travel-friendly camera, I still managed to fit everything I needed into a Think Tank photo bag and a small rucksack, and travel from the US to The Bahamas and then on to the Caribbean without any issues.
 

The compact dome port is the perfect size for travel and works well with the Nikon 8–15mm fisheye lens

As well as kindly loaning us a Z9 camera, our friends at Backscatter also sent out a Nikon AF-S 8–15mm fisheye and a Z-mount 105mm macro lens. The Nikon fisheye is popular among full-frame DSLR shooters and can be used without issue on Z-series cameras using Nikon’s FTZ adaptor. I already own an F-mount 105mm, so was happy to receive a Z-series macro lens to compare the two.

In The Bahamas, it was hard to find any reason to shoot macro, but the sharks and reef scenes were perfect for assessing the performance of the Nikon fisheye. When I returned home to Sint Maarten, I dived as much as possible with the Z-mount 105mm lens.

Nikon AF-S 8–15mm f/3.5-4.5 Fisheye

I have been shooting the Tokina 10–17mm on my D500 for years. The popular fisheye zoom lens can be used throughout its entire focal length range, producing frame-filling images at both ends. By contrast, the Nikon fisheye is a more specialist lens when used on a full-frame camera: It only fills the frame closer to the 15mm end, but gives you a 180° full circular effect at 8mm—which most people will either love or hate. (Anything in-between produces jarringly cropped circular images, which you wouldn’t want to show anybody.) So, the majority of the time, I simply set the lens to 15mm and left it alone. Keep in mind that on cropped-sensor bodies, the 8–15mm fisheye is frame filling at both ends of the focal length range, so you have the option of switching the Z9 to DX mode and utilizing the full zoom.
 

A sunset reef scene captured with the Nikon 8–15mm fisheye lens—at 15mm (f/8, 1/640s, ISO 400)
 

While there aren’t currently any native fisheye lenses for Z-mount cameras, the F-mount 8–15mm with the FTZ adaptor worked flawlessly. Focus was fast and effective and didn’t feel any slower than the native Z 105mm lens I used later, which is good news for owners of Nikon glass hoping to make use of their existing lens collection on a new Z-series camera. Paired with the Seacam compact dome, the Z9 and the 8–15mm fisheye produced some of my best shark images ever. I wouldn’t hesitate to use this setup until a Z-mount fisheye lens comes along one fine day.
 

A great hammerhead cruises close to the sand at Tiger Beach in The Bahamas (f/9, 1/120s, ISO 100)

Nikon Z 105mm f/2.8 Macro

The F-mount 105mm lens has been my go-to lens for macro for almost a decade, so I was keen to try out the Z-series version, which promised faster focus and sharper images. Seacam provided all of the necessary ports and extension rings for this lens, too, so I had no issues switching from wide-angle to macro shooting for the second part of the review. As mentioned, I went searching for fast-moving critters and the Z 105mm performed flawlessly on the Z9. However, the real question is: Did the Z 105mm perform any better than the F-mount version with an FTZ adaptor?

To test this, I did one dive with my own F-mount macro lens and the FTZ adaptor, and didn’t really notice much difference in performance between the two lenses. Considering most underwater shooters will purchase an FTZ adaptor to shoot with a fisheye lens and many will already own the F-mount 105mm macro anyway, do you really need to spend another $1000 dollars to go native?

In my opinion, you do not. If you already own the F-mount 105mm lens, save your money and spend it elsewhere. Of course, if you don’t have the lens in your kit bag then go ahead and purchase the Z-mount version, but whichever one you use with the Z9, it will produce excellent results. It is worth noting that the Z 105mm lens is slightly smaller and lighter than its predecessor, so if you are looking to shave some weight from your kit at any cost then the Z-series macro is the way to go. Otherwise, I would be happy to use either lens with the Z9. Keep in mind that there may be differences between the two lenses on other Z-series cameras.
 

The Z 105mm macro lens tracked this fast-moving yellowhead jawfish easily and produced a nice bokeh background (f/10, 1/250s, ISO 250)

Historically, Nikon has been behind its competitors when it comes to video, but the Z9 made a giant leap to rectify that situation: Not only can the Z9 shoot 8K at 60fps, but it can also record up to 4K/120p video. These two formats should provide underwater filmmakers everything they need to capture stunning footage and have plenty of room to edit in post while still outputting to 4K.

Most of my time with the Z9 was spent assessing its performance shooting stills, but I couldn’t completely neglect its video capabilities and so also recorded some short clips of sharks at Tiger Beach to highlight its most attractive film features.

On land, the Z9 has been getting rave reviews for the quality of its video footage, but underwater, things become more difficult. The first thing I wanted to test was the Z9’s ability to white balance at depth, something that has long been a complaint leveled at Nikon cameras. Unfortunately, I am sad to report that Nikon is yet to solve this problem: I was unable to get the Z9 to white balance deeper than about 50 feet. If you’re a serious underwater filmmaker, this is may well be a deal-breaker.

Fortunately for me, but perhaps not for the purpose of this review, most of the shark diving in The Bahamas is in shallow water with plenty of natural light to illuminate the scene. In these clear, well-lit conditions, the Z9 was able to white balance accurately and produce some really impressive results. I experimented with 4K/120p, but as you can see in the video below, that is actually a bit too much slow motion for a slow-moving shark! In fact, 8K/60p is a much more appealing setting, allowing you to slow down the footage by 50% while also giving you plenty of pixels to crop and add effects in post.
 

In the shallow waters at Tiger Beach, the Z9 produced beautiful results in all the 4K and 8K modes
 

The files produced with these settings are in Nikon’s new N-RAW format and recorded internally to the memory card at 12 bits. These large files allow for plenty of scope in the editing suite but also quickly eat up space on your memory cards and fill up your hard drives. The 128GB CFexpress card I was sent was able to shoot 8K/60p for just over four minutes before the card was completely full! That is nowhere near enough time to dedicate an entire dive to shooting video. Shooting at 4K/120p gave me a slightly more respectable 15 minutes before the card was full, but this lack of storage space made shooting video a frustrating experience that can only be solved by purchasing a handful of high-capacity—and very expensive—memory cards.

One other issue that I only discovered when writing this review is that the N-RAW files cannot be opened or edited in Adobe Premier Pro. Those wanting to shoot video on the Z9 will need to download and learn to use DaVinci Resolve to make the most of the camera’s video features. I’m sure Adobe will fix this problem eventually, but for now it is certainly something to keep in mind.

Despite the fact that the camera cannot white balance below 50 feet, and data storage and post-processing might be an issue, I still think it is possible to capture amazing quality video using the Z9 in good conditions. In fact, the camera is well suited to divers just like me whose main focus is photography, but who would still like to have the option to shoot broadcast quality video footage if they decide to do so.
 

Wide-angle images of sea turtles are easy to capture with the Z9 in 3D tracking mode (f/11, 1/125s, ISO 250)

The Nikon Z9 produces superb quality high-resolution images, and the ultra-fast and reliable autofocus system means you will struggle to ever shoot out-of-focus images again! Coming from the Nikon D500, which is now eight years old, shooting with the Z9 represented a huge increase in quality that made me realize that now is the right time to upgrade from a DSLR to a full-frame mirrorless camera. Using the Z9’s bright and responsive blackout-free EVF to shoot and review images was a revelation, while the ability to use F-mount lenses with an FTZ adaptor makes the switch even more appealing.

The only question now is: Do I go for the Z9 or consider the Z8, a more travel-friendly “baby Z9,” instead? Whatever camera I decide to purchase, there is a very good chance it will find a home in a shiny Seacam Silver housing. The complete Seacam system was an absolute joy to use, and combining the Z9 with the amazing Seaflash 160 Digital flashguns via electronic sync cables is as good as it gets. The Nikon Z9 is quite simply the best camera I have ever used to take photographs underwater, and the Seacam housing is its perfect companion.
 

Another pin-sharp shark portrait captured with the Nikon 8–15mm fisheye lens (f/10, 1/320s, ISO 320)
 

When purchasing underwater photography equipment like the products mentioned in this article, please support DPG by supporting our retail partner—Backscatter.com
Nikon Z9	Nikon AF-S 8–15mm fisheye		Nikon Z 105mm f/2.8 macro
Seacam Nikon Z9 Housing	Seacam S10 Viewfinder		Seacam Seaflash 160 D