Nikon Z9 - Cleanest ISO settings?

[Zack Birlew]

Hi, everybody, I've been looking at the Nikon Z9 as a future camera option but in a review video I noticed that there was talk about cleaner ISO values at certain off values, like ISO 4000 instead of ISO 3200. Is this the case with this camera and has anybody nailed down the cleanest ISO settings for the Z9 yet? Whether I personally get a Z9 in the near future or not, it would be good to know in case this is a possible trend for Nikon video going forward.

 

[NorBro]

In general, here's how it works:

(1) The lowest ISO in any non-LOG profile will always be the cleanest (but dynamic range will be negatively affected). In most cameras, 100 is the cleanest. But sometimes 400 or 500 or 800 will be the lowest number you can start with if you're shooting LOG.

(2) Some cameras have two native ISOs. How a camera handles their ISOs can be model-specific.

For instance, in some models using a slightly lower ISO than the second base ISO is best.

But in other cameras, like the Pocket 4K, using the exact second ISO (1250) will result in the cleanest IQ (cleanest past the lowest ISO).

You can usually see how a camera performs by performing a simple lens cap test and evaluating the noise. In the case of the Z9, it can very well be that at 3200 the camera is a bit noisy but suddenly cleans up at 4000 (but I can't confirm that).

I think it's too early to tell how the Z9 performs in its various profiles and LOG settings and how much recording RAW and/or externally with and without noise reduction affects the picture and makes a difference.

RAW recording can be very noisy at any available ISO.