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D6vs Nikon Z9

GearFrame · Updated March 2026

Nikon D6 Nikon D6 (2020) Starting from £3200 new Best for Professional Sports, Press & Wildlife Photography View D6
VS
Nikon Nikon Z9 Nikon Nikon Z9 (2021) Starting from £5499 new Best for Professional sports & wildlife View Nikon Z9

GearScore™ Verdict — Which should you buy?

Professional Sports, Press & Wildlife Photography — D6 (2020): Nikon's final and finest DSLR — the D6 brought 105 all-cross-type AF points, 14fps, and built-in LAN to the F mount. The last word in optical viewfinder photography.

Professional Sports & Wildlife — Nikon Z9 (2021): The Z9 redefined what professional mirrorless could be — no mechanical shutter, 45MP stacked BSI, and 8K RAW in the most rugged Z body.

↓ Full specifications below

D6 (2020)

  • Sports, wildlife, and press photographers who prefer an optical viewfinder
  • Professional Nikon shooters with a substantial F-mount lens collection
  • Photojournalists who need built-in LAN for wire transmission
  • Nikon system professionals seeking a used flagship at under-new-price value

Nikon Z9 (2021)

  • Professional sports, wildlife and photojournalism photographers
  • Nikon D6 or D850 users making the final switch to mirrorless
  • Those who need the fastest, most reliable AF Nikon has ever made
  • Professionals who need a flagship body with no mechanical shutter

Quick take: The nikon z9 has the highest resolution at 46mp; the d6 is the most affordable. Scroll down for the full spec breakdown.

Full specifications

Specification D6 (2020)Nikon Z9 (2021)
Price £3,200 £5,499
Sensor 20.8MP full-frame BSI CMOS 45.7MP full-frame BSI stacked CMOS
Resolution 20.8MP 45.7MP
Video 4K UHD 30fps 8K/30p RAW, 4K/120p, ProRes RAW
Autofocus Multi-CAM 3500FX III — 105 AF points, all cross-type Subject detection AF, 493-point phase-detect
Stabilisation 6-stop IBIS
Burst Rate 14fps mechanical 20fps RAW / 120fps JPEG
Battery Life ~3580 shots (CIPA) 740 shots (CIPA)
Weight 1450g (body only) 1340g body only
Dimensions 160 × 163.5 × 92mm 149.0 × 149.5 × 90.5mm
Weather Sealed Yes Yes
Viewfinder OVF 0.72× magnification, 100% coverage 0.5" Quad-VGA OLED EVF, 3.69M dots, 120fps
Screen 3.2" fixed touchscreen, 2.36M dots 3.2" tilting touchscreen
Mount Nikon F mount Nikon Z-mount
Memory Cards Dual CFexpress Type B / XQD slots Dual CFexpress Type B / XQD
Connectivity Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, Ethernet (built-in), USB 3.1 USB-C 3.2, HDMI full-size, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth, LAN
Genre D6Nikon Z9
Sports & Action
10.0
9.0
Wildlife
9.0
9.0
Wedding & Events
8.0
Street
8.0
Portrait
7.0
Landscape
7.0
7.0
Photojournalism
9.0
Vlogging & Video
7.0
Travel
4.0

GearScore™ suitability scores are based on aggregated purchaser reviews weighted by photography genre. See how scores are calculated →

⚡ Compare specs side by side D6 prices → Nikon Z9 prices →

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