Particularly once the dual gain sensor moves to its higher conversion gain mode, above ISO 400. Raising the ISO gives a decent improvement in noise performance over what we see at base ISO. It's not a major difference in noise, especially if you can make use of the camera's ISO 64 setting, rather than the a1's base ISO of 100. If you underexpose, to protect highlights, then pull the dark regions of the image up, you'll encounter a little more noise, if you really push to the camera's dynamic range limits. The slightly higher noise level we saw results in a slight reduction in dynamic range, compared with the Z7 II (and hence, with the a1).

Overall, the Z9 doesn't fall too far behind the Z7 II and isn't too far off the performance of the Sony a1. And, likewise, noise reduction at high ISOs can't retain as much detail as the Sony. Sharpening is less subtle than on the Sony, meaning the a1 ends up looking a touch more detailed. JPEG color looks good, with warmish caucasian skin-tones, pinks that skew closer to orange than magenta, and solid (not-too-green) yellows. There appears to be a (small) price to pay in terms of noise performance at higher ISOs, compared with both the Z7 II and its immediate rivals, but it's only really visible in side-by-side comparisons, even at very high ISO settings. There's enough moiré present to suggest there's no AA filter, but this could also suggest the 85mm F1.8 is readily resolving higher frequencies than the sensor can correctly capture. The details levels on show from the Z9 are a fraction above those of the Z7 II, perhaps because the magnified live view has allowed slightly better focus, but also possibly as a result of the absence of any shutter shock (or mechanical shutter, for that matter).

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