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Nikon has officially launched its new flagship mirrorless camera. It has a 45.7-megapixel Z9 with 8K 30p video and up to 20 fps RAW burst shooting speeds. Nikon’s Z9 is the first camera featuring a stacked sensor with built-in memory that allows for very fast readout speeds. Moreover, Nikon is so confident in the electronic shutter that it has abandoned the mechanical shutter entirely. So, the Z9 is the first high-end professional camera without one. The Z9 allows flash sync of up to 1/200th of a second, which seems like the fastest sync speed ever for an electronic shutter. The faster sensor allows JPEG burst shooting at up to 30 fps or RAW photos at 20 fps.

You can shoot photos at an astounding 120 fps if you need to drop down to 11 megapixels. The Nikon Z has much improved buffering letting you capture up to 1,000 frames at once with either JPEG or the new HE (high efficiency) RAW compression algorithms. Nikon autofocus (AF) system is also all-new. It can now track a wide range of subjects much like Canon’s EOS R3. The camera will figure that out if you set it to “Auto”, but you can also set the subject type manually. It also offers a 3D tracking system much as you can find on Nikon’s DSLRs.

Nikon has also improved its in-body stabilization system. It can now combine in-body and lens stabilization systems for steadier video or fewer blurry photos. This will only be available with several lenses, to begin with, however, namely the Nikkor Z 70-200m F/2.8, Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR, and freshly announced Z 100-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VR S. The Z3 will be able to capture 8K at 30p at launch, along with oversampled 4K 30p from an 8K capture, as well as to capture 4K up to 120 fps. You will be able to capture these formats at up to 10-bit with H.264 or H.265 long GOP codecs. Nikon is offering the very useful option of capturing video with ProRes 422 HQ compression.

Nikon promises that you’ll be able to capture the oversampled 4K/30p for more than 2 hours at normal temperatures. The Z9 has a large pro-style body with controls. It uses dual CFexpress Type B slots for maximum performance for video and burst photos. The new large, EN-EL18d battery is rated for up to 740 shots per charge with the LCD, or 700 shots with the EVF enabled. The Z9 has a 3.69 million dot OLED viewfinder with just a 60 fps refresh rate. It uses a multi-direction rear LCD and not a fully-articulating screen. The Nikon Z9 will arrive by the end of the year in the US at $5,500 for the body only.