Ever questioned who makes the picture sensor inside your digital camera?
For those who shoot with Canon or Sony it is simple, as these are the one two manufacturers that fabricate their very own sensors. For everybody else, although – whether or not it is Nikon, Fujifilm, OM System or another firm – sensor manufacturing is dealt with by exterior foundries.
To be clear, whereas some manufacturers do purchase off-the-shelf sensors, many do in reality engineer their very own designs – they only have them manufactured by another person. And within the case of Nikon, everybody assumes that they are all made by Sony… however this is not the case!
In the course of the launch of the Nikon ZR, when chatting about who fabs the sensor, I discovered myself in an attention-grabbing alternate. “It isn’t who you assume it’s,” I used to be instructed. “Everybody thinks it is Sony, however it’s not.”
Nikon itself stays very tightlipped about what’s below the hood in every digital camera, so I did slightly digging to see what I might uncover…
Who makes Nikon’s sensors?
Whereas Sony does not make all of Nikon’s sensors, it has actually made heaps of them relationship all the way in which again to the DSLR days.
From what I can inform, of the trendy mirrorless lineup, Sony makes the sensors for the full-frame Z7, Z7 II, Z8 and Z9. (There’s an assumption that the Z6 and Z6 II sensor is predicated on the one within the D750, which can also be made by Sony.)
For its APS-C cameras, the sensors for the Z30, Z50, Z50 II and Zfc are made by TowerJazz. It is broadly believed that the sensors in Purple cameras are additionally fabricated by TowerJazz. It is rumored that the sensor for the Z7 III can be made by the corporate, and it might stand to purpose that the ZR / Z6 III sensor is produced there as properly.
Going again to the Large N’s first technology of mirrorless cameras, the now-discontinued Nikon 1 sequence, the sensors seem to have been designed in-house however manufactured by Aptina.
And for the golden period of DSLRs, the majority of sensor fabrication appears to have been carried out by Sony. A handful had been made by Toshiba (whose sensor enterprise was bought by Sony in 2015), Renesas and Matsushita (the Japanese title for Panasonic, earlier than adopting the title globally in 2008).
Nikon digital camera sensors by producer
This checklist has been compiled from varied sources, primarily an inventory maintained by Nikon Rumors and a report by (of all individuals) Canon Rumors.
It isn’t exhaustive and solely covers interchangeable lens cameras – so it does not embody the model’s lengthy line of compact cameras, for instance. Nonetheless, it paints a really attention-grabbing image of the sensors inside Nikon’s our bodies over time…
Nikon Z9 – 45.7MP CMOS Sony
Nikon Z8 – 45.7MP CMOS Sony
Nikon Z7 / Z7 II – 45.7MP CMOS Sony
Nikon Z30 – 20.9MP CMOS TowerJazz
Nikon Z50 / Z50 II – 20.9MP CMOS TowerJazz
Nikon Zfc – 20.9MP CMOS TowerJazz
Nikon D1 – 2.7MP Sony
Nikon D1h – 2.7MP Sony
Nikon D1x – 5.47MP Sony
Nikon D2h – 4MP LBCAST (?)
Nikon D2hs – 4MP LBCAST (?)
Nikon D2x – 12MP CMOS Sony
Nikon D3 – 12MP CMOS (Panasonic?)
Nikon D3s – 12MP CMOS (Panasonic?)
Nikon D3x – 24MP CMOS Sony
Nikon D4 – 16MP CMOS (Renesas / Toshiba?)
Nikon D4s – 16MP CMOS (Renesas / Toshiba?)
Nikon D5 – 20.8MP CMOS Sony
Nikon Df – 16MP CMOS (Renesas / Toshiba?)
Nikon D40 – 6MP CCD Sony
Nikon D40x – 10MP CCD Sony
Nikon D50 – 6MP CCD Sony
Nikon D60 – 10MP CCD Sony
Nikon D70 – 6MP CCD Sony
Nikon D80 – 10MP CCD Sony
Nikon D90 – 12MP CMOS Sony
Nikon D100 – 6MP CCD Sony
Nikon D200 – 10MP CCD Sony
Nikon D300 – 12MP CMOS Sony
Nikon D500 – 20.9MP CMOS Sony
Nikon D600 – 24MP CMOS Sony
Nikon D610 – 24MP CMOS Sony
Nikon D700: 12 MP CMOS (Panasonic?)
Nikon D750 – 24MP CMOS Sony
Nikon D800 / D800E – 36MP CMOS Sony
Nikon D810 / D810A – 36MP CMOS Sony
Nikon D850 – 45MP CMOS Sony
Nikon D7000 – 16MP CMOS Sony
Nikon D7100 – 24MP CMOS Toshiba
Nikon D7200 – 24MP CMOS Toshiba
Nikon D3000 – 10MP CCD Sony
Nikon D3100 – 14MP CMOS (Renesas?)
Nikon D3200 – 24MP CMOS (Renesas?)
Nikon D3300 – 24MP CMOS Sony
Nikon D5000 – 12MP CMOS Sony
Nikon D5100 – 16MP CMOS Sony
Nikon D5200 – 24MP CMOS Toshiba
Nikon D5300 – 24MP CMOS Sony
Nikon D5500 – 24MP CMOS Sony
Nikon 1 S1 – 10.1MP CMOS Aptina
Nikon 1 S2 – 14MP CMOS Aptina
Nikon 1 J1 – 10.1MP CMOS Aptina
Nikon 1 J2 – 10.1MP CMOS Aptina
Nikon 1 J3 – 14MP CMOS Aptina
Nikon 1 J4 – 18MP CMOS Aptina
Nikon 1 J5 – 20.8MP CMOS Aptina
Nikon 1 AW1 – 14MP CMOS Aptina
Nikon 1 V1 – 10.1MP CMOS Aptina
Nikon 1 V2 – 14MP CMOS Aptina
Nikon 1 V3 – 18MP CMOS Aptina
Clearly, there’s way more to a digital camera than simply who makes the picture sensor. Certainly, I do not assume you would probably inform who makes your sensor except you really look it up!
And even cameras that use the identical sensors add their very own customization and fine-tuning. The Fujifilm GFX and Hasselblad X methods each use the identical 100MP Sony chip, for instance, however every deploys it very in another way.
All the things from the picture processor and coloration science to the autofocus and lens mount to the menu design and ergonomics makes each digital camera distinctive. Nonetheless, it is attention-grabbing to see whose DNA is in essentially the most basic a part of Nikon’s cameras over time!
You may additionally like…
Check out the greatest Nikon cameras, together with the greatest Nikon lenses for DSLRs and the greatest Nikon Z lenses for mirrorless cameras.