Nikon Z f vs Nikon D780

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Nikon Z f and the Nikon D780, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Nikon Z f was introduced in September 2023 and Nikon D780 was introduced in January 2020. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Nikon Z f over Nikon D780.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Nikon D780 over Nikon Z f.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Nikon Z f and Nikon D780 have 3.2" screens with 2,089k dots and 2,359k dot resolutions respectively. Nikon Z f has a Fully Articulated screen which makes it selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Nikon D780 has a Tilting screen which makes it very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Both models feature touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Viewfinder

Nikon Z f has a built-in 0.5" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 3,686k dots resolution and Nikon D780 has a built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder. They both have 100% coverage.

BSI-CMOS Sensor

Nikon Z f features a 24.4 megapixel Full Frame BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.9 x 23.9 mm and a total area of 858 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 64,000 and expands to 50 - 204,800 in boosted mode. Nikon D780 features a 24.5 megapixel Full Frame BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.9 x 23.9 mm and a total area of 571.2 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 51,200 and expands to 50 - 204,800 in boosted mode.

The cameras have BSI-CMOS sensor, short for Backside Illuminated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor sensor. In traditional CMOS sensors, the wiring and circuitry are located on the front side of the sensor, which can block some of the incoming light. BSI technology flips this design by placing the photosensitive elements (pixels) on the backside of the sensor, allowing more light to reach the pixels. This significantly enhances light sensitivity and improves low-light performance. BSI-CMOS sensors are particularly effective in low-light conditions, as they can capture more light, resulting in brighter and less noisy images. This makes them well-suited for indoor and night photography. BSI-CMOS sensors deliver a higher SNR and reduced cross-talk.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Nikon Z f is equipped with Expeed 7 processor and can take pictures up to 6048 x 4032 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4528 x 3024, 3984 x 2656, 3024 x 2016, 2976 x 1992, 1984 x 1328 with 1:1, 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios. Nikon D780 is equipped with EXPEED 6 processor and can take pictures up to 6048 x 4024 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 3936 x 2624 (DX crop) with 1:1, 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios.

Lens Mount

Nikon Z f has Nikon Z lens mount and Nikon D780 has Nikon F lens mount. Due to their Full Frame sensor their crop factor (also called lens multiplier) is equal to 1x. This means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length.

No Low-Pass Filter on Nikon Z f

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Nikon Z f. This results in a slightly sharper image but may also introduce moiré patterns and aliasing artifacts when photographing subjects with fine, repetitive patterns or details.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Nikon Z f

Nikon Z f has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) with 8 stops of compensation. This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi

Cameras have built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5 802.11ac/b/g/n 2.4/5 GHz on Nikon Z f, 802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz on Nikon D780) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

Bluetooth

Nikon Z f and Nikon D780 have built-in Bluetooth (version 5.0 on Nikon Z f, version 4.1 on Nikon D780) which lets you to connect the camera to a smartphone or a dedicated remote control device. This allows you to remotely trigger the camera, adjust settings and controls remotely through a paired mobile app. While Wi-Fi is generally faster for transferring larger files, Bluetooth can be used for small, selective transfers, it can provide real-time information about your camera's battery status, memory card capacity, and other key settings directly on your paired smartphone or smartwatch.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in Bluetooth.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 3.2 Gen 1x1 (5 GBit/sec) Type-C inputs for data transfer and battery charging. Nikon Z f has a Micro Type D HDMI and Nikon D780 has a Mini HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Nikon Z f comes with EN-EL15c battery pack with battery life of 380 shots and Nikon D780 comes with EN-EL15b battery pack with battery life of 2260 shots.

External Storage Slots

Nikon Z f has two card slots - one for SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) and one for microSD/microSDHC/microSDXC (UHS-I). Nikon D780 has Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slots.

Shutter

Nikon Z f has Electronically-controlled vertical-travel focal-plane mechanical shutter and Electronic front-curtain shutter and Electronic shutter. Nikon D780 has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Nikon Z f, and up to 1/8000 sec on Nikon D780. Nikon Z f can shoot continuously up to 15.0 fps with electronic shutter and up to 14.0 fps with mechanical shutter. Nikon D780 can shoot continuously up to 12.0 fps.

Focusing

Nikon Z f has Hybrid phase-detection/contrast AF system with 273 focusing points and Nikon D780 has 51 (15 cross-type) focusing points. Nikon Z f has detection range from -10 to +19 EV and Nikon D780 has detection range from -3 to +19 EV. The ability to focus at as low as -10 EV is a feature exclusive to top-tier professional cameras.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Nikon Z f and Nikon D780 range from -4 to +17 EV and -3 to +20 EV respectively and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Nikon Z f and ±5 EV range on Nikon D780. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Nikon Z f and exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Nikon D780.

Flash

Cameras have no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected to both of them via Shoe Mount or Wireless connection to Nikon Z f and via Hot Shoe to Nikon D780. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/200 sec on both cameras.

Nikon Z f body has dimensions of 144 x 103 x 49 mm (5.67 x 4.06 x 1.93") and Nikon D780 body has dimensions of 144 x 116 x 76 mm (5.67 x 4.57 x 2.99"). Nikon Z f weighs 710 g (1.57 lb / 25.04 oz) and Nikon D780 weighs 840 g (1.85 lb / 29.63 oz).

Nikon Z f

Nikon D780

144 mm

103 mm

144 mm

116 mm

103 mm

116 mm

49 mm

76 mm