Nikon Z9 Background Blur: Aperture, Distance and Lenses

To blur the background on the Nikon Z9, set the lowest f-number your lens allows, move closer to your subject, and put lots of space between your subject and whatever is behind them. A longer lens and a lens with a wide opening, like an f/1.8 prime, make the soft background much easier to get.

The Z9 gives you plenty to work with. It uses a stacked 45.7MP full-frame sensor. Nikon also maintains that the Z-mount has the largest throat diameter and shortest flange distance of any full-frame system. Still, the camera only blurs the background when you give it the right instructions, and those instructions are simple once you see them.

The four levers that blur a background

Background blur comes from four things you control. Each one helps a little on its own. Use two or three together and the background melts away.

1. Aperture: open the window wide

Aperture is the hole inside your lens that lets light through. It works like the pupil of your eye: big in a dark room, small in bright sun.

Aperture is written as an f-number, like f/1.8 or f/8. Here is the part that confuses almost everyone at first, so don't worry if it feels backwards: a small number means a big opening. f/1.8 is a wide-open window. f/11 is a tiny peephole.

For a blurry background, go small on the number. Pick the lowest f-number your lens offers.

2. Get closer to your subject

Hold your finger a few inches from your eye and look at it. The room behind your finger goes fuzzy. Your camera behaves the same way. Walk toward the person, pet or object you're photographing until they fill more of the frame.

3. Push the background far away

If someone is leaning against a brick wall, the wall will stay fairly sharp no matter what you do. Ask them to take ten big steps away from it, toward you. Now the wall is far behind them and it softens.

4. Use a longer focal length

Focal length is how zoomed in your lens is. A 24mm lens sees a whole room. A 200mm lens sees a small slice, like looking through binoculars.

Try this: zoom in, then step back until your subject is the same size in the frame as before. The background behind them looks bigger and softer.

Lever	For more blur	For less blur
Aperture	Lower f-number, like f/1.8 or f/2.8	Higher f-number, like f/8 or f/11
You to subject	Step closer	Step back
Subject to background	Lots of space	Subject near the wall
Focal length	Zoom in	Zoom out

You don't need all four every time. If your lens only opens to f/5.6, lean harder on distance and focal length. Think of it like a recipe: if you're short on one ingredient, you add a bit more of another.

Setting up the Nikon Z9 for a blurry background

Use Aperture Priority

Aperture Priority lets you choose the f-number while the camera picks the shutter speed for you. It's like steering a tandem bike while your friend does the pedaling. You decide where to go, the camera keeps things moving.

A PetaPixel contributor who has used every Nikon DSLR listed Aperture Priority for several of the Z9 sample photos in their write-up, including one shot at f/1.8. If you're still getting comfortable with the modes and menus, the Nikon camera menu setup guide walks through the basics step by step.

Put your favorite settings one press away

TechRadar notes that the Z9's i menu gives you one-button access to 12 customizable functions, like ISO and white balance. TechRadar also points to the Z9's function buttons, including three on the front, which make the camera highly customizable.

Put the settings you change most often in easy reach. When you're chasing a soft background, those are usually aperture, ISO and your focus area.

Check whether you're in FX or DX

The Z9 can switch between FX and DX crop modes. In plain words, FX uses the whole sensor and DX uses a smaller piece from the middle, a bit like cropping a photo on your phone. The PetaPixel contributor set the Fn3 button to switch between FX and DX, which changes the image from 45MP to 21MP.

If your picture suddenly looks more zoomed in than you expected, check which mode you're in. That's a quick fix, not a mistake to feel bad about.

Watch your shutter speed in bright light

The shutter is like a door that opens and closes to let light in. When you open the aperture wide, lots of light pours in, so the camera closes that door very quickly to keep the picture from getting too bright. In one Digital Camera World sample, the Nikkor Z 28-75mm f/2.8 at f/2.8 was paired with a shutter speed of 1/1250 sec. The Z9 does this with an electronic shutter only, since it has no mechanical shutter.

If your photos at f/1.8 still look too bright on a sunny day, lower your ISO first. The exposure triangle guide shows how aperture, shutter speed and ISO balance each other.

Keeping your subject sharp when the background goes soft

When you blur the background, you also shrink your depth of field. Picture a loaf of bread. Depth of field is the one slice that's in focus. Open your aperture wide and that slice gets very thin. A person's eye can be sharp while their ear is already soft. That's why focus matters so much here.

Let subject detection find the eye

Digital Camera World reports that the Z9's Deep Learning AF can recognize nine kinds of subjects: human eyes, faces, heads and upper bodies; animal eyes, heads and bodies; and cars, planes, trains and motorbikes. The same review found the Z9 very good at detecting a subject's eyes even when they're tiny in the frame.

The PetaPixel contributor described an advertising shoot where the Z9 always showed a tiny white box right on the near eye, so they never had to worry that the near eye wouldn't be sharp. That shot used a Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G on an FTZ adapter at 1/160 sec, f/5 and ISO 200 in manual exposure.

Try 3D tracking for people who move

In PetaPixel's 2024 flagship comparison, the reviewer found the Z9 had no issues tracking a portrait subject and called 3D tracking one of the simplest and most effective setups available. One small catch from PetaPixel's 2022 review: the joystick shortcut for switching between eyes is not present in 3D AF tracking mode.

When the camera grabs the background

PetaPixel's reviewer had some shots where the Z9 focused on the background instead of the animals, and believed it was user error early on while still learning the AF modes. If that happens to you, it means you're learning the camera, which is exactly where everyone starts. The Z9 has a dedicated AF Mode/Area Mode button. Try a smaller focus area placed right on your subject, or turn subject detection on.

A note for video

TechRadar points out that filmmakers get Eye AF tracking when shooting video on the Z9. Digital Camera World found that the AF takes a hit in video compared with stills. Before an important shoot, run a short test at your widest aperture and watch the playback closely.

Lenses that make background blur easier on the Z9

Your lens decides how low your f-number can go and how far you can zoom. Below are lenses that appear in published Z9 reviews, with the settings the reviewers used for their own photos.

Lens	Widest f-number in the name	Settings in the review	Source
NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 S	f/1.8	1/15 sec, f/1.8, ISO 8000, Aperture Priority	PetaPixel
Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G with FTZ adapter	f/1.8	1/160 sec, f/5, ISO 200, manual exposure	PetaPixel
Nikkor Z 28-75mm f/2.8	f/2.8	1/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 10000	Digital Camera World
Nikon Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S	f/4.5-5.6	Suggested pairing for wildlife	TechRadar
Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR with Nikkor TC-14e III	f/5.6	1/2000 sec, f/8, ISO 720, Aperture Priority	PetaPixel

The 50mm f/1.8: a wide window for everyday shots

In the PetaPixel contributor's sample, the NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 S was used at f/1.8 for a handheld 1/15 sec exposure, and Vibration Reduction had no problem with it. The Z9's in-body stabilization can work together with lens vibration reduction for up to 6 stops of shake compensation. An f/1.8 lens gives you the aperture lever in a big way, and it helps in dim light too.

The 85mm f/1.8G: two levers at once

Photographer Jen Pottheiser told PetaPixel that F-mount NIKKOR lenses can be used reliably with the Mount Adapter FTZ II. An 85mm f/1.8G pairs a wide f/1.8 opening with a longer focal length than a 50mm, so you're pulling two levers together. Notice that the reviewer chose f/5 for their shoot. You don't have to shoot wide open every time. Pick the f-number that keeps the parts you care about sharp.

The 28-75mm f/2.8: one zoom, two looks

Digital Camera World shot the Nikkor Z 28-75mm f/2.8 at f/2.8, and also at f/11 for a 0.4 sec exposure at ISO 320. Same lens, very different choices. For a soft background, zoom toward 75mm, open to f/2.8 and step closer.

Long lenses for wildlife and sports

TechRadar suggests pairing the Z9 with the Nikon Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S for wildlife. The PetaPixel contributor photographed eagles with a Nikkor AF-S 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR and a Nikkor TC-20e III teleconverter at 1000mm and f/11, and reported the autofocus stayed with the action. With lenses this long, the focal length lever and the distance to the background do most of the work.

Digital Camera World also keeps a list of the best lenses for the Nikon Z8 and Z9, which is a good next stop once you know which focal lengths you enjoy.

Bonus: darken a busy background with flash

Blur isn't the only way to quiet a messy background. Flash sync speed is the fastest shutter speed that still works with your flash. PetaPixel notes the Z9's 1/250th of a second flash sync speed can help reduce ambient light in the background. In plain words: the flash lights your subject, and the quick shutter keeps the room behind them darker. A darker background and a softer background both help your subject stand out.

Common blur problems and kind fixes

• The background is still sharp. Check your f-number. You may be at f/8 without realizing it. Lower the number, step closer, and move your subject away from the wall.
• The nose is sharp but the eyes are soft. Your slice of focus is very thin. Turn on eye detection, or raise the f-number a little, say from f/1.8 to f/2.8, to make the slice thicker.
• Everything looks too bright. Lower ISO first, then check that the camera isn't already at its fastest shutter speed.
• The camera focused on the wall. Use a smaller focus area and place it on your subject, or let subject detection pick the eye.

Each of these is a lesson your camera is teaching you. Once you've seen it once, you'll spot it instantly next time.

A five-minute practice drill

1. Put a mug on a table, with a window or a bookshelf far behind it.
2. Switch to Aperture Priority and set your lowest f-number.
3. Take one photo from close up. Then take one at f/8 from the same spot.
4. Move the mug so it sits right in front of the bookshelf and shoot both again.
5. Zoom in, step back, and shoot one more.

Line the photos up side by side. You'll see each lever doing its job. That picture in your head will stay with you far longer than any rule.

If you also shoot on a Sony camera with a dedicated defocus button, this guide to Sony's Background Defocus button covers that one-press approach. For more short practice drills like this, sign up for the thecamera.school newsletter.