Nikon D5 vs Nikon D6

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D5 compared with D6

	NikonD5	NikonD6
Overview
Released
Released	March 2016	June 2020
Image and sensor
Camera type
Camera type	DSLR	DSLR
Sensor format
Sensor format	Full frame	Full frame
Sensor type
Sensor type	CMOS	CMOS
Sensor dimensions
Sensor dimensions	35.9 × 23.9 mm	35.9 × 23.9 mm
Effective resolution
Effective resolution	20.8 MP	20.8 MP
Largest image
Largest image	5568 × 3712	5568 × 3712
RAW recording
RAW recording	Yes	Yes
Standard ISO range
Standard ISO range	100–102400	100–102400
Sensor detail
Sensor detail	Japan specifies 20.82 million effective and 21.33 million total pixels, rounded to 20.8 million effective in the US; sensor-cleaning system. FX, 1.2×, DX and 5:4 image areas	Japan specifies 20.82 million effective and 21.33 million total pixels, rounded to 20.8 million effective globally; sensor-cleaning system. FX, 1.2×, DX, 5:4, 1:1 and 16:9 image areas
Image formats
Image formats	Large NEF RAW at 12 or 14 bits with lossless compression, compression or no compression; medium and small RAW fixed to 12-bit lossless compression on Nikon's technical sheet. TIFF RGB, JPEG and RAW plus JPEG; Flat Picture Control. The original US announcement incorrectly describes medium/small RAW as uncompressed	Large NEF RAW at 12 or 14 bits with lossless compression, compression or no compression; medium and small RAW fixed to 12-bit lossless compression. JPEG and RAW plus JPEG; separate JPEG plus JPEG recording with different size/quality settings; Flat and Creative Picture Controls
ISO detail
ISO detail	Expanded equivalents ISO 50–3280000; Auto ISO	Expanded equivalents ISO 50–3280000; Auto ISO
Image processor
Image processor	EXPEED 5; Advanced Scene Recognition System	EXPEED 6; Advanced Scene Recognition System
Lens and shooting
Lens mount
Lens mount	Nikon F mount	Nikon F mount
Stabilisation
Stabilisation	Optical lens stabilisation	Optical lens stabilisation
Maximum continuous burst
Maximum continuous burst	12 fps	14 fps
Lens detail
Lens detail	Compatible G/E/D AF NIKKOR lenses, subject to PC lens restrictions; body autofocus motor for compatible screw-drive lenses. Non-CPU AI lenses support aperture-priority/manual; non-AI, IX and F3AF lenses unsupported; DX lenses use the DX image area	Compatible G/E/D AF NIKKOR lenses, subject to PC lens restrictions; body autofocus motor for compatible screw-drive lenses. Non-CPU AI lenses support aperture-priority/manual; non-AI, IX and F3AF lenses unsupported; DX lenses use the DX image area
Autofocus
Autofocus	Multi-CAM 20K; 153 points including 99 cross-type, with 55 points and 35 cross-type points user-selectable. Fifteen points support f/8, nine selectable; centre sensitivity -4 EV and other points -3 EV at ISO 100, 20°C. Single-point, dynamic 25/72/153, 3D tracking, Group-area and auto-area; firmware C1.10 adds dynamic nine-point AF, C1.20 adds Group-area HL/VL	Multi-CAM 37K; 105 selectable cross-type points, including 15 f/8-compatible points. Centre sensitivity -4.5 EV and other points -4 EV at ISO 100, 20°C. Single-point, dynamic 9/25/49/105, 3D tracking, Group-area and auto-area; 17 custom Group-area patterns; eye-priority focusing in auto-area and 3D tracking. Live view uses contrast detection with AF-S/AF-F
Shutter
Shutter	1/8000 to 30 seconds, Bulb and Time; flash sync 1/250 second; electronic front-curtain option in mirror-up mode; Nikon tested the shutter to 400000 actuations	1/8000 to 30 seconds, Bulb and Time; manual exposures extend to 900 seconds; flash sync 1/250 second; electronic front-curtain and electronic shutter options
Burst detail
Burst detail	Approximately 12 fps with AF/AE tracking; 14 fps locks focus and exposure with the mirror up. Nikon quotes up to 200 full-size 14-bit lossless RAW frames with its specified Lexar 2933× XQD 2.0 card	Approximately 14 fps mechanical with full AF/AE tracking under Nikon's AF-C, S/M, 1/250-second-or-faster test conditions. Silent full-resolution live-view shooting up to 10.5 fps; separate reduced-resolution live-view modes approximately 30 fps at 8 megapixels or 60 fps at 2 megapixels
Stabilisation detail
Stabilisation detail	Optical VR depends on the lens; no sensor-shift stabilisation. Firmware C1.10 adds electronic movie vibration reduction with a crop, excluding 4K and 1920 × 1080 crop modes	Optical VR depends on the lens; no sensor-shift stabilisation; electronic movie vibration reduction available
Flash
Flash	No built-in flash; hot shoe and threaded PC sync terminal; optical/radio Nikon CLS with compatible external Speedlights and required accessories	No built-in flash; hot shoe and threaded PC sync terminal; optical/radio Nikon CLS with compatible external Speedlights and required accessories
Exposure controls
Exposure controls	P/S/A/M; 180000-pixel RGB metering with Colour Matrix Metering III, centre-weighted, spot and highlight-weighted modes; ±5 EV compensation; Active D-Lighting	P/S/A/M; 180000-pixel RGB viewfinder metering with Colour Matrix Metering III, centre-weighted, spot and highlight-weighted modes; ±5 EV stills or ±3 EV video compensation; Active D-Lighting
Video
Highest video resolution
Highest video resolution	3840 × 2160 at 30 fps	3840 × 2160 at 30 fps
Video detail
Video detail	H.264 MOV at 4K 30p/25p/24p, Full HD 60p/50p/30p/25p/24p and 720p 60p/50p; actual NTSC rates 59.94/29.97/23.976. Native 1920 × 1080 crop also supports 60p/50p/30p/25p/24p. Firmware C1.10 extends recording to 29 minutes 59 seconds across up to eight 4 GB files; Photography Blog's three-minute 4K criticism concerns original firmware. Contrast-detection AF-S/AF-F; uncompressed HDMI output; in-camera time-lapse movies	H.264 MOV/MP4 at 4K 30p/25p/24p, Full HD 60p/50p/30p/25p/24p and 720p 60p/50p; actual NTSC rates 59.94/29.97/23.976. Nikon identifies 4K as 1.5× crop and native 1920 × 1080 crop as 3.0×; the latter supports 60p/50p/30p/25p/24p. Maximum recording 29 minutes 59 seconds; 4K up to 144 Mbps; timecode and in-camera time-lapse movies. Cards over 32 GB formatted in-camera allow files over 4 GB without splitting
Audio
Audio	Built-in stereo microphone; 3.5 mm stereo microphone input and headphone output; adjustable sensitivity; linear PCM; photograph voice memos	Built-in stereo microphone; 3.5 mm stereo microphone input and headphone output; adjustable sensitivity and attenuator; linear PCM for MOV or AAC for MP4; photograph voice memos
Screen and viewfinder
Viewfinder
Viewfinder	Optical	Optical
Screen size
Screen size	3.2″	3.2″
Screen dots
Screen dots	2,359,000	2,359,000
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	Yes	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	Fixed touch TFT with 170° viewing angle and approximately 100% coverage; playback gestures and touch text entry. US specifies 2359000 dots, Japan rounds to 2360000; dots count subpixels	Fixed touch TFT with 170° viewing angle, approximately 100% coverage, 11-level manual brightness and colour adjustment; touch priority image transfer with Ethernet or optional WT-6 connection. Global specifies 2359000 dots, Japan rounds to 2360000; dots count subpixels
Viewfinder detail
Viewfinder detail	Pentaprism; approximately 100% FX, 97% 1.2×/DX, and 100% vertical/97% horizontal for 5:4; 0.72× magnification with 50mm f/1.4 at infinity; 17 mm eyepoint; grid overlay	Pentaprism; approximately 100% FX coverage; 0.72× magnification with 50mm f/1.4 at infinity; 17 mm eyepoint; grid overlay
Connections and design
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	–	Yes
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	–	Yes
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	3780 photographs	3580 photographs
Body weight
Body weight	1235 g (better)	1270 g
Release detail
Release detail	Nikon Japan records sale on 26 March 2016; the US announcement scheduled March availability. Nikon's Japanese announcement explicitly identifies D4S as the previous model	Nikon Japan records sale on 5 June 2020 after postponements from March to May and then June; the original US announcement's April plan is not an actual retail date. Nikon's Japanese announcement explicitly identifies D5 as the previous model
Recording media
Recording media	Two XQD slots or two CompactFlash Type I UDMA7 slots, selected by body version; overflow, backup, separate RAW/JPEG and card copying. Firmware C1.40 adds CFexpress Type B support to XQD bodies	Two slots each accepting CFexpress Type B or XQD; overflow, backup, separate RAW/JPEG, separate JPEG/JPEG and card copying
Ports
Ports	USB 3.0 Micro-B, mini-HDMI Type C, 3.5 mm microphone/headphone sockets, RJ-45 Ethernet with 10/100/1000BASE-T support, ten-pin accessory terminal, PC sync and WT-6/WT-5 expansion connector	USB Type-C with SuperSpeed USB, mini-HDMI Type C, 3.5 mm microphone/headphone sockets, RJ-45 Ethernet with 10/100/1000BASE-T support, ten-pin accessory terminal, PC sync and WT-6 expansion connector; Kensington security lock compatibility
Wireless connections
Wireless connections	No integrated Wi-Fi or GPS; optional WT-6/WT-5 provides wireless network transfer. Optional GP-1A connects through the ten-pin terminal	Integrated 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2 and SnapBridge; 5 GHz availability depends on region and station mode. Integrated GPS/GLONASS/QZSS positioning, unavailable in some regions; optional WT-6 transmitter for network transfer
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Approximately 3780 CIPA photographs; original US specifications use EN-EL18a, while the later Japanese technical sheet specifies EN-EL18b at the same shot count	EN-EL18c; approximately 3580 CIPA single-frame photographs, 8670 continuous photographs under Nikon's separate test and 105 minutes of CIPA movie battery life. EN-EL18b/18a/18 also supported, with lower endurance using original EN-EL18
Charging
Charging	External MH-26a charger; Japanese technical sheet lists optional EH-6c adapter with EP-6 power connector	External MH-26a charger; optional EH-6c adapter with EP-6 power connector
Dimensions
Dimensions	Approximately 160 × 158.5 × 92 mm	Approximately 160 × 163 × 92 mm
Weight detail
Weight detail	XQD version approximately 1235 g body only or 1405 g with battery and two XQD cards; CompactFlash version 1240 g body only or 1415 g with battery and two CF cards. Main weight represents the XQD body	Approximately 1270 g body only; 1450 g with battery and two CFexpress cards, excluding body cap and shoe cover
Materials
Materials	Weather-sealed construction; illuminated controls	Magnesium-alloy body; dust/drip-resistant construction; illuminated controls
In the box
In the box	–	EN-EL18c battery, MH-26a charger, UC-E24 USB cable, AN-DC22 strap, DK-27 eyepiece adapter, DK-17F eyepiece, BF-1B body cap, BS-3 shoe cover, BL-6 battery cover and HDMI/USB cable clip