Who makes the sensor inside your Nikon camera? (Hint: it isn't just Sony!)

Ever wondered who makes the image sensor inside your camera?

If you shoot with Canon or Sony it's easy, as those are the only two brands that fabricate their own sensors. For everyone else, though – whether it's Nikon, Fujifilm, OM System or any other company – sensor production is handled by external foundries.

To be clear, while some brands do buy off-the-shelf sensors, many do in fact engineer their own designs – they just have them manufactured by someone else. And in the case of Nikon, everyone assumes that they're all made by Sony… but this isn't the case!

During the launch of the Nikon ZR, when chatting about who fabs the sensor, I found myself in an interesting exchange. "It's not who you think it is," I was told. "Everyone thinks it's Sony, but it's not."

Nikon itself remains very tightlipped about what's under the hood in each camera, so I did a little digging to see what I could uncover…

Who makes Nikon's sensors?

While Sony doesn't make all of Nikon's sensors, it has certainly made lots of them dating all the way back to the DSLR days.

From what I can tell, of the modern mirrorless lineup, Sony makes the sensors for the full-frame Z7, Z7 II, Z8 and Z9. (There is an assumption that the Z6 and Z6 II sensor is based on the one in the D750, which is also made by Sony.)

For its APS-C cameras, the sensors for the Z30, Z50, Z50 II and Zfc are made by TowerJazz. It's widely believed that the sensors in Red cameras are also fabricated by TowerJazz. It's rumored that the sensor for the Z7 III will be made by the company, and it would stand to reason that the ZR / Z6 III sensor is produced there as well.

Going back to the Big N's first generation of mirrorless cameras, the now-discontinued Nikon 1 series, the sensors appear to have been designed in-house but manufactured by Aptina.

And for the golden era of DSLRs, the bulk of sensor fabrication seems to have been performed by Sony. A handful were made by Toshiba (whose sensor business was purchased by Sony in 2015), Renesas and Matsushita (the Japanese name for Panasonic, before adopting the name globally in 2008).

Nikon camera sensors by manufacturer

This list has been compiled from various sources, primarily a list maintained by Nikon Rumors and a report by (of all people) Canon Rumors.

It's not exhaustive and only covers interchangeable lens cameras – so it doesn't include the brand's long line of compact cameras, for example. Still, it paints a very interesting picture of the sensors inside Nikon's bodies over the years…

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

Obviously, there's far more to a camera than just who makes the image sensor. Indeed, I don't think you could possibly tell who makes your sensor unless you actually look it up!

And even cameras that use the same sensors add their own customization and fine-tuning. The Fujifilm GFX and Hasselblad X systems both use the same 100MP Sony chip, for example, but each deploys it very differently.

Everything from the image processor and color science to the autofocus and lens mount to the menu design and ergonomics makes every camera unique. Still, it's interesting to see whose DNA is in the most fundamental part of Nikon's cameras over the years!

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