Camera rumors in 2026: what cameras are coming, officially and otherwise!

Nikon rumors 2026

The Nikon rumors have, of late, all come to fruition – which only gives further credence to the old "where there's smoke, there's fire" adage.

Already this year we've had a pair of conventional photography bodies, the Nikon Z5 II and Nikon Z50 II, and Nikon has also unleashed its new video chapter with the first "Yellow Red" or "Red Zed" Nikon / Red cameras featuring the Z mount, and most recently the Nikon ZR – the first camera in the new Z Cinema range.

So, with the Z lineup now comprising everything from entry-level to professional to prestige retro cameras (along with the Nikon Z fc Heralbony collabs, which might be the grooviest cameras the company has ever made), what are the latest Nikon rumors as 2026 hits stride?

Nikon Z9 II

Once upon a time, flagship camera launches coincided with the Summer Olympic Games every four years – but the pandemic knocked that out of whack. However, rumor is that the Nikon Z9 II was being tested at the Winter Olympic Games in Milano ahead of an announcement this year.

I've heard plenty of pie-in-the-sky specs about the Z9 II (no, I don't think it's going to have a global shutter), but there are also some very credible chatter going round as well.

The latest whispers suggest that we're looking at a refined 46MP stacked sensor that doubles down on speed and processing power. To that end, I've heard that the Z9 II will approach 60fps bursts in RAW, along with the established 120fps in cropped format.

Something I'm not so sure about is the reported base sensitivity of ISO32, nor the addition of open gate video. However, the rumors of Red tech coming to the flagship make a lot of sense; combining the 12-bit Redcode RAW from the Nikon ZR and Z6 III with the Z9's 8K 60p capture would be very welcome indeed.

Nikon ZR "Photo"

I'm not quite sure what to make of this rumor, but it's certainly an interesting one. There's talk that Nikon is working on a stills camera with a similar form factor to the Nikon ZR – as in, a small, slim (25mm) flat body with a full frame sensor but without an EVF.

I've interpreted this as being something akin to the Sigma BF or Lumix S9 – both cameras with cult followings, though not necessarily mass-market appeal. Then again, the S9 is popular among trendy creators who don't want to lug about the chunkier Lumix S bodies, so maybe the "ZR Photo" could be positioned similarly.

Still, given that the Nikon Z30 has long been a sales success in Japan (and given that we haven't yet seen a successor model), I wonder if there are some crossed wires at play and it's actually a Z30 successor that's being talked about. Personally, I think we're likelier to have an APS-C version of the ZR before we get a photography version of it…

Nikon Zf II

I've heard some scuttlebutt about a Nikon Zf II, but honestly it feels like wishful thinking more than anything.

To me, the whole point of the Nikon Zf is that it's a premium, special camera series – so the notion of iterating it into spin-offs with incremental improvements can only devalue that specialness.

Still, if the rumblings of an upgraded version with a 33MP sensor are true, that would certainly be interesting – though, truthfully, I think Nikon would be far better served producing some complementary retro lenses for the Zf and Zf c, rather than making new versions of cameras without enough lenses to go with them.

Of course, there's every chance that the rumor mill is mistaking the Zf II for another rumored camera…

Nikon Z7 III

There has been so much noise about the Nikon Z7 III that it's difficult to separate genuine information from wishful thinking. The launch of the Z6 III forced rumors about the new Z7 to kick into overdrive, with some whispers insisting that the camera isn't coming any time soon and others insisting that it's imminent – and even posting specifications.

One of the big rumors I'm hearing right now is that the camera will feature a 67MP sensor to topple the Sony A7R V, but this doesn't seem to come from anywhere credible. Instead, I'd expect the traditional resolution of 45.7MP, but perhaps a partially stacked sensor a la the Z6 III. Though I wonder if it actually needs a stacked sensor at all; given that the Z6 III and Z8 / Z9 are the speed demons of the family.

It is likely that 8K will remain the domain of the Z8 and Z9, so we're probably still looking at 4K video (or 6K at best), but the bump in image stabilization seen in other bodies is sure to appear here – so you can probably look forward to 8 stops of compensation.

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