Overview
The Nikon D6 was flown by NASA astronauts across 2 identified missions, in NASA service 2020–2026, contributing 580 identifiable frames to the public astronaut photography archive. Traced by manufacturer serial number, at least 2 physical bodies have been identified in the public archive. The Nikon D6 is a 20.8 MP full-frame CMOS released by Nikon in May 2020.
Body S/N 3001700 is the most heavily documented in the archive, contributing 435 identifiable frames across 2 missions including ISS067, ISS073. The other 1 identified body appears in more targeted mission windows, detailed below.
The Nikon D6 bodies were used with a range of lenses in orbit — the most-used include the 50mm f/1.4D, VR 70-200mm f/2.8G, and VR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G. The full lens roster appears in the sidebar.
Exemplar photographs
Additional representative frames captured by the Nikon D6 bodies in orbit. Full resolution is available at the linked NASA archives.
ISS Soyuz and Earth photographed from ISS
View of Earth and ISS Solar Arrays
View of Earth from ISS
View of Cygnus and Earth
View of Cygnus and Earth
View of Earth and ISS solar panel
Commercial availability
Nikon D6 on the used market
The bodies documented in this registry are the specific units NASA sent to orbit. The commercial market carries the same Nikon D6 model at accessible prices for collectors, photographers, and researchers. Listings shown are the same model, not the specific bodies flown.
CARES LLC participates in the eBay Partner Network. Purchases via this link may generate commission at no additional cost to you. The listings shown are the same Nikon D6 model used by NASA, not the specific bodies flown.
Bodies identified
Each identifiable body of the Nikon D6 that appears in NASA's public astronaut photography archive, sorted by frame count.
5 ground-use bodies (not verified in space)
NASA photographs document these Nikon D6 bodies in use on the ground. None of their photographs in this registry was taken in space.