Instead of a traditional shutter sound, the camera meowed when the shutter was pressed, and when the shutter button was held down, the camera played a rapid succession of meow sounds as it captured image after image. A Nikon Rumors reader translated part of the presentation which revealed other optional sound effects included in the beta firmware such as the sound of a Nikon D750 DSLR, a Nikon F4 film SLR, and even sounds recorded by the presenter themselves.
Furthermore, for photographers looking for a bit of whimsy while they shoot, the beta firmware allowed the shutter sound to be randomly chosen from all the available options on the camera. What Nikon didn’t reveal was whether or not the shutter sound effects feature would be eventually included on the Z9’s official firmware in a future update, or just limited to internal use within the company, but it’s definitely considering it. And while it’s a fun feature (who doesn’t love Easter Eggs in their gadgets?) there don’t seem to be any practical uses for the feature just yet. A cat’s meow might help a portrait photographer to get a toddler to smile, but at that point, the photo’s already been taken.