Red shift: New ZR reveals Nikon's cinematic ambitions

Nikon has announced the ZR, a video-focused camera with Red co-branding. It features the same 24.5MP 'partially Stacked' sensor as the Z6III and inherits many capabilities from the more stills-oriented camera, but gains a new Raw video codec, video-focused UI and internal 32-bit float audio recording – a first in the industry.

Key Specs:

• 24.5MP full-frame 'partially Stacked' CMOS sensor
• Nikon Z-mount
• 7.5EV IBIS
• Up to 6K 60p
• R3D (NE) Raw video codec
• 4" 1000 nit display
• CFexpress Type B / microSD
• Autofocus subject detection for people, animals, vehicles and planes
• Internal 32-bit float
• No mechanical shutter

The ZR will retail for $2199 – $500 cheaper than the Z6III – and will be available starting October 20th.

Index:

• What's new
• How it compares
• Body and handling
• Video capabilities
• Initial Impressions
• Specifications
• Press Release

What's New

Familiar sensor, new body

While the ZR's heart may be the same as the Z6III, less the mechanical shutter, it's not immediately obvious by looking at it. The camera has a boxy, EVF-less design with a minimal grip, making it easy to mount on a gimbal without having to worry about clearance.

On the back is a massive 4" 3.07M dot display. It's in a video-friendly 16:10 aspect ratio, with a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. It has a peak brightness of 1000 nits. Nikon says it supports the P3 color gamut, giving you a more accurate preview of what your colors will look like, when working beyond the limits of sRGB.

On the back of the display are the Nikon and Red logos. The ZR is the first camera since Nikon's acquisition of Red to come with both companies' branding (unless you count the Z-mount Raptor's body cap).

R3D (NE) Codec

The ZR includes a new Raw video codec called R3D (NE), alongside Nikon's N-Raw format and ProRes Raw. While it's not exactly the same as the Redcode Raw that Red's cinema cameras shoot, it is made to be cut together with it and uses the same Log curve and color gamut.

Importantly, this means you can use the Look Up Tables, or LUTs, that already exist for Red cameras, making it much easier to cut footage from the ZR and Red's cinema cameras together.

When shooting in R3D (NE), the ZR can capture 6K and DCI 4K at up to 60p, and UHD 4K at up to 120p. These same options are available for N-Raw.

Nikon says that, to start, you'll have to process R3D (NE) footage in a piece of software called Red Cine X Pro to adjust its lightness (labeled as ISO) and color, before "developing" it into an exported file that your editing software can understand. However, we were told there are plans to build native support for it into various editors.

Cine EI

R3D Raw also comes with a different approach to gain. Instead of applying it in-camera based on your ISO setting, the camera will lock it to either its low (ISO 800) or high (ISO 6400) gain step. If you adjust your ISO, the camera will note it as a metadata tag and adjust its metering to capture a different balance of highlights and shadows, but it won't change the amount of gain added to the footage. This approach is comparable to the Cine EI (exposure index) mode Sony includes on its video-focused cameras, and gives you more control over your video's lightness ("ISO") in post. By contrast, N-Raw is shot with variable gain, just like photo mode, so you can't adjust this after the fact.

Alongside R3D (NE), the ZR supports the two other Raw formats the Z6III could shoot: Nikon's own N-Raw codec, as well as Apple's ProRes Raw. Though, as has been the case in Nikon's previous cameras, the widely-supposed ProRes Raw option isn't available at the camera's fastest resolutions and frame rates.

Internal 32-bit float recording

The ZR is the first mirrorless camera to include fully-internal 32-bit float recording for audio. If you're unfamiliar, 32-bit float encodes audio in an entirely different fashion than traditional 16 or 24-bit encoding, allowing it to record a much wider range of values than would be possible. Typically it's combined with dual gain mics to ensure both quiet and loud sounds can be captured.

The benefit is that you don't need to finely adjust gain and worry about clipping (other than the point at which your mic itself it overwhelmed). While we've seen other cameras, such as the Panasonic GH7, that support 32-bit float recording with an external XLR adapter, the ZR can do it without one.

What's more, it can be used to record audio from the camera's internal microphone – using OZO directional technology from Nokia – as well as from the 3.5mm microphone jack, meaning you can use it all the time.

Digital hotshoe

While the ZR has a traditional 3.5mm microphone input, it also includes a digital hotshoe with support for audio. Nikon says it's building a compact microphone that will use it, as well as an XLR adapter.

Currently, it's unclear if third party companies will be able to create accessories for it. For example, some DJI wireless microphone receiver packs can plug directly into the digital hotshots on Sony's cameras, making it so you don't have to connect them with a 3.5mm cable. Whether they'll make something comparable for Nikon's system remains to be seen.

How it compares

You only need to look at the ZR to recognize that it's a competitor to Sony's FX range of cameras for film makers. Its lack of viewfinder will draw immediate comparison with the FX3 and APS-C/Super35 FX30 models, but the price is more in line with the FX2. However, the Nikon has a sensor much better suited to video than the FX2, which uses the rather slow to read-out chip from the a7 IV.

Despite the apparent similarities (high res 60p Raw capture), it's not quite a like-for-like competitor to Canon's C50, launched earlier today. This is an unstabilized, actively-cooled camera, rather than a hand-held model. The provision of capabilities such as a timecode socket, desqueeze preview modes for working with anamorphic lenses and the option of bolt-on mount adapters suggests a focus on industry use, rather than beginners and owner-operator outfits.

The Nikon ZR looks essentially like one of Sony's small FX models but without their active cooling. And, in the same way that the FX2 and FX3 share much of their hardware with the more photo-focused a7 IV and a7S III bodies, respectively, the ZR is essentially a video-ized Z6III. So, while you lose the viewfinder, photo-friendly body shape and mechanical shutter, you gain more Raw video options, a hotshoe with digital inputs and 32-bit float audio. Despite this, Nikon has brought the ZR in at a price significantly below that of the Z6III.

But, more significant is that it undercuts the price of the FX2, which isn't built around an especially video-adept sensor, and at nearly half the $4100 asking price of the FX3, which has comparable rolling shutter, but captures native 4K, rather than the Nikon's 6K. In most regards, the ZR looks like a bargain.

Body and handling

The ZR is a relatively compact body, immediately bringing to mind the original Sony FX3, but without the prevalence of 1/4-20 mounting points, and without the finned exhaust ports, as the ZR does not feature active cooling.

It's just as much a Z6III shorn of its viewfinder as anything else, and has a similarly solid-feeling build. It uses the same fibre-reinforced plastic that Nikon has been using for some years, which gives a good sense of solidity without adding excessive weight. This is likely to be a benefit if you choose to mount it on a gimbal.

Ports

The ZR has most of the ports you'd expect from a video camera: USB-C, running at 3.2 speeds and 3.5mm headphone and microphone jacks. The one surprise is the presence of micro, rather than full-size, HDMI. It does make sense given the camera's smaller form-factor, but those planning to routinely plug in monitors or external recorders to this camera will likely wish for a more robust connector.

Its storage mediums are also unconventional. While its CFexpress Type B slot is exactly what you'd expect on a high-end video camera, the secondary UHS-I microSD card slot isn't. It's not fast enough to support most of the formats that the camera can so you can't use it to backup your recordings, nor can it be used to record proxies (though if you're shooting in R3D (NE) or N-Raw, proxy files will be recorded to the main card). Most people, then, will likely just use it for transferring settings and LUTs, or perhaps for shooting stills.

Battery

The Nikon ZR uses the same EN-EL15c battery as the Z6III. It's a 16Wh battery which powers the Z6III to a respectable 390 shots per charge when shooting photos and 100mins of "actual" video shooting, according to CIPA's standardized tests.

Nikon hasn't provided the rated values for the ZR, but we assume they'll be pretty comparable: good, but not exceptionally so.

Video capabilities

As you might expect, Nikon is putting most emphasis on the ZR's Raw capabilities, but for many people, good 10-bit Log footage offers a less data-intensive workflow with plenty of editing flexibility (there's a much smaller difference in editing flexibility between 10-bit Log and 12-bit linear Raw than between JPEGs and Raw stills).

Encoded options

The ZR offers plenty of gamma-encoded video options, in a choice of All-I ProRes 422, 10- or 8-bit 4:2:0 H.265 or 8-bit, 4:2:0 H.264 MP4s.

As is often the case, the most data-intensive options aren't available in ProRes. And, like the Z6III, the ZR needs to crop in to an APS-C / Super35 region to shoot 4K/120 or 100.

Raw options

Even if they're not necessarily the easiest options to capture or work with, the ZR's Raw video modes are likely to be the most eye-catching.

The camera can capture either the Red-derived R3D NE Raw or the existing Nikon N-Raw at up to 6K/60. It has to drop to 30p to utilize the more widely-supported ProRes RAW codec.

It's worth noting the different ways the R3D and N-Raw modes handle ISO. And, while we know the N-Raw format is able to record the metadata to apply lens corrections for those Nikkor lenses that require it, we were unable to test whether the same is true for R3D, potentially adding another complication to your workflow. We hope to test this when production-spec cameras and the processing software are available.

Shutter angle

The ZR is the first Nikon camera to let you set exposure in terms of shutter angle, out-of-the-box (it's was added to the Z8 and Z6III in firmware, post-launch). This is especially valuable on a camera that can shoot 60 and 50 fps footage as readily as it can 30, 25 or 24p, as it means you can switch frame rates and have the exposure time respond accordingly, avoiding the risk of forgetting, and shooting footage with too high or low a shutter speed, after you switch.

Initial impressions

by Richard Butler

The Nikon ZR says Red very prominently on its rear display, but it feels like this was a branding decision made relatively late in its development: the menus, layout and handling of the the camera are pure Nikon in every other respect.

However, while it doesn't feel like it has input from Red running all the way through it, the addition of more Red-like Raw, along with an 'EI' approach to gain, leaving open the option to adjust "ISO" as part of the processing workflow, still represent recognizable input from Nikon's recently-purchased cinema division.

No matter how many fancy Raw options it has, the lack of active cooling is likely to count against the ZR when it comes to its uptake as a principal camera by production houses. But the aggressive price and highly capable sensor bring the possibility of putting more advanced film-making tools in the hands of beginner and student film makers than ever before. Which raises the faint possibility of the ZR playing a similar role to that once performed by Canon's EOS 5D II, in terms of bringing film making to a wider audience.

Whether it ends up being the ZR or one of its competitors that ends up fulfilling this role, it's striking to see how far things have progressed in the 17 years since the Canon was launched: 6K/60 video in 12-bit Raw, with highly flexible 32-bit float audio is a world away from the wobbly, 8-bit 1080/30 that made large-sensor video available to the masses. And that's before we even consider the autofocus and stabilization capabilities of the ZR. But whereas the Canon cost an amount equivalent to $4K in today's money, the Nikon has an asking price of $2199.

We suspect some photographers will look at the ZR and worry that it's a sign that Nikon is more focused on video now, but we don't share these concerns. The ZR is essentially a spin-off from the Z6III: one of the best enthusiast photography cameras we've ever tested (even if you ignore the Rec button), from a company that refreshed its pro, enthusiast, retro and entry-level photo models before embarking on the ZR.

For its intended audience, the ZR looks very impressive on paper, but it's details such as the handling of lens corrections in R3D, comparing the R3D and N-Raw workflows, and finding out how the ZR copes without active cooling that will dictate whether it lives up to that promise. Either way, it's a powerful statement about Nikon's ambition to make the most of its purchase.