The Nikon ZR in motion

One yr after digicam giants Nikon and RED Digital Cinema merged, their first collaboration comes with the discharge of the Nikon ZR full-frame digital cinema digicam. The ZR differentiates itself from its mirrorless opponents—whether or not Panasonic’s LUMIX line, Sony’s FX line or Blackmagic cinema cameras—with its distinctive skill to report 12-bit REDCODE RAW (R3D NE), internally at as much as 6K and 60 frames per second. And it’s out there on the enviable value level of solely $2,199. (By comparability, Sony’s full-frame FX3 prices almost twice as a lot.)

Surveying the digicam physique, its massive 4-inch display instantly stands out. The addition of an exterior monitor—usually a should when taking pictures on smaller cinema cameras—turns into much less important with the Nikon ZR. This display brightness reaches 1,000 nits, making it simply seen when taking pictures exterior in broad daylight. The digicam menu has been reworked from Nikon’s earlier Z cameras and is user-friendly, aided by the scale of the display. Comparable cameras with smaller screens may be cumbersome when adjusting settings. It’s mild at 1.9 lbs, and regardless of its lack of an inside fan distributes warmth effectively. Whereas testing the digicam for an inside occasion, the physique was heat on the finish of the continual four-hour shoot, however not overly so. Booting up in a flash, it’s able to seize candid photographs at a second’s discover. Its Auto mode rapidly adjusts to lighting situations and engages autofocus with out incident. Nikon’s lauded In-Physique Picture Stabilization (IBIS) is current with 7.5 stops of vary. 

For filmmakers used to compressed 4K workflows, recording to RED’s proprietary compressed RAW 6K format opens up latitude for reframing, stabilization, and extra detailed shade work in post-production. Capturing this R3D NE codec is feasible solely in Guide mode, which requires totally reformatting the cardboard when switching from the opposite 5 codecs. These embrace N-RAW, ProRes RAW HQ, ProRes 422 HQ, H.265, and H.264. A standard false impression is that R3D NE is set-and-forget, because the picture captured incorporates a large dynamic vary and high-resolution sensor information that may be adjusted endlessly later, however in fact, getting all the things dialed in previous to taking pictures permits for this aforementioned flexibility in publish. Relying on whether or not taking pictures interiors or exteriors, RED’s baseline ISO of both 800 or 6400 is really useful, for example. A bunch of on-line assets and tutorials assist learners put together to shoot in R3D NE by laying out these really useful settings. 

The absence of exterior SSD recording capabilities is notable, as cinematographers will typically use these drives throughout competing mirrorless cameras as wanted. As a substitute, the ZR at the moment requires all RAW recording to CFexpress Sort B playing cards. Whereas Sort B media is now extensively adopted throughout Canon, Panasonic, and Blackmagic programs, the ZR’s bottom-mounted card slot subsequent to the battery makes swapping it out a chore at any time when the digicam is mounted to a tripod or a rig. It’s a puzzling placement that’s hopefully corrected in upcoming fashions. Different options sing: it helps 10 inside 3D LUTs, and the interior 32-bit float audio impresses. And it’s not simply that R3D NE codec that delivers. A century-old digicam firm, Nikon merely possesses the science to ship a lovely picture throughout all its RAW codecs. As does RED Digital Cinema, which is one cause RED is the digicam of alternative for David Fincher’s Academy Award-winning DP Erik Messerschmidt. 

With its compelling value level, accessibility and RAW capabilities, the Nikon ZR is a promising begin for this ongoing collaboration between Nikon and RED. It ought to attraction to filmmakers well-versed in prosumer mirrorless cameras who’re curious to dip their toe into the RED world with its superior codec, particularly since getting one’s hand on a conventional RED cinema digicam isn’t at all times possible for the budding DP.