A extremely succesful cinema digicam at an inexpensive value

Video was an afterthought for Nikon, however because the firm purchased RED final yr, content material creators at the moment are excessive on its precedence listing. An ideal instance of that’s Nikon’s new $2,200 ZR: a full-frame mirrorless mannequin that stands up in opposition to devoted cinema cameras for a fraction of the worth.

It’s the primary shopper digicam to seize video utilizing RED’s 12-bit RAW format, however in contrast to RED’s Hollywood cameras, it has a quick and correct autofocus system. It additionally comes with an enormous show, professional video monitoring instruments, in-body stabilization and 32-bit float inner audio recording. After capturing a brief movie that examined its capabilities, I can affirm that the Nikon ZR presents unbelievable video high quality at this value.

Physique and dealing with

Whereas a bit lighter than Nikon’s Z6 III, the 1.19-pound (540-gram) ZR feels strong. It has a boxy design like Sony’s FX2 however a a lot smaller grip as a result of it’s designed to be rigged up for cinema capturing with cages and handles. Nevertheless, in contrast to the FX2 which has a number of 1/4-inch mounting threads to do such rigging, the ZR sadly has solely a type of on the underside.

The ZR additionally lacks an digital viewfinder just like the FX2, however it greater than makes up for that with its large 4-inch show — the biggest I’ve ever seen on a mirrorless digicam. At 1,000 nits, it’s shiny sufficient to shoot on sunny days, extraordinarily sharp (3.07 million dots) and flips out for vloggers. All of that makes it an ideal major show for checking the picture and controlling the digicam.

Nikon has nailed the ZR’s dealing with, too. Whereas it’s not coated with buttons and dials like some fashions, it does have two capturing dials to manage publicity and a joystick for autofocus. There’s additionally a digicam/video change, two file buttons, an influence change and 5 customizable buttons. Lots of Nikon’s lenses include management rings as effectively, so further handbook management is out there.

The menu button is uncommon: you press as soon as for the fast menu and maintain to see the total menu. Given the big variety of settings, I might advise anybody shopping for this digicam to be taught all of the vital changes, then customise the controls to keep away from wading by means of dense menus whereas capturing.

One other distinctive function is within the battery compartment. There’s a single quick CFexpress slot to deal with RAW video, plus a microSD slot for proxies. The dearth of a second CFexpress slot or quick SD card slot for backup isn’t perfect for an expert digicam, although.

Lastly, the ZR runs on the identical N‑EL15c batteries as different Nikon mirrorless cameras. They permit 90 minutes of HD capturing on a cost, or 390 images per CIPA requirements. That’s mediocre, so if you happen to’re planning lengthy shoots, fill up on batteries.

Video

The Nikon ZR has the biggest collection of RAW video settings I’ve seen. The centerpiece is RED’s RAW R3D NE gentle codec (designed by RED for Nikon) with RED’s Log3G10 log format. It additionally helps Nikon’s N-RAW, ProRes/ProRes RAW and H.265 with decision that ranges from 6K at as much as 60 fps to 4K 120 fps and 1080p at 240 fps. Regardless of the smallish physique, it could seize 6K RAW video repeatedly for 125 minutes with out overheating.

The 24MP sensor makes use of a twin ISO system with native 800 and 6,400 ISOs, offering a pleasant vary for indoor and out of doors capturing. The corporate claims 15+ stops of dynamic vary, which is extra than simply about every other mirrorless digicam. Different key video options embrace five-axis in-body stabilization with seven stops of shake discount, waveform and vectorscope monitoring and a false colour show for handbook focus.

To check the digicam’s options and video high quality, I shot a brief movie in a mixture of indoor low gentle, out of doors daytime and a combination between the 2. I additionally shot handheld (together with operating with it) to check the stabilization. I primarily captured in R3D RAW, in addition to Nikon’s N-RAW on the native 800 and 6,400 ISOs to maximise dynamic vary. (You’ll be able to take 24MP images with this digicam, however I’m specializing in video because it’s primarily designed for that.)

So as to not see a flat log profile when capturing, you’ll want to use a look-up desk (LUT) designed for RED cameras, like “Achromic,” “Bleach” or “Caustic.” These are just for in-camera previews and never baked into the video, however you’ll be able to apply these LUTs later in Adobe Premiere or DaVinci Resolve to get the identical look.

With such a excessive native ISO, I used to be in a position to shoot inside with a single studio gentle. Video high quality was excellent with little noise in shadow areas, even after boosting black ranges in publish. In the meantime, the RED R3D codec and Log3G10 gave me further latitude to disclose shadow element and dial down highlights once I shot the topic in opposition to a shiny window.

Once you use the R3D codec, publicity is strictly handbook with no capacity to set auto shutter velocity (shutter angle) or f-stop. So, for a scene with various gentle, I used Nikon’s N-RAW to see if it might give me the proper publicity initially and finish of the scene. It did job, with no noticeable jumps in the course of the shot.

Video in daylight at ISO 800 was additionally sharp with correct colours after downscaling to 4K from 6K in DaVinci Resolve. ISO 800 is a comparatively excessive native setting, although, and the ZR doesn’t have a built-in ND filter to scale back publicity. Which means you’ll want to purchase ND filters for out of doors capturing or the excessive shutter speeds will lead to uneven video.

Cinema cameras from Blackmagic Design, Arri or RED are manual-focus solely. However the ZR is a Nikon digicam, and it has one of the best AF system I’ve seen on any of the corporate’s fashions, constantly nailing focus even with transferring topics. You can even routinely observe autos, birds and different animals. On the similar time, the ZR handles handbook focus effectively. That’s because of a built-in show that’s large enough to examine focus precisely and Nikon’s focus peaking setting with three ranges of sensitivity.

In-body stabilization on the ZR wasn’t as much as par with Panasonic’s S1 II, nonetheless. Video was clean for handheld capturing if I panned the digicam gently, however all my operating and strolling photographs confirmed noticeable digicam shake. That stated, the ZR at the very least has in-body stabilization, in contrast to most cinema cameras, and most filmmakers will use a gimbal for operating photographs, no matter which digicam they use. (Observe that the rattling you hear when the ZR is turned off is the sensor, which floats by design.)

Lastly, I used to be in a position to seize good audio high quality by way of an exterior microphone with none clipping worries because of the Nikon ZR’s 32-bit float inner audio seize. The corporate additionally touts directional seize utilizing its built-in mics, however as with all such system, audio high quality isn’t excessive sufficient for manufacturing use.

Wrap-up

With the ZR, Nikon has proven that it’s lastly catching as much as and even surpassing its rivals for content material creation. Whether or not you’re doing social media, YouTube, documentaries and even movie manufacturing, this digicam is flexible and highly effective with few compromises. Video high quality and ease of use even beats fashions which can be double or triple the worth.

The ZR’s major competitors is within the low-end cinema cameras, significantly Sony’s $2,998 FX2 and the $3,899 Canon R5C. Whereas dearer, each include an digital viewfinder that the ZR lacks, and the R5C can shoot as much as 8K video. An alternative choice is Blackmagic Design’s Pyxis 6K digicam, however it solely presents primary autofocus capabilities and lacks in-body stabilization.

In comparison with these choices, Nikon’s ZR delivers higher dynamic vary because of the inclusion of RED’s R3D RAW codec. It additionally comes with a superb autofocus system and first rate in-body stabilization. If you happen to’re a creator trying to get one of the best video high quality for the cash with out dropping these niceties, I’d extremely suggest the ZR.