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Tianluokeng Tulou clusters, Fujian Province, China. These buildings have a very thick outer wall of earth and a 3-5 storey inner wooden structure that houses dozens of families. The structure is designed to be stable during earthquakes and secure against bandits. The oldest if the ones we visited was built in 1796. These are just with a quick grade, mostly Resolve Film Look Creator. The DR in the scene is extreme, and while all the required info is in the files, I'm going to have to go heavy on the power-windows when I grade these properly. Grabs from GH7 + 14-140mm zoom. Grabs from iPhone 17 Pro shooting Prores Log with default app. The Prores HQ Apple Log files grade really nicely, have heaps of DR, and are great to work with. The DR isn't quite as much as the GH7, but it's more than enough for these scenes. These were graded at a different time to the above GH7 shots so probably don't match. All-in-all, the iPhone well and truly punches above its weight when you take into account it's pocketability, the size of the sensor, and the incredible range in focal lengths. Imagine how much you'd have to pay to get a lens that can do 13-200mm FF equivalent FOV and has exposure levels between F1.78 and F2.8 across the whole range.

Mid season report. Actually, I am nearing end of season with just 2 more jobs to go this year until June next…which is quite normal for me. The TDLR is I almost love it… Why ‘almost’? I’ll get to that… The Good = The body design actually. Yes I would rather Lumix had moved to a body style more like the FX3, but I guess they thought that might scare photographers who expect a hump. Whatever the reason, it’s not as innovative as it could have been and despite not having a top screen, really is like a smaller S1H in the hand and IMO, that is a good thing. In my hands, with no battery grip or any other adornment other than the smallest Senheisser mic, it feels just right in terms of size, weight, build, comfort, ergos. It’s a true hybrid. It would be even better with an internal electronic VND, but hey ho, maybe that will come with the S1H2? With 5x C1-5 custom settings and a simple photo-video switch, it’s fabulous for hybrid work. I don’t even use all 5 photo and 5 video settings, but have it set up basically as: landscape photo, portrait/candid outdoor, portrait/candid indoor and low-light, all with a starting f stop, aperture, WB, ISO and equivalent matching settings for video so it’s actually only one flick of a switch to flip between video and stills in any given scenario. Brilliant. The sensor. 44mp. Perfect 👌 for me sweet spot between the more traditional 24mp and the 100mp of the bigger MF sensors. Suits both photo and video. Video files and capability. I shoot 7.2k 30p open gate and the file sizes are not huge or slow to work with. With baked in conversion LUT, SOOC I love them. Yes raw would be even better, but an almighty faff and overkill for my needs. The open gate allows any number of crops, 30p a 20% reduction in speed on a timeline and the 7.2k quite a bit of scope for punching in etc. Having said that, not fully edited a finished production yet but I have checked and edited a few bits here and there and it’s even better than the 6K I was using before which itself was better than the 4K from Lumix FF cameras so thumbs up. The Not So Good = Battery life is pretty poor. I’ve always scoffed at people reporting poor battery life and never experienced it on any camera. Until now. It’s not great, but a spare battery in my pocket at all times is how I now roll and is what it is. AF accuracy for video is good but not Sony level. Ditto for photo. Having come directly from an A7RV, I’d give the nod to the Sony for ultimate outright stills quality and AF, but the S1RII gets the nod for video and body. I don’t think there is anything else other than I have a pair of them matched with the 35mm f1.8 on one and the 85mm f1.8 on the other. The S9 is on lighter duties of video only, mostly longer than clips and sometimes even full length ceremonies and speeches and has only overheated once and that was on a very hot day in direct sunlight. The S1RII by the way, I have never even had a warning and has never got hot to touch, - just the usual warmth you might expect shooting a thing all day long. I may replace the S9 next year with an S1IIE for a bit more robustness and utility, but waiting to see if any S1H2 appears before doing that, if I do that. Almost certainly will trade the Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 for the new Lumix 24-60mm f2.8 next year as I think it will suit my needs better and appears to offer better AF and detail/rendering. S5II soldiers on in its static role and just does what I need it to do. I do need to find a way to get rid of the battery grip and the heavy tripod however and working on that… So ‘almost’ love it. It’s the battery life and good but not stellar AF plus the less than exciting body design that drops it 2 points for me so I’ll give it an 8/10. Along with the Z8, probably the best all round hybrid camera available today? At least for my needs. Taking into account lens options and prices.

I guess that people must have been complaining to Panasonic that the S9 was too affordable and they really needed the same thing, but more expensive. 😉

I'll be honest. If anyone is starting from zero (including myself) - we'd all jump on this... In fact, if anyone asked me... "which one should I go for".... this is it. Its the same price as a Canon R7 (more or less, no matter where you are coming from with more features).

It's time https://www.eoshd.com/news/why-its-time-for-fujifilm-to-go-full-frame/ And a full frame X100 without the RX1 III or Leica Q price tags would be fabulous thank you.

First time in ages i got away for a few days and did a road trip out to a little country town i like to visit. Full discloser, never really considered myself, much of a cleanliness or sterility freak 🙃. However i am liking the sirui 1.33 24mm. Probably mostly for the convenience it brings. Its not 1.5, 1.6 or 2x, and i think the anamorphic effects are kinda tame compared to those other stretches i mention. I liken it to stepping stones i think, little bit different to what you'd normally see but not as jarring as 2x ( although jarring might be too strong an adjective). It will flare and do the blue streaks as well but i find the blue streaks to be less intrusive compared to what you see on youtube. I suspect the first prototypes steaked quite a lot in youtube videos, no idea if they toned them down. My experiences has been their abit more subdued. The anamorphics guy Tito Ferradans has a vid on using oval cutouts in sirui lenses. I'd probably try something like that next. If i wanted a look that was closer to 2x Its taken a while to figure this lens out and i expect i still need to do more with it to realize its potential. The whole sterility / cleanliness thing, is of course subjective. What you may like, i may not and vice versa. I personally don't find cleanliness and or sharpness objectional in a lens and i recently bought a lens with a whole lot of yellowing going on that most wouldn't buy. I think the sirui and the other modern anamorphic lenses bring convenience to anamorphics. Buying a vintage anamorphic is much like travelling down a rabbit hole. Theres lots of things to add on and sometimes that can take a while to sort out. Its my understanding that 1.33 are geared towards crop sensors and the bigger stretches for full frame ? of course you can mix and match, if you so desire. i'm on mft format and i think 1.33 stretch adds enough of a difference for me. i also suspect a 1.33 stretch is a good start, if your looking to dip your toes in anamorphics and have a crop sensor camera, but dont want to travel down a rabbit hole.

Here's some more grabs.

Among all the firmware requests by YouTubers and RED shooters, this one was almost out of the radar. Which tells me is an indirect response to whining about raw file sizes. Which means an internal lower bitrate R3D NE became even less likely.

I'm looking into semi-retirement. Weirdly, not because of the jobs I'm getting or not getting in the next 12 months, (that's already set) but because my niche of freelance corporate gigs is definitely on the way out. It's the devaluing of video production in general. With video now, everyone does it. Quite literally. Anyone with a new'ish phone camera is on the other side of a gate. A gate that's been blocking people for over a century of motion picture creating. Phone IQ is really good. AI can help generate a ton of stuff with low effort/high reward. Canva is a thing. Online tutorials explain production concepts. Creative info flows like a torrent. Hobbyists are better than careerist, etc. etc. None of that looks like it'll affect me in 2026. I have 3 clients with semi-large gigs that'll get me through. Maybe they come around again in 2027? Perhaps. What value can I offer them? A certain confidence in problem solving they require? Sure. For now. However, for one of the clients specifically, I could easily do via AI in an afternoon compared to what it's gonna take me a week to do live in a studio. So, yeah, I'm not gonna reveal that my client that yet, but still, that reality is here. At this point, as a documentarian filmmaker on my CV, that's the thing I feel I can do without AI stealing it away, but, man, not exactly a bunch of people out there have EVER made lucrative careers outta being a documentarian filmmaker. I mean, I'm decent at this sort of stuff, but I'm not, like, an elite creative, you know? No ones ever gonna watch a doc I've made (yet) and walk away thinking, "Wow, I need to make sure to see what that guy is going to do next." Hell, even the elite creatives in the documentary world barely make a living at it. Looking back I kind of feel like I should've gone all-in on sports-video production when I had the chance 30 years ago. Live event broadcasting will stick around for awhile. Other than that, I'm an older married guy without kids that has acquired some in-demand-physical-assets throughout my younger days. Because of that ownership, the wife and I do, luckily, have some things to help us through the final few decades of life. Then again, 3 more decades of late-stage capitalism? Gotta wonder about that too.

Hi, yesterday panasonic finally released the firmware uodate and lumix flow update for the s5ii. I really like the app. Setup time is also fast. As this might replace my shinobi ii for travel purposes. Allthough I need to test how long batterylife of my smartphone is while using lumix flow. Not sure if there are any other drawbacks. But apps like these could give external monitor brands a hard time. Or at least in the consumer section. Cheers

All hail the Nikon ZR 4 inch rear LCD

I'm looking around at the current anamorphic landscape and finding that while much easier to work with and capable of wider angles, the new offerings from Sirui, Blazar and Laowa lack the same jaw-dropping quality that footage from the older adapters had. I find them so clean (yes, even the Blazars) that I think that it defeats the point of shooting on anamorphic. So that brings me back to the vintage adapters, which seem to have come down in price since the modern lenses have hit the market. Plus there are now several variable diopters available for single focus. Going on character alone, what are your favorites? At one point or another, I've owned 10-20 different adapters, and I still have a modded Bell & Howell Single-Focus. But after an 11-year hiatus from anamorphic, I am looking for fresh perspectives.

Shot on A74 an Helios 44 First spotify data shows that the song is somehow listened to in Japan - so if you know anyone in that area...

I'm looking around to find an example to explain this better. Most of what I'm seeing is too sharp. This is nice. I find that sometimes I actually like when anamorphic lenses having taking lenses that are focused just a little off. Here's my B&H single focus vs a Sirui 1.6x that I rented. I'd happily just stick with the B&H if I could go wider with it. I also like what I'm seeing from the Kowa 16D in terms of character, but it's not going to play well with a ~50mm lens either. That is a really nice lens. Very smooth bokeh, and a little CA in the bokeh wide open (which I quite like). I think those Voigtlanders are known for holding circular bokeh for longer when stopping down, a very nice characteristic for pairing with an anamorphic lens. I think you're onto something. Check out this video. Tropical was the wrong word. But it's super humid! I liked in Kobe for three years. I've owned the Helios three different times, and sold it. I just don't get along with that lens. If I can find a decent mod on a fast 35-50mm lens (with no streak), I'd consider it. From what I've seen, the mods still don't have the weirdness of true anamorphic. What Blazar is doing is really neat. I think they are doing it with their new Beetle lenses as well.

My “Pocket Anamorphic” setup i’m working on. Waiting for a couple eastern european guys to finish with a small scale front focuser prototype for these little 8mm scopes.

Optyczne published their review: https://www.optyczne.pl/107.4-Inne_testy-Nikon_ZR_-_test_trybu_filmowego_Jakość_obrazu.html

Seems there's something new to arrive (from t)here: NDA is leaked here (for more details there and over there). This November, they say. (Actually, not totally exempt from pure nonsense, oh boy!) It would be nice @MILCs side too! ;- )

At least for the 16 Pro, there are Magsafe threaded filter adapters. I have one that takes a 67mm filter (or is it 58?). The only real bummer is that it can't go on with my phone in the standard Apple case so I have to pop the phone out to use it. Mine cost $20 or so IIRC. Maybe something like that exists for the 17 as well?

I like the colors and overall image of this camera, especially for the low price, but Nikon definitely sacrificed DR for a faster readout. This is from G. Undone's test: 10.9 usable stops in 6K R3D NE is not great for a modern cinema camera. NR will get you another stop, but it's not an ideal starting point. By comparison, the Komodo 6K scored 12.5 usable stops in 6K R3D and the Komodo-X was at 12.9 when tested by CineD. CVP's latitude test was also fairly extensive as it tested both native ISOs: The good news is that you don't lose much DR when switching into the higher base. The bad news is that, no matter which base you use, most of its competitors have an extra stop in the highlights: As for under exposure, it is usable to under 3, but no more. It is RAW after all, so this poor result is understandable when compared with the Sony cameras.

You seem to post nothing but angry negative stuff. Why waste your time with all of us talentless hacks?

I started this thread by talking about the GH7, but I think the iPhone 17 Pro has also come of age (for me at least). My goals for using this is to keep it in my pocket, be able to shoot super quickly using the default camera app, and focus on the compositions and capturing the events in front of the camera while it does all the auto-everything required for a good quality capture. First impressions and thoughts from a few weeks of using it. 4K Prores HQ files in Apple Log 2 look great and are a joy to work with in Resolve (see examples below) All the lenses seem to work well and even up to the 8x 200mm are completely usable hand-held, and if leaning your hand against something the 8x is almost locked-off It records 6 channels of audio, and they appear to all be independent and available in the NLE (see image below) which might(?) be useful in difficult situations where there's wind noise in one or one channel clips etc? While recording Prores Log the default camera app shows you the log image and doesn't have an option to apply a LUT, so although it's a great way to be sure you're recording LOG, it's hardly ideal. Hopefully they fix this in an update. Audio channels in Resolve: Some frame grabs from out the hotel window in HK. Bear in mind these were shot with the default camera app, through multiple layers of tinted glass, and have had a film emulation grade put on top of them. 1x 24mm camera: 8x 200mm camera: with a bit of sharpening: with too much sharpening (unless you're a "cinematic Youtuber"): 1x 24mm camera (ignore the reflections in the window): 8x camera: 8x camera with sharpening: and in terms of DR / latitude, here's the 1x image brought up ~2.5 stops: I haven't tested it in low-light yet, but to me, all this essentially means that the camera is sufficiently technically capable that I can shoot with it without feeling like the technical factors are overly restrictive. This is incredibly impressive, given that even cameras like the GH5 needed you to pay attention to their limits in some situations. For the first time I feel like if something happened to my 'real' camera and all I had to capture a trip is my phone I wouldn't feel like I'd stuffed up. This is the first trip I haven't packed a backup camera body, which has given me the ability to pack a couple of extra lens options, thus 'upgrading' the GH7 rig as well.

I prefer H.265 as well, over the pseudo raw formats. Cinema DNG is still the best quality RAW in terms of the film look and unprocessed sensor readout.

Same technology used in Xiaomi 17 Pro. It has more DR than G9m2, but the lens quality and the algorithm used to combine low gain and high gain are horrible and so the extra highlight stops are wasted.

Funny how the ZR has reached legendary status even before its launch. Youtubers getting destroyed in the comments when making some stupid comparison. This is one example, but I have seen others... if you would have told me a Nikon camera would have got so much support, I would not have believed it. They really have got some momentum, I hope they try at least to satisfy the request of the people toward the ZR, because it is their Canon 5DmarkII moment.

Probably and until Resolve etc support the new codec. But then I've seen some side by side comparisons with Nraw where the reviewer is saying, "look at how much less noise there is" and I agreed, there was less, but also, "look how much better these skin tones are" and I thought, really? have you got your labelling wrong because the Nraw looked better in your side by side examples. So I guess until folks you know, love and trust start showcasing or you can get your own hands dirty, the jury is still out on just how good it is beyond the hype. My own personal jury has ruled against it despite thinking the camera looks fabulous, the screen is killer and the pricing excellent, but no way am I going to be using those file sizes. Lumix, get on with the S1H2 please.

The R3D NE is only available in bitrates similar to N-RAW high quality, not normal, which is what many people seem to be complaining about.

I noticed that in Cinema Tools comparison between Nikon Z6 III and Sony FX3 in the first section both cameras use x265 codecs. Watched it on big OLED TV and didn't notice any visible differences in color. IMHO Nikon x265 is perfectly usable option if maximum compression and smaller files are needed. If still in doubt about x265 quality, ProRes 10 bit 4:2:2 at 4K is good alternative. Here are the compression ratios of all Nikon codecs in Z8. We can easily extrapolate them to Z6 III / Zr https://zxi.mytechroad.com/blog/photography/nikon-z8-prores-prores-raw-bitrate-and-compression-ratio/ NRAW / RED RAW normal has a compression ratio of 7.5 which is comparable to BRAW 8:1. NRAW / RED RAW high quality - 4.5 compression ratio comparable to BRAW 5:1. Those are very good compression ratios. ProRes HQ 422 10Bit - 5.2 ProRes RAW - 2. We have several RAW or non RAW codecs and compression options. Last Z6 III firmware version 2.0 brings shutter angle. Z6 III has wave form too. The few options that are missing are open gate, anamorphic desqueez and LUTs. I don't need the first two and can have the last one with external monitor. Overall Nikon Zr / Z6 III are great cameras and quite affordable compared to the image quality in video they give.

Here is my understanding about 4K NRAW in Nikon Z6 III / Zr and Z8. I don't have the camera just gathered info from Internet. Correct me if I am wrong. Z8 as others already mentioned uses two different methods to get 4.1K NRAW / RED RAW from 8K. Gerald Undone gets a lot of criticism on this forum but he mentioned those methods in his Z8 review while many other reviews don't. Typically for all 4.1K from 24fps to 60fps and 120fps Nikon Z8 uses line skipping with all artifacts that come with this method. Only for 24p,25p and 30p Nikon Z8 has a special EXTENDED OVERSAMPLING mode. This method of course gives more detailed / better image. It is not without it's own issues. Those issues becomes logical when we ask ourself how do they over sample a RAW video stream and at the end get another RAW video stream ? https://alikgriffin.com/nikon-z8-color-shifts-4k24p-nraw/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyyiKwlRXCA IMHO this small green cast in the shadows will be easy to fix. Still will require some work and time. The extended oversampling is not available for 60p and 120p. In this case APS-C crop is an option for better non line skipped image. Nikon Z6 III / Zr 4K NRAW is line skipped, but 6K full sensor width NRAW has only slightly higher bit rates when shooting with NORMAL quality. They are comparable to Sony Intraframe codecs. IMHO for RAW video 24Mpx sensors represents the best balance between resolution and speed. Too many mega pixels and large portion of them should be discarded somehow for 4K RAW video or we have to deal with huge 8K filesand do the down scaling in editing. 12Mpx sensor on the other side actually has less pixels than theory suggest are needed for perfect 4K DCI debayering. Rumors about what Sony using probably a fully stacked 24Mpx sensor in next FX3 make sense. Nikon Z6 III / Zr Achilles heel in NRAW so far is dynamic range / latitude. All tests of Nikon Z6 III so for show 1 stop less of both dynamic range and latitude compared to sensors in Nikon Z8, Sony 12Mpx one in ZV-E1, A7S III, FX3, FX6, 50 MPx one in A1, Sony Venice 2. They all have dynamic range between 12 and 13 stops and 8 stops of latitude. I really hope Red Raw better log profile, chroma noise reduction and 6K to 4K resolution down-scaling will give one more stop of DR and make this sensor on par with the rest. After all same sensor in non DR Boost mode in Panasonic S1 II when using ProRes RAW codec reached 9 stops of latitude. It is hard to believe Nikon used some trimmed down version of the same sensor. x265 10bit 4:2:0 in latest Nikon hybrid cameras is visibly of lower quality compared to RAW video but it may turn out to be perfectly fine for most tasks and most people. Nikon x265 10 bit 4:2:0 may turn out to be as good as other brands x265 10bit 4:2:2. I don't know until I try it myself or see a detailed test. Between Nikon Z6 III and Zr I would choose Z6 III. It has good EVF, shutter, Full HDMI port and is a true hybrid. Internally for video they are practically the same and by renaming NRAW video files we get access to the better RED RAW pipeline and color science in Resolve. Current Nikon Z6 III price in a local photo shop is 2050E. Nikon Zr price is 2375 Euro and camera is not yet available. Nikon Z6 III doesn't sell well, price was decreased significantly from original 2500-2800 Еuro most likely because it doesn't offer significant upgrade for photo shooters and all those talks about lower dynamic range. Second hand Z6 III bodies pop up locally from time to time in the 1700-1800 Euro range and still with warranty. IMHO Nikon Z6 III and Zr are for people who want to shoot RAW video. Theory and practice tell us 10bit 4:2:2 is equally good but sometimes we just want something 🙂, for whatever reason. 12bit NRAW with RED RAW hack is really a great choice because it offers fairly compressed industry standard RAW codec. ProRes RAW has higher bit rates. I edited in Resolve some sample NRAW video clips from Nikon Z8 and Z6 III and can say that if video is exposed properly there is no need of noise reduction. Editing, color correcting and grading them is not more difficult or time consuming than SLog3 internal footage from Sony. They take more space but still nothing crazy and for certain projects and people it could be acceptable. Bottom line: If you want to shoot RAW Nikon Zr, Z6 III and Z8 as well are great options, first two being quite affordable. I am worming up to the idea to get Nikon Z6 III. Use it some time and compared it with Sony ZV-E1 which has one of the best Sony sensors for video. Then eventually keep one of the two and sell the other.

If no-one is able to assist here, might be worth asking in the relevant sub-forum on liftgammagain.com where the colourists all hang out. Of course, you might get an answer that's more technical than you'd like...

I still have problem with Gerald Undone, and this is exemplified with Canon C50 vs Nikon ZR review. I don't question his numbers, but how he interpreted them for his bias. Man pissed on the ZR t every corner, but excused the worst or the worst for Canon. The simple example is the ZR micro hdmi vs Canon C50 lack of IBIS. Yes it is an inconvenience the ZR doesn't have a full size hdmi, but it can be remedied with a 100 USD cage plus lock. But what about the lack of IBIS, you would need a full set of big supporting gear. Either a tripod, shoulder mount or gimbal. But hey, his excuse is that he talked with some first AC, and they told him that they prefer the sensor to be locked, as if the C50 principal use will be on movie sets!!!!! He is revolting, how dare Nikon put cinema on the ZR, but does he think that the ZR/C50/Fx3 will be primarily use on cinema sets!!! Is he crazy, 99.9% of their use will be in events, corporate videos, weddings, reportage, social media content creation etc. At the top you will find them used on small to average advertising production, short films, small to no budget films. And in rare case as specialist camera like crash cam, in higher end production. But again in those 99.9% cases, stabilization is a big big plus for those production. But hey, Nikon dared to put Cinema on the ZR. I mean a camera that has better image than 90% of digital camera just 5 years ago.

BTS on the go.

With F-mount lenses the AF won't be great during video but it should be OK for stills for the most part. I don't think focus pulling by hand with autofocus stills lenses (F-mount) is going to be easy. Practice with the same kind of subjects helps. For video AF, native lenses do best. Most Z mount Nikkors also can be programmed for linear manual focusing. Raw video takes up a lot of storage very quickly.

I bought all the impact transitions about 10 years ago, never bothered with the subscription based gpu ones they were ridiculously expensive and getting cheesier with each passing year. I now use 3 or 4 of them regularly, but most of them look super dated now imho.

Pretty good summary. After shooting NRaw almost a year now with Z6iii I can relate to almost all of that. According to Gerald and Cinematools Z6iii FX 4k NRaw is line skipped but DX is pixel to pixel, which is the reason why in Cinematools’ Z8 vs Z6iii comparison the 4k120p with Z6iii looks better. The only extra step with NRaw IMHO is to use Resolve to trim the NRaw files and export important parts via Resolve’s Media management. If you do the Red Raw hack after export, Resolve won’t accept the renamed files. If you do the hack first, Resolve won’t export the trimmed R3D files. Have not tried Red CineX pro though. Hopefully it or some other method works with the Zr’s R3D NE Raw files.

If it is true, for me, the pefect workflow for RAW use, will be the 4k Nraw converted to RED raw. As it should be around 350 Mbs, which is very good for RAW. The only thing I don't know is how do they get this from a 6k sensor. In Gerald Undone, it did look a bit mushy, but I don't zoom 400% in my shots. The 4.1 k from my Z9 is perfectly usable. But in this case it is just half of the pixel.

Are they? The Z8 is 3999€ in Finland (discounted from 4799€) and the ZR is 2449€. Likely the ZR will be similarly discounted in a few years, maybe sooner. h.265 4K 25 fps 10-bit data rate is 190 Mbps on the ZR and 190 Mbps on the Z8, so the image quality should be similar. The ZR has an optical low-pass filter though and the Z8 does not, so details in the ZR footage might be ever so slightly softer. What the ZR does not have is "extended oversampling" so the 4K footage at 50 and 60 fps is likely of lower quality than the Z8 (when extended oversampling is turned on in the latter), and this indeed could be left out of the ZR to prevent overheating in the much smaller body. At 4K 24, 25, and 30 fps the h.265 image quality should be quite similar between the two cameras (apart from the OLPF difference). However, if you record 6K in h.265 this should not be an issue as there is no need to do oversampling and you can convert the footage to 4K using your method of choice in post. Summary: I can see that there would be a quality loss at 50-60 fps at 4K but the image quality should be fairly similar in h.265 between the ZR and Z8 when recording 4K 24-30 fps. This can hopefully be verified when the camera is out on the market. The Z8 is much larger and heavier which makes it less gimbal-friendly (or at least you need a much heavier gimbal than the ZR, potentially leading to body strain and discomfort, and eventually one is not able to continue). The ZR supports digital audio via the hot shoe (future products will support it, including tascam's) and 32-bit float, which are useful features for recording on-location audio. The ZR has a larger back display. I imagine only those who always record video on a tripod would be happy using the Z8 or Z9 while those who hand-hold or use a gimbal often, and those who simply need a lower-cost solution for video would prefer the ZR. The Z8 and Z9 of course are capable of high-resolution stills, with high frame rates, and have much less rolling shutter in stills shooting than the ZR (which has lower rolling shutter in video mode). So, many stills shooters will prefer the Z8/Z9 if they can afford it and justify the cost and weight.

I've noticed this in a couple reviews. Kinda surprised because the h265 on Z8/Z9 is quite good, even when compared to NRAW. So I do wonder if the h265 on ZR is somewhat "bad" maybe perhaps as noted above to circumvent overheating. I like having options on a camera but if the h265 is horrible than yeah that means this is an ultra high bitrate cam only. ..which kinda leads me to ask who would prefer the ZR to a Z8? both are around the same price here in EU.

Prores RAW has an even higher data rate than R3D or N-RAW on the ZR. Nikon lists ZR data rates for Prores 422 HQ 4K 25 fps at 820 Mb/s (102.5 MB/s) and 6K at 25 fps at 1600 Mbps (200 MB/s). Thus the Prores options for 6K are even bigger than the R3D or N-RAW, but the 4K version of Prores 422 HQ is a bit more manageable than 6K. Prores 422 HQ may be easier to edit than RAW in some ways (at least distortion and vignetting profiles are applied in-camera so there is less post work to be done). I use Prores 422 HQ 4K on the Z8 as my go-to format. I love the colors and image quality.

Someone above was asking about the data rates I recall. For Red Raw ‘Lite’ they are as follows: 6048 x 3402 : 59.94p (3780 Mbps), 50p (3160 Mbps), 29.97p (1900 Mbps), 25p (1590 Mbps), 23.97p (1520 Mbps) Compared with S1II 6K open gate at 200Mbps it really hits hard. As much as I love this camera (the Zr) now I have had more time to think about it, I’d want to use that Red codec and both the 25p and 50p options but that’s 8-16x the data rates…and that would be nuts for my kind of work. Nikon is still the best lens platform however at this time.

So this is a very good test of the ZR. I don't know if the english AI translation is 100% correct, but anyone can try it. He was ecstatic from the start about the DR of the camera and did a latitude test, using middle grey and overexposing and underexposing to see the level before clipping the highlight and the noise barrier. This test is very good for the ZR as DR/Latitude test have been a bit all over the place. If you watched the CVP test, it was like 6 at best 7 stops of latitude!!! The ZR was clipping even before the Z6III !!! My guess is most of the test were done before Davinci last update to incorporate REDraw NE etc. And the guys were using REDsoftware to convert the files in Tiff etc. and it might be that file did lose some information. He is getting 5 stop over and 3 to 4 stop below. So, a 8 to 9 stops of latitude, at nine it is huge. If you watch CineD lab test, you are in the RED raptorX, Panasonic S1ii territory. The Z9 approaches that, but most of the other Sony cameras (but mostly in compress format) like the Sony A1, Sony Venice (RAW) etc are at 8 stops. In their test, their is only the Sony Burano, Alexa LF at 10 stops and the Alexa 35 at 12 stops!!! His complain is like everyone about micro HDMI, and huge file size. I sincerely hope Nikon does give us a lower bitrate REdraw. He also says the h265 is bad, my guess it is that when you get use to that RAW, you see everything around bad. Matti Haapoja had the same reaction when comparing the ZR side by side with the Fx3. He then changed after using the h265 a bit more and said it was at least equal to the fx3 or better. Nikon Zr is its on worst enemy, when people compare its h265 to the raw, because the raw is so good, they feel the h265 is bad. But in the end very very positive about the camera.

Hey everyone! I wanted to share something I've been working on for the past while - Lumap, a DCTL for Resolve that consolidates all your basic grading adjustments into one intuitive panel. The Problem I Was Trying to Solve I got tired of using complex node structures just to do basic exposure, contrast, and saturation adjustments that would look natural. Coming from a photography background using Capture One and Lightroom, I missed having simple sliders in one place that just worked without having to think about CSTs, colour spaces, and multiple different nodes. What Lumap Does Instead of wrestling with lift/gamma/gain wheels, Lumap gives you: Photometric exposure - Linear stops like changing exposure in-camera Temperature and Tint - For white balance Intelligent contrast - References your source’s format's middle grey without overcooking the toe/shoulder Brightness - Targets midtones while preserving highlights and shadows Organic highlight/shadow recovery - create organic, film-like roll-offs that seamlessly blend into your midtones Smart saturation - Preserves luminance and prevents skin tone oversaturation Film-style density - Control the intensity and depth of colours you get from subtractive saturation techniques Why Sliders Instead of Wheels? Most of us aren't using professional grading panels - we're using mice and trackpads. Sliders are just faster and more responsive for cursor input. Plus, if you're coming from photo editing, this interface will feel immediately familiar. There's a free demo version so you can test if it fits your workflow. https://www.dhyanverco.com/lumap Would love to hear your thoughts if you give it a try! And happy to answer any questions.

One of these days this community should just team up and send every new game-changer straight to @kye ; ) You’re priceless, mate :- )

The phone arrived today as expected and I've had a few minutes to play around with the camera. I shot a short test scene using ProRes RAW and ProRes 422 in the Blackmagic app. Here's a quick look at the footage with just Resolve's Apple Log 2 CST applied. Very first observations: Open gate is only available in RAW or RAW HQ RAW can only recorded to an external drive. I have a great Magsafe SSD that I use for this. Sensor stabilization is not available in either raw mode Resolve is super sluggish with the raw files unlike ProRes RAW or BRAW files from my S1ii. I hope this gets optimized The normal raw controls are there and the footage is very flexible as you'd expect I used Resolve's built in Apple Log 2 CST for the test https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97PPh276M4o

I think C70 will still have more latitude to play with. But honestly people are way too much obsessed with these numbers. Past 12 stop, we either digging for random shot noise, or struggle to defeat sun. This shot by Roger Deakins would be rejected by YouTubers, in their mission impossible of saving highlights:

Well, Nikon have come a long way in 10 years since the D750 at least. R3D, a proper screen, 32bit float, IBIS all very welcome as you say. But Nikon should have made a much bigger splash with the first Cinema Z camera. It should have been a cutting edge flagship at a really aggressive price. Instead they have gone with what is practically a point & shoot camera. It fits the philosophy of the "DSLR video revolution" though doesn't it? Cheap (by today's norm), small, light, cinematic image quality, great codec and hybrid photo/video features. Micro SD and HDMI is idiotic though.

The rumours are all over the place!!! Who knows what we’ll get. My same wishes apply. 6k 50 no crop, super 3 way lcd and top evf. Faster processing. Happy for a video centric camera but looking for under 3000€ and video/photo switch

There is something to be said about how my S1 still comfortably covers all my needs 7 years later...

Wait 7 years

I’d rather wait for the Nikon/RED version https://nikonrumors.com/2025/03/13/new-nikon-z-video-oriented-camera-rumored-to-be-announced-later-this-year-similar-to-the-sony-fx3.aspx/