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Nikon ZR: Cinema camera at a competitive price

10.9.2025

Translation: machine translated

One day after Canon, Nikon also presents a new compact cinema camera. It impresses with its very good value for money. Only the minimalist housing might not appeal to everyone.

At the beginning of 2024, Nikon took over the cinema camera manufacturer RED. Now the collaboration is bearing fruit for the first time in a consumer product: with the ZR, Nikon is entering the compact cinema camera market with a bang. It has been developed from scratch and is aimed at the same target group as the Sony FX3.

Camcorders

New

CHF2349.–

Nikon ZR Gehäuse

24.50 Mpx, 60p

The announcement comes just one day after Canon also launched its first camera of its kind, the EOS C50.a href="/page/canon-eos-c50-frontal-attack-on-the-sony-fx3-39439"> - and Nikon's model steals the show from Canon in some respects. It has a faster sensor, an image stabiliser and a larger display - but is still smaller and cheaper. The price of 2349 francs or euros is a real challenge. However, unlike Canon, the scope of delivery does not include an XLR carrying handle.

The compact dimensions are possible because the camera has no viewfinder, no active cooling and a handle that is unusually small for Nikon. In general, the manufacturer has reduced operation to the bare essentials. In certain areas, the minimalism takes on strange proportions for a «cinema camera». For example, the ZR only has a micro HDMI connection. It uses microSD UHS-I as a second storage medium (in addition to CFexpress B). Redundant recording of videos is therefore not possible.

There are three programmable buttons and a zoom lever at the top. This allows you to control power zoom lenses and also zoom digitally thanks to 6K resolution.
Source: Nikon

Partially stacked sensor from the Z6III

A partially stacked full-frame sensor with 24 megapixels is used as the centrepiece. It can already be found in the Nikon Z6III and in the Panasonic Lumix S1II. In the in-house sister model, the sensor is read out in 6K video mode in under 10 milliseconds - a very good value. This means that rolling shutter effects only occur in extreme situations. This fast readout time is an advantage over the Canon EOS C50 and the Sony FX2, both of which use a BSI sensor with over 30 megapixels. According to initial tests, the Canon sensor is also relatively fast (approx. 15 milliseconds).

The sensor of the Nikon ZR delivers videos in RAW format in 6K (6048 × 3402 pixels) with up to 60 frames per second (FPS). 4K is recorded at up to 60 FPS using the oversampling method; at 120 FPS, the camera switches to a 1.5x crop. According to Nikon, the dynamic range of the sensor is 15 f-stops and dual-gain ISO (800 and 6400 in the log profile) should ensure good noise behaviour.

The partially stacked sensor is very suitable for video thanks to its fast readout time.
Source: Nikon

The collaboration with RED is evident in the colours: you can record videos not only in the usual Nikon formats and profiles, but also in the RAW format of the cinema camera manufacturer (.R3D) - in 12 bit, Log3G10 and RedWideGamutRGB. The look should be consistent with the RED V-Raptor and the RED Komodo. In addition to the log profile, nine RED presets are available, which reduce the effort required for colour grading at the expense of some dynamic range.

Giant display, good autofocus

In addition to the price, Nikon wants to set itself apart from the competition with something else: The ZR is said to be designed in such a way that you don't necessarily need a cage and loads of accessories. The 4-inch display on the back is the largest in this camera class and offers a resolution of 3.01 million pixels (1280 × 800 pixels). The maximum brightness is a very good 1000 nits and it covers the DCI-P3 colour space. If you still want an external monitor, there should be a similarly large cage ecosystem as with Sony thanks to a collaboration with SmallRig.

The 4-inch display can be opened and rotated.
Source: Nikon

Tests will show whether the lack of cooling is a disadvantage if you want to record long videos in the sun. According to Nikon, the camera only overheats at room temperature after 125 minutes of 6K recording. The value applies with an external power supply; in battery mode, the battery gives up after around 95 minutes.

The autofocus system with 299 phase detection points is identical to that of the Nikon Z6 III. The algorithms offer all modern conveniences such as automatic recognition of different subjects (faces, eyes and bodies, vehicles and aeroplanes, dogs, cats and birds) and object tracking. The image stabiliser compensates for camera shake on five axes by up to eight exposure levels. The ZR can record sound in 32-bit float format. Nikon is also launching a compact shotgun microphone to match, which utilises the digital contacts of the new hot shoe.

Microphones

New

CHF299.–

Nikon ME-D10

The Nikon ZR costs 2349 francs or euros. It will be available from the end of October.

Header image: Nikon

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Samuel Buchmann

Senior Editor

Samuel.Buchmann@digitecgalaxus.ch

My fingerprint often changes so drastically that my MacBook doesn't recognise it anymore. The reason? If I'm not clinging to a monitor or camera, I'm probably clinging to a rockface by the tips of my fingers.

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