| Photo: Mitchell Clark |
We’re finishing up our review of the Nikon ZR, the company’s video-focused camera with the same 24MP partially stacked full-frame sensor found in the Z6III, and, as part of our testing, have put it in front of our studio test scene. We’ve captured a load of video stills to test out the camera’s many, many video modes.
As with the Z6III, the ZR’s compressed footage is very detailed in both 4K and 5.4K. However, Nikon has clearly changed how it processes this footage, and it appears to be applying less, or more subtle, sharpening than the Z6III.
Compared to hybrid stills/video cameras , the ZR has similar levels of detail to the similar pixel-count Panasonic S1II, as well as to the Canon EOS R6 III’s oversampled 4K mode. However, the Canon’s 7K open gate footage provides much more detail than the ZR’s 5.4K capture, though it will take up more storage and has to be edited before delivery. The highest-resolution footage you can get from the ZR offers more detail than the Sony a7 V’s oversampled 4K footage. That also initially appears to be the case if you compare the cameras’ 4K output, but the ZR’s has more aliasing, so it’s not necessarily a better representation of the scene. It’s also worth noting that the ZR comes in at a substantially lower price point than those cameras (though with a corresponding decrease in stills capabilities).
While bumping up to 60p doesn’t come with a cost to field of view or detail, if you want to shoot in 120p, the camera will have to crop down to an APS-C region of the sensor. This results in less detail being captured, though it’s the same amount as captured by the APS-C 24p mode.
Three flavors of Raw
The Nikon ZR supports internal Raw recording to three different formats: N-Raw, ProRes Raw, and R3D NE, a format currently unique to it. They all have the common caveats associated with Raw recording – using it will require post-processing (often using specific editing software), and the difference between Raw and Log isn’t anything like as great as the difference between Raw and JPEG for stills – but for those that need it, it’s available.
As you’d expect, the ZR’s three flavors of Raw capture comparable amounts of detail at their 6K settings, though their default LUTs offer fairly different foundations to build your own grade on. Despite the similar image quality each version of Raw offers, there are substantial differences between what it’s like to shoot them; we’ll be posting an article comparing the three formats very soon.
Log isn’t just log
The ZR’s N-Log mode for H.265 does more than just record in a different gamut; it also has a big impact on the amount of apparent detail in the footage compared to the camera’s default H.265 color mode. Even with the LUT applied to roughly match color and lightness, the footage is substantially softer. When shooting in N-Log, the camera doesn’t appear to apply any of the “Picture Control” adjustments, including sharpening, which may account for some of the visual differences; rather than doing it in-camera, it seems like Nikon is assuming that those shooting Log will want control over sharpening in post.
It’s likely not the only factor. Some ZR users, including cinematographer and YouTuber Philip Bloom, have noticed that the camera appears to have more heavy-handed noise reduction than the Z6III. We plan on taking a closer look at the Z6III’s footage versus the ZR’s soon. Given the controversy around the Z6III’s relatively noisy and sometimes flickering shadows when recording log, we wouldn’t be surprised if Nikon ended up making some changes.
During our testing, we’ve shot various projects with the ZR and have been pleased with the footage we’ve got from it. Our test scene doesn’t turn up any major surprises with regard to its image quality, but does reinforce the idea that shooting Raw with this camera will take some careful consideration when it comes to picking which format is the best for your particular usage.