Video used to be an afterthought for Nikon, but since the company purchased RED last year, content creators are now high on its priority list. A perfect example of that is Nikon’s new $2,200 ZR: a full-frame mirrorless model that stands up against dedicated cinema cameras for a fraction of the price.
It’s the first consumer camera to capture video using RED’s 12-bit RAW format, but unlike RED’s Hollywood cameras, it has a fast and accurate autofocus system. It also comes with a huge display, pro video monitoring tools, in-body stabilization and 32-bit float internal audio recording. After shooting a short film that tested its capabilities, I can confirm that the Nikon ZR offers incredible video quality at this price.
Nikon 87 100 Expert Score Nikon ZR Nikon’s ZR offers the best RAW video quality in any consumer camera, including models costing much more. At the same time, it’s more practical than cinema cameras thanks to the excellent autofocus and in-body stabilization. It does lack an EVF, though, and battery life isn’t great. Pros RED RAW offers excellent video quality
Fast and reliable autofocus
Pro video monitoring tools
Huge and bright screen Cons Mediocre battery life
No electronic viewfinder
Stabilization less effective than rivals $2,197 at Amazon Explore More Buying Options $2,200 at Best Buy
Body and handling
While a bit lighter than Nikon’s Z6 III, the 1.19-pound (540-gram) ZR feels solid. It has a boxy design like Sony’s FX2 but a much smaller grip because it’s designed to be rigged up for cinema shooting with cages and handles. However, unlike the FX2 which has multiple 1/4-inch mounting threads to do such rigging, the ZR unfortunately has only one of those on the bottom.
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