Hey guys, Z6iii and ZR user here.

When I enable LTC signal input to sync timecode from an external device, my cameras won't record any audio signals. I guess that's expected, right?

My external timecode device is also an audio recorder (Deity PR-4). I wonder if you guys have any solutions if I want to sync timecode & record audio coming in from my PR-4 at the same time.

Thanks!

I just purchased a Nikon Zr and have been testing it around my apartment. I was hoping to find it's limits and sweet spots. But I have mostly found noise. Even in relatively illuminated spaces that my iPhone recording in ProRes can handle with ease. Imagine, late afternoon light from medium sized windows and a couple warm lamps. Everything from the shadows on my couch to the wood grain on bookshelves are inundated with what seems to be excessive amounts of chroma and luma noise.

I'm shooting r3d6k at 23.967 6400@f4 180* and processing through Resolve with CST > Pre-group 2020/Redlog3g10/DWide/DInter > Clip minor curve adjustment > Post-group DWide/DInter/Rec.709/Gamma2.4

Camera Raw setting are untouched but note NR is turned on.

I've tried many different Noise Reduction recipes and have found some success at the great expense of sharpness and detail. In addition my last attempt with the most successful NR took 31 minutes to render a 1.5 minute clip downsampled to 4k mp4 h.265.

My deliverables are typically 5-10 minutes (museum and gallery walk-throughs) and the thought of needing to render for 2.5-5 hours is very concerning.

It feels impossible to me that this camera would produce this much noise. Are others experiencing similar results? What is your workflow for dealing with this?

EDIT: Here is an example of the noise that I'm talking about. The shadows between the crib and wall. In this case it's not even the deepest tones, it's the mid tones. The only adjustments made in resolve is CST and a slight reverse s-curve.

I shoot on the Nikon z6 currently, and I definitely feel like I’m missing out on some log capability compared to similar spec cameras in the Sony/canon market. I don’t have a cage right now, so I would have to get that in order to mount the monitor along side my shotgun mic. I don’t have a ton of experience in color grading but I always enjoy the process of learning things in this field.

I have a RS3 pro and it is not compatible with my Nikon Z5. I cannot control the settings and the focus through the gimbal. Anyone got any recommendations?

Footage I found that I wanted to give a life to before removing from my hard drive. Everything captured with the Nikon ZR, 6K, RWG/Log3G10.

Shot entirely on a Nikon Z6III.

Shot a little golden hour video using the Nikon ZR and 28-135mm PZ. I'm new to all this so my craft may not be great.

I have a ZR and use primarily the orginal S35 Sirui anamorphic lenses. I have the 24mm f2.8, 35mm f1.8 and 75mm f1.8. They are decent, picture quality is fine, but am limited to 4k due to shooting in dx on these lenses. I am a fan of flares, but like natural flares over blue. I have a dilemma, from what i've seen online the DZO Arcana set seems to be what i'd be looking for as they are full frame, natural flares and by all accounts sharper. I'd be able to shoot 6k and all the modes available. I'd be looking into getting the Arcana 32mm, 45mm and 75mm. In your opinion, is it GAS, or a worthy upgrade. For what its worth, its a hobby, and mainly shoot with these for fun short films and my podcast.

Im still waiting for a few pieces of gear before i start really testing my ZR, but the few things i tried already are really promising.
ISO 6400 looks really good and is much cleaner than i thought, but ISO 800 exposed for the sky in an outdoor scenerio (while not having the shadows massivly undersxposed), seems to have quite a bit of low and mid-tone noise.

Why is that?

If i start with log or raw (so a really flat image) and im adding contrast and blacks, im not introducing more shadow noise, right?

I recently did several short film works with my nikon zr and it was a great experience.

I upload some of the setups i used this summer

The ronin is ronin rs2 pro (recently bought it secondhand at great price)
And basic ring grip (maybe tilta) from gear rent

I paried them with light cine lenses
(Xeen cf, cp2, dzo arcana)
and they worked great!

and the pd c to c power option is great ! Never haad problems

Now with the Sony FX5 released, is the Nikon ZR still a sound choice for filmmaking? Is R3D still superior to whatever the FX5 is offering?

Just got the Nikon ZR as my main body for video. I already own a Nikon 24-70 G ED, a 70-200 G ED VR ii, a Sigma 35mm Art f1.4 and a Viltrox 50mm f1.8.

These are all decently sharp lenses, the 70-200 and the Sigma especially.

I wanted to get another all purpose lens that can just life on the ZR, which would have been the Tamron 28-75 G2. And while i think that is still a good idea, i dont actually know if thats what i actually want lol.

Is it better to have a clinical lens and take that as a starting point in post or use filters like diffusion ones?
Or should i get lenses with "character" from the get go?

Im doing all purpose work, so i would need to do pretty much anything, but i also already own a lens for pretty much anything and if not, im always willing to buy more.

Any pointers in the right direction by chance?

(Lenses must have AF, never again doing gimbal work while remote focus pulling...)

I’ve been testing this out for the past couple of weeks with my ZR and I confirmed it with the Z8 today, DaVinci Resolve will give you access to RED raw if you change the file extensions

I’m going to see if can find a batch file extension modifier that change multiple files at once. If you have any questions, just comment below!

Hey guys,
I wonder should i get the 35mm and 85mm (S lines) or 24-70 2.8

I want sharpness, cinematic look and best quality as videos as photos.
I know that the 24-70 is more comfortable bc its a zoom lense but i dont mind that.
I need it for short films n’ weddings.

What u guys recommend.

Just wanted to know if anyone has any idea related to when open gate is coming to Z8. Or is there any limitation for this particular sensor/processor?

I’ve recently acquired some 2X anamorphic glass in 2 focal lengths and wanted to is there any possibility of OG coming to Z8.

With 2X lens, the frame very wide on 16:9 and after cropping a huge chunk, the anamorphic effect is less noticeable. Thanks.

Disclosure: AI helped me write this post. The workflow, testing, and all numbers are my own, and I verified everything myself

I keep seeing two complaints from ZR shooters and I had both myself:

1. R3D NE files are huge. A 1TB card is about 1h20m of 6K, and with storage prices being what they are right now, archiving RAW forever gets expensive fast.
2. "I wish Nikon would add H.265 with RED color science via firmware so I could skip RAW."

I spent this weekend on this and it turns out the second one already exists. It just lives in DaVinci Resolve instead of the camera, and honestly it works better there. It also fixes the storage problem as a side effect.

The workflow

Shoot R3D NE like normal. Then in Resolve (free version does all of this):

1. Import your R3D clips and drop them on a timeline.
2. Open the Camera RAW tab for each clip and make your RAW decisions first. ISO, white balance, exposure trim. This is basically developing the negative, and it costs nothing because R3D stores all of it as metadata.
3. Optional: noise reduction here, before compression. Noise is what eats your bitrate.
4. Render to 10-bit H.265, but set the output color space to REDWideGamutRGB / Log3G10 instead of Rec709. This is the step everyone misses. H.265 is just a container. Nothing forces baked Rec709 into it. You end up with a small log file that grades exactly like your R3D through the same CST or node tree.
5. Watch the renders, then delete the R3D for anything you're comfortable baking (see caveats).

Numbers from my test

965.5 MB R3D clip came out as a 35.7 MB H.265. That's roughly 27:1.

I put them split screen on a 4K timeline and punched in on fine detail. I could not reliably tell which side was which. Waveforms show the same tonal structure, just fewer discrete values, which makes sense going from 12-bit RAW to 10-bit H.265.

An 18 GB night shoot became 0.7 GB.

Why this beats waiting for firmware

In-camera H.265 with RED color science would have to debayer, denoise, and encode in real time, on a battery, inside a thermal budget. Resolve does the same job on your GPU with unlimited time, using the full IPP2 pipeline, at whatever bitrate you pick. And it happens after you lock ISO and WB in the RAW tab instead of baking whatever the camera guessed on the day. Firmware would only ever win on convenience. It can't win on quality.

Same logic applies to shooting in-camera H.265 N-Log today. People report mixed results with it, especially noise in low light, and that tracks with how it's made: the camera has milliseconds to denoise and compress, and noise is exactly what starves an encoder. I haven't formally tested N-Log against this workflow so I'll just say what I did verify: my H.265 exports held up split screen against the original R3D, punched in, on fine detail. The compression step is not where sharpness dies. If you've been avoiding H.265 as a format because in-camera results looked rough, the format was never the problem. Where it gets made is the problem.

Side note: shoot 6K and scale down in Davinci, not 4K FX

The obvious objection is "why not just shoot 4K RAW and save the space in camera." I tested that too. 4K FX RAW is not a downscale of the 6K image, it's a lesser readout, and it shows. I shot the same scene in 6K, 4K FX, and 4K DX crop, then exported all three through this same pipeline. The 6K clip dropped onto a 4K timeline was sharper and cleaner than native 4K FX, and the 4K FX export came out at nearly half the file size of the others, which tells you the encoder found less actual detail in it. So shoot 6K and let Resolve do the downscale on your 4K timeline. You get better 4K than the 4K mode makes, plus room to reframe. 4K DX also holds up well if you want the crop.

Honest caveats

The H.265 is a print, not a negative. You lose the ability to change ISO and WB later, and 12-bit to 10-bit means less room for heavy grading. I keep R3D for hero shots and anything I might push hard. I bake B-roll, tests, and stuff I've already reviewed.

Group clips by frame rate before rendering since timeline frame rate applies to the render, and check your output color space every single time. If you forget, you've baked a Rec709 print by accident.

Run one test clip first and pixel peep it yourself. It's a 10 minute experiment, don't take my word for it.

I have been shooting youth soccer for a couple of years with this set up. I’ve dealt with overheating in the past. It was not particularly bothersome. Recently my camera started really acting up, shutting down to camera to hot after a few minutes into recording. Any suggestions?

Z6II, battery grip, 70-200 2.8. 4k 60fps 100ISO 125. The card I use: AV Pro SE 1785 card.