Looks like the complainers are getting their wishes for Open Gate and Anamorphic Desqueeze, now if only Nikon can transform the micro-HDMI to full size HDMI with 3.0, critics will be really happy kidding
Buckeye2604 wrote:
IMO, Nikon should have released these updates sooner. The Zr generated strong momentum, but a lack of urgency and transparency undermined it.
Nikon has said firmware updates to user requests for the ZR are being worked on, past history (e.g. Z9) shows that this happens over the course of several years. I don't see what there is to be more transparent about; in my opinion, until the features are implemented and tested they shouldn't be saying they will offer them, as people will then speculate whether Nikon will really be true to their word (which they have been, as far as I can tell).
Open gate and anamorphic desqueeze (which are related, where it comes to cinema) seem to be a part of Nikon's reaction to the new Sony's FX5 which is offering open gate in raw format at launch but compressed formats are said to become available later in a firmware update. Thus, in Nikon's ZR which is half price compared to the FX5, it seems perfectly reasonable that users can catch up to these features in a firmware update in 2027. You pay half, you can't expect all the features of the more expensive competitor and Nikon seems to be trying to add requested major improvements despite the low price of the product.
PixiPhotography wrote:
Nikon’s gotta join the club. Every YouTube cinematographer talking points were the same; no full size HDMI, no desqueeze, no open-gate.
About the HDMI: while it makes sense to have better connectors for the users of external displays, even HDMI isn't a locking connector and can be considered to be problematic because of that. Locking connectors take up more space and are usually absent in small cameras. One of the ZR's key features is the 4" display which makes the camera easier to use in situations where you need to use a small camera. A ZR with external display is a large setup already, and you probably want to mount the display on a cage which will include a full sized HDMI to micro HDMI adapter and some clamps to prevent cables from coming off with the slightest yank of a cable. While the micro HDMI is not ideal, the cage solutions address this. Yes, they add to the weight etc. You can also use either the USB-C or wifi to connect to smartphone with ZR CTL which gives you many of the requested features such as R3D NE peaking, anamorphic desqueeze, traffic lights and false color, framing guides etc. If you use this as a monitor then presumably the nature of the HDMI connector does not matter. I think SDI would be better for cabled connector as it locks, but for that the camera would need to be physically larger and then there would be complaints about that.
I think with the updates announced the ZR seems likely to match expectations and hopes that are reasonable in this price class of a camera.
PixiPhotography wrote:
Nikon’s gotta join the club. Every YouTube cinematographer talking points were the same; no full size HDMI, no desqueeze, no open-gate.
My point is they are ridiculously late on a feature that should have been there day one, and for it to miss 2.0 is crazy to me.
fjablo wrote:
I'd also bet desqueeze will only be available in video mode..
Plenty of you-tubers are making plenty of noise about Firmware 2.0, and the new Nikon cinema lenses, today. I am not up to date on the current levels of credibility, of the various you-tubers. I have mostly been paying attention to the already-mentioned Talbot.
I continue to experiment with my ZR as a stills camera, so, the FW might not mean much, for my personal use, at least for a while. Next up, 58G and 200/2G VR, as I find the time. (My mother is aging rapidly, now, needing my assistance much more often, but, she does live on three acres, with numerous plants and trees, an environment which suits me. Tree bark has ample “character,” and foliage is good for testing bokeh.)
I feel like these updates come slower because they beta test the updates in the field longer, which I might actually prefer at this point considering both Sony and Canon have had updates that either mess something up or need to get pulled down two hours after going up because they brick something. Buckeye2604 wrote:
IMO, Nikon should have released these updates sooner. The Zr generated strong momentum, but a lack of urgency and transparency undermined it.
JadedWriter wrote:
I feel like these updates come slower because they beta test the updates in the field longer, which I might actually prefer at this point considering both Sony and Canon have had updates that either mess something up or need to get pulled down two hours after going up because they brick something.
Interesting. I agree that proceeding with due care is a best practice.
DWOfPaul wrote:
Happy to see the ZR getting some powerful updates! I wonder if we will see Open Gate come to the Z8 affter the ZR gets it.
I'm wondering more about whether the Z6 III gets it, since it shares the same sensor and would seem more likely to get the update as they ostensibly share a more similar codebase. I'm guessing no, since Nikon probably wants to keep the ZR differentiated.
I think these firmware updates and development announcements are on purpose. Look at the Z9. When it was announced, a flood of people ordered it. Then, they released that firmware update that gave 8K/60p along other features, once again it sparked interest. I think Nikon do this on purpose. The first wave of Zr buyers were already happy with the specs it had, and bought it. The ones who were on the fence were the ones who wanted open-gate, desqueeze... and now they're getting it, which will spark another wave of interest in the Zr, bringing yet again more customers. This update should definitely bring those potential customers who wanted those features and didn't really care about a full size HDMI, albeit, it could have been done... R6V proved that.
Alistair1 wrote:
Am I the only one that thinks it is insanely impressive that they will add open gate via firmware? For free. On a $2k camera. Who does that?
It seems plausible that they could do it since Expeed 7 supports 8K/60 N-RAW in the Z8 and Z9 cameras, and the open gate in a ZR would be 6K with a bit more data top and bottom, so it should be doable from a processing point of view. However, the ZR is a smaller body and open gate would result in some more heat generation compared to regular 6K. If the heat generation at 6K 60 fps in open gate mode turns out a problem, they could still limit the fps rate to 24, 25, and 30, for example, to make sure long recording times are available.
Nikon wants a better foothold in the video market and if the hardware makes it possible, it makes sense that they add such features to it that can attract new and existing customers.
Personally I think it is annoying that there are so many video aspect ratios used for TV, cinema etc. and then films don't have a particular fixed aspect ratio rather they are shown with different crops in different distributions, changing the content. Most TVs have 16:9 aspect ratio and I would personally prefer manufacturers to stick to it so that all the content could be viewed full screen without cropping or black bars, but this is not how things are done in practice. For example, some films are shot on IMAX, such as the Odyssey, and then depending on which theatre one goes to see it, different crops are shown.
Of course, it seems wasteful that many cameras primarily intended for video don't let the full sensor area to be used, so in that sense open gate makes sense to implement. But open gate has different aspect ratios for Fujifilm GFX (4:3), 35mm full frame (3:2), or a Red Raptor-VV (about 1.9:1), so in terms of the content, it implies different things on usage. When shown in a standard movie theatre, the top and bottom of the VV image would be cropped. When viewed on a standard TV screen, left and right would need to be cropped. Why is it so hard to standardize on an aspect ratio so that content can be viewed optimally across presentations? The very least, viewers should have the option of choosing between black bars and cropping when viewing on a TV set. But this is usually not available.
For stills, different aspect ratios can be more easily accommodated simply because prints can be made in any aspect ratio and they don't require a special device to view, with possibly limited resolution or black bars / cropping as is often the case for movies.
If the capability to do these things was there all along, they should have done enough market research to include it all at launch.
It's awesome that they are working on this, but I agree it's kinda a joke to hold back on stuff like this and only mention adding it after YouTubers have been clamoring for 6 months.
I think it's quite normal nowadays to release the hardware with first version firmware and then build new features over time, it happens all the time, e.g., with smartphones, so why not cameras? Software development takes time. By releasing the camera when the hardware is ready, people buy it with those features in mind and later get firmware upgrades for free. The software improvements keep the camera viable in the market for a longer time and users get a longer life from their cameras before they start feeling outdated.
Apple does it, Sony does it, Nikon does it.
It's not about holding something back but simply they are letting users enjoy the product while they are developing new features for it.
ISO1600 wrote:
If the capability to do these things was there all along, they should have done enough market research to include it all at launch.
It's awesome that they are working on this, but I agree it's kinda a joke to hold back on stuff like this and only mention adding it after YouTubers have been clamoring for 6 months.
kidding
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