Evection wrote: JadedWriter wrote:
Yeah I keep forgetting how dumb the micro HDMI thing is, I'm pretty sure big productions just have tons of those damn things, but I do wish they didn't put that in this camera. I guess this is some sort of test bed intro camera and the version two will basically be what this camera should've been. Also the more I'm looking at Nikon's marketing for this it's not a big production house camera. This is basically them taking on the Blackmagic demographic I would think. Evection wrote: JadedWriter wrote:
I mean...this ain't even that bad in my opinion. A lot of the ergo stupidity...minus the memory card placement gets solved with this: https://www.smallrig.com/smallrig-cage-kit-for-nikon-zr-5468.html?
In my experience, micro-HDMI can fail even when securely clamped, even without being touched. There's a good reason why it's a non-starter for big productions. It's basically a ticking time-bomb.
One can tolerate it for personal projects, but step into a larger gig and you're jeopardizing everyone's work. Not a good look, professionally.
Sure, there'd probably be a spare cable, but at this point I'd have ruined a potentially good take and wasted expensive shooting time. And I'd be pretty sure they won't be hiring me again. This kind of work is about dependability just as much as it's about quality.
Personally, I'm even fine with shooting on a single card, CF doesn't tend to fail for no good reason. Micro-HDMI does, though. It's a deal-breaker.
You're probably right about the target demographic, though. The "cine camera in a hybrid body" was never truly ideal for larger productions. That being said, the ZR has even worse usability than its direct competition, while being technically better in terms of recording. Here's to hoping a mark II would clear the issues.
I am pretty sure most users won’t even use the HDMI port at all. The built-in screen is good enough not to.
They also won’t be using the jack connector. There will be options using the digital hot shoe.
So usability with the Smallrig cage will in fact be excellent.
My take is that there is no point in trying to replicate with the ZR the way FX3 needs to be rigged. A ZR will be able to adresse many use cases with a more streamlined set up and deliver pretty comparable results.
Evection wrote: JadedWriter wrote:
Yeah I keep forgetting how dumb the micro HDMI thing is, I'm pretty sure big productions just have tons of those damn things, but I do wish they didn't put that in this camera. I guess this is some sort of test bed intro camera and the version two will basically be what this camera should've been. Also the more I'm looking at Nikon's marketing for this it's not a big production house camera. This is basically them taking on the Blackmagic demographic I would think. Evection wrote: JadedWriter wrote:
I mean...this ain't even that bad in my opinion. A lot of the ergo stupidity...minus the memory card placement gets solved with this: https://www.smallrig.com/smallrig-cage-kit-for-nikon-zr-5468.html?
In my experience, micro-HDMI can fail even when securely clamped, even without being touched. There's a good reason why it's a non-starter for big productions. It's basically a ticking time-bomb.
One can tolerate it for personal projects, but step into a larger gig and you're jeopardizing everyone's work. Not a good look, professionally.
Sure, there'd probably be a spare cable, but at this point I'd have ruined a potentially good take and wasted expensive shooting time. And I'd be pretty sure they won't be hiring me again. This kind of work is about dependability just as much as it's about quality.
Personally, I'm even fine with shooting on a single card, CF doesn't tend to fail for no good reason. Micro-HDMI does, though. It's a deal-breaker.
You're probably right about the target demographic, though. The "cine camera in a hybrid body" was never truly ideal for larger productions. That being said, the ZR has even worse usability than its direct competition, while being technically better in terms of recording. Here's to hoping a mark II would clear the issues.
I am pretty sure most users won’t even use the HDMI port at all. The built-in screen is good enough not to.
They also won’t be using the jack connector. There will be options using the digital hot shoe.
So usability with the Smallrig cage will in fact be excellent.
Cheers,
Bernard
Sep 10, 2025 at 05:04 PM
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