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 an 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.
Cheers,
Bernard
The bigger issue is that you aren't able to record redundantly to an external device like an Atomos Ninja, so there is zero redundant recording. Not to both slots (obviously) and not to an external recorder. So, once again, Nikon failed to provide what MANY have asked for since the Z9 came out. I know that no consumer camera is recording RAW to both slots, but at least H.265 4:2:2 would have been nice. Your entire hope is that CFExpress card doesn't fail or you lose everything.
Yes, that is true. And I was very vocal in the past about the importance of backup for stills. So I know the topic.
But... I spend lots of time on YouTube/Instagram and know many content creators. Frankly, most of them won't care about this very low risk. They don't create content that is rare and unique enough that a card failure would have a significant impact on their revenue.
I am aware that my personal experience isn't statistically significant. But I had 3 SDs cards failing on me over the years and zero CFExpress. Although by now I have shot way more images/video on CFExpress due to the much higher frame rate of those bodies and a strong shift of my shooting towards action and video work.
So yes, a failure is of course possible. And that will happen and result is some of the videos shot with the ZR being lost. But frankly, so what? If it is a problem for your applications then the Zr isn't a solution for you more than the Z8/Z9 and I understand the hope that Nikon addresses this at some point. I am sure they are aware.
But I don't think that this limitation will impact the market success of the Zr.
Cheers,
Bernard
The redundant recording is only one of the short comings, but, I think I would still try one and see how it works for my needs. Zr + 28-105 PZ
Sep 10, 2025 at 06:31 PM
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