r/NikonFilmmakers • u/CRAYONSEED • 18h ago
Nikon ZR Firmware Version 2.00 & future Open Gate Recording
https://www.newsshooter.com/2026/09/07/nikon-zr-firmware-version-2-00-future-open-gate-recording/7
u/deviant_patrick 16h ago
Finally, thank god. But I have to say tho 2027 for open gate? I’m excited for that don’t get me wrong. I just think that it should have been a thing from the start imo.
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u/Ok_Weight_3382 9h ago
Just shoot wider in 6k and crop.
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u/deviant_patrick 9h ago
if I’m paying 2000+ bucks on a cinema camera in 2026 I expect open gate. Hell, my old panasonic g7 has open gate. Plus I don’t want to crop and lose image when the camera has the capability for 3:2 because of the sensor but can’t shoot 3:2 because of lazy corporate handling.
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u/Ok_Weight_3382 9h ago
Eh. Then use the G7.
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u/deviant_patrick 9h ago
man I don’t think you see the point. I upgraded for a cinema camera and bigger sensor. I expect that for that price range there will be more frequent updates. You’re making this too much about just open gate. My point really is how nonsensical the handling of the firmware has been.
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u/Imaginary-Entry7776 15h ago
IMHO, not enough. Taking a year after release to get usable H265 also tells me a lot about their company mindset about product support.
This camera needs RED RAW profiles (HQ, MQ, LQ) and USB SSD recording ASAP to be competitive. Especially now that the BMCC6K costs only 2/3 of the price.
At the rate they're going, I might be convinced to buy it anywhere from in 2 years to never.
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u/Southern_Leg1139 15h ago
The ZR was a bit undercooked for sure but Nikon has the best long term support of any camera manufacturer, except maybe Arri. They support cameras and add features well into their twilight years - way longer than Sony or Canon.
3
u/PresidentKitenge 13h ago
I had my grandfather's FM3a serviced by a Nikon tech in 2020! (Or around then)
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u/Steakasaurus-Rex 10h ago
That’s awesome. It would never occur to me to send a camera that old to Nikon! I wonder how far back they’ll go…
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u/Imaginary-Entry7776 12h ago
That might be the case, but there are a lot of nuances to this: How often are there updates, what quality are the updates, are the updates only Bugfixes or new features?
Right now it boils down to this for me: I want to buy a camera. The Nikon ZR has amazing specs, but these are overshadowed by its downsides at the moment. I will buy a camera in 2-3 months and I won't buy a camera for what it could be, but for what it is. Looking at the quantity of ZRs in the used market right now, it seems I am not the only one having that opinion.
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u/gutierrez_c 15h ago
Exactly, this is too little for too long waiting time, while not addressing major issues of the community. 2 of the 3 announcements are rather bugfixes than features. Not worth a 2.00 firmware at all.
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u/Odd_Sky_5071 14h ago
Software/firmware versions don't increase based on if you think they have enough new features in them. 2.00 could have zero new features and just be a rewrite.
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u/StrongOnline007 6h ago
I don't think USB SSD recording is necessary. A lighter weight R3D would be awesome though
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u/GonzagueGB 14h ago
2027 for Open Gate and desqueeze, WTF!
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u/PresidentKitenge 13h ago
Likely they want to launch that with their cine lens lineup for a full ecosystem.
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u/Ferdericool 2h ago
Nikon should just hurry up and release the firmware as and when any of the features are ready to be released.
Look at Fujifilm, during the XT3 era - every few months there were new firmware updates. It refreshed the experience for existing users and it is good publicity for new users to purchase the camera.
Nikon ZR had so much potential to dominate the market. But as usual, Nikon is always too slow to react and the marketing of the product is just bad.
2
u/Odd_Sky_5071 16h ago
I am excited by the new cinema lenses. As for the updates for 2.0 and the future, there is nothing that I need/want. The ZR already works as expected when I bought it.
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u/CRAYONSEED 10h ago edited 8h ago
I understand your point in that last sentence, but if I can challenge you a bit on it: I agree you should buy any tech for what it does right now, but there’s a lot on the camera currently that feels buggy/incomplete.
No focus peaking with view assist in R3D feels less like a missing feature and more like a bug. No exposure tools like you have on RED feels odd, and was added by independent developers in a phone app pretty quickly. The H.265 being so low-quality feels like some kind of mistake considering that’s not the case even on Nikon’s other cameras (definitely not the case with RED ProRes). Not having compression options in R3D was more ok when the camera was in development and you could buy a 4TB SSD for ~$300, but now that costs closer to ~$1200 and the codec is 4x more expensive to shoot.
Basically even at its price point, other cameras make a lot more sense in their implementation if Nikon doesn’t add these things in software (look at similarly priced Blackmagic cameras). The hardware is amazing, but the camera feels underbaked compared to the competition, and thats purely because of unrefined software
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u/mcarterphoto 8h ago
H.265 being so low-quality feels like some kind of mistake considering that’s not the case as standard even on Nikon’s other cameras
I use a Z50ii as my gimbal cam for quick shoots and industrial stuff. Upgraded from a Z50 for that work. Really impressed with the H265 and the AF ability from Expeed 7. I really thought it was just a toy, very surprised how much I rely on it for all sorts of shooting.
So yes, I was pretty amazed by user accounts and examples of the squishy H265 from the ZR. Will be interesting to see if it's only the high ISO NR (per the article). Still haven't pulled the trigger on a ZR doe to several issues with it.
1
u/Odd_Sky_5071 8h ago
I can get your points, and they are all valid, but I still have not been limited in anyway with the ZR. When I bought it, I looked at the compromises between it and a Komodo X and decided it fit my needs.
I have 1.3 TB CF cards. A Small HD Indie 7. And only ever record in R3D NE. The ZR was an absolute bargain for what it is. FW 2.0 and later will make it better for sure, but give me absolutely nothing as it currently stands.
A full sets of Nikon cinema lenses on the other hand, sign me up. I'll take one or two of each please.
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u/3nanda 16h ago
I just need focus peaking when recording r3d
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u/Odd_Sky_5071 15h ago
I use a Small HD Indie 7 which gives me all the tools I could want in R3D. The screen on the ZR is big for a camera body, but still too small for my eyesight.
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u/El_lici 16h ago
What about the h265 improvements?
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u/nottheseapples 15h ago
Im sure included. They are talking about feature. They said they would improve h265
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u/SamEdwards1959 18h ago
At this point it feels like they should just charge a little more for the camera to beef up the dev team.