The Nikon ZR comes surprisingly close to a true RED camera (for a lot less money)

If you shoot video professionally, you’ll probably drool over a red camera at some point. The RED has long been one of the top choices for big-budget productions, offering a combination of image quality and flexibility unmatched by most consumer cameras. They’re also quite expensive, at around $45,000, making them out of reach for most everyday projects. But now, Nikon promises to take the most unique part of RED — the file format that powers its stunning images — and offer it at a fraction of the price.

The $2,200 Nikon ZR is packed with features designed for videographers. It has a large, bright touchscreen, the ability to record audio with an unparalleled level of dynamic range, and enough sensor-level image stabilization to overcome drift for many tasks. But its most notable feature is its ability to shoot a version of RED’s R3D file format. It’s an abbreviated variant called R3D NE and is specifically designed for use on Nikon cameras. It’s not as robust, as it compresses some data that custom RED doesn’t. But for people willing to work with the limitations, accessing RED’s color pipeline and popping highlights is very compelling.

This is the first camera Nikon has made with RED since it acquired the company in 2024, and if the two brands were hoping to turn heads, I’d say they’ve succeeded. The question now is: How close does it come to true red?

A little less 3D research, and a lot less money

R3D is a video format called compressed RAW, which stores almost everything the sensor collects as metadata while maintaining a manageable file size. This means that settings such as white balance, ISO, gamma, and color space can be changed in post without effectively losing quality. This is useful for making solid creative decisions after shooting, or for saving shots when conditions aren’t ideal. I have strong memories of shooting action videos on smartphones in terrible lighting conditions many years ago, just to see (now) Wave Podcast Cohost Marques Brownlee posts a fully edited version of the same scene after shooting with the RED camera. Simply put, R3D is a cheat code.

The R3D NE format supported by the Nikon ZR is unfortunately not the same R3D used by dedicated RED cameras, but a modified 12-bit variant (down from the more detailed 16-bit version in high-end RED cameras) built on Nikon’s sensor and processor architecture. That’s because the ZR uses the same 24.5-megapixel partially stacked sensor as the Nikon Z6III, not the proprietary RED sensor and specialized chip to accelerate compression. In practice, this means that the R3D NE is very similar to Nikon’s N-RAW file format from a compression standpoint, and it’s certainly more taxing on my computer than the RED’s traditional R3D files. At 6k 24p, the ZR’s R3D NE files can impress fans during editing, while the R3D files I shot on the RED V-Raptor at 8k 24p cut like butter.

However, the R3D NE files from the Nikon ZR look very similar to the R3D files from the RED V-Raptor. The R3D NE still uses the premium color font, IPP2, found on RED’s own cameras since 2017, providing extremely smooth shading gradation, brilliant color, and almost film-like color response. Compared to standard R3D files, the ZR’s R3D NE files look almost identical, except for a slight green tint, which is likely due to the different color response from the Nikon Expeed sensor.

One of the main differences between the two cameras is how they handle ISO and noise. On the red, ISO is metadata that tells the software how many stops brighter or darker to display an image, but it’s not actually baked into analog amplification at the time of capture. This means that as long as you protect the highlights while shooting, you can change the ISO in post with minimal changes in noise or dynamic range.

In the ZR, changing the ISO directly changes the noise and clipping, because the R3D NE stores the sensor gain before compression. This means that changing the ISO in post on the ZR will quickly show more and more noise. Nikon tries to get around this by forcing you to shoot at one of their two native ISOs – either 800 or 6400 when recording the R3D NE. This results in a clean image, but becomes annoying if you need to make serious exposure adjustments in post. The photo looks great if you control the exposure with an ND filter or aperture, but you certainly have less control over exposure than you do with a dedicated red.

Even with the limitations, it’s remarkable how much RED power Nikon has brought to this much cheaper camera. If you’ve always wanted access to the color science and image characteristics of RED, the ZR will get you there. The limits really come down to your ability to properly expose your scene while shooting. You’ll still have the ability to radically adjust things like white balance and color space after this happens. However, if you get the exposure wrong, you’ll have a harder time saving your photo easily than you would with a custom red.

Reverse red devices

Another big reason why people want RED cameras is their modularity. RED cameras start with just the “brain,” a big box with an image sensor, a processor, and a whole lot of inputs you can connect things to. The cameras are so stripped back, designed around modules, that they need a variety of additional accessories like a screen and grip just to be usable.

By this measure, Nikon has gone in exactly the opposite direction. The ZR is practically the opposite of the RED—a camera with so many built-in features that you can shoot high-quality footage with almost no extras.

A prime example of this is the ZR’s 1000-nit, 4-inch touchscreen, which practically eliminates the need for an additional screen. The touchscreen moves 180 degrees and looks great outwardly, although if you have something plugged into the microphone jack, you’ll have trouble making it clear all the way. Unfortunately, the ZR doesn’t offer RED’s popular “Traffic Light” and “Goal Post” on-screen exposure tools, which help make sure your image doesn’t get cropped — something more important on the ZR than on traditional RED — but it is very sharp at 3.07 million dots and supports DCI-P3 color for a more accurate representation of what you’re shooting.

Another great built-in ZR feature is support for FLOAT 32-bit audio recording from the internal microphone, digital hotshoe, or mic jack. The ZR is the first camera to do this, and frankly, that’s a huge deal. 32-bit audio is very difficult to crop, allowing you to capture a wide variation in loudness without ruining the sound. Traditional shooting setups require a separate audio recorder for 32-bit FLOAT recording, and the ability to record it internally can further reduce the size of your set.

All of this is housed inside a compact and lightweight body, weighing just 1.4 pounds. Nikon achieved such a thin and light look by using a fanless design, which is unusual for such a video-focused camera. It’s also able to include 7.5 stops of in-body image stabilization, something you won’t get on any of RED’s own cameras.

The ZR is not without its faults, of course. The tripod pin is very close to the battery/media storage door, making it difficult to swap batteries or storage while on the tripod. The camera uses Micro HDMI instead of full-size, and the CF Express Type-B and micro SD slot make backup recording nearly impossible if you’re shooting in high definition. I also found the joystick to be a bit small and mushy, and there’s a frustrating 125-minute recording limit that limits the use of the camera for longer interviews.

Ultimately, however, the Nikon ZR is pretty much what Nikon promised: a $2,200 ticket for RED-like file capture. It’s an amazing value for professional videographers. Nikon has been outperforming Nikon in video for nearly a decade. The ZR is the kind of camera a company makes when it’s looking to make a comeback.

Photography by David Emil