Nikon's new Z7 mirrorless camera promises to be useful for video work as well as still photography, and includes features such as 4:2:2 10-bit video over HDMI, usable autofocus in video, and improved video processing.
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We've put together a series of video clips from the Nikon launch event in New York to show what video looks like straight out of the camera, including clips recorded in 10-bit 4:2:2 color using an Atomos Ninja, as well as some 1080/120p footage for slow motion. All shots marked as captured with the Atomos Ninja were mounted on a DJI Ronin M gimbal.
What do you think of the video quality so far? Let us know in the comments.
This video looks terrible. You'd think Nikon would have the good sense to at least create a demo set and lighting design that would be flattering to the camera's limited capabilities, but the highlights are blown and the shadows are lost within each shot due to the spotty, direct lighting.
Sony made A7 series because they saw a great opportunity to take FF photography market share from Canon & Nikon. Now Nikon hits back making a 2000$ camera that can not only protect their FF photography market share, but can also take pro + amateur video market share (which they never had). I mean: a camera with great high quality FF sensor, IBIS, video AF, external 4K 10-bit 4:2:2 color output and a new large mount with only 16mm flange distance that will allow ANY glass out there to screw on once the 3th party adapters hit the market: Nikon F, Canon EF, ZEISS, Leica M, Fuji, Voigtlander, Sigma, Tamron ... Man, videographers are going to be all over this 2000$ camera, gonne sell like hotcakes ! The worst part for Sony is that Nikon (and soon Canon) bring their FF mirrorless to market at a point in time where Sony mostly completed their investment in a whole new lens lineup ... while their return on investment on all these expensive lenses will be minimal -> aaaauuuch, big hit to Sony !
About the upcoming expensive A7S III, it will be just a shade in the dark compared to the 2000$ Nikon Z6 because, besides the A7S being an inferior photo camera at only 10 Mpixels, some important basics Sony cannot correct anymore: big enough mount required for high quality glass with edge to edge sharpness especially with all that 3th party high quality glass out there I listed above, cramped and inferior IBIS, slower SD card technology compared to XQD future (unless Sony changes their mind and changes strategy again from SD to XQD ... very unlikely since their small body will then suddenly not be able to fit in a dual card slot just like the Nikon Z6 & 7 bodies), professional repair & support network for the lower end (consumer) cameras, ... So according to me Sony is trapped ! And that single 4K 60p feature is not going to save their butts anymore because everybody knows that Canikon will bring that as well in their next models ... just a matter of time in technological evolution.
And to all you Nikon pro shooters out there, why don't you just skip the Z6 & 7 bodies and leave the stock to us amateurs ... You know very well that Nikon will bring out the real pro mirrorless bodies later on, that are bigger, heavier and will support dual card slots ! But as usual, despite all you pro shooters are whining and complaining about certain missing features, you gonne buy it anyway so please stop whining and just shoot pictures !
I think the s35 here looks quite nice but I’m not loving the full frame clips. Even the Prores stuff looks lower quality than the D850. I’m seeing artifacts as if it were over sharpened and/or underexposed and pulled shadows up (one clip is clearly under exposed without correction). Nikon could have provided some better light, lol.
I use -7 sharpening and a custom logish profile on the D850, so it could be that, but the s35 here looks really good, so not sure. The final FF clip also looks decent. The AF looks pretty awesome overall.
From one of the previous articles, video AF tracking on moving subjects is incredibly good. But it seems like when the camera's AF is interrupted by taking photos, things drop off severely.
Just out of curiosity, why did Nikon have a big release party for the Z6 & 7 and only have preproduction models available? Did Sony do this with the A7Riii or A7iii? For something this big, with all the hoopla involved, why preproduction models?
Yeah this is all good marketing on Nikons part and right out of Sonys own playbook. Yes is does seem these were rushed a bit especially as Richard comments there were no working Z6 at the launch but many Nikon customers thinking about jumping ship are holding off now. This is what Sony did when they started marketing their PS2 8 or 9 months before actually releasing it. The hype it built up brought Dreamcast sales to a screeching halt.
@arbux...listen you arrogant ass....I still have my Nikon D7200, for now. So before you start fanboying people you might have your scrotum hair tickle your brain stem before you make a stupid comment..My question is legit...Nikon fanboy...
"Why nikon would care about sony fanboys? They're not his target."
Funny, because these cameras try to copy the A7 III series so hard. Even a lot of the cameras' layout is similar. And EVEN THE NAMING IS SIMILAR. To the point that the high end sports camera is likely to be called the Z9, with potentially a very high res or high sensitivity camera as the Z8.
Very good. Nikon is stepping up, but, I will advise them to focus on what they know how to do best, cos! hmnmm, King Sony can do all things with their technology that srenghtened them. No camera company in the world can compete with King Sony if they really want to build CAMERA the will continue to win award for the next 10yrs. Better still nikon welcome to mirrorless world of competitions.
Why most of the supid posts are written by sony fanboys? King sony? No panasonic, no canon, no red... noy even sony studios is using sony to make movies.
What Nikon needs to do (and hopefully wants to do) is build cameras people will buy. Awards, top 10 lists, DxO scores are for DPR to write about and fans to argue over. They don't have anything to do with photography.
Sony can defintely put out the best sensor for sure and they are also pretty good at audio and genral comsumer electronics but saying they are King is going a little far. Its about the lenses and always has been so and Canikon are still putting out the best lenses (please don't go comparing 1 year old Sony lenses to 20 year old Canikon lenses look at their latest releases). Its akin to saying Kodak could have made the best camera in the film days.
All Sony cameras that record Full 120P do this - even the the RX10, the RX100, etc. And they have been doing this for a long time. There is nothing that Nikon is offering in video that beats Sony cameras, except the 10bit 422 HDMI output. But, Panasonic has been doing that since the GH4. These Nikon cameras can compete, but there is zero innovation in terms of the market.
The Z 7 can either use the full width of the sensor (but with line skipping) or it can use the full pixel readout from a Super 35/DX region. This shows both.
Richard Butler. Wow, that means even with line skipping, there's still some oversampling involved so at non-crop, that would probably mean 22.5MB downsampled to 8MB so I expect the quality would still be good... Sharpness, would be a another matter though.
- 10-15 minutes video shooting with a battery - lack of 10bit 422 internal - only 100mbit while the camera uses xqd card? - can't find anything about scopes
Can't find features to get me to shoot with this cam for film
And you want all this for $ 2000??? So lets see the next step up for a full frame camera that does 10 422 bit internal, Canon C700, size and weight of a brick for the cheap price of 30k +. Its media would cost more than the Z6.
The N log video that Nikon put out was horrible too. All the highlights were so blown out. I'm waiting for someone to actually put out a video that shows this camera has decent DR.
Well, what we don't know whether the footage was graded, and how good was the colorist. Sometimes I purposefully overexpose two stops on Leica SL to use it with Arri Alexa LUT, and it looks just fine in the end.
So no one saw the part at the end of the NLOG non graded, you must have been blind then or just noob that don't understand that you can grade footage in any way you want and even completely miss the mark of the use of a log profile in the first way.
Like with any camera, when you record to HDMI, there is no time limit. Also, almost never one needs to record for 30 minutes at a time, unless of course you are doing surveillance video :D
Thanks. What I mean is, will it encounter thermal shut-down at some point beyond 30 minutes. (You're right, it's not a common use; I'd just like to know about any constraints up front.)
More worrying is the part in the specs that says that the battery limit is 10-15 mins for video. That would imply you need a massive external battery for longer videos.
I too used to think that only the ignorant recorded more than 30 minutes at a time, but I’ve since learned that there are valid reasons such as long interviews, memorial services for people with long winded friends , and situations where you need to capture a certain moment but can’t predict when it will happen. But you’re right in general
@SamTruax - you are right. However, for something like that using a 4K full-frame capture device is usually an overkill. That is, unless, of course, you are not planning on some creative editing in post.
Can we stop about that typo on Nikon USA website about only 15 min video. Jared polin took 500 pictures and recorded 20 minutes 4k video, with a lot of time fidling with the menu etc and was left with 44% battery. Nikon Japan stated 85 minutes video.
RedFox 88: That clearly isn't true. The Panasonic LX100 II can only record 15 minutes of 4K footage because of heat buildup, Fujifilm's X-T2 and X-H1 can only record for extended period if you use the external battery grip (so that the heat of the battery is away from other heat sources in the body).
Two years ago at Photokina every manufacturer that offers 4K said the biggest challenge is thermal management.
@Richard Butler: Leica SL does not overheat when shooting 4K. Granted, it is only Super35. Usually I work in climate controlled conditions, but this summer I spent a day shooting IndyCar races in 87-90-degree heat. No issues with the camera whatsoever. In fact, Blackmagic Video Assist 4K shut off a couple of times, but the camera kept going.
@Richard Butler - my 4 years olx samsung NX1 has never dekonstrated any heat related issues nor I heard about it, while video quality is still class leading. And pdaf works in recording mode. I wonder how limited the photographers / videographers community is that they didnt recognize clear winner just because of brand prejudice.
I didn't say it's impossible, but it's not true that it's only Sony that finds it challenging.
arbux: yes, the NX1 was ahead of its time, particularly in terms of video. That's part of why Dale and I gave it a Gold award in our review and our team gave it (I think) two awards at the first DPReview awards. We were deeply saddened when it became apparent that its technology was going to be lost to the industry.
Yes. Because the real, uncompressed video bitrate of True 4K equates to approximately 12 gigabits per second, not 144 Mbps. And it must be 50/60 fps, Uncompressed 720p and 1080i HDTV requires 1.5 Gbps. We see hardly compressed video for photo cameras.
I thought for reasonable 4K you only needed 200mbps 4:2:2 10-bit. You get to that number by multiplying the 50 Mbps 4:2:2 broadcast standard times four ( because the 4K frame is four times as large as the 1920 x 1080 frame). Or are you talking about the 880+ Mbps output of high end digital cinema cameras from Sony, Arri and others?
"Because the real, uncompressed video bitrate of True 4K equates to approximately 12 gigabits per second" Sorry, but 4K60p at 4:2:2 at 12 bits is only 6G.
FelixC2013, I meant till 12 Gb, it's right for 120 fps. You are right for 60 fps. Anyway, 4K60p is much higher than 144 Mbps. My main idea that 4K of Nikon is nothing special and can't even compete with Panasonic.
You have uncompressed 4k 10 bit video from the hdmi that you can record prores at much higher bitrate and 60p is ugly. 24 is the standard of movies, or you want you video to look like news.
Doesn't H.265 give you the same quality as double the data rate with H.264 (or some better quality at some lesser data rate)? So maybe think 200mbps. That's not so bad.
@ogl = nobody shoots cine footage at 50/60 fps, unless slo-mo is a goal.Even at 30fps it does not look right. So, it is reasonable to think in terms of 24fps. An external recorder gets an HDMI uncompressed feed, and your bitrate objection becomes simply irrelevant.
I went down to my local TV-shop and played back 4K video from a Panasonic FZ1000 on a 55" 4K TV and it was absolutely amazing @ 100Mbit. This guy sums it up: "Dynamic range increases, the files feel chunkier to grade. Colour is richer, less thin and skin tones less plastic. And yeah, detail increases but it also looks far cleaner, with virtually no false detail, moire or aliasing in the final result " https://www.eoshd.com/2014/11/panasonic-fz1000-review-bargain-4k-super-zoom/ And YES of course I want 4K video on a camera that should last the next 5 years, but I do admit that to some VHS from Blockbuster must seem perfectly adequate. We did not complain then, so what gives with 4K LOL
Irakly Shanidze—never say never. Cinematographers are always trying to outdo each other with the weirdness of their techniques. And I've recently read an interesting post by a person who claimed that with current editing systems, 60p is the most versatile and best-looking of all the formats and is easily converted to 24fps. I'm not agreeing with him, but it's an interesting idea that I wish I knew how to test.
What? 24p is a habit? I think you meant 30 fps is a habit. 30 fps never looks good. It's just an artifact from the broadcast days. I have no idea why vloggers like 30 fps. Never have I heard while being an AC, "we are going to shoot this commercial in 20fps because it looks better"
I mean technically it makes no sense to produce 24 or 25p content for a medium that has a 60fps monitor (monitors, tablets and smartphones). From a technical standpoint it's just inelegant to mutilate every 2.5th frame.
Except that people are "conditioned" or used to 24p.
I mean that's somewhat true but your 24p content doesn't get converted to 30fps on a 60hz monitor.
It's always better to shoot in 24 and if you need to add a 3:2 pulldown to convert to 30fps then go for it.
I just don't know what you mean by conditioned though? Most of the media that was consumed before the 2000's was NTSC or PAL. The only time you witnessed 24 fps was at the theater.
I guess we should also consider that all non cinema camera systems shoot at a 60hz refresh rate even if you're shooting 24fps. The only mirrorless camera to offer 24hz is the GH5.
So I guess between fresh rates and frame rates the quality of image gets muddled.
Well it's just my understanding on the matter, I don't have much experience (yet). I'd just prefer being able to shoot at 30fps for a 60hz monitor.
I mean something like pavlovian conditioning, you are used to seeing movies in cinematic quality in 24p so you subconsciously associate that "look" with movie. And things like 30fps or 50interlaced with TV.
For example when I started using SVP to upscale movies and shows to watch on my PC to 120hz I didn't like the "soapy" effect from the smooth motion. But once you get used to it, it's just smoother and nicer (even though there are some artifacts).
That's still a reason to shoot in 24p of course, but the way I see it it's basically en emotional response to a technical defect, because every 2.5th frame of a 24p video on a 60hz display doesn't fit right.
I have long held the belief that the convention of shooting at 50 or 60 fps was intended to avoid flicker/striping in scenes lit by fluorescent lighting. A quick websearch found a citation confirming this:
Interesting video and channel! Sorry I didn't mean to start some argument here. I think that many people like 24p better simply because of "conditioning", and that is a perfectly valid and rational argument to produce it. It just bugs me on youtube and 60hz screens with the awkward uneven frame distribution.
It's too bad I already bought by A7Riii as a nikon shooter this would have been a no-brainer. Only if it was out just a few months earlier.
DPreview TV first impression of IBIS for video was very good. Basically they claimed Fuji XH1 level. Not quiet GH5, but for a full-frame it's great and maybe it gets better with a few more firmware.
I shot a music video with D810 and I loved the color out of that compared to my Sony A6000. But the lack of video AF made it very hard.
So Nikon seem to have all the parts that needed for a great hybrid camera run and gun style: 1 - AF 2 - Great colors 3 - IBIS So you can basically shoot decent handheld videos with complete freedom.
Hmm... you can still go nikon if you want to. Heck, I had the A7II, and recently got the A7III. Now this came out, GAS kicked in and I though... "why not? I can just dumb the sony and get the nikon". I have not bought into the sony system too far since I find the cost of the lenses to be a bit off putting.
But I thought it through logically. First adopter is simply not a good idea. Personally I would prefer something like this ala canon. So if I will wait for the second gen to come out instead, by then the native lens line up will be better. Currently I own the 28-75 tamron and the 55 f1.8. I was thinking of acquiring the 70-200 f4. With just 3 lenses most of my shooting needs are filled. Sure I would like a macro and a wide angle zoom, but sacrifices.
Ergonomics, stopped down focus, weather sealing and overall cost are my issues with sony. Nikon already seemed to address most of them. If they add eye af, and if the AF reviews are positive....
Nikon, at least by these first impression reviews seem to hit most of my checkboxes. But you're right. I'm sure the next generation Z7ii, etc will remove some of the kinks and will even be better. I also want a native 28/2 or 28/1.8 lens, as that's my favorite focal length.
So maybe I'll just wait 2 more years and use my A7Riii in the meanwhile.
Yeah, it's kinda stupid you can't shoot in 8 bit N log internally. I don't understand why they did that. But yeah, I don't think internal 10 bit full frame will be a possibility for a few years.
Simple, 8 bit cannot hold that level of graduation that log profile need. It creates a lot of banding etc. I have a Ninja flame, it does cost some money but you get so many features beyond recording like scopes zebras etc. Now with A Ninja V with the Z6 or 7, it would be smaller than a D7500 and a flash.
I can't believe Sony has bribed all these reviewers with a trip to NYC and provided them cameras to shoot with. All these reviews are tainted IMO. I'm waiting for real photographers to review this camera.
Oh wait. It's a Nikon? Never mind. How do you delete a post?
Note: The above was sarcasm in case you couldn't tell.
I'm glad Nikon followed Sony with this type of launch. I think it gets a lot of content and info out there quickly from a variety of reviewers and sources.
I call Sony the zombi camera, unless you should in ideal light like golden hour or some very heavy grade the colors are horrible. Jared Polin had a video partly shot on the Z7 and others on the A73, it was so easy to tell.
Nikon’s face historically focuses on the eyes. No reason they would change it here. I’m pretty sure they realize photographers generally don’t want the tip of the nose in focus when shooting a face.
The difference between ‘face’ detect and ‘eye’ detect is a UI one. Each have their advantages.
From this short clip it is impossible to decide the quality of predictable continuous video autofocus. The videographer hasn't even tried the most basic touch-to-rack-focus. This was heavily edited, the wiggling, hunting parts could have been removed. We haven't seen even a moderate walking face towards camera. The number of on-sensor phase detection points give the potential for Nikon to implement a reliable video AF, nevertheless, but from this video it's impossible to decide where they are.
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