Nikon Launches Own Cinematic Mirrorless Camera

2025.09.10

Today, Nikon announced their first Full-Frame Mirrorless Digital Camera designed specifically for videography based on a merger of their Z-platform and technology acquired via RED, which they bought last year. This theme is becoming a prevalent strategy for digital camera manufacturers to expand into a new market.

The new Nikon ZR is built upon the Z-platform using the same 24 megapixels Full-Frame BSI-CMOS sensor as the Z6 III. Unlike another cinema camera launched yesterday, the ZR packs a 5-axis image-stabilization system that compensates for up to 7½-stops of vibrations. The design of this mirrorless is compact and boxy with few controls, expect for dual control-dials and a joystick.

Commonly for a cinematic camera the Nikon ZR omits any type of viewfinder, not does it have provision to add one. Instead, framing is done via a huge 4" LCD with 3 megapixels and mounted on a rotating hinge. The screen boasts a 1000-nit brightness and DCI-P3 color-space coverage. The camera provides high-quality microphones that record in 32-bit floating point format and offer a choice of 5 pickup patterns. Additionally, there are digital contacts in the hot-shoe to connect an accessory microphone with a digital interface.

The headline features of the Nikon ZR are its extensive video capabilities. This camera is capable of recording 6K RAW video at up to 60 FPS. It also supports variants of 4K as RAW video, including a 3984x2240 mode with 120 FPS maximum frame-rate. Compressed video as MPEG-4 or Quicktime can also be captured. It supports 4K at 120 FPS and 1080p at 240 FPS, plus an extended 5.4K mode at 60 FPS.

One exceptional feature of the Nikon ZR is its launch price of $2200 USD or $3000 CAD, making it the most affordable cinematic Full-Frame mirrorless to date. It is expected to ship late next month.

• Digital Camera