Get Ready for the Nikon ZR and its RED Color Science Unlocked

The Nikon ZR 6K Cinema Camera promises to be a first-of-its-kind camera that should bring a new look to the cinematic market.

Jourdan Aldredge • Sep 19, 2025

It’s an exciting time to be in the market to buy a camera. Or, if you’re already set with your camera, it could just be a good time to stare longingly at some of the awesome new cinema cameras recently released by the likes of Canon and Sony.

Not to be outdone by its competition, Nikon has just revealed a real game-changer for the brand with the ZR, a 6K Cinema Camera that is the first in a new Z Cinema Series. Since acquiring RED Digital Cinema over a year ago, this fusion of technologies has been a long time in the making.

We’re excited to share some of the highlights of the Nikon ZR, as well as help you prepare to gear up for it—if you choose to do so.

The New Nikon ZR

Set to be a powerful combination of the best of RED’s famous color science and Nikon’s historic engineering, the Nikon ZR 6K Cinema Camera promises to be a first-of-its-kind camera that should bring a new look to the cinematic market.

Relatively small in size, this Z-mount cinema camera allows shooters to utilize a variety of lenses, providing a nice blend of internal stabilization and steady image support with 15+ stops of dynamic range.

Built for filmmaking, the Nikon ZR also features some pretty robust audio recording features, as well as some of the best video capture capabilities that you’d expect for a RED/Nikon fusion.

RED Color Science

A long-time collaboration between Nikon and RED, the ZR is set to provide a wide range of compatibility with production workflows, including REDCODE RAW R3D NE recording formats, as well as Nikon's N-RAW, ProRes RAW HQ/422 HQ, and high-quality compressed H.264 and H.265 codecs.

REDCODE RAW (R3D NE) can also be unlocked as a way to access the same color space (REDWideGamutRGB) and Log curve (Log3G10) as other RED cameras, making the ZR a nice option for a tag-along camera on higher-end shoots.

The Nikon ZR will further be able to record resolutions up to 6K60, 4K120, and even 1080p240 for high frame rate and slow-motion recording.

32-bit Float Audio

The Nikon ZR also notably features built-in configurable mics with five directional patterns (front/narrow, front, rear, omnidirectional, and binaural). The camera will also feature a direct line input, allowing the shooter to record with an external microphone.

You’ll also be able to access a digital accessory shoe that can accommodate mics like the ME-D10 shotgun mic, as well as utilize a headphone jack to monitor your audio.

The best part of the audio, though, will be the ZR’s ability to capture using dynamic 32-bit float and 24-bit recording, as well as support for standard 48 kHz linear PCM, ensuring full video compatibility.

Get Ready for the Nikon ZR

While there will be plenty of rigs and case options for gearing up the Nikon ZR in the future, if you’re looking to get started with one today, you’re going to want to make sure you’re ready to record and output your high-end video.

The ZR records to a CFexpress Type B card slot, located on the battery door, a convenient spot for keeping things compact and mobile. If you're considering this camera and want to get the most out of its wide codec support, you'll definitely want to pickup the fastest CFexpress Type B card you can get, and that is the Atlas Ultra. Plus, when you pair it with our Atlas CFexpress Card Reader, you'll get this card's full might during both capture and offload thanks to this reader's support for ingest speeds up to 5000MB/s.

The ZR will also feature a microSD card slot, which can be used for proxy recording, in addition to your standard micro-HDMI output for your display.

Here are the full specs and pricing for this exciting new camera:

Fusion of RED + Nikon Cinema Technology
6K Full-Frame Z-Mount Cinema Camera
REDCODE RAW R3D + N-RAW Recording
ProRes RAW/HQ, H.265/H.264 Codecs
32-Bit Float Audio, Dual-Base ISO
Bright, Folding 4" DCI-P3 Display
Built-In 3D LUTs, Digital Accessory Shoe
Dual Built-In Microphones
15+ Stops Advertised Dynamic Range
Frame.io Cloud Integration

Price: $2,196.95