Nikon ZR In the Field || A RED Shooter’s Honest Review

I spent a week shooting with the Nikon ZR — the first official collaboration between Nikon and RED — and wanted to put together a filmmaker-focused review that goes beyond the spec sheet.

If you follow my channel, you might’ve seen my Z6 III review last year. That was my first proper experience with Nikon, and I walked away pretty impressed. The ZR feels like the moment where all that tech comes together… and the fact it shoots RED RAW in a camera this small is genuinely wild.

As a long-term RED user, I care most about practical image quality, codec flexibility, colour science and how a camera fits into professional workflows. In this video I look at:
— How RED RAW, Nikon RAW and the non raw codecs actually perform
— Why RED RAW is still my favourite codec on the market
— What Nikon has nailed in this collaboration… and what holds it back
— How the ZR stacked up against my RED Komodo in highlight rolloff, shadows and colour
— Real usability notes: battery life, AF, IBIS, screen, audio and more
— The surprising strengths (and real limitations) of the single R3D variant
— Where this camera realistically fits in a working filmmaker’s kit

I tried to keep this video to the unique parts of my experience — especially the RED comparison and how it handled on real shoots. The short version? It packs a lot of punch for the size and the price, and the images stood up much better than I expected.

If you're thinking about picking up the ZR, or you just want to see how it cuts alongside higher-end RED footage, hopefully this gives you a solid sense of what it can really do.

Drop any questions below — always keen to chat gear and hear how you’d use this camera.

Cheers for watching,
Caleb