Nikon ZR Firmware 2.00: RED Colour with Smaller Files—and a More Capable Camera

Nikon’s planned update brings Log3G10 and REDWideGamutRGB to H.265, adds control over noise reduction, and addresses a frustrating focusing limitation. For filmmakers, its significance goes well beyond a longer feature list.

The Nikon ZR’s next major firmware update could make its RED colour workflow practical for a much wider range of productions. The biggest change is straightforward: filmmakers will be able to record H.265 using Log3G10 and REDWideGamutRGB, reducing the storage burden associated with choosing R3D NE.

Announced on September 8, firmware version 2.00 is scheduled for release in 2026. Nikon is separately developing Open Gate recording and an anamorphic desqueeze display, targeting their incorporation into ZR firmware in 2027. These are development plans; the new features have not yet been delivered through this announcement. Nikon announcement

For me, the importance lies in the practical choices these changes create: when to shoot RAW, when a smaller file is enough, and how much control the filmmaker retains over the resulting image.

RED colour becomes more practical for everyday production

Log3G10 is RED’s logarithmic gamma curve, while REDWideGamutRGB is its wide colour space. Together, they provide a common foundation for colour processing and grading within RED’s IPP2 workflow. RED’s IPP2 overview

Bringing that combination to the ZR’s H.265 recording is a meaningful expansion. Until now, its native RED recording route has centred on R3D NE, the RAW format developed for Nikon cameras. The update will offer a more storage-efficient way to work with RED’s colour encoding.

Consider a production combining carefully controlled hero shots with hours of interviews or documentary coverage. RAW may be worth the additional storage for the former, while H.265 could be the more practical choice for the latter. Sharing Log3G10 and REDWideGamutRGB should make those formats easier to bring together in a consistent grading workflow.

That does not guarantee an automatic match. Exposure, white balance, noise processing and correct colour management will still matter. Nor does a shared colour space make H.265 equivalent to RAW: the recording formats retain different amounts of information and different scope for adjustment.

But the creative and financial implications are substantial. Smaller files can ease the demands on recording media, backups, transfers and long-term storage. For long shooting days and small production teams, those savings matter.

H.265 still calls for disciplined exposure

Nikon’s current documentation specifies 10-bit H.265 recording with 4:2:0 chroma subsampling. The firmware announcement does not state that this will change. ZR recording-format documentation

Those specifications describe different things. Ten-bit recording concerns tonal precision; 4:2:0 reduces the spatial resolution of colour information. The latter matters particularly when isolating colours, working with fine coloured edges or pulling demanding chroma keys.

For exposure, the broader issue is that processed, compressed video offers less freedom to undo capture decisions than RAW. My advice is to establish exposure and white balance carefully, protect important highlights, and avoid relying on substantial shadow recovery.

Shot well, H.265 can be a very useful production format. Adding RED’s gamma and gamut broadens its appeal, but does not remove the reasons to choose RAW for demanding work.

Noise reduction: control where it was missing

The option to select the level of High ISO NR during H.265 Log recording could be just as important as the new colour encoding.

My criticism of the ZR’s existing H.265 N-Log image has been its aggressive noise reduction. The processing could suppress fine detail along with noise, leaving footage looking noticeably weaker than I expected alongside the Z6III.

Nikon’s current N-Log instructions explicitly list High ISO NR as unavailable in that mode. The announced update therefore addresses a real missing control. ZR N-Log instructions

The distinction matters: Nikon has announced adjustable noise reduction, but we cannot yet say how completely it will resolve the image-quality concern. That will depend on the available settings and the results from the released firmware.

The prospect is encouraging: the existing N-Log route with greater control over processing, alongside the new Log3G10/REDWideGamutRGB option in H.265.

Focus peaking makes the large screen more useful during RAW recording

Nikon also plans to enable focus peaking during R3D NE recording.

Its absence has been an irritating limitation, particularly on a camera with such a generous 4-inch built-in display. A large screen helps with judging focus, but highlighted edges provide an additional reference when focusing manually. Nikon specifies the screen size in its original ZR announcement. Nikon ZR launch details

Restoring that aid while recording should make the screen more useful at the moment it matters most. For solo operators and small crews, it is a practical improvement with immediate relevance to the shooting experience.

Open Gate in 2027 could expand how the ZR is used

The longer-term roadmap is equally interesting. Nikon is developing Open Gate recording and a desqueeze display for anamorphic lenses, with 2027 as its target.

Open Gate generally uses the sensor’s full available image area rather than a conventional widescreen crop. That can provide additional room for reframing and for producing horizontal and vertical versions from the same take.

Nikon has not announced the supported codecs, resolutions or frame rates. We therefore do not know whether the implementation will include R3D NE, N-RAW, H.265 or some combination.

My informed guess is that R3D NE could support Open Gate at a frame rate below 60p. Reading and processing a taller sensor area increases the workload, so a lower ceiling would be plausible. It remains a prediction, not a disclosed specification.

An anamorphic desqueeze display is also a welcome development. It would let filmmakers view the image in its intended proportions while composing and focusing. That is a monitoring function; it does not, by itself, mean the camera records a desqueezed file.

RED is also updating RED CONTROL and RED CONTROL PRO to enable remote control of the ZR. The announcement does not yet establish the full scope of those capabilities.

Nikon is adding value to cameras already in filmmakers’ hands

This roadmap reinforces something I value about Nikon’s approach: substantial firmware development can extend what an existing camera is capable of doing.

The Z9 is the clearest example. Announced in October 2021, it is now in its fifth year since launch. Firmware 2.00 added internal 8.3K/60p N-RAW recording, while firmware 4.00 introduced Auto Capture. These expanded the camera’s uses well beyond routine maintenance. Z9 announcement, firmware 2.00, firmware 4.00

That continued development is part of why I still regard the Z9 as a compelling option. Nikon deserves credit for the scale of those additions and the value they deliver to existing owners.

The ZR roadmap points in the same direction. More economical access to RED colour encoding, control over noise reduction, and better focusing assistance could improve everyday shooting. Open Gate and anamorphic monitoring could then broaden the camera’s creative applications further.

The final judgement depends on the released firmware. But the direction is exactly what I want to see: meaningful new capabilities arriving in the cameras already in filmmakers’ hands. That makes the update more than a list of technical additions; it makes the ZR a more capable tool in the hands of the filmmakers and photographers who already rely on it.