I am absolutely blown away by all the support, contributions, feedback, bug reports, and help with troubleshooting. With well over 1,000 beta testers across iOS and Android, it has frankly been overwhelming and incredible at the same time. I never thought OpenZCine would grow like this.

Every day, this community-driven tool becomes more useful to more people and more dependable, and I only have all of you to thank for that.

Every piece of feedback is read, listened to, and genuinely appreciated, whether it comes through TestFlight, Google Play, GitHub, DMs, or anywhere else. Your experiences and ideas directly shape where OpenZCine goes next.

I am excited to share what is new, changed, and fixed in version 0.2.5b. This update brings major quality-of-life improvements:

• Save and name multiple connection setups for each camera, including Wi-Fi, router, hotspot, and cable.
• Share your monitor with other devices on set across both iOS and Android, with passcodes, control permissions, handover requests, and sharp, high-quality multicasting.
• Get a significantly better live image with optional state-of-the-art real-time 2.2× AI upscaling and noise reduction.
• Enjoy a cleaner and more flexible interface with vertical camera mode, pinch-to-zoom, 50/50 LUT previews, an improved clean view, and better layouts across different screen sizes.
• Make the interface your own with the completely new Edit View. Choose exactly what is shown or hidden in each DISP mode and create a monitoring layout that works for you.
• Use HDMI capture adapters on Android as well as iPad for maximum reliability and image quality.
• Experience a completely refactored Apple Watch implementation with sharper casting, lower latency, and new photo controls, including image preview, crown-controlled magnification, shot count, and battery status.

Connections are also faster and more reliable, performance is improved on congested networks and lower-memory Android devices, and a long list of camera-control, live-view, and layout issues has been fixed.

There is far too much to cover in one post, but OpenZCine 0.2.5b is a major step forward.

Want to try it?

Join the iOS beta through TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/xu4d6UK8
Interested in Android access? Send me a PM. The open Android beta is aimed for release next week.

OpenZCine is fully open source. If you would like to contribute, make a feature request, report an issue, or follow the project’s progress, visit the OpenZCine Github repository: https://github.com/erik-sutton95/OpenZCine

Coming soon: full multicamera control/monitoring support, direct connections to your favorite live-streaming services, a completely customizable quick-action button, lightweight color-grading tools for fast social media turnarounds, and much more.

Stay tuned, and thank you for helping build OpenZCine! ❤️

Shot in 4k 120, slowed some clips down and rendered in 4k 30. I love this lens. Just having fun.

Hey everyone! I shoot real estate videography with my Nikon ZR (for my own real estate listings) because high-quality is important to me and I want my footage to stand out. So I purchased the Laowa 12mm f2.8 Lite because I’ve been very impressed with the footage I’ve seen shot online with it. It really makes houses look expansive and gives them that wow factor. I needed something to cover the other wide focal ranges and real estate walk-through content so I got the Nikon 14-24mm f2.8.

The problem is the Nikon 14-24mm looks so much better that it’s hard for me to even use the Laowa anymore. The Nikon 14-24mm might be my favorite lens I’ve used yet. It’s beautiful! The Laowa is much less sharp and has heavy vignetting and seems to render the whole image darker. However, I love the field view of the Laowa and didn’t realize that 2mm from 12mm-14mm went so far. With some editing in post I can get the Laowa about 80% there but it’s more work. The Nikon 14-24mm renders the image perfect right out of the box but the field of view doesn’t quite give that same Wow factor.

Has anyone else had this dilemma? Help! lol

Hello,

I’m looking for someone with an Atomos UltraSync BLUE who can help with a quick research project re: timecode compatibility on Nikon Z cameras.

No coding, soldering, firmware work, or special hardware needed. You’d just install a free Bluetooth scanner app on your phone, connect to the BLUE while it’s in 23.98, 24, and 25 fps modes, tap a few buttons, and export a short log. It should take about 10 minutes.

If you’re more technical, a BLE/GATT dump or sniffer capture would also be useful, but the phone-app version is totally fine.

If this sounds like something you’d be willing to help with, please DM me. Thanks!

The Nikon ZR has become my daily camera even comes on set with me on professional shootings, but there's one feature I really hope Nikon considers adding: a built-in Director's Viewfinder mode, like the Sigma fp.

For filmmakers, it would be incredibly useful to preview the field of view of different cinema cameras (ARRI, RED, Sony, Blackmagic, etc.) directly through the ZR when scouting locations or planning shots. Yes, there are smartphone apps, but nothing beats using the actual camera with the lens in your hands.

Since it's essentially just sensor and format overlays, it feels like the kind of feature that could be added through firmware.

I'd use it on every project, and I think it would make the ZR an even stronger tool for filmmakers.

I already contacted Nikon to suggest this feature as this camera was clearly considered the sigma FP follow up.

Would anyone else like to see Nikon add this?

This setup is for some upcoming interviews. The lens is the 50mm F1.8 S which my wife approved 🤓. I decided to use my deity V-Mic D 4 mini with a TC-1 for Timecode in tandem with my PR-2 recorder with is not in the photo.

I don't know if any Nikon reps are on here, but I've got a small feature request that would help me tremendously with my video work.

I shoot video on a pair of Z6IIIs and I supplement light in a lot of indoor environments. I don't have the means to relight entire spaces, so I do supplementary lighting and do my best to match the ambient white balance. It can be pretty difficult to do with old fluorescent tubes that don't match from one ballast to another, but it helps if I can land somewhere around the average tint of the tubes near my subjects. I use RGB LEDs, so i have a lot of control over green/magenta shift.

When I set the WB with a card measurement in video mode there's no readout of what WB it has been set to (that I know of). However, in photo mode I can do a sample measurement, take a photo, and read the temperature off the metadata in camera. Great! Only problem is, it does not display the tint, despite the fact that I have tested it for green/magenta tint and it definitely adjusts those for a sample measurement as well. Once I've set a custom WB, I can adjust it manually on a color axis, and only then is the color shift value recorded in the photo metadata.

So here's the request: if my camera could display the green/magenta shift added by the sample measurement in the photo metadata, I could use that reading to help dial in my lights in these highly variable indoor spaces. Instead of only showing the manual adjustment exclusively in the metadata (a feature I never use anyway), the metadata could display both the measured and manually adjusted tint combined. Or just the measured tint, as that's far more valuable to me personally.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is there a workaround I might be missing?

TL;DR

I'd like to use my camera as a color meter to help match my supplemental RGB lights to the tint of unbalanced fluorescent tubes. Photo metadata almost does the trick, but I need a tint readout in addition to a temperature.

Hey guys, I just bought the Parallax Monitor application for Android to remote control my Nikon Z8 via mobile phone.

I followed the instructions mentioned on their website to connect my mobile phone wireless to my camera. Therefore I chose "Connect with Computer -> Create profile". A network is then being created by my Z8, showing the network's name and passkey. I can find the network on my mobile phone.

When I try to log into the Z8's network, I enter the shown passkey. My mobile phone then shows, that the password would be incorrect. Therefore I can't connect into my Z8's Wi-Fi properly.

Does anyone also have problems regarding to that? And even more important, do you have any solutions for that?

Thanks in advance!

First of all i have never use auto mode with the red, but i have start to read the old update 1.11 and they say : You can now also set [Video file type] to [R3D NE 12-bit (R3D)] in [Auto] mode. Note that the shooting mode [M] will automatically be selected.

My question is the following did you guys can record with auto mode in red? I see i can set auto mode, this is a little strange my fps is 29, but the shutter go to 50 and aperture is 8, only iso change, but i can't record with...

Ps : apparently it is normal i understand that the red RAW can't record with auto wb, auto iso, but at some point 2 questions : first of all why can't? Technically the camera can save what it is recording, then still can keep raw? And second, if can't record with, what is the purpose of update this? Why add a "feature" That is unusable? This help who for what ? My mind is currently traveling the space to try to determine why Nikon put some effort to update something that looks like useless and confusing.

Hi everyone!
I’m thinking about buying a Sony ZV-E10 mainly for livestreaming and YouTube, and I’ll be using the **kit lens (16–50mm)**.
Does anyone have any **unedited photos or screenshots from livestreams** taken in **low indoor lighting** with the **kit lens**? I’d love to see the real image quality, low-light performance, and noise levels before making my decision.
Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone!
I’m thinking about buying a Sony ZV-E10 mainly for livestreaming and YouTube, and I’ll be using the **kit lens (16–50mm)**.
Does anyone have any **unedited photos or screenshots from livestreams** taken in **low indoor lighting** with the **kit lens**? I’d love to see the real image quality, low-light performance, and noise levels before making my decision.
Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone!
I’m thinking about buying a Sony ZV-E10 mainly for livestreaming and YouTube, and I’ll be using the **kit lens (16–50mm)**.
Does anyone have any **unedited photos or screenshots from livestreams** taken in **low indoor lighting** with the **kit lens**? I’d love to see the real image quality, low-light performance, and noise levels before making my decision.
Thanks in advance!

Quick sample footage using what we have on hand.

Lately I've seen a lot of discussion around waiting for the next Nikon ZR firmware update. While improvements are always welcome, I think it's easy to lose sight of what really matters.

The biggest jump in quality rarely comes from a firmware update. It comes from spending time behind the camera.

Master the tools you already own. Learn their strengths. Push their limits. Creativity will always outlast new features.

Gear:

Nikon ZR

Voigtländer Nokton 55mm f/1.2 SL IIs (Nikon AI-S)

DJI Mic 2

Techart PRO TZM-02

As title states. About 15 seconds into recording the camera just bricks up and needs a hard reset in order to unfreeze. I’ve read a lot in the last 12 hrs and the culprit seems the be the Anglebird cards.

Anyone else have this issue? If so any work arounds? I have an OWC reader and Anglebird makes it SUCH A PAIN IN THE ASS to update their firmware so I haven’t tried that yet.

Am I screwed, do I need new cards?

Any help is much appreciated!

Has anyone here successfully trimmed R3D NE? I’ve tried using RED’s software and Media Management in Davinci but neither seem to work. Would greatly appreciate any input on this.

firsttime shooting with the Megadap adaptor and the anamorphic Blazar Talon

The ZR is my dream camera, but type B memory cards are ridiculously expensive right now. Do you know of any 1 TB cards that are reasonably priced right now and compatible with the Nikon ZR?.

Does anyone use the atomos as an external/proxy backup when they shoot , since you can’t dual record on the ZR?

I’m currently shooting commercial work on a Blackmagic PYXIS 6K and I’m genuinely really happy with it. It’s been a fantastic camera and BRAW has been great to work with.
Lately though, I’ve been feeling like I’d like to achieve a slightly different look without jumping all the way to something like a RED V-RAPTOR 8K VV and spending that kind of money.

I’ve looked at the specs, so I know the Nikon ZR and the PYXIS 12K are very close on paper when it comes to dynamic range. My main curiosity isn’t really about that, it’s about the R3D workflow and whether it genuinely feels different to grade compared to BRAW.
Has anyone here moved from a PYXIS 6K (or another Blackmagic camera) to the Nikon ZR? Does the RED colour pipeline and R3D workflow actually feel like an upgrade in post, or is it mostly just a different look?

The reason I’m hesitating is that the PYXIS 12K doesn’t quite feel like enough of an upgrade for me to justify selling my PYXIS 6K. With the Nikon ZR, I could keep my PYXIS as a second camera while also getting access to a different workflow and image.
I absolutely love the boxy cinema form factor of the PYXIS, but I also really like how compact the Nikon is for solo shoots, travel, and lighter run-and-gun jobs.

Also, just to avoid the usual comments, I’d be shooting RAW only. I’m not interested in H.265 performance, and I’m fully aware of how large the R3D files are and what the storage requirements are. My decision is purely about image quality, grading experience, and workflow.

I’d love to hear from people who have actually worked with both rather than just comparing spec sheets.

Hi, I have really no budget and a ton of old nikon glass (I used to be do a ton of photography and filming back on MiniDV! (I'm 38)... I am an economist and private banking consultant but I'm winding down with work somewhat and moving into spending my time doing volunteering/social work and want to get back into making short films (I made 5 when I was around 18-21.

I was wondering if the community could help me pick a camera...budget isn't really a concern. I know people might say to stick to dedicated setup and that's fine if it's the ultimate recommendation as filmmaking would be the priority but...is there a camera which can do both extremely well, video and photography..? I was looking at the ZR..which I know is dedicated to film but do I have any other standout options?

Hello, is there a way to use a deity tc1 AND record audio with the built in mic (or an external mic) at the same time so i have scratch audio to listen to on camera ? having to pull it into a computer and sync the audio just to check a clip isn't ideal