Nikon first acknowledged a firmware update was coming for the ZR not long after the camera appeared, then it made a formal announcement about that, and now it’s issued a press release “announcing" it, but the operative words are still “before the end of the year.” Nikon has too many waiters and not enough cooks, apparently.
What ZR firmware 2.00 includes are lots of video improvements, though the customization changes apparently will work for stills, too.
- Log3G10 gamma (RED color science) gets added to Tone mode options in H.265. Four levels of High ISO NR are available for Log3D10 gamma and N-Log.
- You can assign an Fn button to 3D LUT/View assist.
- Focus peaking is supported even when you’re using a 3D LUT or using the R3D NE raw video format.
- Frame-to-frame fluctuations in black level have been suppressed.
- ISO sensitivity and White balance (including setting direct Kelvin values can now be assigned to dials. .
Meanwhile, two features that were requested more than the ones above, Open Gate and Anamorphic Desqueeze, were not mentioned in the press release.
The real problem here is that Nikon is making themselves look like fools. Apparently they were afraid that none of the RED crowd would buy a ZR unless some changes were made in firmware, and so Nikon did the RED thing and talked about this in advance. We’ve now had two subsequent slightly more detailed proclamations, but Nikon making it all formal and then misusing the words “now available.” Perhaps it is to some in Hollywood or a few influencers and reviewers, but apparently no one has stuck a fork in it and actually proved “it’s done.”