The Nikon ZR gets surprisingly close to a real RED camera (for a lot less money)

"The $2,200 Nikon ZR is full of features tailored to video shooters. It has a big and bright touchscreen, the ability to record audio with an unmatched level of dynamic range, and enough sensor-level image stabilization to skip a gimbal for a lot of tasks. But its most notable feature is its ability to shoot a version of RED's R3D file format."

"R3D is a video format called compressed RAW, which stores almost everything the sensor collects as metadata while still maintaining a manageable file size. This means settings like white balance, ISO, gamma, and color space can be changed in post with effectively no loss in quality. This is both useful for making strong creative decisions after you shoot, or for saving your footage when conditions aren't ideal."

"The question now is: just how close does it get to a real RED? It's a cut-down variant called R3D NE that's specifically designed for use on Nikon cameras. It's not as powerful, compressing some data that a dedicated RED doesn't. But for people willing to deal with the limitations, access to RED's color pipeline and distinct highlight rolloff is wildly compelling."

Nikon's $2,200 ZR targets video shooters with a large bright touchscreen, expanded audio dynamic range, and sensor-level image stabilization that often removes the need for a gimbal. The camera can record R3D NE, a cut-down variant of RED's R3D compressed RAW format tailored for Nikon, which compresses some data compared with dedicated RED cameras. R3D compressed RAW preserves sensor information as metadata, enabling changes to white balance, ISO, gamma, and color space in post with minimal quality loss. Nikon acquired RED in 2024, making the ZR the first joint model and bringing RED's color pipeline to a far lower price point.

Read at The Verge