Nikon Z8 N-RAW - A Deep Dive (There Are Some Issues)

BM Ursa 12K has the same sensor tech kind of when you go up with fps and down with resolution it do not crop...and the new ursa cine as well...

Had a lot of picture degradation on Z9 at 4k 25p raw and went to 8k. Thanks for confirming. Also, I thought only prores HQ and h26? was oversampled up to 30 p…NOT raw formats. Might have changed? Have done a lot of grading with the nraw 8k and found it extremely flexible. Your point about not being able to change the color temp to match because the slider didnt facilitate is shallow. There is an abundace of data to enable a perfect match, though it requires some work. Otherwise, the depth of your methodology and analysis was superb. Thank you.

Thank you! Very useful information. Much appreciated.

Great video, thanks the deep dive.
Except the bitrate, what's the advantage of using something like a h265 422, over the ProResHQ ?

I get the point of using Davinci (I use it also) but I think it's worth comparing the N-RAW against the ProResRaw, for the "non-destructive" part.
It can also be a great option for Final Cut or Premiere users.

Holy shit man this video is so damn helpful for the Nikon Z8 users.

Its not oversampling at 4k

Thanks for all the details man, I wish they give redcode raw in future😁

Thanks for stating the firmware, every review out there fails to mention this. The firmware version makes a big difference in how it behaves.

At 4.1K is line skipped raw video. You simply can't over sample with raw video codecs.

Wahouuuu, Great job. Thanks

I am wondering if there is a difference between the NRAW 4.1K 24p with and without Extended Oversampling enabled.

You are the only creator (that I've watched - and I've watched a ton) that has actually come out and said that the h265 footage is 420 vs 422. Everyone else that I've seen says otherwise but one day as I was looking in premiere's properties section for a few clips that I took said it was 420 (extended) and I was so confused. I always thought the footage didn't compare to my fx3 footage and I couldn't figure out why I was struggling so much with my z8. I thought I was going crazy and it was only after going back and forth with Nikon that they eventually confirmed it was 420. Thanks for the detailed review as always!

And one more thing, did you have the Extended Oversampling option on or off in your video settings. I wonder what impact this has?

Also, did anyone compare the 25P to 24P or should I get to it?

Just want to add, I believe the sensors read data that is converted to 12 bit based on the log curve associated with the format, so SDR vs N-LOG will in fact result in different gamma values, meaning, you will in fact have more information in highlights with N-LOG than SDR. The actual sensor for the Z9 reads out at 14 BIT, which is a shame, since the A7SIII does 16 bit RAW recording.

Amazing! We use the Z9 for video, so this is a great addition to the knowledge on how this works. Much appreciated.

Is this video a reupload from something last week? Could’ve swore I watched this exact video lol

So h.265 is 422 color or 420 color? The manual says both in two different places so it’s confusing…

Of course the compressed raw is compromised raw. You don't see that kind of damage in RED raw because its 16 bit file. Even in 14 bit vs. 12 bit the difference would be noticeable in heavy WB changes or shadow lift.

Great video, Josh! So informative. Hopefully that 4.1k 24p gets fixed and agreed, I would love to see h265 422 in it.

hi, which camera was used to shoot the review in the studio

FINALLY... spent too much time trying to figure out the Nikon Z8 422 10bit formats to basically come to the same conclusion, its only via HDMI output that it will give what most Sony shooters/editors want which is 422 10bit H265 (they will even take 422 10bit H.264 since may have used it for years) so for second shooters and video guys that want to give that format its a bummer the camera doesn't shoot it internally. Shoots both higher and lower but not that damn one! ...apprecite the deep dive and keep up the great work.

...so in depth! Thank you for putting in the work!!

There were a lot of strange but somewhat expected results here. Yet, I'm hopeful that if Nikon could focus on making a video first camera with some R&D help from Red, they will iron out these kinks and could deliver a truly unique prosumer cinema camera in the near future! Heres hoping...

Very thorough. Eye opening about the RAW being destructive and kinda all over the place. What's the point?

Great job!

The best in detail analysis video about the Z8. You are doing a great job, better than the biggest reviewers out there.
Thank you!!

Very interesting, nice work.
This helps me to get the best video quality from the Z8.
One thing I wonder is whether the problem in N RAW 4K 24 fps remains constant even for 25,30,50 fps?

thanks for this video

Love how detailed you go! Finding the noise reduction that the camera does is CRAZY! And testing all that.
This is like a nikon z8 Bible!

Really great work Josh! Not being able to color correct without compromise defeats the purpose of RAW video. Thankfully, the colors look great straight out of Nikon. Probably best to stick with NLOG or Rec709 in camera. Appreciate you taking the time to do all those tests.

The amount of info in this video is huge🙏🙏🙏

The 4k Raw option was the most attractive to me as a R5C owner, turns out it's not without compromises, hopefully fixable with firmware updates. I'm still holding out for something with similar specs that offers open gate.

Great work, thank you