Despite just releasing the new Z6 II and Z7 II mirrorless bodies, it seems Nikon is not done with their predecessors as the company just announced and released new firmware updates that amongst other things, make it possible for the Z6 and Z7 to shoot Blackmagic RAW videos.
Whilst the update is readily available for the Z6 and Z7, it is only possible if you use an external Blackmagic recorder and the update won’t be coming to the Z6/Z7 II until later in 2021. According to Blackmagic, its RAW video is smaller than regular RAW video when it turns aid in faster post-production whilst still maintaining top tier image quality and the fact that Nikon is keying into this is a first amongst the top three (Canon, Sony, and Nikon).
Whilst the firmware update is free, it is only available to people who had initially updated their Z6/Z7s with the ProRes RAW Codec which cost $200 (and also sending your camera to a Nikon service center). If you need the Blackmagic RAW feature, it’s mandatory that you send in your camera to Nikon and pay the fee to first get the ProRes RAW update before installing the Blackmagic update.
The update is coming to the Z6 and Z7 II in February of 2021 and those who want it will ‘shockingly’ be expected to pay $200 to get it. It’s unclear why Nikon is doing this for the Z6/Z7 II as those cameras are fairly recent. If you own the Z6 or Z7 and have updated your camera with the ProRes RAW feature; click here to download the new firmware update.
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