Which format to shoot in?

There are two frame rates to any video. The first is your project frame rate or base frame rate. This is the frame rate of your final video.

The second frame rate is the rate you shoot the video in. E.g., if you want to shoot slow motion, you need to set the frame rate to a higher frame rate so you can then slow it down later in post.

In 1080p, you can set these separately with the Nikon Z6, though I don’t recommend it. For slow motion, I recommend you shoot 1080p120 (120 fps) for best results, regardless of your project frame rate (23.976, 24, 25 or 29.97 fps).

Here’s a simple chart of my preferred settings to shoot internally:

• *There are no true 24, 30 or 60p modes in camera
• **Why not 100 fps? Simple. You want the most control over your slow motion. Let’s say your project is 24p. If you shoot 100 fps, the maximum “slowness” you get is 100/24 = 4.2 times. However, if you shoot 120 fps, you get 120/24 = 5x. This holds true even if your project frame rate is 25p.
• #Bit depth and chroma sub-sampling: 8-bit 4:2:0 for all.
• ^The MOV wrapper has LPCM audio which is slightly better. If you’re uploading directly to YouTube, with no edits or changes, then MP4 is fine as well. There’s no visual quality difference between the two.
• ^^FX sensor size is 35.9mm x 20.2mm; DX is 23.4mm x 13.2mm with a crop factor of 1.53 (horizontal).
• ##The maximum length you can record video in is 29 minutes and 59 seconds. The camera writes 8 files up to 4 GB each = 32 GB – which amounts to 30 minute limit at 144 Mbps.

Please note: The camera does overheat over extended periods. It has never shut down on me, but I’ve never recorded extended video either. The problem with heat is, even if it doesn’t stop recording, as the camera gets hotter, the images get noisier. Try to keep your camera as cool as possible for best image quality.

What are the best ISOs for video?

For N-Log, the base or native ISO is 800. This is the ISO at which you get the full dynamic range (12 stops). If you raise the ISO, you start to lose dynamic range, with more noise in the image as well.

Therefore, for N-Log, I suggest you stick to between ISO 800 and 6400 as much as possible.

For all other picture controls, the lowest ISO is 100 (forget about extended ISOs). Try to stay as close as possible to ISO 100.

For all other picture controls, I suggest you stick to between ISO 100 and ISO 6400 as much as possible.

What about higher ISOs?

You can shoot at 12800 and 25600 ISO if you want, but the images will be hard to match other ISOs due to the noise characteristics. So only use these ISOs for single shots that don’t need to match, and if you’re desperate!

Why I don’t recommend the slow motion mode

You can get slow motion by shooting at 120 fps, and then retiming in post. This way, you get the maximum control. E.g., let’s say your project is in 24 fps.

You can decide to go to the slowest, which is 120/24 = 5x. Or you might decide that’s too slow and you want 4.5x (you make this judgement visually). Since you have shot 120 fps, you have 120 frames that you can remove to get the exact 4.5x. If you had used the slow motion mode instead, you just don’t have those extra frames. You’ve committed to your speed.

There are other reasons why the slow motion mode is not as good as shooting 100/120p:

• It has a 3 minute limit
• No audio recording is possible in slow motion
• No electronic VR

Bottom line, for slow motion, always shoot 120 fps and then slow it down in your editing program. That’s all there is to it.

HDMI settings for external recording

Until RAW comes, my favorite setting for external recording is N-log. However, you can also record Portrait or another picture control via HDMI as well.

• *Sometimes, if you’re directly exporting to YouTube, and cannot make changes, you might see the black levels falling below zero, in this case switch to Limited Range. If you can make changes to black levels (shadows), then always choose Full Range.

Why should you pick 10-bit 4:2:2 over 8-bit 4:2:2 (externally) and 8-bit 4:2:0 (internally)? Here’s a video I made comparing them:

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