Nikon Z9 Adds Shutter Angle Option For Filmmakers

As press releases go, this one was brief. But short can sometimes be significant, as Nikon announced today a new version of firmware that brings to its mirrorless cameras a staple of the film industry: shutter angle.

For those who might not know, professional filmmakers generally use shutter angle as the motion-controlling element of the exposure triangle, as opposed to shutter speed (often found on still and hybrid cameras). Functionally, shutter speed and shutter angle are somewhat synonymous in practice, but for video-first artists, shutter angle is far superior.

Why? Well, it’s simple. The vast majority of production is done with a 180-degree shutter angle in the motion picture world. Not always, but that is the “norm.” It is the shutter angle that will give you the most normal perceptual motion blur. There are reasons to alter this, which are beyond the scope of a press release. But suffice to say, most filmmakers will stick to 180-degree shutter angles unless they have a reason not to. Since most still/hybrid cameras don’t give you the option to adjust shutter angle, mirrorless videographers have to do a calculation with shutter speed to compensate. It’s not a hard calculation: essentially just one over double your frame rate (1/48th for 24 fps, for example). That will give you the rough equivalent of a 180-degree shutter angle (most still cameras aren’t capable of this and will default to 1/50th).

Because filmmakers are often changing frame rate as they go, bouncing between 24 fps, 30 fps, 60 fps, etc., one must constantly remember to also change the shutter speed, or you will affect your footage in ways you might not have intended. By introducing shutter angle, you can now just change your frame rate as you please, while the camera will automatically maintain the chosen shutter angle, essentially doing the shutter speed adjustment for you. In other words, this is a massive increase in efficiency.

Firmware 5.10 for the Nikon Z9 adds a shutter mode option to the menu, allowing you to choose between shutter speed and shutter angle. Users can adjust the shutter angle to one of 15 steps between 5.6 degrees and 360 degrees, depending on what they are trying to achieve.

In addition to shutter angle, users will also now be able to change the color of their zebra patterns, as well as customize the transparency level and position of their histograms and waveforms, making it even easier to ensure proper exposure quickly.

The company also announced that its NX Mobile Air app for Android (iOS still in development) will now support Frame.io integration and its Camera to Cloud service. The service allows users to automatically upload video files to Frame.io from the field, which can be accessed by collaborators around the world instantly. This can be essential to a team-oriented workflow and will be available on the Z9, Z8, and Z6 III mirrorless cameras.

More awesome improvements to already awesome cameras. For my next wish, I'd like to ask the Nikon genie for false color with the Z9. Please. Pretty please.