ZR original media

Part of the Nikon ZR reference. Read the overview for firmware, survey scope and evidence levels.

Storage and object listing

Media travels over the same PTP session as control and live view; there is no separate HTTP or file service. The shared transfer layer is described in Media transfer.

Step	Operation	ZR notes
Cards	GetVendorStorageIDs 0x9209	Returns only card-present storage IDs. Observed: standard GetStorageIDs (0x1004) reports placeholder per-slot IDs even with a card inserted, and GetStorageInfo rejects those.
Capacity	GetStorageInfo 0x1005	Free space for the remaining-time estimate; refreshed every 15 s during a take.
Objects	GetObjectHandles 0x1007	Per storage. Handles are only unique per storage and are recycled after a format.
Metadata	GetObjectInfo 0x1008	Filename, format code, size, dimensions and capture date.
Thumbnail	GetThumb 0x100A	Embedded JPEG.
Bytes	GetPartialObject 0x101B; GetPartialObjectEx 0x9431 for large objects or ranges	The Ex form packs offset and maximum byte count as low/high UINT32 words. [verify-on-HW]
Size	GetObjectSize 0x9421	One little-endian UINT64. [verify-on-HW]
Delete	DeleteObject 0x100B	Protected objects are refused.

Object identity in the app is the (storage ID, handle) pair, confirmed against filename, capture date and size. In backup mode one shot lands on both cards as two objects that share a filename. A cached library only fetches GetObjectInfo for new or changed locations.

Movies are classified by object format code (QuickTime 0x300D, MTP MP4 0xB982, AVI 0x300A, MPEG 0x300B) or by extension. [ZR · verify-on-HW]: the ZR’s own movie format codes and clips of 4 GiB or more.

RAW masters and proxies

When the ZR records R3D NE or N-RAW it writes a proxy MP4 or MOV beside the master. The media browser pairs a proxy with its sibling .R3D master by filename stem (R3DClipIndex.swift). Proxies play in the progressive player; an unpaired RED master stays intentionally non-previewable.

The resolution filter prefers the linked master’s dimensions. Those come from the leading bytes of the .R3D file: the RED1 atom layout (big-endian UINT32 width and height at offsets 52 and 56), with a legacy fallback. [ZR · verify-on-HW]: the ZR’s on-card R3D NE header layout.

Proxy timecode

Observed on a real ZR proxy: the camera writes master and proxy from one timecode generator, so the proxy’s own tmcd track is the master’s start timecode. The inspected proxy was an MP4 with brand mp42avc1niko at 25 fps.

Byte-for-byte deliveries keep that track. LUT-baked exports transcode, which drops it, so iOS copies the source timecode track back into the finished file without re-encoding (spec). A timecode failure never fails the delivery. Still open: a manual check that a real baked and uploaded ZR clip shows the master’s start timecode in Frame.io.

Observed (field reports): some Nikon proxies have media data shorter than the header declares. AVFoundation export then failed with Invalid sample cursor. Export now strips the camera timecode track before the export session and restores it afterwards, and treats the short read as end of readable media so the file is finished and playable.

Stills

Topic	ZR notes
Formats	JPEG, HEIF, NEF and TIFF appear as format chips. JPEG and PNG may decode while their cache grows; HEIF and TIFF wait for a complete cache.
Size classes	L, M and S are ranked among the widths present in the listing, not fixed thresholds: L is 6048 px on a ZR, Z 6III or Z5II but 8256 px on a Z8. More than three distinct widths leaves stills unclassified.
Ratings	Object property 0xDC8A via GetObjectPropValue / SetObjectPropValue (0x9803 / 0x9804). Steps 0, 1, 25, 50, 75, 100 map to Off through five stars; off-step values round down. The instant-playback favorite star writes here.
Bursts	Continuous-drive frames group into one stack that spans both cards.
Body-fired shots	ObjectAdded (0x4002, one per file, so RAW+JPEG emits two) and CaptureComplete (0x400D) arrive from the event poll and drive instant playback.

Live monitoring stream versus originals

The live-view JPEG is a monitoring preview, not a recording. Its size and compression are set by LiveViewImageSize (0xD1AC) and LiveViewImageCompression (0xD1BC); both are unrelated to the recording format. During a take the preview is capped at VGA and steps down further under phone thermal pressure. See Live view.