ZR shooting modes and formats

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

Codec and container

The recording codec is MovieFileType (0xD0AF), a UINT32 that packs three bytes. OpenZCine decodes it in PTPCameraProperties.swift:

MovieFileType: [unused:u8] [codec:u8] [bit depth:u8] [container:u8]
Example: 0x0001_0A00 = H.265, 10-bit, MOV

Codec byte	Codec	Container byte	Container
0x00	H.264	0	MOV
0x01	H.265	1	MP4
0x02	N-RAW	2	NEV
0x10	ProRes 422 HQ	3	R3D
0x11	ProRes RAW HQ
0x31	R3D NE

The picker offers only the values the body advertises in the property’s descriptor enumeration, and writes the chosen raw value back unchanged. A value whose codec byte OpenZCine cannot name is dropped from the picker rather than offered. Identity is the raw value, not the label: a body that advertises H.265 at both 8-bit and 10-bit gets one H.265 row with a bit-depth pair, and each depth writes its own advertised value (#276). The depth is read from the packed depth byte, never inferred from the label.

Frame size and rate

MovieRecordScreenSize (0xD0A0) is an 8-byte value:

bits 48-63: width   bits 32-47: height   bits 16-23: frame rate

The body enumerates its accepted combinations in the descriptor (form flag 0x02, a UINT16 count, then 8-byte values). OpenZCine labels each one (“6K · 25p”) and drops implausible entries (width outside 640 to 8192, height outside 360 to 5000, rate outside 1 to 240) so a misanchored parse cannot surface a value to write. Some Nikon Ex responses append a short tail after the enumeration; the parser accepts a tail of up to 64 bytes.

Observed: writing a combination the body did not advertise, such as 6K at 60p, makes the ZR close the connection. Writing the 2-byte MovScreenSize or MovFileType with the Ex operation also closes it. Both go through SetDevicePropValue (0x1016) during live view via the safe-point write queue.

The frame-size domain depends on the codec. After a codec change the descriptor must be reloaded before the frame-size picker is trusted; Android now reloads 0xD0A0 after every confirmed codec write or camera codec event (investigation).

RAW image area

The ZR has no separate writable image-area control for N-RAW or R3D NE. Nikon documents that the image area follows the selected frame size and rate for those formats: FX modes at 6048×3402 and 4032×2268, and DX modes at 3984×2240 (Nikon ZR online manual). Both apps tag those exact advertised modes [FX] or [DX], only for an identified ZR with a RAW codec active, and still write the camera’s own 64-bit value. There is no synthetic crop property.

The labelling is synthetic (fake-camera regression test). [verify-on-HW]: switching H.265, N-RAW and R3D NE on a real ZR over Wi-Fi and USB-C and confirming the refreshed options are accepted. Do not probe or write possible crop-related properties until a real descriptor capture establishes their meaning.

Photo mode

LiveViewSelector (0xD1A6, UINT8) reports the photo/video lever: 0 photo, 1 video. The monitor re-reads it every other poll tick so the app swaps between cinema and photography controls within about a second of the lever moving. In photo mode the app polls the stills properties instead of the movie ones. [verify-on-HW]: remote mode may also write the selector; PC-camera mode may only report the physical lever.

Observed: the stills enumerations (stills shutter, photo white-balance presets, image sizes) are always rejected while the ZR is in movie mode. That rejection is expected and must not mark the camera as unsupported.

Release modes

StillCaptureMode (0x5013) values, in the body’s own release order:

Value	Mode
0x0001	Single
0x8010	Continuous L
0x0002	Continuous H
0x8019	Continuous H+
0x810F, 0x811E, 0x813C, 0x8178	C15, C30, C60, C120 high-speed frame capture (body-dependent)
0x8011	Self-timer
0x8100	Quick (release-mode dial position)

The ZR enumerates these by raw value, which interleaves them (Single, CH, CL, Self-timer, CH+). The drive picker keeps the advertised set but applies release order, and removes Self-timer and Quick: the app’s timer tab owns the countdown, and Quick is a dial-only position (#274).

Image quality

Property	Values
CompressionSetting 0x5004	0 to 5 JPEG Basic / Normal / Fine, each plain (size priority) or ★ (optimal quality); 6 TIFF; 7 RAW; 8 to 13 RAW+JPEG at each grade. [verify-on-HW]
RawCompressionType 0xD016	0 Lossless compression, 1 Compressed, 2 Uncompressed, 3 High efficiency★, 4 High efficiency. Union across generations; current bodies use 0, 3, 4. [verify-on-HW]
CaptureAreaCrop 0xD030	Photo image area (FX, DX, 1:1, 16:9).
ActivePicCtrlItem 0xD200	1 to 11 built-in picture controls, 101 to 120 creative, 201 to 209 registered custom.
StillToneMode 0x0001_D01C	0 SDR, 2 HLG. Drives the photo-mode exposure assists; bodies without it stay SDR.
ExposureRemaining 0xD1F1	Frames recordable to the card; the photo shots-remaining counter.

User banks U1 to U3 are offered only when the ExposureProgramMode descriptor advertises them; the Zf, for example, never gets a U bank it does not have.

Vertical shooting

Byte 839 of the live-view header reports how the body is held, with the same enumeration as the read-only Orientation property (0xD10E):

Value	Body position	Feed rotation
0	Landscape, or auto-rotate off	None
1	Portrait, grip up (rotated 90° counter-clockwise)	Rotate to read upright
2	Portrait, grip down (rotated 90° clockwise)	Rotate to read upright
3	Upside down	180°

Both apps use this to rotate the monitoring picture and switch to a portrait layout. Auto-Rotate Feed in Settings > Controls turns the rotation off; the recording is never affected. [verify-on-HW]: the polarity was confirmed on paper (axis map and EXIF cross-check), not yet against a physically rotated ZR.