Nikon revealed more than it bargained for when it showed off a prototype of the new Nikon Z 28-135mm f/4 PZ videocentric lens at a Japanese trade show. An eagle-eyed attendee spotted that the Nikon Z9 attached to the camera had been upgraded with a hitherto unknown firmware update.
The new lens was on show for the first time at the Inter BEE 2024 trade show in Japan, and the host camera was a Nikon Z9 with firmware version 5.10. The latest official publically available firmware is version 5.0.
The new firmware appears to add functions specifically to support the new lens, adding menu options for '+10 Zoom ring operation', 'Change zoom ring rotation direction' and 'Zoom ring angle setting' (according to a Google translation of the Japanese text).
The 'Zoom ring angle setting' refers to what's better known as the 'shutter angle' – the proportion of time the shutter is open for each frame of video, all is explained in our handy cheat sheet on shutter angles – and gives further options for 45º, 60º, 90º, 120º, 150º and 180º. Flick through the gallery below to see for yourself…
A video taken at the show (hosted on a Japanese site that requires jumping through a couple of hoops to view) also shows the new lens in operation, with the magnifying + and - buttons used to smoothly control the zoom function of the lens.
As well as being hooked up to a Z9, it's attached to a fairly substantial rig and has an oversized rectangular lens hood; this makes me think, more than ever, that this lens could well be the first fruit of Nikon's recent acquisition of professional cine camera and lens maker RED.
Our heartfelt thanks go to rumor-mongers extraordinaire Nikon Rumors for tipping us off to this story!
