The best Nikon ZR monitor apps
Three apps turn an iPhone into a monitor for the Nikon ZR. Two of them ship today, and one of them is ours. Here is the honest picture, including the places where the other two are the better answer.
Parallax Monitor.
A monitor, controller and multicam station in one app. The device on the cable casts live view to other phones and tablets for a director or client monitor, and the app adds stills tools, LUT viewing and X-zone false color. ZR Ctl is the Android sibling.
- Ships today at $19.99, covering monitoring, camera control, multicam casting, stills tools and LUT viewing in one app.
- Host and client casting sends the live view from the connected device to other phones and tablets, for a director or client monitor.
- Runs on Android as ZR Ctl.
- Supports the Nikon ZR, Z8, Z9, Z50 II and more.
- Best for
- Best for multicam casting and value
- Price
- $19.99
ZineControl.
The first professional filmmaking app for Nikon bodies: Wi-Fi control of recording format, ISO, iris and white balance, with histogram, waveform, RGB parade, zebra, false colour and clipping traffic lights. ZineControl_X extends it to six bodies at once.
- Ships on the App Store today, with Wi-Fi control of recording format, ISO, iris and white balance on the Nikon ZR.
- A broad monitoring set already in the app: histogram, waveform, RGB parade, zebra, false colour and RED-style clipping traffic lights.
- ZineControl_X drives up to six bodies at once, which no single-camera app can match.
- Supports five Nikon bodies: ZR, Z8, Z6 III, Z50 and Z50 II.
- Best for
- Best for camera control across several Nikon bodies
- Price
- Price on zinecontrol.app
Pocket Field Monitor.
Ours, so weigh it accordingly. Pocket Field Monitor is built monitor first: a Blackmagic-style HUD over the ZR's clean feed, exposure tools defined in stops from an 18% card, real scopes from the live frame, nineteen camera settings over USB or the ZR's own Wi-Fi access point, and a Gyroflow motion log, lens profile and project for every take.
- False colour and zebra defined in stops of scene exposure, resolved for the encoding on screen, so the landmarks land in the right place in Rec. 709 and in N-Log.
- Focus assist by edge detection rather than contrast, in five colours, plus waveform, vectorscope, RGB parade and histogram from the live frame.
- Nineteen camera settings, record start and stop, and clip browsing and playback, over a USB-C cable or the ZR's own Wi-Fi access point.
- A Gyroflow motion log, a per-take pinhole lens profile and a Gyroflow project written for every take, from the phone already mounted on the rig.
- Best for
- Best for monitoring depth and Gyroflow
- Price
- $49.99 a year, after a one-month free trial
Which one should you use?
Start from the job rather than the feature list. Each of the three is the right answer to a different question.
You need multicam
Parallax Monitor
One host device connects to the camera and casts the live view to other phones and tablets for a director or client monitor. That is a job Pocket Monitor does not do at all.
You shoot on several Nikon bodies
ZineControl
ZineControl covers the ZR, Z8, Z6 III, Z50 and Z50 II, and ZineControl_X runs up to six bodies at once. Pocket Monitor covers the ZR.
You care most about monitoring depth and Gyroflow
Pocket Field Monitor
Exposure tools defined in stops from an 18% card, scopes computed from the live frame, and a motion log, lens profile and Gyroflow project written for every take.
All three, side by side.
The same rows for each app, with ours held to the same standard as theirs.
| Capability | Parallax Monitor | ZineControl | Pocket Monitor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Availability | Shipping on the App Store | Shipping on the App Store | Coming to the App Store |
| Camera control | Yes, a full control station | Yes, over Wi-Fi | Yes, over USB and the ZR's Wi-Fi access point |
| Monitoring tools | Exposure assist, X-zone false color, LUT view, stills tools | Histogram, waveform, RGB parade, zebra, false colour, traffic lights | False colour, zebra, focus assist, waveform, vectorscope, RGB parade, histogram |
| Multicam | Yes, host/client casting | Yes, via ZineControl_X (up to 6 cameras) | No |
| Gyroflow logging | Not listed | Not listed | Yes, every take |
| Price | $19.99 | Price on zinecontrol.app | $49.99 a year |
| Cameras | Nikon ZR, Z8, Z9, Z50 II, and more | Nikon ZR, Z8, Z6 III, Z50, Z50 II | Nikon ZR |
The full row-by-row comparisons live on their own pages: Pocket Monitor vs Parallax Monitor and Pocket Monitor vs ZineControl.