Comparing the Canon R5C AND Nikon Z8

I recently had the chance to test the Nikon Z8 against the Canon R5C, shooting RAW internally on both cameras for a narrative film. The lighting scenarios were varied but mostly indoors, including low light.

Resolution: the first thing that stood out was that both models shoot RAW at different resolutions in 8K - Canon 8192x4320 / Nikon 8256x4644. The resulting aspect ratio is slightly different, and definitely something to consider if you want to shoot anamorphic, though there is no Open Gate capability on either camera.

Noise: I found similar noise levels at the same ISO - both cleaned up quite well in DaVinci Resolve, with no major issues. I wouldn't consider one to have performed better than the other in a noticeable way.

Colours: the Nikon overall produces cooler tones (blue/green) whereas the Canon is warmer and has more reds; what I found interesting is that the Nikon RAW seemed to have more saturation, whereas the Canon felt more desaturated (similar to Blackmagic). The Nikon Z8 has a sharper, Fincher-esque vibe with stronger colours.

Grading: it took some work to match these but was not terrible - I personally think you could cut these together and match fine, although they do feel quite different initially. The main difference lies in colour tones and also the texture of the image, with the Nikon first coming across as more contemporary-looking, against the Canon feeling more like an organic film camera with less tonal sharpness.

Focus & texture: I prefer the roll-off on the Nikon, as it felt more medium format and "larger" whereas the Canon feels closer to a Super 35 sensor. However, this also had to do with the lenses as the Nikon was mostly on primes with shallower depth of field, whereas the Canon was mostly on a zoom lens at F4 with only some use of prime lenses throughout.

Rolling shutter: this was the biggest differentiator for me, as I found the "jello" effect quite noticeable on the Nikon, less so on the Canon (and not at all on the Fujifilm camera mentioned below). After looking into it, it seems like this isn't actually a rolling shutter issue (although the Canon definitely performs better in that sense), but instead is a resulting effect of the Nikon in-body image stabilisation which doesn't seem to deal with video very well. You will notice wobbly corners when shooting RAW in 8K which might be an issue for you.

Other cameras: we also had on the shoot a cheaper Fujifilm X-H2, in ProRes 422 as a B-camera. When testing these out, the Canon RAW and Fujifilm ProRes actually felt quite similar in how they process colours and light. They match quite nicely and there wasn't too much work needed to get them at a similar point - both warm, more on the "red" side and filmic rather than sharp. The Fujifilm ProRes footage did break down though when I tried a harsher grade, in the highlights mostly, whereas the RAW on the Canon and Nikon could withstand more. I've found this on my other Fujifilm cameras too regardless of the codec. This encouraged me to purchase an Atomos Ninja V+ recorder when needing to shoot RAW.