Nikon has released firmware version 1.20 for the Z5II, and while the most visible change is a menu rename, there is one item buried in the changelog that matters if you shoot video with this camera. Aperture is no longer restricted when recording in shutter-priority auto. The update also brings Wi-Fi Always ON, automatic monitor display switching and a focus-position option for user settings, and it arrives while ZR owners are still waiting for theirs.
The update went live on August 18 through the Nikon Download Center and is a free download. Version 1.20 supersedes 1.11. For stills, the available shutter speed range for minimum shutter speed settings has been modified. Across stills and video, Cloud Picture Control has been renamed to Imaging Recipe with the related menu items updated.
On the controls side, a new option saves focus position when storing user settings, and the displays gain automatic monitor display switching. The network menu picks up Wi-Fi Always ON along with an inactive-connection timeout. In video recording, aperture is no longer restricted when shooting in mode S, shutter-priority auto.
Nikon Z5II. Credit: B&HThe change that affects your shooting
That last item is the one to read twice. Shutter-priority is not the mode most narrative shooters live in, but it is genuinely useful in run-and-gun and event work where holding a fixed shutter angle matters more than holding a fixed depth of field, and having the camera restrict aperture in that mode was an odd limitation on a body that records internal N-RAW. Lifting it means the exposure triangle behaves the way you would expect it to, without the camera second-guessing a deliberate choice.
None of the other changes touch image quality, codecs, frame rates or autofocus behavior. This is a housekeeping release rather than a feature release, and it is worth setting expectations accordingly: the Z5II does not gain any new recording capability here.
Credit: B&HImaging Recipe replaces Cloud Picture Control
The rename is more interesting than a rename usually is, because it aligns the Z5II’s menu with the naming Nikon has been using elsewhere in the Z system. The company has been steadily building out its recipe ecosystem since the RED acquisition, including the nine free image recipes developed with RED for select Z-mount bodies. Consistent terminology across the range is a small thing that stops being small the moment a crew is running two different Nikon bodies on the same job.
For everything else, Nikon points to its supplementary firmware update manual rather than expanding the changelog. The Wi-Fi Always ON option and the inactive-connection timeout are aimed at tethered and FTP workflows rather than video, and the focus-position-with-user-settings option is a handling refinement that will matter most to anyone who uses the U1 to U3 slots as scene presets.
Meanwhile, the ZR has not moved since March
Here is the context that makes a modest hybrid firmware update worth reporting. The Z5II is a stills-first camera that shoots very capable video. The ZR is Nikon’s dedicated video camera, and it is still running C:Ver.1.11, dated March 17, 2026. That is now more than five months without a feature update on the body Nikon is aiming at filmmakers, while a hybrid body further down the range keeps receiving attention.
We have raised this already. Nikon has published no roadmap for the ZR and has made no commitment to a timeline, so there is nothing to read into the silence beyond the silence itself. It is fair to note, though, that the V1.10 release that brought wired timecode sync and RED file naming set an expectation among owners that the pace would continue. The company’s broader approach to adding features within hardware limits is something we have looked at before, and it has generally been a good one, which is precisely why the gap is noticeable.
Nikon Z5II. Credit: B&HHow to update
Firmware 1.20 is available from the Nikon Download Center. As with any Nikon firmware update, use a freshly formatted card, a fully charged battery, and do not interrupt the process. Nikon released COOLPIX P1000 firmware 1.9 on the same day, and Z50II firmware 1.11 on August 5, neither of which is relevant to a video workflow.
If you are running a Z5II, Z6III or ZR, it is also worth checking your serial number against the technical service advisory Nikon issued for those three bodies, which is a separate matter from firmware but affects the same cameras.
Are you running the Z5II for video, and does lifting the aperture restriction in shutter-priority change anything for you? Let us know in the comments below.