Instant movie moods with Nikon Imaging Cloud and the Nikon Z5II

Dom Salmon •Videography•25 Nov 2025•5 min read

Get the cinematic look you want in camera, save time in post and get creative with your video using recipes from Nikon Creators

If your camera could talk, it would probably ask you, “So… what’s our vibe today?”

What mood are you in? What kind of pictures do you want to take? And how do you get into that mindset and see that look through your viewfinder instantly?

Thanks to Nikon Imaging Cloud (NIC), your camera already has the answer. Because as well as offering temporary cloud storage, the ability to point your images to third-party storage and over-the-air firmware updates, Nikon Imaging Cloud is also the place to go for a huge range of instant ‘looks’ for your images and footage.

Think of it as a creative mood board in the cloud – a growing collection of beautifully crafted colour styles and presets from Nikon Creators and Ambassadors around the world. In the cloud, they’re called recipes. On your camera, they appear as Picture Controls. Download one, start snapping and the mood is present from the first frame.

You can save as many as you like to your personal NIC account and nine directly in your camera at any one time.

Here’s the best thing about all of it: it’s for stills and video. Want a moody black-and-white vibe? No problem – and it will look just as amazing at 60 frames per second as it does in a still.

You can create your own recipes in NX Studio (Nikon’s free editing software) and you can tweak any downloaded recipe to make it uniquely yours.

Get the cinematic look you want in camera, save time in post and get creative with your video using recipes from Nikon Creators

If your camera could talk, it would probably ask you, “So… what’s our vibe today?”

What mood are you in? What kind of pictures do you want to take? And how do you get into that mindset and see that look through your viewfinder instantly?

You can save as many as you like to your personal NIC account and nine directly in your camera at any one time.

Here’s the best thing about all of it: it’s for stills and video. Want a moody black-and-white vibe? No problem – and it will look just as amazing at 60 frames per second as it does in a still.

You can create your own recipes in NX Studio (Nikon’s free editing software) and you can tweak any downloaded recipe to make it uniquely yours.

Dom Salmon

Writer and Photographer

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What’s in my kitbag?

Z 8Fast, full-frame hybrid camera

A global library of looks

These downloaded looks let you preview the style while you work, then capture it directly in your files. No LUTs. No endless slider sessions later. Just pure, in-camera style.

I can’t recommend it enough. While the in-camera Picture Controls that come with the camera are great, the ones you can get from NIC are personal. The Nikon Creators have dug deep, using emotion and experience to create a profile that really means something to them. And by sharing them with the Nikon community, you can walk a mile in their shoes.

That’s a big deal for hybrid creators – the YouTubers, vloggers, wedding filmmakers and on-location photographers who need to film, edit and post fast. Now you can scroll a global library of looks, find the one that matches your mood, scene or location and film with confidence.

Give it your own twist with NX Studio

Downloaded a recipe but want to give it a personal twist? NX Studio is your best friend. It gives you control over every setting – from contrast curves to individual colour channels. You can adjust sharpness, warmth and saturation and save your customised version as a new Picture Control to load back into your camera.

For me, this is the real magic: starting with a look someone else has crafted, then nudging it until it’s completely mine. And it’s free.

I really want people to know this is not ‘cheating’ in any way. When I started out a long time ago, I stole every idea I could from the photographers I assisted – how films behaved and how they liked to treat them in developing, whether they used diffusers, gels or reflectors depending on the colours in the scene. And, of course, they would borrow lots of ideas themselves.

The difference then was you could only do that by being in the same room. Now I can download a look from a Nikon Creator or Ambassador I love across the world and get under the hood of how they create mood and narrative by seeing how they’ve tweaked the settings.

Or I can just plug it into my Z5II and film with it. Why wait around?

Some recipes to start with

These recipes have been living in my camera lately – each one a mood in itself, made by some very talented photographers and videographers from across the globe. Not only do they add colour or contrast, but they give my files a head start, setting a tone I can then push further in NX Studio or in-camera.

Vitality Film by Peng Mango

In a nutshell: Emulates the style of film photography with moderate contrast and rich colours.

Why I like it: This is my instant mood-lifter. It preserves healthy skin tones but adds a cinematic pop to outdoor scenes, especially on bright days. It’s a brilliant base. You can either keep the playful warmth or pull it towards a moodier palette in post. It’s like finding an out-of-date roll of slide film at the back of your fridge – instant vibe.

Pale Tale by Yuri

In a nutshell: A soft and gentle perspective, particularly well-suited for landscapes and flowers.

Why I like it: It’s the polar opposite of Peng’s look. Soft, subtle and almost painterly, this look strips away harshness, making even midday light feel forgiving. It’s a superb starting point for travel stories. You can layer in contrast later, but the base stays dreamy.

Emotional Black-and-White by Wazika

In a nutshell: Enriches the details in the shadows and presents an emotive and intimate appearance.

Why I like it: Every camera needs a black and white go-to preset, and I love this one. It gives a refined monochrome base that can handle anything from high-contrast drama to soft, diffuse light.

Matte Blue Gray by Tanko

In a nutshell: Shadows are made soft with a slight blue tone and a gentle matt finish. It’s ideal for filming interiors with underexposed ambiance.

Why I like it: Great for indoors or quiet, low-light street scenes. The soft blue-grey shadow tones make files feel as if they’ve been lifted from a moody indie film – easy to push towards warmer or cooler tones later. I went big on matt looks a while back until they overwhelmed everything I did. This is a great recipe to find my way back to the magic of the ‘not-quite-black’, slightly dreamy look of movie scenes.

Rose Old Film by Fujikawa Hinano

In a nutshell: A warm and welcoming retro look that softens footage.

Why I like it: There’s such a strong bias towards A24/Netflix teal and orange look currently. This has some lovely warm tones and a pleasing overall vibe for footage.

Why I have them on my camera

All five do something I love – they get me 60–70% of the way to a finished image the second I press the shutter. Because they’re Picture Controls, I see the mood live in the viewfinder, which changes how I film. Then, with NX Studio, I can tweak sharpness, contrast, hue or even swap out certain colour channels to make each look completely mine.

It’s just a different experience on the day. With my Z8, I’m usually capturing in RAW for stills and LOG footage, filming as ‘neutral’ as possible. The Z5II is so immediate and fun that I just want to hit ON and go. It’s a totally different experience.

They’re like having a set of cherished film stocks in my bag – each one a different story waiting to be told.

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