Mysterious Nikon Zf ‘date stamp’ feature quietly shown at Japanese camera expo

Nikon Zf camera held up to a face — The Nikon Zf is one of the most authentic retro digital cameras on the market (Image credit: Gareth Bevan / Digital Camera World)

The Nikon Zf could one day add a 'date stamp' overlay to its list of retro-digital features, that’s according to a report from Phototrend. That’s because the Nikon stand at the recent CP+ 2026 camera show, in Japan, featured a 'prototype' Nikon Zf mirrorless camera with the curious, retro feature.

Images obtained by the online imaging news outlet show printed JPEG photos with a tiny date stamp in the bottom-right corner – red digital numerals in color photos and white digital numerals in black-and-white photos. However, don’t get too excited just yet, because when asked if a wider release was imminent, staff revealed there are no plans to bring this to Nikon's full-frame retro camera just yet.

Nikon Zf Film Grain image, showing a person lying on a bed looking into camera — Last year Nikon introduced Film Grain (pictured) to the Nikon Zf (Image credit: Nikon)

Personally, I find it hard to believe that Nikon would showcase something like this and not be at least fairly confident that it will eventually get released. I say that because the Nikon Zf already has plenty of in-camera retro features. For starters, it has onboard Picture Controls à la Fujifilm’s Film Simulations.

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The Nikon Zf even has a dedicated B&W switch, so you can instantly toggle your favorite black-and-white Picture Control on and off. You can also create your own Custom Picture Controls in-camera or via NX Studio. And finally, at the tail end of last year, Nikon introduced Film Grain via firmware update 3.00. This allows users to add three sizes and six types of intensities of grain to their images, which can be combined with Picture Controls.

The ability to add a date stamp would certainly complement the aforementioned features, and I can’t imagine it being so intrusive that it would get in the way of anyone who’d rather avoid it. It seems like a win-win to me! I’ll definitely be keeping an ear to the ground should more details about this quirky retro feature surface.

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Check out the best Nikon cameras and the best Nikon Z lenses. If you're a retro camera fan but don't have the budget for the Nikon Zf, take a look at its APS-C counterpart, the Nikon Zfc.

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Mike studied photography at college, honing his Adobe Photoshop skills and learning to work in the studio and darkroom. After a few years writing for various publications, he headed to the ‘Big Smoke’ to work on Wex Photo Video’s award-winning content team, before transitioning back to print as Technique Editor (later Deputy Editor) on N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine.

With bylines in Digital Camera, PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, Practical Photography, Digital Photographer, iMore, and TechRadar, he’s a fountain of photography and consumer tech knowledge, making him a top tutor for techniques on cameras, lenses, tripods, filters, and more. His expertise extends to everything from portraits and landscapes to abstracts and architecture to wildlife and, yes, fast things going around race tracks...

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