fcotterill
Well-known member
I have refined the following Custom setups linking menus with control buttons on a D500 and latterly D850. These have proven to work rather well, particularly captures of fleeting animals and birds. However, Nikon has designed these features primarily to help Pro sports photographers capture fleeting moments of athletes in a sports event.
I always shoot RAW on full Manual, BBAF and have refined the following banks, in 4 pairs of Photo & Custom with matching names. In practice, roughly speaking, these present 2 suites of supporting camera settings. [EDIT to update on this original post.... ]
Custom Settings Banks help capture the image of the 'fleeting moment' (Custom exposure and AF etc).
Photo Menu Banks control more primary camera processes - especially how light hits the sensor, the reading and processing of the digital image (shutter, ISO, colours, resolution, frame-size, RAW vs jpg etc) and how images are written to memory (card writing sequences etc).
Obviously, subject to local conditions and one's familiarity with the camera etc, its setup is subject to personal preferences. Judging from the forums, Nikon’s Photo and Custom Banks are controversial. Besides being designed for Pros they also demand prior understanding and experience for custom settings in the first place. Trained muscle memory is key to use them in the heat of action. The positives are they preserve settings despite switching the camera off, swopping batteries etc. Once configured, the banks can be saved to a card for external backup. This is useful if the camera needs repair, is replaced and/or one gets a 2nd of the same model). The U1, U2 modes on a D750, D780 and Z MILCs do not separate out the Custom from Photo banks.
All three of my telephotos with Fn buttons are set to AFON+AutoAF (simple to reset to a range of options). NOTE: in my experience, apart from the 70-200 f2.8E FL, with the 400 f2.8E and 500 f5.6E PF, this mode only individuates its assigned AF mode IF the Focus Function selector is set to AFL. If these lenses are set at Memory-Recall or AF-On, pressing Fn switches to the current AF mode selected in BBAF (eg a9).
The simplest, fastest Custom setup - I know of to date - is to press the Red button with forefinger and scroll the Command wheel to hot-switch Photobanks. This is why I have A and D setup as often needed options at only the click of "1 bank apart". There are other negatives. Ironically, Nikon have yet to enable the scope of custom options to empower rapid switches. This is especially for Custom Banks. Thus, you can scroll Photo Banks with right hand only, but not the Custom Banks?! This persisting failure by Nikon is bizarre truly. The quickest setting I've discovered to switch Custom Banks is: assign the 4 banks to top of My Menu, (D850), accessed with the i-button (also D5). These are named and used as follows:
Photo Shooting Menu Bank A : Wildlife 12bit – generally paired with Custom Settings Bank C set at 1/2000, f2.8, AutoISO, Auto-AFC, Fn1=Spot-Exposure. These settings are aimed at maximizing success on action/fleeting scenes - including flying birds. ISO can reach well above 800.
Photo Shooting Menu Bank B : Landsc / Macro - – generally paired with Custom Bank C set at Manual ISO, ISO64, 1/125, f8. I usually shoot the camera in Liveview on a tripod or flash and typically use much slower shutterspeeds for landscapes. Sometimes I use AFS as well.
Photo Shooting Menu Bank C : 14bit 1:1Format with D bank settings. With suitable subjects, it’s useful to frame a D850 optimally at 1:1 (1.3 crop factor) giving a ~30mb RAW
Photo Shooting Menu Bank D : Wildlife 14bit with Custom Bank D with slowest practicable shutterspeed and lowest ISO possible. AutoISO, AFC Dynamic a9, Pv = AFON+S-point; Fn1=AE-Lock
This flexibility gives me the rapid ability to switch between AF and also exposure modes. The designs of the D5 - and now D6 - are the most versatile in their diversity of settings (including the 3 customizable Fn controls on camera-front Left). However, the menus/haptics of the D500 and D850 are sufficiently versatile to assign similar shortcuts to the Pv, Fn and rear panel controls, and also a telephoto with Fn. As a mere parochial Nikonite, I'm not qualified to comment on other cameras, so mine the innards of the respective manuals together with the camera's menus - via Trial and error-corrections to arrive at optimum setups.
Brad Hill's recent blogpost (26 Oct) describes how he's set up his D6 for speedier access of different Recall Shooting Functions using an i-Menu setting. As described above, the quickest shortcut on a D850, I have found, to switch Menu Banks is to assign 'SHOOT Photo Shooting Menu Bank' to the (Red) Record button [cf pg 858 in the D6 Ref Manual, pg 139 in D850 Menu Guide], and simply press the Red button with forefinger and scroll read Command wheel. With practice, I find this shortcut to swop Photo Banks barely interrupts shooting, especially to switch Photo Bank D > A.
However, yet again with Nikon perpetuating their bone-headed contrariness, only Photo Banks can be changed on-the-fly by scrolling?! Surely it is common-sense to allow us to scroll Custom settings Banks via the Front-Wheel AND Photo-Banks via the Rear-Wheel? Surely, there's little imagination needed to see how this will simplify our lives, Eh Nikon? And when coding these simple tweaks for pending Firmware upgrades (D5 especially)... Nikon, please ensure we can read the active pair of P- and C- banks in the OVF.
In summary, I have become so dependent on these Custom features that their absence in an expensive camera seriously undermines its worth (yes Nikon, your pricey Z mirrorless cameras). Furthermore, if I remember correctly, Nikon only added "Recall Shooting Functions" in a firmware update some months after the D5 shipped [edit: this firmware was released mid 2018]. Today, 4+ years later, we are waiting for parallel updates to the D850 and D500.....
I always shoot RAW on full Manual, BBAF and have refined the following banks, in 4 pairs of Photo & Custom with matching names. In practice, roughly speaking, these present 2 suites of supporting camera settings. [EDIT to update on this original post.... ]
Custom Settings Banks help capture the image of the 'fleeting moment' (Custom exposure and AF etc).
Photo Menu Banks control more primary camera processes - especially how light hits the sensor, the reading and processing of the digital image (shutter, ISO, colours, resolution, frame-size, RAW vs jpg etc) and how images are written to memory (card writing sequences etc).
Obviously, subject to local conditions and one's familiarity with the camera etc, its setup is subject to personal preferences. Judging from the forums, Nikon’s Photo and Custom Banks are controversial. Besides being designed for Pros they also demand prior understanding and experience for custom settings in the first place. Trained muscle memory is key to use them in the heat of action. The positives are they preserve settings despite switching the camera off, swopping batteries etc. Once configured, the banks can be saved to a card for external backup. This is useful if the camera needs repair, is replaced and/or one gets a 2nd of the same model). The U1, U2 modes on a D750, D780 and Z MILCs do not separate out the Custom from Photo banks.
All three of my telephotos with Fn buttons are set to AFON+AutoAF (simple to reset to a range of options). NOTE: in my experience, apart from the 70-200 f2.8E FL, with the 400 f2.8E and 500 f5.6E PF, this mode only individuates its assigned AF mode IF the Focus Function selector is set to AFL. If these lenses are set at Memory-Recall or AF-On, pressing Fn switches to the current AF mode selected in BBAF (eg a9).
The simplest, fastest Custom setup - I know of to date - is to press the Red button with forefinger and scroll the Command wheel to hot-switch Photobanks. This is why I have A and D setup as often needed options at only the click of "1 bank apart". There are other negatives. Ironically, Nikon have yet to enable the scope of custom options to empower rapid switches. This is especially for Custom Banks. Thus, you can scroll Photo Banks with right hand only, but not the Custom Banks?! This persisting failure by Nikon is bizarre truly. The quickest setting I've discovered to switch Custom Banks is: assign the 4 banks to top of My Menu, (D850), accessed with the i-button (also D5). These are named and used as follows:
Photo Shooting Menu Bank A : Wildlife 12bit – generally paired with Custom Settings Bank C set at 1/2000, f2.8, AutoISO, Auto-AFC, Fn1=Spot-Exposure. These settings are aimed at maximizing success on action/fleeting scenes - including flying birds. ISO can reach well above 800.
Photo Shooting Menu Bank B : Landsc / Macro - – generally paired with Custom Bank C set at Manual ISO, ISO64, 1/125, f8. I usually shoot the camera in Liveview on a tripod or flash and typically use much slower shutterspeeds for landscapes. Sometimes I use AFS as well.
Photo Shooting Menu Bank C : 14bit 1:1Format with D bank settings. With suitable subjects, it’s useful to frame a D850 optimally at 1:1 (1.3 crop factor) giving a ~30mb RAW
Photo Shooting Menu Bank D : Wildlife 14bit with Custom Bank D with slowest practicable shutterspeed and lowest ISO possible. AutoISO, AFC Dynamic a9, Pv = AFON+S-point; Fn1=AE-Lock
This flexibility gives me the rapid ability to switch between AF and also exposure modes. The designs of the D5 - and now D6 - are the most versatile in their diversity of settings (including the 3 customizable Fn controls on camera-front Left). However, the menus/haptics of the D500 and D850 are sufficiently versatile to assign similar shortcuts to the Pv, Fn and rear panel controls, and also a telephoto with Fn. As a mere parochial Nikonite, I'm not qualified to comment on other cameras, so mine the innards of the respective manuals together with the camera's menus - via Trial and error-corrections to arrive at optimum setups.
Brad Hill's recent blogpost (26 Oct) describes how he's set up his D6 for speedier access of different Recall Shooting Functions using an i-Menu setting. As described above, the quickest shortcut on a D850, I have found, to switch Menu Banks is to assign 'SHOOT Photo Shooting Menu Bank' to the (Red) Record button [cf pg 858 in the D6 Ref Manual, pg 139 in D850 Menu Guide], and simply press the Red button with forefinger and scroll read Command wheel. With practice, I find this shortcut to swop Photo Banks barely interrupts shooting, especially to switch Photo Bank D > A.
However, yet again with Nikon perpetuating their bone-headed contrariness, only Photo Banks can be changed on-the-fly by scrolling?! Surely it is common-sense to allow us to scroll Custom settings Banks via the Front-Wheel AND Photo-Banks via the Rear-Wheel? Surely, there's little imagination needed to see how this will simplify our lives, Eh Nikon? And when coding these simple tweaks for pending Firmware upgrades (D5 especially)... Nikon, please ensure we can read the active pair of P- and C- banks in the OVF.
In summary, I have become so dependent on these Custom features that their absence in an expensive camera seriously undermines its worth (yes Nikon, your pricey Z mirrorless cameras). Furthermore, if I remember correctly, Nikon only added "Recall Shooting Functions" in a firmware update some months after the D5 shipped [edit: this firmware was released mid 2018]. Today, 4+ years later, we are waiting for parallel updates to the D850 and D500.....
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