Ask Nikon: Help Me With This Interview

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There are a lot of interesting feature requests here, but perhaps a more general question: How important are wildlife / nature photographers to Nikon as a customer group? To make that more specific, is there a ranking (maybe even equipment specific) between sports, general journalism, fashion, wedding, ...
 
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Cameron T said:
One I've seen elsewhere, is it feasible to allow an option for focusing wide open and stopping down vs focusing at selected aperture (and 5.6, if you stop down past that)? Apparently some people really want this since Sony has it.
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This would be useful in extremely low light when the viewfinder goes very grainy stopped down but just about OK wide open.

I suggest Fine Tune on the Z8/9 etc might be useful with an AF-S F mount lens - for when where the camera tells the lens to focus is a little out of sync with what the lens motor does.
 
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Still capture during Video recording.
Some bodies grab a single frame from the Video stream if you press the shutter button while recording (eg: Zfc), while others enable single-frame extracts from the recorded video in-camera (eg: Z8).

Given that shutterless technology now with us, is it possible to have stills captured full resolution, with all the “photo” settings as they would under the Photo function (not a mere frame from the video), while simultaneously recording video? This will be huge for many genres.
 
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For all of the Landscapers it would be nice if future lenses included an automatic setting of Hyperfocal Distance based on Focal Length and Aperture. I have just taken delivery of a new 14-30 f4 and it has no means of setting the Hyperfocal Distance other than by Auto Focus on what you think is the right value. With all of the technical advances that have been made in lens design it should not be too difficult (should it)?
 
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Johan Schmidt said:
Steve - will Nikon add hard button settings like U1, U2, U3 etc to replace / (or work together with) the Custom settings in the pro bodies (similar to what the D750 had)? - e.g. when in option U1, I can change settings as much as I like, but when I don't save them, and dial away from U1 and back to U1, ALL the settings are recalled (not just some as with custom settings)
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With respect, Steve won’t know any more than we do. Nikon use the Shooting Banks for their “pro” cameras and the user buttons for the rest. I very much doubt they’d change this, as it’s been their format for a decade at least.
 
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JacobGM said:
Don’t they do so already? The whole object/ eye/ animal autofocus function is somewhat AI-based, as I understand.
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I suppose so, although some have called this machine learning. I do not mean to split hairs, but I was more worried about Nikon adopting some of the things that Apple and Android phone manufacturers have adopted in their cameras. I am a bit worried about Nikon offering a feature that does things like remove overhead wires automatically without users being able to turn this function off. For those that want to use AI at any point in their work flow, that's great. But I really do not want it forced on my work flow. Options are always appreciated, especially for those of us who are on the minimalist side of post processing.

--Ken
 
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A question for Nikon more in line with gear is "What is Nikon's approach to a camera ecosystem". It is not just the camera and lenses, but all the other accessories. I think Nikon is missing a trick in not having an ecosystem for the mirrorless Z system similar to that on the DLSR range e.g.

1) Something like the Nikon MC-36A intervelometer with a USB connector to work with the Z 7II etc. Heck all they need to do is add a USB connector instead of the round pin connector on the MC-36A
2) Why do we not have a fully mirrorless compatible range of flashes from Nikon?
3) Macro users, e.g. some Nikon extension tubes would be great. There are no optics involved so should be easy to make right?
4) Eye cups, Nikon are missing out on a range of different eyecups for the Z series
5) New GPS unit for cameras other than the Z 9.
6) Angle finder for Z cameras - I know the screen can tilt, but an angle finder is what I need for Astro work using a star tracker
7) Extend range of Nikon filters, some Nikon neutral density filters please



​

 
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I would really like one or to function buttons to have on/off hold ie press and release to change and press again to change back. My smaller hands make it hard to press and hold the buttons down on Z8 and Z9
 
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Steve said:
So, I need a little help. My account is allowing me to do an email interview with a couple of their representatives (engineers). I need to come up with a series of questions to ask them and I'm going to put the whole thing into an article that I'll post here and on the main backcountry gallery site. So I thought a fun thing to do would be to ask the BCG forum members what questions they would to ask and have Nikon answer.

So, post your questions below and I'll end up curating them down to a representative selection. Also, if you see a question that you would really like the answer to already posted, make sure to like it because I will take that into consideration. Hopefully I have about a week to do this but I don't know for sure I didn't get that information just yet. So, probably sooner is better than later :)

Thanks!
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In my lifetime, consumer camera technology has evolved from film to DSLR and now to Mirrorless. Smartphone photography capabilities progress with AI capabilities with each new model. What does Nikon see for the future of consumer photography and the cameras we will carry?
 
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Cameron T said:
Alright, I have a few, not in any particular order, and also depending on who exactly it is...

What did they do to make TCs much better on the z series vs f mount counterparts?

What was the most challenging lens to design (all factors included, such as weight/size).

Is there a plan for recapture raw in any current nikon camera (probably z9/8 only for now)?

Is the af based on focus point tech in the zf coming to the z8/9?

Are they focused more heavily on wildlife/sports shooters?

One I've seen elsewhere, is it feasible to allow an option for focusing wide open and stopping down vs focusing at selected aperture (and 5.6, if you stop down past that)? Apparently some people really want this since Sony has it.
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Regarding your last question. Isn’t focussing done at the maximum aperture of the lens with the lens closing down to the selected aperture at the moment of exposure? What am I missing?
 
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NorthernWilderness said:
Regarding your last question. Isn’t focussing done at the maximum aperture of the lens with the lens closing down to the selected aperture at the moment of exposure? What am I missing?
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Nikon Z bodies focus at the aperture you set down to f5.6. If you set a smaller aperture than 5.6, I believe they focus at 5.6 and stop down before the photo is taken. For lenses with a maximum aperture smaller than 5.6 — e.g., 6.3 — I believe they focus wide open and stop down for the photo if you have chosen an aperture smaller than the maximum aperture.

DSLRs are different in this regard.
 
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Maybe ask them to invite some of their marketing people to be on the call to hear what the customers really want as we all know big corporations rarely communicate well internally). And ask them to please be more transparent with new products shipping delivery details. The cone of silence costs them so much in customer good will. My dealer in CO could not get any delivery details they were just like us waiting to see if product shipped.
Same goes for us non NPS customers on service it’s the black hole of nothing when you send them something no way to check status in real time or what they even did to your equipment with any real detail,
Never hurts to ask them to fix something that will cost them virtually nothing.
 
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Steve said:
So, I need a little help. My account is allowing me to do an email interview with a couple of their representatives (engineers). I need to come up with a series of questions to ask them and I'm going to put the whole thing into an article that I'll post here and on the main backcountry gallery site. So I thought a fun thing to do would be to ask the BCG forum members what questions they would to ask and have Nikon answer.

So, post your questions below and I'll end up curating them down to a representative selection. Also, if you see a question that you would really like the answer to already posted, make sure to like it because I will take that into consideration. Hopefully I have about a week to do this but I don't know for sure I didn't get that information just yet. So, probably sooner is better than in later :)

Thanks!
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I definitely want to be able to use precapture in RAW and it would be great to be able to map the precapture mode to a function button.
 
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Cameron T said:
It's called wide area mode and already exists.

As to the second part...what?
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There are 4 versions of Group mode : Wide, Small, C1, C2. Nikon should simply modify Wide and Small into C3 and C4. Gives us more options (albeit the Zf has +70 Custom Area modes)

An important question is whether they work like the Pro-DSLR Group mode? I recall in their Z9 books , @Steve and Thom Hogan describe the DSLRs have far better closest-focus priority. The Cross Type focus sensors gives DSLR AF its advantages, notably the D6.

Subject Recognition updates have improved the tendency of Z AF grabbing background (which is inherent in most on sensor focus systems)
 
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