Help with the Z8

[JAJohnson]

I'm unclear on exactly what you are saying, are you saying that the "save settings" is needed to save bank settings once you set them? I don't recall reading that but my memory is faulty at times. What I got from Patrick's message is that the "save settings" saves the individual bank settings, but then sometimes I read too quickly! According to Nikon the "save settings" is only to put them on a card...

'Save settings' saves most of the camera's settings (including Shooting Menu Banks and Custom Settings Banks) to a CFe or SD card.

My practice is: Enter the settings I prefer in each tab in the Menu (Photo Shooting thru My Menu). I keep track of these settings in an Excel spreadsheet (an expansion of the one Steve provides). Over time, I change these settings somewhat as I evolve in my use of the camera. Regardless, once the settings are entered in-camera, I save them to a card using 'Save settings.' At the end of a day of shooting it's likely that I changed some settings due to weather, lighting, etc. In order to ensure that the settings are reset to my defaults for the next day's shooting, I load my saved settings from the card. When I pick up the camera next, I know how it's set up and I go from there. Not everyone does things this way, but it works for me.

 

[Roy]

Im not understanding the Z8 "save and load " . .Do I need to save settings every time I turn the camera off.. and then "load" again when turning back on? Every single time..???

The Load/save settings is just an extra place to save your settings - on your card ...

 

[MikeS]

Im not understanding the Z8 "save and load " . .Do I need to save settings every time I turn the camera off.. and then "load" again when turning back on? Every single time..???

The Custom Settings Banks and the Shooting Menu Banks took me a long time to figure out and in the end, I simply did not use them. I like to set up what I need for each type of shooting I do then I know where I am. For me, banks offered needless complication.

 

[hef19898]

I tried banks for a bit on my D700 and D300 a while ago, how Nikon handles banks didn't change since those two models I think. Ended up as well not using them.

I do use the U1/2/3 settings on my Z6 quote a lot so (set up for Auto-ISO in high shutter speeds, Auto-ISO with low shutter speeds for low light and somethingsomething on U3 I don't remember and don't use at all, so room for some other custom settings if needed.

 

[DRwyoming]

Im not understanding the Z8 "save and load " . .Do I need to save settings every time I turn the camera off.. and then "load" again when turning back on? Every single time..???

Basically the Save and then subsequent Load of settings is completely optional and no, even if you choose to do this you don't need to do it every single time.

Basically saving your settings to a memory card can be handy if you end up doing a full factory reset and don't want to go back and reset all your customized settings (assuming you do customize settings and don't just shoot the camera set up as it came from the factory) instead of hand entering all of them again. It can also be handy if you purchase a second identical camera (another Z8) and want to set it up the same without hand entering all the settings. But there's no requirement to use the save/load feature at all and if you do use it you only need to use it when you make changes to your camera's custom settings like changing the way buttons are programmed or displays are setup.

If you do save settings, I'd recommend saving them to an old memory card you don't use in your normal shooting and label it with a sharpie or similar with the save date. If you save settings to a card you actually use when capturing images then all those saved settings will be erased any time you reformat that particular memory card and it's a good idea to periodically format memory cards.

If you never use the Save Settings feature, all the custom settings are still saved in the camera's internal memory but if that gets reset due to something like a full factory reset to resolve some kind of problem then you have to start from scratch and re-enter each custom setting which is a big reason I have used that Save Settings feature to save custom settings to an old card. It's also recommended that you Save Settings before updating the camera's firmware in case anything goes wrong with that process and you end up wiping out all the customized settings and want to quickly get them back to what you had setup.

 

[EricBowles]

In a recent NPS webinar with Lindsay Silverman, there was some discussion about Custom Banks and Shooting Banks. Silverman actively uses banks. He names each with a genre specific naming convention. Banks are one (or two depending on the camera) of his choices in the iMenu so he can quickly make changes. In addition to basic settings, he made a point to talk about changes in Fn buttons, AF area choices, and iMenu for each type of photography.

The names he had for Banks were:
Wildlife
Day to Day
Landscape
Night Sky

I think of Wildlife and Sports as being quite similar - maybe Action is a generic term. Day to Day would also include Travel and Events. Night Sky would include most Astro situations including the Warm text and icons for menus.

One reason you might choose more than one card is for large variations in types of wildlife or types of sports. The settings for golf are very different from football or basketball, and it's easy to just load settings for an individual sport, another set for the awards presentation, a set for candid shots of crowds, and a set for pre-release or auto capture. The same is true for wildlife. Hummingbirds, songbirds, and wading birds are different enough to require different FN button and iMenu choices as well as different settings and custom controls.

 

[Viathelens]

With banks, they remember the settings you last used. So if you change shutter speed, focus mode, it remembers those instead of reverting back to the original settings. So in this case, if you save your settings to the card, go shooting, make changes, reloading from the card resets back to what you had when you went out shooting before making changes. I can see how that makes sense. I’d prefer Nikon provide the option for sticky banks so it reset by itself back to the saved settings instead of remembering the changes you made while shooting.

Right, I got that concept but there seemed to be some confusion in the thread about the actual intent of the "save settings" option. I agree with your take on it.

 

[kiraclicks]

In a recent NPS webinar with Lindsay Silverman, there was some discussion about Custom Banks and Shooting Banks. Silverman actively uses banks. He names each with a genre specific naming convention. Banks are one (or two depending on the camera) of his choices in the iMenu so he can quickly make changes. In addition to basic settings, he made a point to talk about changes in Fn buttons, AF area choices, and iMenu for each type of photography.

The names he had for Banks were:
Wildlife
Day to Day
Landscape
Night Sky

I think of Wildlife and Sports as being quite similar - maybe Action is a generic term. Day to Day would also include Travel and Events. Night Sky would include most Astro situations including the Warm text and icons for menus.

One reason you might choose more than one card is for large variations in types of wildlife or types of sports. The settings for golf are very different from football or basketball, and it's easy to just load settings for an individual sport, another set for the awards presentation, a set for candid shots of crowds, and a set for pre-release or auto capture. The same is true for wildlife. Hummingbirds, songbirds, and wading birds are different enough to require different FN button and iMenu choices as well as different settings and custom controls.

I'm not an NPS Member I don't know what it is..I have asked questions here about the Z8 and people have been very helpful! I'm trying to learn about the camera .Any information is important to me. I still have my Z6II which has been great for my Astro and for my Equine Sports photos..I don't suppose there's any way to watch the Webinar but I'll keep checking this Forum for insights from others..