Nikon z8 pre-release capture

[Michael Dreese]

I always shoot in RAW format but I see how the pre-release would be a great tool for a bird photographer like myself. One of the caveats is that you must shoot JPEG. Needing a quick method to switch into this mode I mapped my Fn3 button for image quality. This button is close to the frame rate button on top. However, I noticed that when you switch to 30fps the camera switches over to JPEG and the pre-capture icon appears on my screen. I had already set it up inside the menu btw. So I’m thinking there is no need to switch my image quality settings before using this feature. It appears that switching to the higher frame rate takes care of this requirement. If I’m correct there is a one stop method to get to pre-capture mode when shooting in RAW. I will be going out tomorrow to test this out but was wondering if anyone else has tried it. Not a lot of information out there yet on this subject. I’m also going to download the manual and read up on the subject there.

 

[agrumpyoldsod]

Use Recall Shooting Hold (RSH) -- the drawback is there only one of these per bank -- so try this out in Custom Controls of your preferred Custom Settings Bank -- select everything you want and need to have in place for your pre-capture allocate a button to this using SAVE CURRENT Settings.
Then return your settings to for example 20fps lossless RAW and test if the button you chose works -- one press to use the RSH and then one more press to swap back to the settings you were using before the button was pressed.

I happen to use the Movie Record button for RSH

The good news is you can have 4 Custom Settings Banks and one can use iMenu to select each (assuming you allocate one slot in iMenus to this role.

 

[Michael Dreese]

I thought about using this method but I already used up my recall shooting setting on subject detection as per Steve’s suggestion. It’s a very handy way of getting out of it on the fly if it’s not working. I will try out the custom setting bank approach but the method of spinning the frame rate dial to 30 fps might be just as fast. Thanks so much for your detailed response.

 

[Geoff_G]

I thought about using this method but I already used up my recall shooting setting on subject detection as per Steve’s suggestion. It’s a very handy way of getting out of it on the fly if it’s not working. I will try out the custom setting bank approach but the method of spinning the frame rate dial to 30 fps might be just as fast. Thanks so much for your detailed response.

It works that way on the Z8, haven't tried my Z9 yet but I'm sure it will.
Stupendous find...Dialing in C120 (for example) changed RAW to Jpg and pre release was working. When I went back to 20fps the camera started saving NEF's again....
Perfect!!!

And yes, I have RSH assigned to turn Subj Det off using the LFn button.

 

[Michael Dreese]

Thanks so much for helping to confirm my findings. It was a total accident I must admit. I was wracking my brain trying to figure out an easy way to use this feature. I’m hoping someday we can use RAW files for pre-capture.

 

[Geoff_G]

The Z9 behaves similarly. The Release Mode dial has to be fully clockwise allowing mode and frame rates to be adjusted with the command dials.
That gets us to custom Setting d3...(this function does not exist on the Z8) Limit Release Mode Selection so choose accordingly. The C30/60/120 options kick in jpg recording and pre-release works as set in d4 (Z9) or d3 (Z8) Pre Release Capture Options.
The beauty of this is it reverts back to Raw recording when set to 20fps of slower.
This makes using the pre release capture function almost seamless....

It's still unclear to me why the Limit Release Mode Selection setting was removed from the Z8 but it does make it simpler to use. It'll be interesting to see if this changes for either cam at their next FW update.

 

[Michael Dreese]

The Z9 behaves similarly. The Release Mode dial has to be fully clockwise allowing mode and frame rates to be adjusted with the command dials.
That gets us to custom Setting d3...(this function does not exist on the Z8) Limit Release Mode Selection so choose accordingly. The C30/60/120 options kick in jpg recording and pre-release works as set in d4 (Z9) or d3 (Z8) Pre Release Capture Options.
The beauty of this is it reverts back to Raw recording when set to 20fps of slower.
This makes using the pre release capture function almost seamless....

It's still unclear to me why the Limit Release Mode Selection setting was removed from the Z8 but it does make it simpler to use. It'll be interesting to see if this changes for either cam at their next FW update.

Thanks so much. I actually downloaded the Z8 PDF manual and they didn’t get very specific on the operation but it does seem more streamlined than the Z 9 procedure. I’m eager to try it out in the field. For perched birds taking off it should be a game changer. My reactions are never fast enough to catch the decisive moment.

 

[John_DE]

Thanks so much. I actually downloaded the Z8 PDF manual and they didn’t get very specific on the operation but it does seem more streamlined than the Z 9 procedure. I’m eager to try it out in the field. For perched birds taking off it should be a game changer. My reactions are never fast enough to catch the decisive moment.

Prerelease is also great for capturing lightning!

 

[ARClark]

I always shoot in RAW format but I see how the pre-release would be a great tool for a bird photographer like myself. One of the caveats is that you must shoot JPEG. Needing a quick method to switch into this mode I mapped my Fn3 button for image quality. This button is close to the frame rate button on top. However, I noticed that when you switch to 30fps the camera switches over to JPEG and the pre-capture icon appears on my screen. I had already set it up inside the menu btw. So I’m thinking there is no need to switch my image quality settings before using this feature. It appears that switching to the higher frame rate takes care of this requirement. If I’m correct there is a one stop method to get to pre-capture mode when shooting in RAW. I will be going out tomorrow to test this out but was wondering if anyone else has tried it. Not a lot of information out there yet on this subject. I’m also going to download the manual and read up on the subject there.

I've been experimenting with pre-release on the Z9. For small birds taking off at fairly close range, I've found that 1/3200 sec stops action quite well and 60 fps provides a number of frames to choose from within the original field of view. If the camera locks focus on the bird and you can pan with it, you'll get even more. I had read that AF didn't work as well at 30 fps with full size JPEGs. However, at 60 fps, the jpeg files shrink considerably, so lots of tradeoffs. I've also found that if I'm shooting pre-release, I need to get in that mindset and not try to shoot stills as each time you shoot, you'll be getting a ton of extra files. I've also found that it's worth using a much small focal length than would you'd use for stills in order to provide ample room to catch a number of wingbeats to choose from. There's a bit of an art to it, but it's fun, and can produce striking results.

 

[Michael Dreese]

I've been experimenting with pre-release on the Z9. For small birds taking off at fairly close range, I've found that 1/3200 sec stops action quite well and 60 fps provides a number of frames to choose from within the original field of view. If the camera locks focus on the bird and you can pan with it, you'll get even more. I had read that AF didn't work as well at 30 fps with full size JPEGs. However, at 60 fps, the jpeg files shrink considerably, so lots of tradeoffs. I've also found that if I'm shooting pre-release, I need to get in that mindset and not try to shoot stills as each time you shoot, you'll be getting a ton of extra files. I've also found that it's worth using a much small focal length than would you'd use for stills in order to provide ample room to catch a number of wingbeats to choose from. There's a bit of an art to it, but it's fun, and can produce striking results.

Thanks for providing all of these fine details. Some great tips here!