Nikon Z9 firmware 4.0 Auto Capture

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Obeach

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I downloaded 4.0, read the manual and cannot get the Auto Capture to work. Here is what happens: Auto Capture shows up in the Photo Shooting Menu, clicking on that and clicking on the "start" with the "OK" button the camera goes into recording. The problem is I cannot get to the Auto Capture menu to change the parameters.

Any thoughts or solutions?

Tom
 
Whilst I love Morten's content, I feel this "test" was a bit too controlled. And I know he can't guarantee wildlife, no one can, but I'd love to have seen it used as a substitute for the remote camera, rather than a perfectly set up controlled environment. For me, I know I will be using this for close focus wide angle shots, where critters don't want to see me but don't mind my camera!
 
Thanks for the video, but it did not help. When I hit the start button to get to the set-up menu the auto capture starts recording.
 
You can bet the Ricci was next to Morton -- continuing their Bromance. AND probably carrying more new gear for Morton to "test" -- NOT REMOTELY like Ricci did the last 5 times.

I recommend folk down load the technical guide for Auto-capture from the Nikon Download Site.
 
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Well, early days obviously. This is also version 1.0 of the new software
He gives some insights into how the triggers work in complementary roles not only Motion and Distance, but especially as I see how the subject detection drills through vegetation. And it seems quick on some of those birds.
Proof of principle, basically
 
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Whilst I love Morten's content, I feel this "test" was a bit too controlled. And I know he can't guarantee wildlife, no one can, but I'd love to have seen it used as a substitute for the remote camera, rather than a perfectly set up controlled environment. For me, I know I will be using this for close focus wide angle shots, where critters don't want to see me but don't mind my camera!
my take was he was just learning the capabilities of the feature
 
my take was he was just learning the capabilities of the feature
Of course, I'm looking forward to seeing more tests of how Morten could use it in the scenario he initially intended it to do.

But imagine setting up a camera to capture squirrels in flight, and you set up your nuts/seeds on your platform, and off you go. Sure it requires preparation, but the rewards can be reaped, HOPEFULLY with a very high keeper rate.
 
Perhaps now is a good time for me to share my sad little Nikon story.

I have been an active photographer and exclusively a Nikon shooter since 1978 when I bought my first Nikon SLR camera, it was the Pentax Spotmatic for 8 years before that. My first Nikon digital camera was a Coolpix 990 in the year 2,000. I got into wildlife photography 12 years ago with a Nikon D7100, then a D7200 and then the camera many of us wildlifers were waiting for, the Nikon D500, successor to the awesome D300.

A couple of years ago I began to develop a real interest in doing short wildlife videos and did several of them with my D500; they weren't bad but without AF tracking it was hard at best. Last year I turned 72 and decided that while I still had my health and could still stomp in the bush I was going to splash out on a mirrorless camera, but it needed have a proven track record with AF tracking in video mode. I had a few friends who bought the Z9 in the early days, but none of them did videos and there were still AF issues. I felt the Z9 was just too heavy for me (I'm not that big a guy) and too expensive as well. All the other Nikon mirrorless bodies had fairly unreliable AF tracking systems for wildlife, especially birds, from what I read and what my friends told me who owned them.

IMO the only serious contender that was left on the playing field at the time for what I wanted to do was the Canon R5, especially after they removed the overheating time limit in June 2022. It had a great and proven AF system that everyone raved about and had very high-quality video formats. When I shopped around I got an unexpected $2300 CAN off the regular price on the R5 body and high-end lens package, so I jumped on it. I've used it every day for 7.5 months and I really like the camera and lens and for what I want it does a great job... no complaints at all.

Then 7 months later Nikon announced the amazing, jaw-dropping Z8, floating down from camera Heaven and at a show-stopping price. My heart sank to the floor and I've been dealing with buyer's remorse ever since. I don't know whether to be mad, sad, blink or wind my watch, but needless to say I can honestly say that had I had even the slightest idea that Nikon was going to bring out something like the Z8 and at such an unbelievable price, I surely would have waited. Man, I sure wish camera makers would be a little more forthcoming with their plans so we could make better purchasing decisions. I've never been a brand fanboy so I joined the Canon world based on the available info and choices at the time. I should have been a fanboy. Oh well, that's life, eh? The end.

Patrick, sorry if I've highjacked your thread. Please feel free to delete this post. It was therapeutic.

Have a great day,
Rudy
 
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Check your monitor mode button. Ran into the same issue and found out the Auto Capture settings were only displayed in the viewfinder.

-Greg

Edit... see you already found a solution.
 
Perhaps now is a good time for me to share my sad little Nikon story.

I have been an active photographer and exclusively a Nikon shooter since 1978 when I bought my first Nikon SLR camera, it was the Pentax Spotmatic for 8 years before that. My first Nikon digital camera was a Coolpix 990 in the year 2,000. I got into wildlife photography 12 years ago with a Nikon D7100, then a D7200 and then the camera many of us wildlifers were waiting for, the Nikon D500, successor to the awesome D300.

A couple of years ago I began to develop a real interest in doing short wildlife videos and did several of them with my D500; they weren't bad but without AF tracking it was hard at best. Last year I turned 72 and decided that while I still had my health and could still stomp in the bush I was going to splash out on a mirrorless camera, but it needed have a proven track record with AF tracking in video mode. I had a few friends who bought the Z9 in the early days, but none of them did videos and there were still AF issues. I felt the Z9 was just too heavy for me (I'm not that big a guy) and too expensive as well. All the other Nikon mirrorless bodies had fairly unreliable AF tracking systems for wildlife, especially birds, from what I read and what my friends told me who owned them.

IMO the only serious contender that was left on the playing field at the time for what I wanted to do was the Canon R5, especially after they removed the overheating time limit in June 2022. It had a great and proven AF system that everyone raved about and had very high-quality video formats. When I shopped around I got an unexpected $2300 CAN off the regular price on the R5 body and high-end lens package, so I jumped on it. I've used it every day for 7.5 months and I really like the camera and lens and for what I want it does a great job... no complaints at all.

Then 7 months later Nikon announced the amazing, jaw-dropping Z8, floating down from camera Heaven and at a show-stopping price. My heart sank to the floor and I've been dealing with buyer's remorse ever since. I don't know whether to be mad, sad, blink or wind my watch, but needless to say I can honestly say that had I had even the slightest idea that Nikon was going to bring out something like the Z8 and at such an unbelievable price, I surely would have waited. Man, I sure wish camera makers would be a little more forthcoming with their plans so we could make better purchasing decisions. I've never been a brand fanboy so I joined the Canon world based on the available info and choices at the time. I should have been a fanboy. Oh well, that's life, eh? The end.

Patrick, sorry if I've highjacked your thread. Please feel free to delete this post. It was therapeutic.

Have a great day,
Rudy
The R5 is a fantastic camera that is very capable so I wouldn’t be too upset or sad. I’m sure the most painful part was the additional expense of the new lenses. I actually had decided switch to Nikon Z from Canon DSLR and Fujifilm X systems with the Z6/Z7. Just a few months afterwards Canon released the R5 and I felt like I made a mistake so I understand how you feel. As long as you are enjoying the Canon and it’s working for you, I wouldn’t stress it.
 
Perhaps now is a good time for me to share my sad little Nikon story.

I have been an active photographer and exclusively a Nikon shooter since 1978 when I bought my first Nikon SLR camera, it was the Pentax Spotmatic for 8 years before that. My first Nikon digital camera was a Coolpix 990 in the year 2,000. I got into wildlife photography 12 years ago with a Nikon D7100, then a D7200 and then the camera many of us wildlifers were waiting for, the Nikon D500, successor to the awesome D300.

A couple of years ago I began to develop a real interest in doing short wildlife videos and did several of them with my D500; they weren't bad but without AF tracking it was hard at best. Last year I turned 72 and decided that while I still had my health and could still stomp in the bush I was going to splash out on a mirrorless camera, but it needed have a proven track record with AF tracking in video mode. I had a few friends who bought the Z9 in the early days, but none of them did videos and there were still AF issues. I felt the Z9 was just too heavy for me (I'm not that big a guy) and too expensive as well. All the other Nikon mirrorless bodies had fairly unreliable AF tracking systems for wildlife, especially birds, from what I read and what my friends told me who owned them.

IMO the only serious contender that was left on the playing field at the time for what I wanted to do was the Canon R5, especially after they removed the overheating time limit in June 2022. It had a great and proven AF system that everyone raved about and had very high-quality video formats. When I shopped around I got an unexpected $2300 CAN off the regular price on the R5 body and high-end lens package, so I jumped on it. I've used it every day for 7.5 months and I really like the camera and lens and for what I want it does a great job... no complaints at all.

Then 7 months later Nikon announced the amazing, jaw-dropping Z8, floating down from camera Heaven and at a show-stopping price. My heart sank to the floor and I've been dealing with buyer's remorse ever since. I don't know whether to be mad, sad, blink or wind my watch, but needless to say I can honestly say that had I had even the slightest idea that Nikon was going to bring out something like the Z8 and at such an unbelievable price, I surely would have waited. Man, I sure wish camera makers would be a little more forthcoming with their plans so we could make better purchasing decisions. I've never been a brand fanboy so I joined the Canon world based on the available info and choices at the time. I should have been a fanboy. Oh well, that's life, eh? The end.

Patrick, sorry if I've highjacked your thread. Please feel free to delete this post. It was therapeutic.

Have a great day,
Rudy
I don't think you should regret the R5. I think the only reason you would is because you were a long time Nikon shooter and would have loved to have stayed with them and the Z8 would have been ideal for you.

But, the R5 is still as good, if not better, than the Z8. I don't do video so I don't know all the nuances of the codecs and binning etc. But what I do know is the R5 IBIS/IS is right up there with the Z8 VR/IBIS with some edge to the Z8 (going off of Jan Wegener's videos).
I know in stills shooting (having owned R5 and Z9) that the R5 AF is still better to me for my bird subjects and certainly R5 BEAF is top of the pack.
IQ is a wash between R5 and Z9/Z8.
EVF is much nicer on R5 unless shooting fast action stills photography and running into the downsides of the non-stacked sensor. But otherwise R5 EVF is much nicer to look through than Z9.

Bottom line, R5 and Z8 are both excellent cameras. You always could make the switch back to Nikon if you so choose and if Nikon has a lens that would work well as a substitute for whichever Canon lens you are using. But don't regret the R5 switch....great camera still after what? 3years?
 
The R5 is a fantastic camera that is very capable so I wouldn’t be too upset or sad. I’m sure the most painful part was the additional expense of the new lenses. I actually had decided switch to Nikon Z from Canon DSLR and Fujifilm X systems with the Z6/Z7. Just a few months afterwards Canon released the R5 and I felt like I made a mistake so I understand how you feel. As long as you are enjoying the Canon and it’s working for you, I wouldn’t stress it.
Thanks Brian for the good words. I'm glad I shared my struggle with others as I'm getting some encouraging advice, like yours.
Cheers,
Rudy
 
I don't think you should regret the R5. I think the only reason you would is because you were a long time Nikon shooter and would have loved to have stayed with them and the Z8 would have been ideal for you.

But, the R5 is still as good, if not better, than the Z8. I don't do video so I don't know all the nuances of the codecs and binning etc. But what I do know is the R5 IBIS/IS is right up there with the Z8 VR/IBIS with some edge to the Z8 (going off of Jan Wegener's videos).
I know in stills shooting (having owned R5 and Z9) that the R5 AF is still better to me for my bird subjects and certainly R5 BEAF is top of the pack.
IQ is a wash between R5 and Z9/Z8.
EVF is much nicer on R5 unless shooting fast action stills photography and running into the downsides of the non-stacked sensor. But otherwise R5 EVF is much nicer to look through than Z9.

Bottom line, R5 and Z8 are both excellent cameras. You always could make the switch back to Nikon if you so choose and if Nikon has a lens that would work well as a substitute for whichever Canon lens you are using. But don't regret the R5 switch....great camera still after what? 3years?
Hi arbitrage,
Thanks very much for your thoughtful reply. Your words are very helpful to me as I work through the buyer's remorse part of this whole process. Thankfully, I actually do really like the R5 and the RF100-500 L lens that I bought to go with it. The combo is doing all that I hoped it would do and I'm very pleased with the results. I know there will always be gear with better specs and more features available and able to do some things better than the gear one recently bought, but that's the nature of the game. And yes, the Z8 would have been ideal for me, but now that I've got the R5 I'm determined to get the very best from it that I can.
Thanks again,
Rudy
 
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