Nikon Z9 RSF (Hold), Shooting Menu Banks, Extended Menu Banks and Custom Settings Banks

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eft

eft

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I would like to save a list of settings (eg 1/2000s, f/8.0, auto ISO, 20fps etc.). When I activate those settings via a button, I want be able to then adjust the settings without affecting the saved settings.

From reading the posts here and the Z9 manual my understanding of the options is:

Recall Shooting Functions (Hold)​

Can be assigned to a custom control (eg the Fn1 button). Button toggles the state to on or off. One or more shooting functions can be enabled. When toggled on, the values of the enabled functions are "recalled". If any of the enabled shooting functions are changed, their values are automatically saved. When toggled off, enabled shooting functions return to their value before RSF was toggled on.

Shooting Menu Banks​

Several shooting settings can saved in a menu bank. There are four banks to choose from. By default they are named A,B,C and D but they can be renamed. You can switch menu banks via a custom control but you need to use the command dial to choose the bank. When a bank is active, any changes to the configurable settings are saved immediately to that bank. For some settings changes are saved to all four banks at once. Settings can be copied from from one bank to another. Photo shooting and video recording share the same set of banks.

Extended Menu Banks​

When enabled, settings like shooting mode, shutter speed and aperture are saved to shooting menu banks.

Custom Settings Banks​

Allows you to save up to four different sets of custom settings Behave like the shooting menu banks with some notable differences. The four custom settings banks are completely independent of the shooting menu banks (eg you can be in shooting menu bank A and custom settings bank D). Any changes to a custom setting are stored with the active custom settings bank.


None of the above options seem to meet my use case because I want the settings values to be immutable unless I change them via the menu system. Is my understanding of the options correct? Is there a way to satisfy my use case?
 
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I know several in this forum have recommended copying A/B/C to D then use D so original settings aren’t over-written
Some save to card, then recall from card…Hudson Henry for one I know.
It’s also been asked, but afaik individual bands can’t be saved.
 
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I hate to bump a thread but can anyone suggest a solution to my objective of storing a set of settings and making them editable only via the menu system and not via changing individual settings?

Thanks so much in advance
 
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eft said:
I would like to save a list of settings (eg 1/2000s, f/8.0, auto ISO, 20fps etc.). When I activate those settings via a button, I want be able to then adjust the settings without affecting the saved settings.

From reading the posts here and the Z9 manual my understanding of the options is:

Recall Shooting Functions (Hold)​

Can be assigned to a custom control (eg the Fn1 button). Button toggles the state to on or off. One or more shooting functions can be enabled. When toggled on, the values of the enabled functions are "recalled". If any of the enabled shooting functions are changed, their values are automatically saved. When toggled off, enabled shooting functions return to their value before RSF was toggled on.

Shooting Menu Banks​

Several shooting settings can saved in a menu bank. There are four banks to choose from. By default they are named A,B,C and D but they can be renamed. You can switch menu banks via a custom control but you need to use the command dial to choose the bank. When a bank is active, any changes to the configurable settings are saved immediately to that bank. For some settings changes are saved to all four banks at once. (<-- It doesn't work that way!) Settings can be copied from from one bank to another. Photo shooting and video recording share the same set of banks.

Extended Menu Banks​

When enabled, settings like shooting mode, shutter speed and aperture are saved to shooting menu banks.

Custom Settings Banks​

Allows you to save up to four different sets of custom settings Behave like the shooting menu banks with some notable differences. The four custom settings banks are completely independent of the shooting menu banks (eg you can be in shooting menu bank A and custom settings bank D). Any changes to a custom setting are stored with the active custom settings bank.


None of the above options seem to meet my use case because I want the settings values to be immutable unless I change them via the menu system. Is my understanding of the options correct? Is there a way to satisfy my use case?
Click to expand...
I believe you have a misconception about the way the camera banks behave, specifically with respect to saving and loading information from them. The stored information will not update unless you explicitly perform a "Save" operation.

For example; once you have your desired settings stored in any of the Shooting Menu Banks and/or the Custom Settings Banks, those "saved" values will not be altered until you perform another "Save" operation using the Save/Load settings menu option. You can make any adjustments to the camera that you want, and it won't affect the info that you previously stored in the banks (unless you perform a "Save" operation).

This means you can load your favorite configuration settings from your memory banks (at any time), then do all kinds of random ad-hoc adjustments to the camera, and simply throw all of those changes away by reloading your last "saved settings" from the saved information. This allows you to reset and re-establish your base settings whenever you like (since they aren't overwritten just by making adjustments to the camera).

Just be careful whenever you perform a "Save" operation, because now you are committing whatever the current camera configuration information is to all of the Shooting Menu Banks and the Custom Settings Banks. When you perform a Save operation it does update everything, but individual changes that you have made to particular memory banks are kept track of separately, so each bank can have a different value assigned to a particular menu item after you perform the "Save" operation.

Edit: E.g. Bank A could have #D1 Continuous Low value set to 10, and Bank B could have it set to 5, and Bank C could have it set to 1, and they would all be saved separately with those individual values.
 
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eft said:
I would like to save a list of settings (eg 1/2000s, f/8.0, auto ISO, 20fps etc.). When I activate those settings via a button, I want be able to then adjust the settings without affecting the saved settings.

From reading the posts here and the Z9 manual my understanding of the options is:

Recall Shooting Functions (Hold)​

Can be assigned to a custom control (eg the Fn1 button). Button toggles the state to on or off. One or more shooting functions can be enabled. When toggled on, the values of the enabled functions are "recalled". If any of the enabled shooting functions are changed, their values are automatically saved. When toggled off, enabled shooting functions return to their value before RSF was toggled on.
Click to expand...
RSF is setup within the Custom f2. While it's active in 'Hold' state, you can change exposure settings eg aperture, shutter speeds. But these will then be retained when RSF is inactivated.

eft said:

Shooting Menu Banks​

Several shooting settings can saved in a menu bank. There are four banks to choose from. By default they are named A,B,C and D but they can be renamed. You can switch menu banks via a custom control but you need to use the command dial to choose the bank. When a bank is active, any changes to the configurable settings are saved immediately to that bank. For some settings changes are saved to all four banks at once. Settings can be copied from from one bank to another. Photo shooting and video recording share the same set of banks.
Click to expand...
Perhaps pedantic, I refer to Shooting banks as the generic term for these menu features, and Photo Menus for what you describe above.

I've found the quickest solution is to have Photo and Custom Banks as the top 2 items in MyMenu, which can be activated by pressing a customized control and scrolling or touch. I designate Fn4. Red Record button + scrolling Command is another alternative,but I use this custom setting to change AF modes. As the latter is quicker with RHOH.

The iMenu is even quicker once muscle memory of one's right thumb is trained. Designating the pair of right-hand blocks works well I've found via the EVF - again RHOH [Right Hand Only Haptics]. You may find it also helps to set Custom f6 ON 'Release button to use Dial' , which speeds up scrolling ISO, AF modes etc


eft said:

Extended Menu Banks​

When enabled, settings like shooting mode, shutter speed and aperture are saved to shooting menu banks.
Click to expand...
Correct. Each respective Photo bank 'remembers' the most recent Exposure settings, with Extended 'On'.

The latest exposure settings will be there when you switch back into the Photo bank.
eft said:

Custom Settings Banks​

Allows you to save up to four different sets of custom settings Behave like the shooting menu banks with some notable differences. The four custom settings banks are completely independent of the shooting menu banks (eg you can be in shooting menu bank A and custom settings bank D). Any changes to a custom setting are stored with the active custom settings bank.
Click to expand...
Correct

eft said:
None of the above options seem to meet my use case because I want the settings values to be immutable unless I change them via the menu system.
Click to expand...
Yes, indeed, none of the above preserves 100% Immutable suite of settings. RSF [Hold] probably allows the best option (recent thread)

eft said:
Is my understanding of the options correct? Is there a way to satisfy my use case?
Click to expand...
If we are understanding each other, ROM type menu settings are not possible within the above options.

The safest way to preserve (almost) the entire suite of Menu settings is to save to a memory card, and copy into a dated Directory on your computer. Designating a pair of Shooting banks as backup can also work, to 'Roll back to '.
 
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SoCalRick said:
I believe you have a misconception about the way the camera banks behave, specifically with respect to saving and loading information from them. The stored information will not update unless you explicitly perform a "Save" operation.

For example; once you have your desired settings stored in any of the Shooting Menu Banks and/or the Custom Settings Banks, those "saved" values will not be altered until you perform another "Save" operation using the Save/Load settings menu option. You can make any adjustments to the camera that you want, and it won't affect the info that you previously stored in the banks (unless you perform a "Save" operation).
Click to expand...
On my Z9 any change to a setting in the active banks is automatically saved. I do not have a "Save' operation in the Save/Load settings option, other than saving to or from a card, nor does that option have a restore saved settings option other than from a card. Am I missing something?
 
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Anthony said:
On my Z9 any change to a setting in the active banks is automatically saved. I do not have a "Save' operation in the Save/Load settings option, other than saving to or from a card, nor does that option have a restore saved settings option other than from a card. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
Any changes you make while using the camera will remain until you make another change. I believe this means the are "saved" to the current bank settings, but will not be retained if you load your bank settings from a card. The card save is very useful to get you back to your baseline settings after experimenting.

Also remember there are quite a few "global" settings that are not saved to the banks, but I believe are saved if you save the menu settings. At least that is how I understand it.

It gets confusing!
 
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Anthony said:
On my Z9 any change to a setting in the active banks is automatically saved. I do not have a "Save' operation in the Save/Load settings option, other than saving to or from a card, nor does that option have a restore saved settings option other than from a card. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
It's probably more of a semantics discussion. The information in the camera's "banks" can be saved to/loaded from your memory card. The configuration saved on your memory card is obviously static, while the configuration data stored in-camera is dynamic. The idea that I was trying to describe is that if you keep a backup of your desired camera settings/configuration on your memory card, then you can change camera settings willy-nilly without concern of what state you end up leaving the camera in, because you can always restore the camera to your desired settings by loading the settings back into the camera from your card (i.e., using the SETUP > Save/load menu settings option), essentially restoring your camera to your desired configuration.
 
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SoCalRick said:
It's probably more of a semantics discussion. The information in the camera's "banks" can be saved to/loaded from your memory card. The configuration saved on your memory card is obviously static, while the configuration data stored in-camera is dynamic. The idea that I was trying to describe is that if you keep a backup of your desired camera settings/configuration on your memory card, then you can change camera settings willy-nilly without concern of what state you end up leaving the camera in, because you can always restore the camera to your desired settings by loading the settings back into the camera from your card (i.e., using the SETUP > Save/load menu settings option), essentially restoring your camera to your desired configuration.
Click to expand...
Yes, saving to a memory card certainly enables you to restore settings. I don't have a spare card and don't want to buy one just for this purpose. Cards for the Z9 are more expensive than SD cards. It is unhelpful that changes to settings banks are saved automatically - in this respect the U1, 2 and 3 banks on other Z cameras are more friendly. I use the A banks as my active banks, and copy the relevant B, C or D banks to A. I can then make changes in the A banks while preserving my master settings.
 
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SoCalRick said:
Well, you don't need a "spare" card. The Z9 configuration settings are saved to the card in Slot 1 (by default) and simply share space on that card along with your image files.
Click to expand...
True, but I format my card every time after downloading, so would have to remember to save settings each time. Life is not easy :( We all have to find solutions which work for us.
 
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Thank you everyone for your input. From what I gather, the only way to "preserve" settings is to save them to disk. All settings in the camera (whether RSF, shooting menu banks, extended menu banks or custom settings banks) are ephemeral in the sense that if you change a setting while RSF (Hold) is enabled or a particular bank is active, the setting will be "saved" in camera.

I find this hard to believe. Restoring from disk or copying from a "master" bank isn't practical imo. If I store a setting in a memory bank or RSF, I expect to be able to return to that setting or group of settings with the press of a button because I know that for the scenario I'm dealing with it's a reliable starting point. The way the banks work right now, I won't have that consistent starting point.
 
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Maybe think of them as a bookmark? It is a shortcut back to the last used setting for an option in that bank.
I also use an old small XQD card for setting backups.
I have a number of menu related items I wish I could change, but I've figured out what works for me.
 
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eft said:
I find this hard to believe. Restoring from disk or copying from a "master" bank isn't practical imo. If I store a setting in a memory bank or RSF, I expect to be able to return to that setting or group of settings with the press of a button...
Click to expand...
I think the camera actually behaves in a very similar manner to what you described above, but I don't think I have been able to explain it in a way that makes that apparent.

For instance, try replacing the text "store a setting in memory bank" above with "SETUP > Save/load menu settings > Save menu settings", and that performs your desired "store" operation. Then you could replace "return to that setting or group of settings with the press of a button" with "SETUP > Save/load menu settings > Load menu settings" and that performs your desired "restore" operation (with the press of a button).

No need to carry around extra memory cards, as the camera is happy to perform this function using the same card that you are saving your images to.
 
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Anthony said:
True, but I format my card every time after downloading, so would have to remember to save settings each time. Life is not easy :( We all have to find solutions which work for us.
Click to expand...
Due to what you just said the likes of guys such as Hudson Henry recommend to delete pictures from cards now INSTEAD of reformatting a card every time after off-loading images. Thus you always have your saved settings to your card and can reload them at will to get back to the "base" line as SoCalRick points out.
 
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DsD said:
Due to what you just said the likes of guys such as Hudson Henry recommend to delete pictures from cards now INSTEAD of reformatting a card every time after off-loading images. Thus you always have your saved settings to your card and can reload them at will to get back to the "base" line as SoCalRick points out.
Click to expand...
... Or do what @Patrick M said above ^^,

There has been a lot of discussion regarding how safe/smart it is to delete pictures only, vice reformatting the card (after you have preserved your settings in-camera of course). Erasing individual files, instead of reformatting the card, could eventually lead to file fragmentation on the card. But now I'm venturing into Patrick's point #2 from above. :ROFLMAO:
 
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The solution I follow for saving settings is to copy the complete folder to my computer with settings file & other images/ videos ( one has to do it once in a while only)
I then use the card only after formatting in the camera
I am safe in the knowledge that the settings file is some where in the computer & can be easily retrieved if required
 
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