What settings and memory should I use for landscapes and wildlife on Z6 ?

[bsparks276]

Hello.

I am new to learning photography and till reading old, watching videos, to learn more. I am here to ask some help for my upcoming travel. I have below gears -
Nikon Z6
20mm f/1.8
24-70mm f/4
85mm f/1.8
300mm PF with FTZ.

I am going to visit Yellowstone soon. I am assuming that I will need to keep switching lenses between -
20mm (for landscape, capturing wide image in day or late evening)
24-70mm (general photography, family picture with background in image)
300mm (for mammals and close by wildlife). I know 300 is short, but I will stay with it till I learn and adopt this hobby.
85mm (Will be less used, only when something is not too far and not too close)

From fellow members, I would like to hear -
(a) What setting I should be using on above three scenarios ?
(b) Can I assign those settings to memory buttons and use it blindly ? Or I should keep changing depend on day/evening/night/distance, etc.?

I have some days in my hand. If I know good settings to apply, I can do it before travel and use them based on scenery there. Please advise.

Thanks

 

[Patrick M]

Your z24-70 is the f4? That will cover many of your needs. These days post processing software can easily stitch together several shots to build a panorama,.
The 300 will cover the rest pretty well. You’re only going to potentially miss occasional birds in flight, but I never had any issues with my z6 with the z70-200.
I’d suggest you research the light triangle where you’ll learn to balance aperture with shutter speed and ISO. Look into Depth of Field (DoF) as well as this is critical in getting the focus correct.
There’s lots of great tutorials on YouTube too.
The best advise is practice practice practice.
With regard to settings, well it’s one of those issues where everyone will have a perspective that’s the best. It’s the best for them. Might not be for others. Like the modes A, S and M….some will say use S, or use A. FIND WHAT SUITS YOUR STYLE.
I had my z6 for 4 years. Lovely camera.
Enjoy,

 

[bsparks276]

Your z24-70 is the f4? That will cover many of your needs. These days post processing software can easily stitch together several shots to build a panorama,.
The 300 will cover the rest pretty well. You’re only going to potentially miss occasional birds in flight, but I never had any issues with my z6 with the z70-200.
I’d suggest you research the light triangle where you’ll learn to balance aperture with shutter speed and ISO. Look into Depth of Field (DoF) as well as this is critical in getting the focus correct.
There’s lots of great tutorials on YouTube too.
The best advise is practice practice practice.
With regard to settings, well it’s one of those issues where everyone will have a perspective that’s the best. It’s the best for them. Might not be for others. Like the modes A, S and M….some will say use S, or use A. FIND WHAT SUITS YOUR STYLE.
I had my z6 for 4 years. Lovely camera.
Enjoy,

I read those three components and have been trying to practice them in various combinations. It takes time for me, but gaining it.
I was trying to get a general idea, what others use in those scenarios. But I do understand, its more of a preference, based on different situations.

Just checking out this webpage, if that would help and then assign them to U1, U2 and U3 - https://photographylife.com/recommended-nikon-z6-settings
This has a download setting file too (in bin format), which can be downloaded and import into my camera. Similarly, there is one from Ken Rockwell too.

I have a feeling that my most used one will be 24-70 and 300.
20 will be less used, and 85 even less.

 

[beano]

A very ‘loose’ comment here, from my side -> others have given very good feedback already: For landscape, generally, you can get decent results stopping your lens down to f/8 or f/11. Just check that your lens can handle f/11 without diffraction causing softening in the corners, but those you have mentioned above (20 f/1.8, 24-70 f/4), will be ok at f/11.

Adjust shutter to compensate, at the iso your camera is comfortable with. Use a tripod if necessary, make sure to disable VR on your lens if it has it and is active.

For wildlife, well, it depends on your aim, bokeh, light available, and subject. There’s no hard and fast rule here, you need to find your style and experiment with that. Exposure ‘triangle’ (if there’s such a thing) is the very basics, composition and your artistic goal is most important for any type of photography.

Another point, whilst there are ‘standard’ focal lengths often associated with specific genres, don’t be afraid to experiment. You can use a 300mm for portraits. You can use the same for landscapes, for example. It’s all about the image and the ‘feel’ you want to convey, from your perspective as a photographer.

Pardon the verbiage, above at least imho.

 

[bsparks276]

A very ‘loose’ comment here, from my side -> others have given very good feedback already: For landscape, generally, you can get decent results stopping your lens down to f/8 or f/11. Just check that your lens can handle f/11 without diffraction causing softening in the corners, but those you have mentioned above (20 f/1.8, 24-70 f/4), will be ok at f/11.

Adjust shutter to compensate, at the iso your camera is comfortable with. Use a tripod if necessary, make sure to disable VR on your lens if it has it and is active.

For wildlife, well, it depends on your aim, bokeh, light available, and subject. There’s no hard and fast rule here, you need to find your style and experiment with that. Exposure ‘triangle’ (if there’s such a thing) is the very basics, composition and your artistic goal is most important for any type of photography.

Another point, whilst there are ‘standard’ focal lengths often associated with specific genres, don’t be afraid to experiment. You can use a 300mm for portraits. You can use the same for landscapes, for example. It’s all about the image and the ‘feel’ you want to convey, from your perspective as a photographer.

Pardon the verbiage, above at least imho.

I agree with above points absolutely. After reading some material and watching some videos, I was able to do some experiments with mentioned three components.
I guess, I should be asking this way. My most common scenario could be shooting mountain range (Grand Teton) at dusk time when sun is set already. If I am using 20 f/1.8, how would know what aperture should I set to start with ?
Similarly at Canyon Waterfall, I will be there at daylight, I can play with shutter speed and will use either 24-70 f/4 or 85 f/1.8. Here, what shutter speed I would start with ?
Or these are completely personal preferences and I can/should do based on my taste and experiment?
I won’t know it well, till I see those pictures on computer, except to get idea on camera screen at shoot time.

 

[beano]

Aperture = depth of field. At f/8 - f/11, focusing at infinity will have mostly everything sharp, depending on the quality of your lens. The 20 f/1.8 z Lens is brilliant throughout the frame. (So for landscapes, a general acceptable f-stop is f/8-f/11. Play around f/5.6 to f/11, and see what satisfies your requirements. Others will have different opinions, there are no hard and fast rules, it is up to what you want out of your images. )

As for the rest, try to shoot at base-iso, or in the case of Nikon, at the 2nd gain-point, you can look at ‘iso-invariance’ for your camera-model, to see where the 2nd gain kicks in. Those two points generally will allow for the cleanest ( lowest noise) images.

In practice, you might have to sacrifice though, especially for wild-life. Landscape photography, well, you can use a sturdy tripod and just slow down the shutter to get the exposure you want. Make sure you have both shadows and highlights within the histogram limits, not clipping either side.

For wildlife, shooting around blue/golden hour, well, you will need a fast Tele lens, set the aperture for what DOF you’re after, shutter-speed for large or small animals or birds, and iso to compensate- @Steve will be able to better advise here, he’s the expert. But generally speaking, wildlife is one of those genres where iso sacrifices has to be made, and then doing your best in post to denoise. Very generally speaking ^^

Edit: Generally, if you have two photographers shooting the same scene, chances are they will have quite different settings for aperture, iso, shutter-speed. That’s why most photographers will mostly always comment that there are no best settings, it always depends on what they want from the scene, how they expose within the limitations of their sensor and optics, etc etc.

So the best way is to learn the very basics, and then practice practice practice. As said earlier, composition is the one thing that cannot really be taught in theory, as we all see things differently- there are basic rules, but it’s about developing the artistic eye.

Edit2: As an electronics engineer, I am pretty good with technology and specs and chit like that, the artistic side is where I’m lacking. Luckily, my Wife’s got a good eye, otherwise I would be lost.

 

[bsparks276]

Aperture = depth of field. At f/8 - f/11, focusing at infinity will have mostly everything sharp, depending on the quality of your lens. The 20 f/1.8 z Lens is brilliant throughout the frame. (So for landscapes, a general acceptable f-stop is f/8-f/11. Play around f/5.6 to f/11, and see what satisfies your requirements. Others will have different opinions, there are no hard and fast rules, it is up to what you want out of your images. )

As for the rest, try to shoot at base-iso, or in the case of Nikon, at the 2nd gain-point, you can look at ‘iso-invariance’ for your camera-model, to see where the 2nd gain kicks in. Those two points generally will allow for the cleanest ( lowest noise) images.

In practice, you might have to sacrifice though, especially for wild-life. Landscape photography, well, you can use a sturdy tripod and just slow down the shutter to get the exposure you want. Make sure you have both shadows and highlights within the histogram limits, not clipping either side.

For wildlife, shooting around blue/golden hour, well, you will need a fast Tele lens, set the aperture for what DOF you’re after, shutter-speed for large or small animals or birds, and iso to compensate- @Steve will be able to better advise here, he’s the expert. But generally speaking, wildlife is one of those genres where iso sacrifices has to be made, and then doing your best in post to denoise. Very generally speaking ^^

Edit: Generally, if you have two photographers shooting the same scene, chances are they will have quite different settings for aperture, iso, shutter-speed. That’s why most photographers will mostly always comment that there are no best settings, it always depends on what they want from the scene, how they expose within the limitations of their sensor and optics, etc etc.

So the best way is to learn the very basics, and then practice practice practice. As said earlier, composition is the one thing that cannot really be taught in theory, as we all see things differently- there are basic rules, but it’s about developing the artistic eye.

Thanks so much for explaining it well.