Z8 - Woes assigning Battery Grip controls

[SCoombs]

My longtime Z8 setup has been to use back button focus with the AF-On button activating whatever focus mode I have selected at the time, the Fn1 button activating 3d tracking, and the DISP button activating the full-area AF. Originally I did this so that I could have AF-On for general use, the 3D tracking option available for a handoff, and the DISP button for "emergencies" when I see a critter out of the corner of my eye or a bird unexpectedly flying past or a kid suddenly doing something cute or in general some kind of fleeting opportunity that I don't think I have time to try to really line up with typical focus modes and so I could just hit DISP and hope the camera grabbed whatever it was in the split second before it was gone.

Since Z8 firmware 2.0, I've found myself doing things differently. I haven't changed my control setup, but I am generally finding myself using the DISP/full area AF as my primary option while I usually keep single point AF on as the selected focus mode and use the AF-On button in a case where the subject detection is for whatever reason not doing what I need it to and I just need to tell the camera to focus on a specific place. I might switch the focus mode to one of the wide-area modes if there are multiple subjects and I need to try to get the camera to hone in on a specific one. I rarely use 3D tracking now, but occasionally find a use for it.

For some time I've been wanting to get a grip for the Z8 because I have found it increasingly awkward to try to hold the camera steady to take portrait (vertical) oriented shots, especially as I have been using more shorter lenses. With a long telephoto it was easier to balance for some reason but now with a 500pf and also using a lot more "people" oriented lenses I've been harder. I finally got one this past week because I have been asked to photograph a graduation later this spring where I will need to take a lot of portrait/vertical shots. I find myself getting used to it fairly well except that I can't figure out a button layout I'm happy with.

The biggest issue is that there's really only one button to use when in the portrait orientation - the grip's AF-On. I won't be able to get anything equivalent to the Fn1 button in that orientation on a Z8, but that's fine. I just want to be able to have a button to use for the selected focus mode and one for full-area (or whatever other mode I might decide to put on it). Frankly the playback button would be a perfect analog for that DISP button, but alas it can't be assigned to trigger AF and even if it could I can't find a good alternative to activate playback. The only thing I've found that might work is using the joystick press as the second AF button, and this sort of works but with a kind of a deal-breaker: I've been using the main joystick for a year now as my FX/DX switch and in spite of a year's worth of practice with this I cannot reliably press it without moving the focus point around at least a third of the time. This has the double disadvantage of first causing me to sometimes need to (briefly) fumble hitting it a few times to get it to activate rather than to just move the focus point - obviously an issue if it's going to cause missed shots when used as a focus button - and of moving the focus point around, meaning I have to reposition it the next time I need to use it (a minor inconvenience if I want it centered but an inconvenience nonetheless, and more significant if I needed it in a specific place).

I've briefly tried going back to using the shutter button to activate AF and letting the AF-On serve as a sort of override to activate the full area, something I've read some people have done since 2.0. Unfortunately, I still think that being able to focus and recompose is a technique that is important to have in one's arsenal and setting things up this way seems, unless I'm missing something, to totally eliminate this possibility.

In any case, I know it's a long shot but I am hoping someone else might have some idea I've not thought of that might help here.

 

[Butlerkid]

Can't you reach the fn buttons on the front when holding the Z8 in portrait mode? That's what I've always done - with or without battery grip.

 

[SCoombs]

Can't you reach the fn buttons on the front when holding the Z8 in portrait mode? That's what I've always done - with or without battery grip.

Without the grip yes, since it's not any different really from holding it in landscape mode except that your wrist is cocked at a funny angle. With the grip, if we're talking about reaching the Fn buttons while holding the grip, I can't and it's not even close. My hands are not the biggest out there, but I certainly don't think they're especially small. I'm a fairly accomplished pianist for instance. I suppose I could clarify: I can, while holding the grip, use my middle finger to reach over and press the Fn buttons, but I definitely can't come close to reaching them in a way that allows me to still press the shutter with my index finger. I just messed around a bit and it's physically impossible for me to press either Fn button while also pressing the shutter on the grip. If I force my finger to stay on the shutter, the furthest I can stretch a finger is to reach just past the point where the grip meets the body but not far enough to touch the lower button.

 

[Butlerkid]

I recently sold my Z9 and one of the reasons was that I couldn't effectively reach the fn2 and fn3 buttons. The grip was just too deep for me. But with the Z8 ungripped I can easily reach the fn buttons on the front, AF-On and shutter all at once. Are you rotating the camera counter clockwise for portrait mode?

 

[SCoombs]

I recently sold my Z9 and one of the reasons was that I couldn't effectively reach the fn2 and fn3 buttons. The grip was just too deep for me. But with the Z8 ungripped I can easily reach the fn buttons on the front, AF-On and shutter all at once. Are you rotating the camera counter clockwise for portrait mode?

I can reach it all ungripped, but I find it awkward to try to hold the camera in portrait mode steady and over the past few months I've found myself just avoiding shooting in portrait mode as a result, which has led me to take a lot of shots that would have been better if I'd have turned the camera. With the grip, I can hold it much more steadily in portrait mode, but then the only buttons I can reach are the grip's buttons and the play and zoom out buttons.

Here's what it looks like when I just rotate without the grip (the grip is on in this photo, but I can of course hold it this way without the grip, too).

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I can do this, but when trying to hold the camera up to take a shot I find that sometimes I have a harder time keeping it level, it takes more effort to keep things in the frame the way I want to, etc.

Here is what it looks like with the grip. I can hold it much more easily, just as if I were in landscape mode, and I can line things up nicely without a lot of effort or as much wobbling.

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But, here's what the front looks like in that case, as you can see I can reach over to press the Fn buttons but only by removing my finger from the shutter. Here I am stretching as far as I really can without my index finger moving off the shutter. In the photo it looks like there's a little more room to move than there is because once I move that middle finger any further, the my index finger would have to start twisting at its base in a way that it can't twist. Thus, I could use those buttons to trigger something, but not to activate AF and then also press the shutter.

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