rawla
Active member
Yes. Would make things so much easier. Lost 2 full days in Kenya shooting DX and recently at Panna Tiger Reserve.
Z8 & Z9 My BEST Bird-In-Flight AF Settings
- Thread starter Steve
- Start date
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Yes. Would make things so much easier. Lost 2 full days in Kenya shooting DX and recently at Panna Tiger Reserve.
Thanks so much for putting this in front of us, Steve! I did the update for the Z8, and I need to watch this and get both my 9 and 8 in sync! Appreciate all your hard work! This is so helpful!
Yessir, An Auto ISO toggle or at the ISO range ends as you mention would both be better than what we have...A toggle would take a button tho - putting it at the range ends is a good compromise.
I’ve had that issue as well…but I’m going to try again and see if I can live with it and adjust back to zero…but mostly the camera is off between shooting and while hiking so perhaps I just didn’t give it a good enough chance to grow on me before.Am I the only one that "hates" the control rings?
They switch way to easilly when the camera is rubbing against your clothes while carrying. I have had so many occasions where the settings were completely off when I needed to get to an action shot, I just disabled them.
In a blind on a tripod I do intend to use them, but since I do not use them normally, I have no muscle memory and forget about them
I thought about that…but it seems like RSF hold will be used more with the camera raised and FX/DX with it down so putting the latter on WB/Flash seemed to make more sense. I can push Fn2 as I raise for the emergency action or Auto Area shot easier…I think. Of course…after I reset a bunch of things on both bodies this week to get ready for Africa with matched controls I’m going to head up to DeSoto for a test outing and might change my mind.
Thanks, Steve. Is there any chance you could provide your.bin file with four banks of standard settings as a product to marry with your other training? I would be happy to pay a yearly subscription for such an offering. It would also save me a fortune in printing sections of your publication when updates are required. Name your price, and I will be very happy to be your 1st sale.
Thanks very much Steve. I had been using my Z9 with the default AF mode as Wide Large and 3D on Fn1. Video button set to allow me to change AF modes with a press and spin the dial. Based on your video, I still have Fn1 set for 3D, but I’m using Auto more as my default. And of course BBAF. So far, I think I like it……Auto does seem to give better results. But as always I might need another mode based on the situation.
Again….thanks for the video!
Again….thanks for the video!
macwalter
Active member
I tried that but found myself accidentally hitting the ring and changing the iso usually in unfortunate ways so I disabled it. For me except in low light I tend to prefer auto iso. I just have to remember to keep an eye on it when the action starts.
macwalter
Active member
I have the same issue on the 400 f 4.5. I tend to bump it by mistake and I handhold maybe this is why I’m more prone to bumping it. I still keep iso settings in my info panel.Thank you Steve.
I really enjoyed it!
This is probably ‘the best’ YT video packed with so much useful information.
Regarding FX/DX, I have it on the video button, it’s helpful with distance subjects, but also a dangerous rabbit hole. For some odd reason when I found myself struggling to keep a fast moving frame filling subject, it was in blinking DX.
Regarding assigning the ISO to a ring, I’m bumping it. The 800pf focus override is where I have my hands already.
I’m waiting for Nikon to come out with speech recognition.
ISO six zero zero
Shutter three two zero zero
And of course a FN button to turn speech recognition OFF.
In the past when I've given them away it's been a nightmare. People get them and don't read the book and then later I get tons of questions. I have too much to do and too many projects to add tons of questions to my workload each day.
Very understandable. I read the printed version - This product subscription could be sold with NO Questions or support! Maybe excepting signing and while attending one of your tours or training classes. I have openings in my 2025 schedule for such.In the past when I've given them away it's been a nightmare. People get them and don't read the book and then later I get tons of questions. I have too much to do and too many projects to add tons of questions to my workload each day.
I know exactly how difficult it is to build a financially viable business. As you have been inundated with similar requests, a big market wants/needs a product you already have developed. Your time to bring a product to market is near zero. Many will pay good money for every Nikon Z camera sold for such a subscription product. Pain, Frustration and Simplification make money. I have purchased every one of your training products. I those of several others. Your product has best served my particular learning needs. I want nothing better than having you prove I am right, as your success is my success. No reply is needed, and my unsot advice is always free and with the best intentions.
I may have, although I don't use that method. In my book, I give a list of options where I think things would be handy after each customization and let the user decide.
I don't think I currently have FX/DX programmed on the Z8. I'm hot and cold on that feature TBH. I sometimes hit it accidentally and end up shooting the wrong format for a bit until I realize it. If I was going to use it, I'd want it on a "safe" button like the WB button or - the video record button
I remember when I first got my Z9, I quickly looked up how to switch it to the DX mode which I was used to working with on my D500. Now it has been so long since I have used it, I no longer remember where it is.
(Hey, I'm 77 and I am happy when I remember how to turn the camera on...)
Nice to hear from ya'!
I think Steve is right…too many people would just load them and then his copyright would be all over their shots unless he left that part out. And then he will get blamed when not understanding the why results in bad shots. Much better to read the book as well because the why’s and when to change it thoughts are important to understand.Very understandable. I read the printed version - This product subscription could be sold with NO Questions or support! Maybe excepting signing and while attending one of your tours or training classes. I have openings in my 2025 schedule for such.
I know exactly how difficult it is to build a financially viable business. As you have been inundated with similar requests, a big market wants/needs a product you already have developed. Your time to bring a product to market is near zero. Many will pay good money for every Nikon Z camera sold for such a subscription product. Pain, Frustration and Simplification make money. I have purchased every one of your training products. I those of several others. Your product has best served my particular learning needs. I want nothing better than having you prove I am right, as your success is my success. No reply is needed, and my unsot advice is always free and with the best intentions.
And I would respectfully suggest that one cannot learn their camera by importing someone else's settings...it's kinda like cheating, you may get the answers but not understand why.In the past when I've given them away it's been a nightmare. People get them and don't read the book and then later I get tons of questions. I have too much to do and too many projects to add tons of questions to my workload each day.
ajrmd
Well-known member
I would take it a step further and say that the users are depriving themselves if they aren't familiar with the menus and operation of the camera.
Have you tried pressing the ISO button and turning the sub command dial (or the command dial depending on how you have your dials set up)? That is a quick way to turn Auto ISO on and off.
Very understandable. I read the printed version - This product subscription could be sold with NO Questions or support! Maybe excepting signing and while attending one of your tours or training classes. I have openings in my 2025 schedule for such.
I know exactly how difficult it is to build a financially viable business. As you have been inundated with similar requests, a big market wants/needs a product you already have developed. Your time to bring a product to market is near zero. Many will pay good money for every Nikon Z camera sold for such a subscription product. Pain, Frustration and Simplification make money. I have purchased every one of your training products. I those of several others. Your product has best served my particular learning needs. I want nothing better than having you prove I am right, as your success is my success. No reply is needed, and my unsot advice is always free and with the best intentions.
I appreciate your comments
I've thought about the "No questions allowed" approach but it never works. People will agree to it at first, but then come begging. I've even told people that it's up to them once I give them the file and they still come back - and this is a very small sample size. It's also hard for me to say no and it can hurt my reputation. It's like, "Steve sold me these settings and now my camera doesn't work right and he won't respond!" I'd have to chase down public comments like that and explain that the user agreed to no support when he purchased - and I don't think there would be much sympathy for me in that scenario.
Also, based on just doing this a few times, it creates a situation where I'd have an unmanagange increase in e-mails (I'm close to that now some days). Instead of working and getting new material out, I'd spend all day pointing people to the right spot in the book. I'm planning on more guidebooks (I figure a Z6/7iii has to come one of these days) so imagine what this would be like with multiple books out there - Yikes!
So, although the time to bring something like this to market is short, the long-term support afterward just isn't worth it. Well, I guess if charged a few hundred dollars for it maybe then, but even at that point I wouldn't want to spend hours of each day doing support.
Finally, and most importantly, I'd echo what others have said - I just think it's better when people read about these settings and make them for themselves. The biggest problem is that unless the user understands why I use the settings I do, they are worse than useless. Loading settings without knowing exactly what they do is a recipe for confusion, unexpected camera behavior, and frustration.
Yes, that's how I do it. But since I need to use the ISO button for that I also use it to change ISO and do not have it on my control ring.
And yes, Auto ISO is on my Sub Command dial....
thx...
Question:
Steady versus erratic
For a flying pelican above water, making shortstops, is it considered erratic?
What happens if I’m leaving it always erratic? Where does it make a difference?
Thanks.
Steady versus erratic
For a flying pelican above water, making shortstops, is it considered erratic?
What happens if I’m leaving it always erratic? Where does it make a difference?
Thanks.
Thanks @Steve for this one .
My friend helped me some time ago to find out that simply mimicing the setup of my D4s and D850 to the Z8 was shooting much too short.
He figured out something that works perfect for him but although playing keyboard type instruments I never got used to making my thumb jump for the AF mode selection. Being it because he is more or less shotting every day and I am forced in sometimes long breaks and thus have trouble to keep the intuitive routine up, or simply because my hands are probably two thirds of his, I don't know.
But firmware 2.00 in combination with your explanation changed it during one single rainy day at home. Absloutely love the AF mode toggle via REC button, the solution for the recognition mode via My Menu and and having back "my" AF-ON-Only button.
At the same time the statement about the "normal" AF mode button (that now became configurable) was really helpful, because it's these buttons on the left that can be utilized for functions that I typically only need, when not shooting wildlife and dealing with working on the smallish, more static things in the world with smaller lenses (e.g. checking DOF).
The flexibility that there is these days in terms of the sheer variety of customizing - including assignable buttons can be challenging for people like me, who from time to time need to stay away from the camera for a longer time and thus have a chance to loose the routine or simply forget about the last clever idea to improve the customizing
.
So I suddenly found that the configuration banks for photo/video shooting and the individual functions could make sense for me. It's not just as easy as the U1 and U2 mode on the D750 in the "old days", but having the leftmost positions in the i-menu reserved for selecting these configurations comes near to it, and I can quite easily get back to a setup by something similarly simply as turning a knob and minimize the risk of resetting individual settings manually and thereby forgettting something.
.My friend helped me some time ago to find out that simply mimicing the setup of my D4s and D850 to the Z8 was shooting much too short.
He figured out something that works perfect for him but although playing keyboard type instruments I never got used to making my thumb jump for the AF mode selection. Being it because he is more or less shotting every day and I am forced in sometimes long breaks and thus have trouble to keep the intuitive routine up, or simply because my hands are probably two thirds of his, I don't know.
But firmware 2.00 in combination with your explanation changed it during one single rainy day at home. Absloutely love the AF mode toggle via REC button, the solution for the recognition mode via My Menu and and having back "my" AF-ON-Only button.
At the same time the statement about the "normal" AF mode button (that now became configurable) was really helpful, because it's these buttons on the left that can be utilized for functions that I typically only need, when not shooting wildlife and dealing with working on the smallish, more static things in the world with smaller lenses (e.g. checking DOF).
The flexibility that there is these days in terms of the sheer variety of customizing - including assignable buttons can be challenging for people like me, who from time to time need to stay away from the camera for a longer time and thus have a chance to loose the routine or simply forget about the last clever idea to improve the customizing
.So I suddenly found that the configuration banks for photo/video shooting and the individual functions could make sense for me. It's not just as easy as the U1 and U2 mode on the D750 in the "old days", but having the leftmost positions in the i-menu reserved for selecting these configurations comes near to it, and I can quite easily get back to a setup by something similarly simply as turning a knob and minimize the risk of resetting individual settings manually and thereby forgettting something.
@Steve!
I don’t know if this can help with what you are asking.
In Steve’s ebook of setting the Z8 and the Z9, at the end there is a resume of all his set up. You can save theses pages as PDF, keep them close or print them.
For me I used them to set up my both cameras( of course after reading and really understanding the function of my camera and the way Steve set up these functions and why). Then I organized my Banks, one for action, mostly based on Steve setup, because I found it, it fit my need). The second bank ( I use it for macro), where I set it up as Steve´s set up with some differentiations . The last two banks, one for landscape and the other one for Astro, I set them up myself.
Then, I saved my setting of both camera, on two old SQD memory cards ( one for the Z8 and one for the Z9). Both are backed up on my computer and on an external drive.
The saved PDF copy of Steve’s settings , is also with my saved settings on the XQD cards in case I mess up my setting in the camera, while shooting. II Aldo made two prints of this PDF , that i kept them in my photography bags.
Learning is about experimenting with knowledge and understanding the way things work. Steve’s ebook are for me a tool and a ressource to learn and understand how the settings work and inspire me to personalize them to my own need.
Lina
Well, the people with the big wallet have the analogon for the DX button on the right hand side of their Z TC lens
.No. joking. If I understand Steve right, the main reason for having this on a button is the fact that the claims that the subject detection works ever so slightly faster for long distance shots if switching to DX mode.
As cropping can be done just as easy in post, may be considers it as more benefitial now - for him and for most of us - to have this AF mode toggle on the REC button. After experiencing the AF performance of my Z8 with native Z lenses (and I don't even have the fast ones) as well as fast adapted F-Mount lenses as my old 500 f4, I would expect that the percentage of photographers that need this tiny bit of extra spped in subject detection - although people on this level are typically able to afford blazing fast things like the Z 400 f2.8 TC or the Z 600 f4 TC - may be well below 1%.
After Steve explicitely placed a warning not just to mimic his settings
I made a compromise an put the FX/DX toggle in the i-menu. But for me the reason is not cranking up subject detection. For me its memory for hi speed bursts for long distance shots, as I srtill work with my 256 GB XQD cards I used in the D4s and the D850
Nikon describes is like when a long jumper suddenly stops, so probably not for pelicans. Honestly, I'm not sure if it really makes a significant difference. I keep mine on Steady most of the time.
FWIW - you can save both Z8 and Z9 settings to the same card!