Z9 AF-ON Vertical Grip

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PharmDoc

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Hi everyone, I'm sorry to have to ask for assistance, but I have a problem with my settings (apparently) that is driving me crazy. Recently, I noticed that when I turn my Z9 to shoot vertically, the AF-ON button on the vertical grip area doesn't activate autofocus (it doesn't appear to do anything). I shoot BBAF, and as Steve recommends on p. 322 of his book The Ultimate Nikon Z9 Setup and Shooting Guide for Wildlife Photography, I have it set to "Same as AF-ON button" under Custom shooting menu setting f2. I know that the AF-ON on the vertical grip was working fine in the past. I didn't notice the problem until after upgrading to firmware 3.01, but it doesn't seem like that should be the problem, or someone else would have encountered and reported it.

Do you have any guidance for what I may be doing wrong, or has my Z9 itself developed a problem? Thanks so much in advance...

Jim
 
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Oh my, not a dumb question at all...sure enough, somehow my finger had found a way to slip it over to "L"...thank you so much!!! Now it's me who feels very dumb...learn something new (to check) all the time is the lesson I'll take away. Thanks again...
 
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Something you have to get used to I think.

If you use the camera in the landscape position, and if that lock is off, then that switch is way too easy to push inadvertently when you set it down, hold it in your hands / lap / etc. I had hundreds of silly pictures till I learned that trick :)

Many of us are probably wishing that Nikon extends the detection of switching between landscape and portrait to disabling that switch. If they can do it for the screen and AF position, they can do it for that switch also.
 
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PharmDoc said:
Oh my, not a dumb question at all...sure enough, somehow my finger had found a way to slip it over to "L"...thank you so much!!! Now it's me who feels very dumb...learn something new (to check) all the time is the lesson I'll take away. Thanks again...
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You're not the first one or the last one to do that.
 
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I'm glad that I'm not alone in having this happen to me...thanks so much for sharing the sage "experience" and helping me get my problem corrected. Last summer I was in Norway and all of a sudden noticed that the LCD screen on the back was blank, and it took me a few minutes to figure out that I had inadvertently pressed the button to the left of the viewfinder to make that happen...lots of buttons to press is great...until it's not!
 
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PharmDoc said:
Hi everyone, I'm sorry to have to ask for assistance, but I have a problem with my settings (apparently) that is driving me crazy. Recently, I noticed that when I turn my Z9 to shoot vertically, the AF-ON button on the vertical grip area doesn't activate autofocus (it doesn't appear to do anything). I shoot BBAF, and as Steve recommends on p. 322 of his book The Ultimate Nikon Z9 Setup and Shooting Guide for Wildlife Photography, I have it set to "Same as AF-ON button" under Custom shooting menu setting f2. I know that the AF-ON on the vertical grip was working fine in the past. I didn't notice the problem until after upgrading to firmware 3.01, but it doesn't seem like that should be the problem, or someone else would have encountered and reported it.

Do you have any guidance for what I may be doing wrong, or has my Z9 itself developed a problem? Thanks so much in advance...

Jim
Click to expand...
I’m having this very same issue and my vertical grip is not in the off position. Same camera settings mentioned in previous post.
 
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Dean said:
I’m having this very same issue and my vertical grip is not in the off position. Same camera settings mentioned in previous post.
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More on the above issue as I’ve developed a work around. Again, I want to reiterate that my vertical grip is firmly in the ON position. My problem is that, even though I’ve set my custom functions for the verticAl-grip AF-ON button to “Same as AF-ON”, it will not act like the main button. My main AF-On is set to “AF-ON” with no auto tracking. When I set the vertical grip this way, the vertical-grip button goes to 3D tracking.

Steve’s Z9 book recommends setting the horizontal (landscape) AF-ON for BBF to AF-ON. My default AF-area mode selection set to [M]. When shooting in horizontal mode, I place the area mode box over the subject, engage autofocus then press F1 which I’ve set for 3D tracking. I don’t engage 3D until I have a solid focus on the animal’s face and then “hope” 3D will find the eye. As you know, the hit rate varies depending on contrast. His book further recommends setting F3 for 3D tracking, the same as F1. His logic is the F3 button is easy to reach when holding the camera in portrait (vertical) mode. As stated in PharmDoc’s post, I could not get my verticals grip AF-ON button to act like my horizontal AF-ON button.

My work-around: With the vertical -grip AF-ON button set to “Same as AF-ON Button” but I changed F3 from 3D Tracking to AF Area Mode/Single-Point AF. Unfortunately, this makes my vertical grip work opposite the horizontal AF-ON in that vertically, I start out in 3D and press F3 to disable it.

Is there a better way to disable 3D and shoot single point focus when 3D doesn’t work?
 
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Hi for wildlife subjects with the Z9.... modified slightly since what I described in January. I've come to rely on the Custom Area AF modes for my subjects, which are often in cluttered thickets or reedbeds.

Usually I focus with the AFOn ie BBAF activating AF first, with CA 1*5 (horizontal line) as the AFmode, or sometimes a deeper / wider Custom Area mode.

Subject Recognition is enabled.

I have 3D+AFOn on Fn1, where it works fine with the first middle finger.
Auto+AFOn on Display button top right

A vertical row being CA 7*1+AFOn is set to the Sub-selector Center
Dean said:
More on the above issue as I’ve developed a work around. Again, I want to reiterate that my vertical grip is firmly in the ON position. Steve’s Z9 book recommends setting the horizontal (landscape) AF-ON for BBF to AF-ON. My default AF-area mode selection set to [M]. When shooting in horizontal mode, I place the area mode box over the subject, engage autofocus then press F1 which I’ve set for 3D tracking. I don’t engage 3D until I have a solid focus on the animal’s face and then “hope” 3D will find the eye. As you know, the hit rate varies depending on contrast. His book further recommends setting F3 for 3D tracking, the same as F1. His logic is the F3 button is easy to reach when holding the camera in portrait (vertical) mode. As stated in PharmDoc’s post, I could not get my verticals grip AF-ON button to act like my horizontal AF-ON button.

My work-around: With the vertical -grip AF-ON button set to “Same as AF-ON Button” but I changed F3 from 3D Tracking to AF Area Mode/Single-Point AF. Unfortunately, this makes my vertical grip work opposite the horizontal AF-ON in that vertically, I start out in 3D and press F3 to disable it.
Click to expand...
Don't understand this paragraph clearly, except
I much prefer CA 1*1 instead of Single point, as this tightens up the Subject Recognition search area.

The Vertical AFOn activates a CA 1*5
I have CA1 1*1 on Fn2 - reachable in Horizontal or Portrait
Fn3 has a Recall Shooting Functions [Hold] setup for unexpected surprises
Dean said:
Is there a better way to disable 3D and shoot single point focus when 3D doesn’t work?
Click to expand...
Hope my techno jargon can be deciphered!
 
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If I understand your post above you have the main AF-ON button set simply to AF-ON. Is that correct?

And you have the vertical AF-ON button to mimic the horizontal. Is that correct?

If both of the above are correct then what may be happening is that you have vertical shooting set to keep focus point AND focus area from last time used. I have mine set to retain only focus point so that when I go vertical I'm in the same focus area. Not sure where it is in the menu but sounds like this is what's happening to you. You can test this by changing focus area while you're in vertical orientation and then see if that what it returns to after changing it again while horizontal. Hope I explained that well enough.
 
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fcotterill said:
Hi for wildlife subjects with the Z9.... modified slightly since what I described in January. I've come to rely on the Custom Area AF modes for my subjects, which are often in cluttered thickets or reedbeds.

Usually I focus with the AFOn ie BBAF activating AF first, with CA 1*5 (horizontal line) as the AFmode, or sometimes a deeper / wider Custom Area mode.

Subject Recognition is enabled.

I have 3D+AFOn on Fn1, where it works fine with the first finger.
Auto+AFOn on Display button top right

A vertical row being CA 7*1+AFOn is set to the Sub-selector Center

Don't understand this paragraph clearly, except
I much prefer CA 1*1 instead of Single point, as this tightens up the Subject Recognition search area.

The Vertical AFOn activates a CA 1*5
I have CA1 1*1 on Fn2 - reachable in Horizontal or Portrait
Fn3 has a Recall Shooting Functions [Hold] setup for unexpected surprises

Hope my techno jargon can be deciphered!
Click to expand...
LOVE your tip about 3D+AF-On vice just the 3D I had set to F1 and F3. Duh! On my part. I was contorting holding both AF-On and F1 or F3. You common-sense suggestion was a revelation. Working on CAs now. Very much appreciate the help.
 
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Dean said:
LOVE your tip about 3D+AF-On vice just the 3D I had set to F1 and F3. Duh! On my part. I was contorting holding both AF-On and F1 or F3. You common-sense suggestion was a revelation. Working on CAs now. Very much appreciate the help.
Click to expand...
Glad to help. I should have mentioned some Z9 owners report using effectively 2 BBAF buttons, being AFOn and Display. It's a simple "Thumb-Over" to the Display button, particularly if it's set to 3D+AFOn [EDIT]

Actually, these tips are each a group product shared here in BCG, such that the precise origins of a setting/technique become hard to trace.

In the case of the AFmode+AFOn custom setting, it goes back to the introduction of the D5 and D500 in early 2016; fortunately, Nikon has at least maintained this setting in its newer Pro camera.

Another useful setting (if anyone is unaware) is assign the Red Record button to switch AF modes with right-hand fingers only.

Here's an example using CA1*1. In collaboration with AFP, Nikon first introduced the Custom Area modes in the D6, latterly added into the Z9 in FW 2.0; these CA AF modes must surely rank among Nikon's best innovations overall. Subject Recognition sharpens their stickiness and fidelity on focal subjects.
 
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