Thanks very much for your interesting tips re Function button settings. I will try to do one or two function buttons, but my problem will be remembering which I've set to what if I do too many, especially when I'm in a hurry! But I agree practice is very much the key to this camera.
Hi -- I write mine down and since they are different in each Menu/Shooting Bank and I revise them regularly. But for now for BIF these are my basic settings. I also assign Recall Shooting Hold Settings to the Movie Record Button. While my long lenses all have save focus point buttons on them some of the shorter ones (zooms and short primes do not) in which case I have to assign one Fn button so Save Pre-Focus point.
I am really disturbed by those who seem to think that a US$5.5k probody will do everything for them and be perfect in every situation -- I am glad you (Marion) are not one of them.
But to those who "expect this that or the other" -- do please remember that the price of a thing does not eliminate the need to learn and develop and refine the skills necessary to use the tool well and to capture great images.
I have used every type of camera from the very very staggeringly expensive Hasselblad H6D-100C/MC and X1DII cameras to the cheapest point and shoot none of these tools gave me instantly great images. Both Hasselblad's have what DSLR or Mirrorless Camera users would classify as unacceptably poor AutoFocus -- one focus point in the centre so one has to focus and recompose, staggeringly slow leaf shutters and write times -- but the results from a 100mp or 50mp 16-bit sensor of a properly composed/arranged, lit and executed shot are staggeringly good even with all the limitations inherent in the system. You have to learn to use them "properly"
As someone who has shot, albeit briefly, all flagship/top cameras across Sony, Canon and Nikon - but who currently owns and uses both multiple Nikon Z9 (and others) and also D850 DSLRs -
NO SYSTEM is better than the rest --
they are all NOT PERFECT. So stop bashing the brands for your own issues
For those of you who want the flagship camera to do all the work for you -- they won't -- these bodies are designed to be used by Professionals (who have taken millions of exposures and sold their output) and very enthusiastic and skilled amateurs -- both of whom have taken the time (like Marion) to learn, develop skills and master both their subjects, their equipment and their workflow.
I hear/read far far to often wildly unrealistic demands from frankly those who should know better, but prefer behaving like little children.
Oh this camera cost so much it must do this that or the other -- well no it does not.
The cameras we have do what they do, not what you want them to do if this is different.
There is an expectation that the user learns to do their part of the job to. You don't just jump into an F1 or NASCAR and win a race -- it takes a long time to get good and some of us simply do not have what it takes to get there.
A very long time ago I worked for a while with a Horse Racing shooter who had been shooting Manual Focus since the 1950s and still was using Manual Focus on his D5 in 2015 aged 90+. He learned how to do it and perfected his skills over millions and millions of exposures. He learnt what the right time was to take a shot of a horse jumping a fence to provide him with an image that would sell to the photo editor of national and racing press He also knew how to be ready for the shot of the jockey falling off etc....
No matter how good our cameras and lenses are nothing has changed for us - particularly when shooting wildlife, but also in every other form of photography. He still was selling images aged 90+
Know your subject -- its behaviours, how and when to approach it, know your gear and how to get the best results and go out and shoot many many many times because even if you put yourself in the right spot with the right gear with the best settings the wind might come from the wrong direction and all you get are shots of the rear of the bird, or the weather changes and you get wet and cold or the wildlife just does not turn up that day ......
I am truly surprised and saddened by those of you who bought a Z6II or Z7II and expect Nikon to deliver Z9 levels of performance in these bodies --
it is just not going to happen - the technology in your (and my) Z6II and Z7II is just not able to deliver the same level of performance possible in a Z9.
Yes there might and probably will be some small improvements via firmware updates. But the v2.0 for the Z9 was clearly planned before the camera's launch and the technology in the body capable of delivering it, and I hope more.
Nothing will really change in the Z6/Z7 bodies until Nikon flow down the Expeed 7 chip and other technology into a Z6III and a Z7III, probably later this year, when you will be able to access "some" of the Z9's capabilities in a cheaper and smaller body than a Z9 -- BUT never all of them. NEVER all those functions that need a bigger body and bigger battery. AND yes to access these capabilities you will have to buy a new body -- so it is so it has always been.
We will hopefully soon see the specs for the Z30 Vloggers Camera soon and this will provide an indication of what Nikon's plan for its Transition product designed to capture young vloggers. We will see the "minimum" specs in a Z30 that Nikon will deploy in new bodies for the next 2 years -- will the Z30 include an Expeed 7 (LIGHT) chip, include CF-Express Type B card, have a fully flippable rear screen so that precious vloggers do not need to buy Ninja Vs etc etc.....
I also hope to see a higher MP Z8 launched later this year -- but do not expect the quality of a 16-bit medium format camera from a 35mm sensor size -- this simply will not happen. What will "deliver" as a D850 replacement is a 60.2MP sensor, with a HighRes Multi-shot option to deliver 240mp files combined from 4-exposures like the Sony VI does -- and a range of even better glass f/1.2 or brighter to support higher resolution shooting. This will probably need to be in a bigger pro body than the Z6/Z7 and support an optional battery/vertical grip (with EN-EL18), for those who need it, and potentially deliver even better video than is possible on a Z9. (subject to the lawsuit being satisfactorily resolved - I would hate this to delay the launch of a Z8)
AND I hope to see a Z70/90 super fast low light DX sensor in a ProBody to replace the D500 announced this year as well.
BUT to repeat NO Nikon, Sony, Canon or other Pro Camera camera will take the photo for you - you still have to optimise your skills and capabilities.
So please come back to this reality and stop dreaming that spending 3-4-5-6-7 thousands of US Dollars or Euros and much more will buy you instant access to the same skill and images as those taken by Steve or other professionals who have spent decades and decades at this a a job that makes them a living.