Z9 set up/ Henry Hudson Photography/ Any wildlife tweak recommendations ?

[fcotterill]

This is from April 2020 by two veteran Nikon shooters. Although African based they shoot in many habitats on other continents (including Pantanal, Himalayas). Rewatching this reminded me how it's principles and core concepts that really matter, and above all local contexts: especially with all the challenges of wildlife subjects.

As Wim points out, these DSLRs do a damned fine job considering what's demanded of them; and they both began years ago. Fast fwd to early 2022, and we have the latest generation of flagship MILCs which simplify quite a few challenges but not all

Wildlife Q&A Session with Wim van den Heever and Brendon Cremer. | Nikon South Africa was live. | By Nikon South AfricaFacebook

Nikon South Africa was live.

www.facebook.com

 

[sh1209]

I can tell you what works best for me. I've had both generations of the Z6&7 and currently have the Z9 as well as the Z6ii and Z7ii. I have had the Z9 out every day since it arrived and have it set up in a way that's great for me but might not work for others.
Function 1 button-AF area mode
Function 2 button-silent shutter
Function 3 button-Full area AF
Function4 button-FX/DX
AF/ON-3D tracking
Movie record button-Metering
Lens function button-AE lock
Shutter focus
This setup works fantastic for nearly everything I've thrown at it. I normally keep in High shutter backed down to 10FPS and very rarely bump it to 15 FPS. I probably have well over a hundred hours with this camera now and think its pretty phenomenal. The only two gripes I have are, the weight and not understanding why they have taken away the ability to assign spot metering to the lens function button.

 

[AnnetteJane]

What camera are you transitioning from?

Z7 which I was never happy with for wildlife in action such as BIF and the black out ect. Fine for more stationary things or portrait type, slow moving animals. Could catch some action but it was frustrating sometimes. Before that was a D500 and I wanted to go to full frame and easier access to menu controls and liked the idea of the live view. I typically use a 500 pf 5.6 lens as its light for hiking and carry my mirrorless 70-200

 

[AnnetteJane]

I can tell you what works best for me. I've had both generations of the Z6&7 and currently have the Z9 as well as the Z6ii and Z7ii. I have had the Z9 out every day since it arrived and have it set up in a way that's great for me but might not work for others.
Function 1 button-AF area mode
Function 2 button-silent shutter
Function 3 button-Full area AF
Function4 button-FX/DX
AF/ON-3D tracking
Movie record button-Metering
Lens function button-AE lock
Shutter focus
This setup works fantastic for nearly everything I've thrown at it. I normally keep in High shutter backed down to 10FPS and very rarely bump it to 15 FPS. I probably have well over a hundred hours with this camera now and think its pretty phenomenal. The only two gripes I have are, the weight and not understanding why they have taken away the ability to assign spot metering to the lens function button.

I am debating on the frames per second, anyone going higher ? Want to catch the perfect wing in motion moment.

 

[John Navitsky]

i'll probably go full 20fps compressed raw (most of the time), but for dog sports, so i'm kinda an odd-ball here.

that said, i suspect switching speeds on the fly is going to need optimization

 

[EricBowles]

I can tell you what works best for me. I've had both generations of the Z6&7 and currently have the Z9 as well as the Z6ii and Z7ii. I have had the Z9 out every day since it arrived and have it set up in a way that's great for me but might not work for others.
Function 1 button-AF area mode
Function 2 button-silent shutter
Function 3 button-Full area AF
Function4 button-FX/DX
AF/ON-3D tracking
Movie record button-Metering
Lens function button-AE lock
Shutter focus
This setup works fantastic for nearly everything I've thrown at it. I normally keep in High shutter backed down to 10FPS and very rarely bump it to 15 FPS. I probably have well over a hundred hours with this camera now and think its pretty phenomenal. The only two gripes I have are, the weight and not understanding why they have taken away the ability to assign spot metering to the lens function button.

Good ideas.

Have you thought about a button to give you 20 fps or higher? I've seen a couple of people include that with Recall Shooting Functions

 

[sh1209]

Good ideas.

Have you thought about a button to give you 20 fps or higher? I've seen a couple of people include that with Recall Shooting Functions

I can quickly hit the release mode button on the top dial and go two clicks with the forward dial without taking my eye off the view finder. It's been confusing for me to some degree because the other Z bodies have that button on the back lower right of the body.

 

[sh1209]

Good ideas.

Have you thought about a button to give you 20 fps or higher? I've seen a couple of people include that with Recall Shooting Functions

I assigned the af area mode to function 1 because I cannot actuate the af area mode button on the front of the body while using a long lens handheld and this keeps some uniformity across the bodies.

 

[sh1209]

FWIW I am also finding noise and detail are better using full size raw files. This is pretty noticeable using Adobe products at least.

 

[abc123brian]

I assigned the af area mode to function 1 because I cannot actuate the af area mode button on the front of the body while using a long lens handheld and this keeps some uniformity across the bodies.

I currently have function 1 set to single point AF which I don’t think I need and having the uniformity between models will make it a lot easier to go between cameras. I’m most likely going to do this, but dislike giving up a function button for something that already has a dedicated button.

 

[sh1209]

I currently have function 1 set to single point AF which I don’t think I need and having the uniformity between models will make it a lot easier to go between cameras. I’m most likely going to do this, but dislike giving up a function button for something that already has a dedicated button.

I feel the same but I just cannot actuate that button with even 70-200 lens on it handheld. It's fine if on a tripod but it's a no go for me handheld. I couldn't use it on the D850 as well. I used my 105 macro lens some over the weekend and with it I can use it.

 

[AnnetteJane]

I can tell you what works best for me. I've had both generations of the Z6&7 and currently have the Z9 as well as the Z6ii and Z7ii. I have had the Z9 out every day since it arrived and have it set up in a way that's great for me but might not work for others.
Function 1 button-AF area mode
Function 2 button-silent shutter
Function 3 button-Full area AF
Function4 button-FX/DX
AF/ON-3D tracking
Movie record button-Metering
Lens function button-AE lock
Shutter focus
This setup works fantastic for nearly everything I've thrown at it. I normally keep in High shutter backed down to 10FPS and very rarely bump it to 15 FPS. I probably have well over a hundred hours with this camera now and think its pretty phenomenal. The only two gripes I have are, the weight and not understanding why they have taken away the ability to assign spot metering to the lens function button.

Henry Hudson’s Action recommendations on his second bank sets up are to have the Wide Area mode on the shutter button the AF/ON -3D tracking. Have you tried that ? I’m looking at mixing his two bank modes into one. Skipping the banks for now though.
What have you tried that didn’t work well and why ? And I will try your recommended set up as well. I don't have my camera in hands for a couple of days so doing some research ahead.

 

[sh1209]

Henry Hudson’s Action recommendations on his second bank sets up are to have the Wide Area mode on the shutter button the AF/ON -3D tracking. Have you tried that ? I’m looking at mixing his two bank modes into one. Skipping the banks for now though.
What have you tried that didn’t work well and why ? And I will try your recommended set up as well. I don't have my camera in hands for a couple of days so doing some research ahead.

I have tried a little of everything as far as settings and owned the Z cameras for 4 years and most of these settings are coming over from the older Z bodies. I spent about 6 hours alone Saturday messing with the settings and I honestly wouldn't change a thing at this point. They do need to add the menu option back in for assigning Spot metering to the lens function button like the other Z cameras. This is something I use frequently and now have to do in three steps.

 

[sh1209]

Henry Hudson’s Action recommendations on his second bank sets up are to have the Wide Area mode on the shutter button the AF/ON -3D tracking. Have you tried that ? I’m looking at mixing his two bank modes into one. Skipping the banks for now though.
What have you tried that didn’t work well and why ? And I will try your recommended set up as well. I don't have my camera in hands for a couple of days so doing some research ahead.

Are you coming from a z camera or DSLR?

 

[AnnetteJane]

Are you coming from a z camera or DSLR?

Z7 which I did not like for BIF. The autofocus and black out were not acceptable. I’ve been using Back button focus and this will be my first attempt to stray from it.

 

[AnnetteJane]

I currently have function 1 set to single point AF which I don’t think I need and having the uniformity between models will make it a lot easier to go between cameras. I’m most likely going to do this, but dislike giving up a function button for something that already has a dedicated button.

That’s a good point and accessing single point quick would be nice but I’ll mostly be handholding as well. Sometimes a monopod. I think I’ve kicked my tripod a few times when it was very cumbersome and lost me some shots. Stability and lighter but after getting the 500 pf 5.6..its been pretty much handholding. I’ve possibly decided on F2 as the DX/FX changeover button. There is a lot to think about.

 

[sh1209]

Z7 which I did not like for BIF. The autofocus and black out were not acceptable. I’ve been using Back button focus and this will be my first attempt to stray from it.

Most of your settings are going to be similar going to this Camera. Ive used back about and focus for the last probably 12 to 15 years and for the last 5 to 6 months have went back to shutter auto focus and have had really good luck with it. I think it’s especially good on the Z9 even with gloves on and 10° like it is here now I have no issues whatsoever. To me it frees my thumb up to do different things on the back of the camera and seems to be a more efficient experience. I think you will like it but if not you can always go back to the back button focus. If you have any questions once you get your Z9 and want to ask I can help you what I can and don’t care a bit help you.

 

[AnnetteJane]

I don't know anything about Henry Hudson's set up but Jan seems to go with what fellow members here have been doing and getting good results with AF.
I am an A1 user so can't add anything specific.

I get the feeling Jan is more of a Cannon or Sony person and more familiar with their systems although he has a few good points.

 

[bsinc1962]

You're probably over-thinking things. I've found that was the worst thing about having to wait for delivery. Too much thinking, reading, YouTube... At the end of the day it's just another camera. In spite of all the things I read during the wait as soon as I started fiddling with the camera I realized that for setting it up the way you want it's not THAT different from the high end DSLRs. I thought I'd be setting up multiple shooting/custom settings banks. Never have on any of my DSLRs. But I shoot wildlife 90 percent of the time with the remaining being landscape with the rare kids' sporting event. And I shoot fully manual with occasional auto iso. So multiple banks aren't really useful/relavent to me. OK maybe one for landscape and one for everything else. And maybe a third with subject detection set to people for the occasional ball game. OK maybe the banks ARE useful....

Here's what I've found different:

Viewfinder: loving the zero blackout EVF. There are multiple choices for what information you want to see in the VF. But the biggest decision is whether to set it up for WYSIWYG or bright. I like WYSIWYG since I shoot manual settings and occasionally get in a rush and get caught out.

AF: For all practical purposes for my shooting I went from two to three useful AF modes.
- DSLR: I only used AF-C with BBF. On the bodies that allowed it I disabled AF-S to avoid accidently switching and getting caught out. The only two focus point/areas that I use are single point and group. I have AF-ON set to group and F1 set to single point(usually only used on static subjects).
- Z9: Same as DSLR I only use AF-C with AF-S disabled. For my shooting the only three focus areas that are useful are: single point, wide area L, and 3d tracking. I'm testing going back to shutter button set to wide area L, AF-ON set to 3d tracking, and my traditional F1 set to single point. Jury is still out on the shutter button until I get a few hours of practice behind me. I may go back to BBF on wide area and set another button to 3d. Many years of using BBF has worked well...

AF comments: "Wide area" is an odd choice of words for that mode. The focus area isn't that "wide". And not that much difference in the size of the boxes between S and L. And with focus point persistence once AF locks on to a subject it will track outside the box until it reaches the focus tracking time limit you have set. If you get the subject back inside the box before reaching the time limit it appears to reset the timer. In theory subject detection should work faster in wide area S due to the smaller area to scan. But for practical purposes I'm not sure it makes a difference. So to simplify and since I shoot a lot of BIF I disabled wide area S as well as all three dynamic areas(never used them with DSLR so why now). Pin Point only works in AF-S so is a moot point(with AF-S disabled).

Mechanical vs Electronic shutter: Oh wait... there's not a mechanical shutter. One less decision Though you do have to decide whether you want the protective shutter to close when you turn the camera off. OK that one may be an IQ test Maybe if you configure it to stay open they come and take the camera back...

I'm sure plenty of people will chime in with plenty more to think about. But I'm simple minded...

Solid setup Dan.

 

[AnnetteJane]

I must have blown past that. I just watched the stuff about AF. Historically "experts" have cautioned against deleting in camera and have said formatting is the way to go to clear cards. Will have to check that out.

I’m just going to keep reformatting like usual and not doing bank set up and doing a combination standard with action control ( 3D instead of BBF) set up. I think possibly with the different banks, the reformatting was an issue which I wont be doing the banks. So, I have a game plan. As soon as I get the camera I can run through set up and hit the road.Hoping for some new fresh snow. Like we havent had enough, but its so pretty.

 

[AnnetteJane]

Good ideas.

Have you thought about a button to give you 20 fps or higher? I've seen a couple of people include that with Recall Shooting Functions

That sounds like a good idea, didnt know it was an option and will keep it in mind when setting up but when a bird flies I dont want something else to hold down or set, I’ll look into it though.

 

[Roy]

I watched the Hudson Henry photography set up for the Z9 on utube. Found it on this forum someplace. There’s been a lot of Z9 discussion but I’d like to expand on the set up.
Looking for any suggested tweaks from a wildlife photography perspective.
Getting my Z9 next week and just doing some research ahead.
Thinking I’ll go ahead and keep BBF..thoughts on his particular set up please.

Most of Hudsons' recommendations for bank settings are spot on.
While waiting you could download the Z9 PDF manual from Nikon Downloads. "https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/589/Z_9.html"
Enjoy your Z9 - I am...

 

[AnnetteJane]

Most of Hudsons' recommendations for bank settings are spot on.
While waiting you could download the Z9 PDF manual from Nikon Downloads. "https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/589/Z_9.html"
Enjoy your Z9 - I am...

Got my camera and was out shooting yesterday in spite of lighting not so great and to much snow to get where I wanted to go. Ended up shooting backyard birds. Chickadees, nuthatches, downy woodpeckers and redpolls. Fast moving and not ideal to try with lots of branches for a first time attempting to use a camera without BBF set up. I was wanting to get action, not just sitting on a branch because I can do that with previous cameras.
I switched to back button focus again and will give that a try. I may do two banks after all, after I play with controls and settings for a bit.
The manual is very dry reading and so much nicer to go though set up with utube directions.
I have my camera now though Looking forward to the spring bird migration.

 

[AnnetteJane]

FWIW I am also finding noise and detail are better using full size raw files. This is pretty noticeable using Adobe products at least.

Does “ full size raw files) mean you are using the lossless compression or high efficiency star ? I read high efficiency* is really good. I’m shooting raw only and large quality but really debating on that high efficiency star and lossless compression…I have heard high efficiency star is great. I’m just debating though. Which are you using ? I got my camera and was out yesterday for the first time, used enough to decide I’m going to return to BBF. I TRIED not using BBF but its just not working for me, at least not with the small quick birds I was trying to catch. Larger ones such as eagles didn't co-operate and weather wasn't the best to get to where I was hoping to go. Still, it was fun catching some chickadees in motion.

 

[sh1209]

Does “ full size raw files) mean you are using the lossless compression or high efficiency star ? I read high efficiency* is really good. I’m shooting raw only and large quality but really debating on that high efficiency star and lossless compression…I have heard high efficiency star is great. I’m just debating though. Which are you using ? I got my camera and was out yesterday for the first time, used enough to decide I’m going to return to BBF. I TRIED not using BBF but its just not working for me, at least not with the small quick birds I was trying to catch. Larger ones such as eagles didn't co-operate and weather wasn't the best to get to where I was hoping to go. Still, it was fun catching some chickadees in motion.

I am using lossless full size but haven't used high efficiency star much to speak of. I have went to shutter focus on the Z9 and its working really well for me. I understand BBF is a hard habit to break and it sure was for me.