After making the video, I realized that some Menu items are elsewhere and named differently on higher end Nikons, than on my Nikon Z50. Most notable is the functionality of the OK button. On higher end Nikon DSLRs, or Nikon Z5 / Z6 / Z7 cameras, do this: Go to Custom settings Menu → Controls → OK button → Zoom On/Off and here go for the 1:1 (100%) view. I've put together an article where I list all the tricks: iwillbeyourphotoguide.com/tricks-nikon-z-cameras/
Rather than using auto bracketing for high contrast landscape scenes, set the camera to manual focus with spot metering. Then just tap the screen to get the correct exposure for that part of the scene and take a photo. For example, tap the sky and take one photo. Then, tap a dark part of the scene and take your second exposure. The two exposures maybe four or five stops apart, but can be blended together in post using a luminosity mask. The same technique can be used for focus stacking in landscapes.
I just recently moved from Fuji to Nikon for the first time and my Z5. I really appreciate all the tips as they make the camera so intuitive and easy handling. Some points I had picked up already but Trick#4, to not having to hold the ISO button. Man, that is nice!!! Also #8! That is really going to come in handy when I get out to do some astro. Thank you for sharing Miklos!
@@tobyr8555 I've totally forgotten about Fuji. Could not get used to the top dials and levers and was I always fiddling with them. Hence I missed quit a lot of shots. I had 3 different Fujis and because of my handsize I had to buy grip extensions for all 3. Nikon feels super comfortable, quick to adjust on the fly and produces exceptional photos. The choice was clear to me.
These are great tips. I switched from Sony to Nikon, for 3 reasons. 1 being better color science 2 being usable jpegs right out the camera and 3 Nikon having really affordable 35 50 and 85 (The 50mm is something special. ) primes plus the z6 can be had for less than the A7iii
Thank you for sharing that with us! Yep, these are all good points. I also prefer the ergonomy and menu system of the Nikons to the Sonys. However, I think you have a lot more options choosing lenses for the Sony E mount.
@@miklosmayerphoto SONY does have lenses no doubt. Also many choices in smart adapters. Nikon Z full frame lenses you can count on both hands unfortunately, but also yes, that grip is perfect. I’d never hang over a boat with a Sony camera, but I did plenty of that with my z6 a couple weekends ago. Not that my wife was happy about that. Her logic is, the grip is great, your sense of balance is not.
I just got my Z62 and found this video to be one of the best tutorials. I’m going over each tip and trick slowly to make sure I incorporate them. Please do more. Great job.
If you press the DISP button, you can change the display on the back LCD to show Indicators, Simplified Display (clean), Histogram, Virtual Horizon and Information Display. If you use the EVF and press the DISP button, you can change the display in the EVF to the same few options, but independent of the LCD screen. That meaning you can have a deferent display in the EVF to that on the LCD. Go into video mode and you can set them too to individual display independent to the display in photo mode. You don't get the Information Display in video mode though.
Hans, thank you for that! I just don't know why I left that out from the video - I use that every time, and showed many people how to set it up.... Hopefully many people will read your comment :)
Night noise fix (correct me if I'm wrong, hadn't used a Z camera in a year) Pv. Press "DOF preview button" (top front button) I think on the Z cameras there's an option in the menus that can change your EVF live view to simulate an optical viewfinder without having to switch to movie mode. That's actually a cool hack that could free up the Pv. button for more custom options. Extras Once this is set you can either set it to a custom U1 or U2 or use the in menu custom shooting menu banks such as A, B, C, D. On my camera I have A: Sports, B: Night Sports, C: Street, D: Film (simulation). Mostly just different auto iso options (iso caps and base, shutter speed from 1/1000 base iso 100 on Sports to 1/125 base iso 3200 Night Sports, some AF options such as long lock on, focus point numbers, back button focus. Street I'll turn back button focus off b/c I tend to shoot from the car so blind shooting is much easier with just the AF set to 3D or 9 point.
Thanks Donovan for the tips! I really like the ones with custom settings, that makes a lot of sense, if you regularly shoot repeating scenarios. I deliberately left out back-button AF, because that's a widely used trick. I tried the Preview function on my Nikon Z50, but in that mode, you cannot magnify into the Live View....
Although this video has been out for some time, I didn't notice a hack for the auto crop in 4K video mode on the Z5. I have found by using the (NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR lens) will remove the crop factor giving you a larger working view space within the limitations of the lens.
Hi, there cannot be any "hack" for the crop in 4K - the camera reads out only a 1.7 times smaller area of the sensor. The reason you don't see it with the 16-50 mm DX lens, is because if you put that lens on the Nikon Z5, then the Z5 switches into "DX mode", meaning it will automatically crop the sensor, and will use only 1.5 times smaller are of the sensor (as if it was an APS-C sensor). But the actual full-frame sensor is cropped either way - you just don't notice it :)
Super tricks! Loved them! One of the great problems a beginning photographer faces with a dslr is searching menus for settings. These tricks/ tips are just what I needed! Thanks Miklos
I just discovered your site n You Tube. Wow, I've had my Z50 since it first was released. I love the camera but hated holding the button down for ISO and exposure compensation. You have changed my life! Also, I was shooting Manual because every thing I read or saw said that was the only way a professional should shoot. When I saw how you use Auto Iso I was really excited. I've been using it the last few days and it's terrific. Thanks so much for posting all the videos (I've watched most of them) they are not like any of the other ones I've watched. Hope to get to Budapest some day and would love to take your tour.
Alan, you really made my day with this comment, thank you so much! 🙏 I don't even know why I didn't see it earlier, sorry... That "not having to holding down the ISO button" tip actually came from one of the commenters under my Nikon Z5 review video, so it was him who changed your life 😁 Hopefully we'll see each other in Budapest, until then, have fun shooting! 😉
Thanks Daniel! Here's how you set up focus peaking: Custom Setting Menu → Shooting / display → Peaking highlights (d9) Here set peaking level and color.
Thanks for making this helpful video. I just subscribed to your channel. I use the AF-ON button to zoom in while focusing (because I like to use manual focus lenses on my Z6) and the video button to display the framing grid. But I did not even think of assigning a function to the video button until after I watched this video so I am very grateful.
Thank you! Have you tried focusing with the AF-On button only? And not focusing with shutter button at all - it really makes life simple in many cases.
I prefer to focus with the shutter button because that is what I am used to. I also have 35mm film SLR cameras that are not programmable like mirrorless. Thus, I want to keep it consistent across my cameras. But thanks for the tip. 😊
If you turn the focus ring to infinity, it's not an exact point - it can go beyond infinity which will result in blurry photos... Also, with some lenses, the infinity mark is a bit off. That's why it's safer to focus on the stars.
@@miklosmayerphoto Thanks I am pleased I asked, I will be more careful with focussing in future, who'd have thought you could go beyond infinity ... 'to infinity and beyooooond' !
Visited Budapest a few years ago. Beautiful city! I wish I knew about your tours at that time. I am considering purchasing the 6Zii in a few months. I hope you will be available to respond to some questions I am sure to have. Great video! Happy New Year!
Sure Steven, let me know if you have any questions - and please contact me next time you travel to Hungary! Have fun with your new camera, and all the best for 2021!
Hi. I saw many of your videos and they are amasing. I am coming to Budapest in begining of march. Is it possible to join you at any of yours photo tours?
Great to hear that! :) Yes, of course, I'm still running photography tours! Please check out my website at hungaryphototours.com And you can pick a date on the booking page - hope to see you in person!
Thanks Carlos! Yes, I tried the easy exposure compensation, but I didn't like it - I often accidentally moved the dial :) The night focusing thing is "standard" for every Nikon camera, it's been described many times by others as well.
The settings for capturing shooting stars differ totally from capturing the Moon. The Moon is really bright once it's high up in the sky, and you can shoot it handheld with relatively fast shutter speeds. For shooting stars, the setting is similar to Milky Way photography, for example, with a 16mm lens: - ISO 3200, - F/3.5, - 20 sec
Thanks for the video. Quite helpful but do you know how to check the exposure when using on camera flash for example? Does nikon z5 have such a setting? With Fujifilm you can very easy assign a custom button to change it whenever you need it and clearly see the composition. Hopefully there is something similar here...
Yes, in dark scenes, the viewfinder of the Nikon Z cameras are far from best... You can switch to video mode to focus - for some reason in video mode the screen is less noisy.
Hi Miklos , the plural is not in the brand’s name but in the word “ cameras “ that is Nikon, Sony, Olympus, Pentax , etc “ cameras “... Nice video by the way , congratulations 👏 👏👏 👋
Thanks Tony! :) Well, English is not my first language, but I practice it a lot, so I kind of had a similar gut feeling, but wanted to leave that part in to add *some* humor :) Other than that, I'm open to any suggestions about the way I speak, or the words I use!
Is there anyway to use the AF-ON button to autofocus in MF mode? or alternatively activate focus peaking on AF-S mode? And finally, not related to focus but I still wanna know if there is anyway to activate the "zebras" for higlights and shadows in photo mode? I am an olympus user and I have those options but I dont seem to find them in the Z5 i just adquired :(
1. Using AF-ON button for AF only: - Custom Settings - Autofocus - AF activation - AF-ON only - Then Custom Settings - Controls (Shooting) - AE-L/AF-L button: assign AF-ON function With this setup, only by pressing the AF-ON button will you be able to focus, you can rotate the focus ring anytime for manual focus (although the camera is in AF-S or AF-C). In this case, it's best to activate focus peaking (peaking highlights in the Menu) 2. Zebras for highlights can be set for Video mode only. Custom Settings - Movie - Highlight display By the way, this can only be activated with focus peaking turned off for obvious reasons. I do not find highlights zebras useful for photography at all. The Menu items above were copied from a Nikon Z50 menu, so it might be a bit different on the Z5.
I need small advice, i am using Z 50 and i like this camera. I recently bought F mount 24-70 2.8 Nikon lens(older model). I am consistently getting blurry images due to the weight of both lens and FTZ. Is there anyway i can solve this? I know it doesn’t have IBIS, but is that the reason? When i use tripod or Flash then the photos are absolutely alright.
What do you mean when you say blurred images because of the weight? Do you mean it's blurred in because of handshake? Because if the photos are sharp when the camera is on tripod or when you use flash, that only means your shutter speed is too slow, so you get blur from handshake.
@@miklosmayerphoto thanks for your reply. yah it’s sharpness issue. when I hand held pictures are not sharp. I normally use shutter speed around 100-125 range. Let me increase by few steps to see whether it can solve it. Thanks 🙏 Side note, For F mount lens(24-70 i mean) at F2.8 pictures are not sharp at all, around F 4 onwards they look better on z50. This problem i am facing with F Mount Lens only Not sure its my lens issue!. I also got kit lens from z 50 but it is super sharp in all F Stops. I suspect lens also contributing to my problem.
The problem you report is motion blur. Caused by you moving the camera during exposure. Smaller formats camera and smaller photosites in the sensor are more sensitive to motion blur. And, th Z 50 does not have IBIS, so if your 24-70/2.8 has no VR, you have to be careful. Miklós shows in the video, how you can set the camera's exposure range to automatically limit the exposure time (AKA shutter speed) along with the lens's focal length. The old rule is that a good steady hand can get a sharp picture with a lens of focal length N when the exposure time is equal to or shorter than 1/N. As you shoot DX, you have to halve 1/N to 1/2N. My experience with DSLR is that they are more sensitive to motion blur than film. Much more. And the old 1/N formula was based on film. The F 24-70/2.8 lenses always have been high quality - and there is a but. They have high chromatic aberration (CA). There are different forms of CA, but note that generally CA becomes less when you stop down 2 or 3 stops (i.e. you close aperture from 2.8 to 5.6 or 8). Also, if in fact your sharpness problem - let's face it, you are pixel peeping - goes away when you convert your color photo to black and white then the CA was part of the problem. Lightroom can remove CA up to a point (it's not perfect). The Z 24-70/2.8S is much better. It allows more light to pass (better glass and coatings), it has only a tiny bit, negligible, of CA and is much sharper, but it does not have VR because it was developed for cameras with IBIS. As to handheld motion blur, I see many people pressing the shutter release button and holding the camera in a way that promotes motion and consequent blur. Such people have their index finger in an elegant curve with the tip of the finger pressing the button in the middle. Often they hold their arms wide, too. So, stand in front of a mirror and do the following. Take your camera in the right hand, the bottom right corner of the camera rests on the palm of your hand, and support the lens from below with the left hand (thumb on left side). Bring viewfinder to your eye. Press elbows against your rib cage. Lay index finger with the ultimate phalange flat on the edge of the shutter release button. The soft fleshy middle of that part of the finger rests on the solid edge around the button. Press on that edge and you'll notice how the flesh over the button is pressed into its depth and the photo is taken. This causes no shock and downward force is counteracted with upward support. Note that people are using their cameras differently though, because they use smartphones. You'll see people not looking through the viewfinder, but holding the camera at distance and tip-touch the touchscreen to focus and fire the camera. In these cases, you'll have to figure out how to best prevent the micro-level motion blur that becomes visible in pixel peeping. If you are at an event and want to do some formal portraits and groups, just put the camera on a tripod, flip the touchscreen out and tip the screen on the nearest eye of the most important person - check shots to see that the others are sharp enough. It enables you to interact with the subject and gets you very sharp shots - if that is most important to you or your relatives.
Miklos i got a problem with my Z5 , i can't get nef raw format in the photos when i download them in the computer, im using not original lense for Z5 im using mount for not native lenses i would like to know if you can help me because seems like no nef raw format in this camera
What file format did you set in the Menu? If the camera is set to raw recording, then it should .NEF. If your computer can't open the NEF file, then you likely have to update the program you use for viewing.
Great video! I need some help! I use a z50 and I noticed the brightness in the EVF only reflect the brightness of the actual photo under Manual mode not A or S modes.(I have d8 set to apply to live view) The brightness in the EVF and screen doesn't change when I change the shutter speed or aperture but it does change when I adjust the exposure. The photos can come out really dark when they look bright in the EVF and Screen. Am I doing anything wrong?
Haley, good question there. There was one occasion where I noticed that my EVF looked different than my screen, but I can't recall what was it. If you have Auto ISO turned on, then you won't see any "change" on the screen when you adjust shutter speed or aperture, only when you adjust exposure. Is it possible you were in Auto ISO?
@@miklosmayerphoto Thanks for your response. I had ISO at one level. I used high shutter speed at low light situation when the aperture can't open any wider. The display on screen was still bright. I called Nikon technical support and it sounds like it's designed this way. It's not a true 'live view' as it doesn't reflect the actual brightness of the image, only white balance and exposure compensation. Personally I think it's a bad design since I was expecting to 'get what I see' which is how Canon and Sony mirrorless cameras are able to do.
Thanks for pointing that out, I haven't paid attention to that. But I checked this on my 50-250 mm Z lens, and it's not focused at infinity at 250 mm setting, only on 50 mm setting, when I turn on the Nikon Z50. Also, for very fast aperture lenses the real infinity focus is not where the infinity focus mark is, so it's always best to double-check on the focus before shooting.
I've been a Canon user a long time, then bought a Sony camera, then a Nikon Z50, just for the sake of trying out new stuff, and being able to create content with more variety. So I didn't switch anywhere :)
I wanted to switch to Nikon due to Active D Lighting, but I am very disappointed. There is no live view preview of the Active D Lighting setting, unless you are in video mode. Unexplainable, other camera manufacturers don't have this issue. And it's very annoying that when you switch to auto iso, it will choose the previous iso as the minimum iso. So, if someday you forget to choose Iso 100 before switching to Auto Iso, this can lead to unexpected results. That's unacceptable. A workaround is to save manual mode without Auto Iso as U1/U2, but this workaround isn't perfect as it won't remember the manual settings you chose the last time and you have to choose the white balance again, if you have chosen the white balance in (for example) P mode. Also, choosing a color temperature value is cumbersome in comparison to Canon or Panasonic cameras, there is no color temperature slider. In my opinion, Nikon's user interface is nothing else than beta software.
I find no problem using Auto ISO. Sure, it's different than any other brands, but it's just a different way of thinking - you can get use to it really fast. If you shoot in RAW, then just leave the WB on Auto, and that's it - if you want to tweak the WB, you can do it in the edit. I don't know what you mean it doesn't have a WB slider - all Nikon Z cameras have WB presets or you can dial in the Kelvin value manually. And on top of that, you can adjust any setting to make it warmer/colder. The interface is very straightforward, everything is organized well, in my opinion. Also, you have dedicated photo / video mode that are independent of each other - none of the Canons have that.
I don't think that Nikon's Auto Iso implementation makes sense, so it isn't just a different way of thinking. There's no reason why a camera should always use the previous Iso as the minimum Auto Iso. It simply doesn't make sense. There's a reason why cameras from other manufacturers don't behave like that. It doesn't have a color temperature slider. It is possible to adjust the color temperature by using a dial, but it is cumbersome and there's no color temperature slider that can be used with the touchscreen. Manually choosing the color temperature is much easier/faster with Panasonic or Canon cameras. I always choose the color temperature while taking the photo because it is impossible to remember the correct white balance afterwards and I don't need to use the raw files, when the jpgs are good.
@@Quoutub Well, you can think what you think - thousands of photographers got used to their Auto ISO settings without dying, yours truly included. This is like saying that in one language there isn't a single word to express something, whereas in other languages you have a single word for that. Yet, you don't say that X language in inferior to Y language. About WB: it does have a colour temperature slider. You can set the Kelvin value, and the color offset as well. You can see their effects in real time on the Live View.
