Thanks for this James. On my Z 7II, I use U1, U2, and U3 for handheld shooting (static subjects, people, and action, respectively). Tripod work is done setting the exposure mode to M (usually) or A. This effectively gives me four sets of saved settings. I use back button focus; Fn1 for autofocus settings; Fn2 for bracketing burst when in one of the three User modes, and to enable the clean, uncluttered display when shooting in M or A modes on a tripod. The Movie Record button I use for depth of field preview, and a push of the joystick is set to turn grid lines on and off. The OK button centers the focus point when in U1, U2, or U3, and zooms to 100% for manual focusing when using a tripod. My I Menu items are for settings I might change prior to shooting.
Another very helpful video buddy! thanks for the tips!! - the 3 sec delay being my fav.. so annoying the 2 sec timer turns off after shut down! adding the af-on to the my menu was a banger too! haha! cheers mate! :-)
James, You’ve spent quite a bit of time outside, especially at night while walking to your destinations. Was wondering have you ever seen, or possibly seen, any UFO’s in your travels?
Although your video's are interesting, James, at times they lack full information, especially this one on settings. But how to get them? Since I found your channel I have taken to having afternoon, "Brew"s. You may guess I am long retired but you have given me a kick up the bum to get out and do some images, like I and many others did!
Had Z7 for ages and love it. Useful run through, thank you. DoF preview is irritating given one of the points is to see your image live as you have set things. Hopefully this will be addressed in future firmware update.
This was extremely useful, James. Thanks for sharing your setup with us and explaining your reasoning behind each of your chosen options. Awesome stuff!
At last i found a landscape review for the z7, all i had found so far focus on action shots and video. saving up my pennies for a used z7ii and new lenses, as i am currently using an entry level camera and feel the time is right to invest in new and better glass, and that a body upgrade will improve my landscape photography
Hi James, I have a z6 and just had delivered from wex a z7ii on Friday but alas I had to fly back to the Netherlands for work (not a pro photographer ) so haven't even seen it yet let alone try it out, traded in D850 for it. So cheers for the heads up as it's landscape that I'm into. First saw you on photography online with I think the photo you did with comet above lighthouse, love it. Keep up the good work and thanks for you videos. I subscribed after 📷 online. Stay safe. Tam.
One thing I've found useful is the user banks on the mode dial. All these functions you demonstrated can be set differently for multiple modes. I use one mode for "on a tripod," one for handheld landscape, and... honestly I've forgotten how I set up the third. 🤣
Hi James, when you brighten/darken your screen does that not cancel the what you see is what you get benefit of a mirrorless camera or do you rely on the histogram....l own the z6 and love it, my d810 is now gathering dust...😁
Hi, I don't find it does but I only change brightness in particular environmental situations to allow me to better see and judge the screen. So if anything it allows me to exploit that feature better. When in doubt I always use the histogram anyways 👍
Ive got my record button set to adjust white balance. I usually shoot manual white balance and the front dial adjusts the Kelvin number when I hold down record. I find auto white balance is too cold. Thanks for the tips: exposure delay and I turned off RAW compression.
I made a little spreadsheet for a removable gum label with my Custom Controls setting and stuck it on the back of the tilt-out monitor. I also made three U# presets (Hand-held, Tripod, & Action) and saved them, then saved the menu items on a spare memory card, and copied it to my computer.
Hi , can you give me recommendation for lenses for portrait , events .please . Planing to buy z7 .basically I am going to do parties, couple shoots in outside .
Good info, as always. It's great to see how different shooters set up their gear. A plus is finding out about some Z6/Z7 features I didn't know about. You spoke about the Focus Stacking feature, would it be possible to provide a demonstration? I've tried to make it work without success. I've focus stacked manually, but I'm not as accurate as I should be. If this feature is as advertised it might be of great use. Stay safe.
One of my favorite sunsets over the water with sun rays shooting out with white to red edge sun. Various red and orange light shooting through scattered dense light clouds which had defined edges. It was incredible. I accidentally shot this in jpeg......😢 i could have sold those prints easy. Like you i have that adjustment set so at a glance i can see my needed settings.
Hi , can you give me recommendation for lenses for portrait , events .please . Planing to buy z7 .basically I am going to do parties, couple shoots in outside .
Very BIG thanks for this vid. I've had my Z7 II for quite some time now and used it a 'lot'. But I've recently focused my attention towards other equipment and fallen behind on my camera ~ Very very worthwhile for me and covered more than I expected .... thank you for sharing
Not bored to tears, James. Dancing cat held interest😁. Same features under different names/buttons for other major brand cams. Agree, would be nice to have multiple My Menus. (I believe Fuji offers separate My Menus for stills and video.) Some cams enable multiple sets of custom buttons - assigned to broader custom settings on mode dial. Tried that but never got used to the combinations/permutations - better to have one set of customized buttons, IMO. Gotta be a way to turn off grid in view, James. Did you try Nikon forums or Google? When in manual focus mode does Nikon’s AF still actuate and show “focus achieved indicator” when you’ve properly focused by peaking? Several brands do - good confirmation. Cheers!
Hi Paul, I knew you'd like the dancing cat! There is definiately no way to turn off the screen overlay information to get a clean screen display. Such a simple thing but a massive error by Nikon. They have fixed in on the mark 2 bodies but they really should fix it on these mark 1's too I feel. Yeah when manual focusing the camera gives focus confirmation assists which make manual focus relatively easy to achieve 🙂
A useful video thank you - but I wonder whether you might say a bit more about the distinction between ‘My Menu’ and the ‘I’ menu? The purpose seems to be pretty much the same...
Yeah the are very similar. The key difference is that you can only put select things in the I menu where as you can put pretty much everything in the my menu. They are just methods for gaining quick access to key settings 🙂
Your timing is impeccable since I just got my Z6 last week. I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to set mine up so your video is food for thought. Thanks for sharing your setup.
Great video thanks, James. I have just upgraded to a Nikon Z6 and am still working through the huge variety of settings. Your video was brilliant in pointing me in the right direction. I have only just found your channel and am loving it.
I found this to be one one of the most informative videos I have watched on the Z Series. (I have a Z6 II). I am primarily a landscape shooter so the info in this was helpful.
Hey James, how long would you say the z6/z7 lasts for landscape photography? Because I'm considering getting one. Do you find it lasts a whole day? 2 days?
No way I'll get two days but one day is doable. I tend to carry 2 spare batteries with me at all times which gives me confidence I'll never run out of power
I own the Z 6ii and I started writing you a comment about how to enable the "live view info display off" feature which allows you to have a clear, uncluttered monitor when using the display in live view mode. After doing some research it turns out this is a feature they added to the Z version iis only which the original Z cameras don't have. So I guess you'll have to upgrade if you want that feature in your camera :-(. Sorry.
This is so infuriating, because it could easily be added via firmware update, but as of yet they haven't. Since the firmware updates they have done have been quite useful, I'm hopeful they will include this feature in the next one...
Yeah its fixed on mark 2's but its a very easy fix and should have been made on the mark 1 bodies. I don't think that's going to happen though which is pretty annoying 😞
@@JamesBrewphoto I would encourage it James only because from what I observe, it apparently is a life changing reality. Go to their website and do their little test (I did for fun, about five minutes) to see if their products might help. The science seems reasonable and practical and I for one would love to see how the extension of color gamut would affect your "eye".