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Beginner

How to Customize Your Z Series Camera

Tailoring the camera to your shooting needs and style

One of the cracking things about the Z series mirrorless cameras is the ability for yous to customize the layout of options and settings in such a way that you can spend less time scrolling through menus to reach settings and more time thinking about what you're capturing or actually shooting. This allows you to truly make the camera yours.

If you lot shoot both stills and video, you lot can customize the photographic camera differently for each. Or customize your camera based on the type of photography you do—effect/portrait or landscape or sports.

Not only can you customize what the Function Buttons do (Fn1/Fn2), only you lot can also customize the i push and which settings information technology houses—including different options for however vs. video vs. playback. The i push's options testify up on the rear LCD when you press the i button, and they also show upwards in the EVF (electronic viewfinder) too. You lot tin can access them and switch between them in either location.

There are too other buttons that you can change what they practise from the default. These include the AF-ON button, the center of the sub-selector and the sub-selector itself, F-mount NIKKOR Fn button (on those lenses that feature one), Z NIKKOR control rings and the movie tape button while in still photography style.

Significantly setting upward the photographic camera to how you lot want to work volition make your life easier—just pick up the camera—access the controls you need—and go to work. Less navigating through menus and sub-menus to reach the features y'all use on a regular basis.

In that location are literally dozens of ways to set up your camera and so its unique to how you want to be able to shoot—including the popular My Menu setting. Like irresolute up the format from square to 16:9 or DX; or do you often shoot HDR; or possibly you want to be able to modify the camera's white residuum while in the middle of shooting; or do you desire like shooting fish in a barrel admission to switch between the 20 unlike Picture Controls; or maybe you need to adjust the flash mode/bounty settings often? You can set upwardly your photographic camera to quickly access each of these types of settings so many more! Nosotros couldn't list every choice in this article—so check out your camera's user'south transmission to run across exactly what customization options the Z series cameras tin can offer you.

The Function buttons Fn1 and Fn2 are located to the left of the forepart grip, easily allowing you to achieve over with your fingers while property the camera and shooting.

On the rear of the Z series cameras are some of the buttons that can be customized including the AF-ON button, the sub-selector push button just beneath that, the i Menu button further down and the OK push button even further down.

Customizing the i Button

Customizing the i push button is a great way to access the settings y'all use regularly. And, because you can alter out what y'all run into when yous press the i button, you can replace those features you lot rarely need with ones you're more probable to employ on a regular footing. No more wasting fourth dimension scrolling through menus when those features y'all want are correct at your fingertips.

Modify thei Button

Get to Custom Settings > Controls > f1 Customizei Menu. In one case y'all're done swapping out the options you desire to appear in the i Menu, only click the Bill of fare push (Done) to save the changes.

Modify the Function Buttons and other buttons

To alter what the Office buttons do for still photography, go into Custom Settings > Controls > f2 Custom Control Assignment. Then simply select Fn1 or Fn2 and choose which part you want played by that push button, and salve your changes.

To alter what the Function buttons do when in movie manner, apply Custom Settings > g2 Custom Command Assignment which you'll notice nether Custom Settings > Controls > Movie.

Under Custom Settings, go to f2 to change what the photographic camera does when using the following buttons: Fn1, Fn2, sub-selector, sub-selector center, AF-ON, motion picture record push button, (F-mount NIKKOR) Lens Fn button and lens command band. When you lot're done changing those settings, just press the Bill of fare button (Done) to salvage and exit out of that menu.

Change the Control Ring on NIKKOR Z Lenses

On the NIKKOR Z lenses that feature a control ring, you can too modify the default setting of what turning it will exercise. The default setting is focus. You tin can set it to control exposure compensation or aperture if you'd like instead.

Modify the OK button

Under Custom Settings, go to f3 to cull what yous want the OK push to do when in yet shooting way and for playback. You'll detect g3 lets you change what the OK push button does in pic mode.

You lot tin can customize what the command dials do via Custom Settings f5.

Customizable buttons visible when looking at the meridian of hte Z series cameras are the User ane, User 2 and User 3 buttons on the far left mode dial and the video record button (its the red button just to the lower left of the on/off lever). The NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S lens which is fastened to the camera shown has a control ring between the markings for the proper noun of the lens and the zoom range markings.

User settings

There'due south one more characteristic of the Z series cameras that allow to yous further personalize your set-upwardly—User 1, 2, 3. These are attainable by the mode dial. A variety of frequently used settings can be saved to the User settings. For case, perhaps the style you fix your camera up for mural shooting differs from how you similar it fix for portrait shooting vs. how you shoot sports. You tin can salvage each user setting for a specific type of photography or video shooting.

To modify User settings, rotate the manner punch to the mode yous want, then cull your focus indicate, conform your shooting mode, exposure and flash bounty, aperture and settings in the photograph shooting, picture show shooting and custom settings menus. Then go into the Setup Bill of fare and select Save User Settings, and highlight Salvage to U1 or Salvage to U2 or Save to U3. If yous detect you don't like what you've prepare up every bit a User setting, you can select Reset user settings and start over. But note that some photo shooting items and a couple movie shooting items can't be saved to the User settings, so check your user'southward manual to see which ones you can apply.

Read the user's manual and play effectually with the diverse controls that can exist modified to fill your needs or shooting style. You may discover that depending upon the blazon of work you're doing or the flavour of the year that you'll want to motion settings around.

We asked a few of the Nikon folks and Nikon Ambassadors to tell us how their cameras are gear up. Read on…

Lindsay Silverman (Former Sr. Product Manager and a frequent contributor to L+East):

I've set upwardly my camera with the following items in the i Menu for stills: Moving picture Control / Focus Style / AF Expanse Mode / Silent photography / Peaking Highlights / Auto Bracketing /
White balance / Flash Modes / Choose Image Area / Electronic Forepart Drapery / VR / HDR.

 And I've set up the i  Carte du jour for video this fashion: Movie Control / Frame size and rate / Choose prototype area / VR / Electronic VR / AF Area mode / White balance / Mic Sensitivity / Peaking / Highlight Brandish (Zebra) / Wind Noise / Focus Mode

The Control Ring is set up for manual focus. Fn1 has the default setting of AF Area Modes and Fn2 is set up to the peak Detail in My Card (to admission Group Flash Options).

Wedding, portrait & mode lensman and Nikon Ambassador Jerry Ghionis's Z 7 prepare:

I haven't customized the i button every bit I accept everything I need in camera with the power to admission My Menu through the EVF.

I keep the control band on the native (NIKKOR Z) lenses ready for manual focusing.

What has fabricated my shooting process and so much more faster and more than efficient is the ability to admission MY MENU via the Fn1 (Function) push, the ability to assign the preview button to the Fn2 (Function) button and 100% magnification via my AF-ON push button. This means that whilst keeping my eye to the camera and holding the weight of the camera in my left hand, with my correct hand I tin can change menu items, printing the shutter, preview the shot and bank check focus by pressing the 100% magnification push inside a couple of seconds. It has truly revolutionized the way I shoot.

I have also customized at least one of the User settings. In essence these settings are a shortcut to a recipe of settings you lot want quick admission to. I shoot almost exclusively on the manual setting. That being said at that place are times where I would love quick admission to discontinuity priority like photographing a recessional at a wedding where you're in a dark environment with tungsten lighting then you must quickly walk outside to capture the couple exiting the church in direct sunlight. By the time you have to modify your ISO, aperture, shutter speed and white residuum nether the pressure level, you may miss the shot or screw up the exposure. For situations like these, I take set up my User Setting #3 (U3) to assist. Why number 3? Because it'due south closest setting to the manual setting on the dial. The custom settings I use are aperture priority at f/iv, Matrix metering, Automobile white residual — AUTO2, Machine ISO with a minimum shutter speed at 1/200sec and a maximum ISO of 12,800.

Joseph (JC) Carey, professional person photographer:

Fn1: set to access the top item in My Menu. The top particular for me is Group Flash Options and then that when I'm using the WR-R10 or even have a flash on the hot-shoe I tin can quickly and hands change the power and settings for my flashes from my camera. As a flash user this takes a lot of steps out of trying to change power when using the Advanced Wireless Lighting system.

Fn2: opens My Menu which has format, bombardment info, Plane fashion and a few other items in information technology which I use regularly.

One of the things I enjoy about the Z 7 is the customizability of the i Menu. I prepare mine up from right to left in order of importance to me with my AF settings existence to the far right. Focus manner on bottom right with AF Expanse style just above it. These are the ii items I am well-nigh likely to change during a shoot and then the cursor is there 95% of the time when I striking the i button. Adjacent to those are Moving-picture show Controls and WB and and then Silent On/Off and Metering. The side by side cavalcade is wink mode and multiple exposure (I'm moving toward things I will utilize rarely simply don't want to dig into the menus to find) Image Quality and Image Size are next. In the past I would never get away from RAW only with the appearance of SnapBridge being a feasible tool and larger XQD cards I tend to spend a scrap more than fourth dimension on my Picture Controls and making sure that I have a small JPG shooting side by side with the RAW so I tin can export images to social media rapidly. Vibration Reduction and Electronic Forepart-Curtain shutter are my last row.

The Sub-Selector Heart is set to image area so I tin can quickly move to 4:5, square or 16:9 ratios without taking my eye away from the viewfinder.

The pic record button is set to filigree display while in photo fashion because I take a hard time holding a directly epitome.

Michael Corrado, Nikon'southward Sr. Manager; Pro Relations & Marketing Business Development sets up his photographic camera like so:

The Fn1 button is playback in tandem with the AF-ON button, which is set up to zoom into playback or the live image. The Fn2 button is set to call up My Menu.

The i Item that I've replaced in the i menu is Agile D-Lighting, which I don't ofttimes employ, with Silent Shooting which I practice apply.

I've kept the default setting of manual focus on the lens control ring. It engages focus peaking, which is key when I'm photographing birds that aren't out in the open.

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