Nikon Z, turning magnifier off and pressing shutter release button halfway

[Zang]

Hi all,

I found the magnifier very helpful for manual focusing. However, pressing the shutter release button halfway does not seem to get me back to the normal view. Does anyone know if there is any setting that allows halfway pressing the shutter to turn off the magnifying mode?

Cheers,
Zang

[Jack Dahlgren]

Hi all,

I found the magnifier very helpful for manual focusing. However, pressing the shutter release button halfway does not seem to get me back to the normal view. Does anyone know if there is any setting that allows halfway pressing the shutter to turn off the magnifying mode?

Cheers,
Zang

When the magnification is assigned to F1 or F2, pressing those buttons toggles it on and off. I have them set for 50% and 200%. This is easier than having to back out of the magnification and is super quick. 200% is most useful for fine focus, and 50% still gives a decent boost but still keeps enough context around the subject.

[Zang]

That is also what I am doing, but I find cancelling magnifying by halfway pressing the shutter release faster and more convenient. That is how I have on my Sony camera.

[Birna Rørslett]

Then you have to move your finger(s). Using F1/F2, it's on-off directly.

[mxbianco]

When the magnification is assigned to F1 or F2, pressing those buttons toggles it on and off. I have them set for 50% and 200%. This is easier than having to back out of the magnification and is super quick. 200% is most useful for fine focus, and 50% still gives a decent boost but still keeps enough context around the subject.

I prefer to have Fn1 assigned to 100%, I can always switch to 50% or 200% by pressing the "-" or "+" buttons on the back of the camera.
I have assigned Fn2 (+dials) to focus mode selection, I can switch to MF-AFS-AFC (also displayed in the top line in the  viewfinder), without having to call up a menu.

It's not so bad to have the index finger on the shutter release and the middle finger on the Fn1 button: position of these buttons seems to be designed for my hand! YMMV.

One feature I would like is to have a menu option to affect the zoom behaviour, something like
f8 Zoom behaviour
with these options:
-Release exits zoom mode
-Zoom mode unaffected by release (to exit, press again zoom button)

This would be nice when shooting sequences, it's annoying when shooting in CH that upon the first release it exits zoom mode.

Ciao from Massimo

[Akira]

I haven't used any Nikon mirrorless cameras except for Nikon 1 J1 and V1.  But it would be a bit cumbersume, if the magnification function works that way.  I don't remember how it worked on Nikon 1.

[Jack Dahlgren]

I haven't used any Nikon mirrorless cameras except for Nikon 1 J1 and V1.  But it would be a bit cumbersume, if the magnification function works that way.  I don't remember how it worked on Nikon 1.

Set up on F1/F2 it is so easy that I don't even notice I'm doing anything.

[mxbianco]

I haven't used any Nikon mirrorless cameras except for Nikon 1 J1 and V1.  But it would be a bit cumbersume, if the magnification function works that way.  I don't remember how it worked on Nikon 1.

On the Nikon 1 V1 you have to select MF mode before you can zoom at all (in AF-x modes there is no way of activating zoom).
Then you have to press the OK button to activate zoom, and you vary the amount of zoom by moving up and down the upper lever (its icon is a tiny lens)
The zoomed area can be moved around by pressing the dial around the OK button in one of eight directions: Up down left right NE SE NW SW
The moment you half press the release  button, it exits zoom mode...even worse than the newer mirorless cameras, at least on the new mirrorless cameras you can decouple the release button from AF by using the AF-ON button, so a half press does NOT exit zoom mode on the Z series cameras. (btw, there is NO AF-ON button on Series 1 cameras)

Ciao from Massimo

[Akira]

Set up on F1/F2 it is so easy that I don't even notice I'm doing anything.

On the Nikon 1 V1 you have to select MF mode before you can zoom at all (in AF-x modes there is no way of activating zoom).
Then you have to press the OK button to activate zoom, and you vary the amount of zoom by moving up and down the upper lever (its icon is a tiny lens)
The zoomed area can be moved around by pressing the dial around the OK button in one of eight directions: Up down left right NE SE NW SW
The moment you half press the release  button, it exits zoom mode...even worse than the newer mirorless cameras, at least on the new mirrorless cameras you can decouple the release button from AF by using the AF-ON button, so a half press does NOT exit zoom mode on the Z series cameras. (btw, there is NO AF-ON button on Series 1 cameras)

Ciao from Massimo

Thank you for the confirmation, Massimo!

On my current SIGMA fp, I have to press the Fn-equivalent button to enter the magnifiing mode.  But I can return to the normal mode just by half-pressing the shutter button and re-enter the magnifying mode just by putting the finger off of the shutter button.  This way, I can go back and forth between these modes as much as I want and I can release the shutter, of course, by fully pressing the shutter button with the full frame displayed.  Very handy. 

[Zang]

Akira, that was my point. I find exiting magnification mode by half pressing very handy. Unfortunately, Nikon Z do not work that way.

[Akira]

Akira, that was my point. I find exiting magnification mode by half pressing very handy. Unfortunately, Nikon Z do not work that way.

Zang, that sounds a bit sad to me.  Controlling that just by the pressure of the shutter button is very intuitive to me.

[Birna Rørslett]

With one finger on the shutter release, instantly ready to take the picture, and another on the relevant F1/2 button, toggling magnification on/off, allows for a very rapid operation. No hand movement is required.

[Luc]

I have assigned 100% zoom to the Fn1 button and 200% zoom to the AF-ON button. I find pressing the AF-ON button is more convenient for me than a Fn1 or Fn2 button.

[Zang]

With one finger on the shutter release, instantly ready to take the picture, and another on the relevant F1/2 button, toggling magnification on/off, allows for a very rapid operation. No hand movement is required.

I guess I have no choice but get use to that. Maybe, some day I'll feel more comfortable with the new experience but I am not used to keeping two fingers in the position.

[Zang]

Also, quite often I need to exit the magnifier before taking picture as my compositions are usually tight.

Another drawback is, if I want to go from one magnifying rate to another one (let say from 50% to 100%), I need to exit the current one first. So if two rates are assigned to two different button, I need to press the other button twice to switch to its magnification rate.