I took the plunge... Nikon Z8 and now I need help.

[David H. Hartman]

I finally scratched enough together to buy a Nikon Z8. Coming from a Nikon D850 I've got a start as much is similar but it's like I've got to learn the ritual myths and incantations as without this a search in the many manuals and guides usually fails when the right words aren't chosen.

Minutes ago I search for where to set the viewfinder zoom percent 50%, 100%, 200%, etc. I finally found it again after maybe 15 minutes.

So now I'm trying to find out why the center focus point indicator doesn't turn from red to green to indicate focus achieved with non-CPU lenses. I could swear the focus point was changing color with AIS, non-CPU lenses yesterday. Am I wrong? Was that when I was manually focusing AF-D lenses?

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Any suggestions for online Nikon Z8 tutorials?

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Thank you for an assistance.

Dave

 

[Ian Watson]

Congratulations on the new camera!

Alas, the focus point only changes colour when the lens has a CPU. Your best bet is to assign a button to zoom to 100% to help with lenses without one.

[David H. Hartman]

Ian,

Thank you for the information.

I've setup the Video Record button (red button near the shutter release) to magnify the view finder. I'm experimenting with 50% and 100% magnification. Somewhere I set a half press on the shutter release to cancel viewfinder magnification. That seems to work quite well and will become a reflex in time.

Best,

Dave

[Les Olson]

You read text at about 250 words/minute. People giving talks speak no faster than 100 words/minute. So a one hour video contains much less information than a book it takes you one hour to read. Another way to look at it is that the script for a one hour video is about 24 pages of double-spaced 12 point font, and the information content is less than that suggests, because a good talk will follow the rule that first you tell them what you are going to tell them, then you tell them, then you tell them what you told them. Video is a very inefficient way to convey information, and it doesn't improve recall.

Thom Hogan's books are excellent - accurate, comprehensive and well set out, and you get free updates to the text when there are important firmware changes. Text is legible on my iPhone 16e and the search function is good.

[David H. Hartman]

Thank you Les. I'll check out Thom Hogan's site and books.

Dave

[pluton]

This outfit in Britain prints and ships instruction manuals for a reasonable charge:https://www.camera-manual.com/nikon-z8-manual-31177
I have gotten the Thom Hogan books for every Nikon I've had since D3.

[David H. Hartman]

I'm searching for reviews for high performance SDXC cards. If anyone can recommend reviews I would appreciate any help.

Thanks!

[Ian Watson]

I'm searching for reviews for high performance SDXC cards. If anyone can recommend reviews I would appreciate any help.

Thanks!

This is Thom Hogan's opinion of various makers of CFExpress cards. It is a fair bet that a company that makes good ones also makes good SDXC cards.

https://www.zsystemuser.com/accessories/z-accessories/cfexpress-cards.html

For SDXC you should look for a card with a V90 rating. That guarantees a minimum sustained write speed of 90 MB/s; actual speeds will likely be higher. The Delkin Black is what I use. It claims a stronger build quality and lacks the fiddly write-protection switch that seems unnecessary.

[pluton]

Hogan's assessment of what are the most highly thought-of cards comports with my observations of what the "pro" shooters are saying on photo-related web forums.  For video, I have acquired ProGrade Cobalt and Iridium CFe-B cards.  For stills, I use the Lexar V60 SD cards that B&H throws into their package deals "at no extra charge". I shoot slowly (3 FPS is fast for me) but if I was a 20FPS raw stills shooter, and wanted the best/fastest SD cards, I'd get the higher-end ProGrade, Nextorage, and Delkin Black V90 SD cards.

[David H. Hartman]

I bought a Nikon Z8 with a FTZ II adapter and then found an FTZ original model in 9+ so I bought that also.

CFEpress is out of my reach at this time. I looking at a ProGrade 128GB UHS-II SDXC Iridium Card, 300/200 MB/s, read/write. Is that good enough for dabbling in video, nothing serous.

I normally set my cameras to 3 to 5 FPS continuous low speed and squeeze off single frames. If I want a slow burst I just hold the release down. I'm not sure what I will use for high speed continuous. Do I remember the D850 topped at high speed continuous of 10 fps?

Dave

[pluton]

I think that's probably an excellent SDXC card. I would buy that card if I needed another card and had the $$$.
Multiple FTZ's are a good thing if you have plentiful F mount lenses lying around. You may find, as I did, that the FTZ is better than the FTZII in one aspect: If you have a very bright light source just outside of the frame, the inner surfaces of the FTZII can bounce that hot spot onto the sensor.  I fixed my FTZII's by adding small pieces of self-adhesive telescope tube black flocking to the offending interior surfaces.  Now the FTZII might have less interior flare/bounce than the FTZ! Other than the flare issue, I have found no difference between FTZ and FTZII and I use them interchangeably.  Example shot of FTZII flare with Zeiss ZF 28/2 mounted...

[Brute]

Congratulations on your new gear.
Check out Steve Perry Backcountry gallery forums.
He has youtube tutorials videos and books.

[David H. Hartman]

The ProGrade Digital 256GB UHS-II SDXC Iridium Memory Card (300/275 MB/s) offering at B&H Photo caused the index finger on my mouse hand to twitch.

Dave

[David H. Hartman]

Congratulations on your new gear.
Check out Steve Perry Backcountry gallery forums.
He has youtube tutorials videos and books.

Thank for this suggestion. I'm watching Steve's videos now. Great information!

Dave

[Ilkka Nissilä]

I bought a Nikon Z8 with a FTZ II adapter and then found an FTZ original model in 9+ so I bought that also.

CFEpress is out of my reach at this time. I looking at a ProGrade 128GB UHS-II SDXC Iridium Card, 300/200 MB/s, read/write. Is that good enough for dabbling in video, nothing serous.

I normally set my cameras to 3 to 5 FPS continuous low speed and squeeze off single frames. If I want a slow burst I just hold the release down. I'm not sure what I will use for high speed continuous. Do I remember the D850 topped at high speed continuous of 10 fps?

Dave

I would strongly urge you to look into CFexpress cards rather than any kind of SD cards. SD is ok as an in-camera backup as long as you have a reliable main card in use. I've lost many SD cards which stopped working out of the blue, while never having an issue with CFexpress type B or XQD cards (which are both compatible with the CFexpress/XQD slot of the Z8) with hundreds of thousands of photos shot on both. I would argue if you go out and shoot your photos are worth more than the cost difference between the cards because your time is worth more. Anyway, of course, in the end, it's your decision.

Just a note: if you do get CFexpress cards, check the temperature performance first; some brands which used to be the most reputable are not so any more in CFexpress type B cards (due to running hot); good brands include Delkin (Black, Power) and Prograde Digital (Cobalt in my case).