I just want to say this was immensely helpful. Autofocus settings can be so confusing and really has to be explained by someone articulate and succinct. Mark is the perfect person for this. When I first came across him in the Z8 introduction video, I actually wondered if he was a hired actor because his delivery was so controlled and eloquent. Pleasantly surprised that it all comes from the fundamentals.
Both your questions and follow up comments and Mr Cruz’s insightful explanations were great. It’s good to see someone at Nikon who has such intimate knowledge of the system, yet can still explain such technical items with the joy of an enthusiast. This was very helpful and I look forward to watching future discussions on your channel.
Thanks Wayne! Appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment. Mark is such a great guy, and yes, his ability to convert the technical into the basic language of a user was wonderful.
This is brilliant. By far the most thorough explanation I have seen on the Nikon auto-focus system. I am currently using the Nikon Z7-2 and have a much better understanding of the menu options now than I did before watching the interview. The interactive demonstration of the menu displays was extremely helpful.
Actually, Michael, I have to VERY STRONGLY disagree. Now I love the concept of the video and thank Mark and the host for putting this together and spending a lot of their time (for this and the podcast). That said, let's just start at the beginning with the Auto-focus Area discussion. The good: Thank you Mark for telling us that "Pinpoint" only uses the slower contrast detection AF method (wish you went down that rabbit hole, but I understand why you didn't). That was terrific. The subsequent discussion of Single point, dynamic (S, M, L), Wide Area, 3D, and Auto-Area AF (now also Wide Area C1, C2) would have benefited immensely from an Atomos through the viewfinder look at what those areas look like and then a quick demo (with bobble head) how they work (rather than just talking). The discussion was also far from complete. For example, it did not mention the several key features of the AF areas (i.e. 1. that in wide area it will follow the subject slightly outside the box, 2. the reason to go 3D vs. WA or Auto-Area is to control what the AF point stays on (since other people, objects entering the frame, and closer than the desired object, will end up as the focus point). I know this is a very long video, but I was hoping it would go more in depth and reveal the best situations to use each mode, and the failures of each mode. That was just a little too much to hope for from a Nikon Senior manager (even though I enjoy his commentary). This felt more like a Nikon Public relations event than serious discussion. Last Gripe (and sorry for this as I just really want to thank the host for putting this on). The Comment "Just go to mirrorless people". Listen, I'm already there with the Z9. I would never tell people that. Does it have advantages, for me lots (especially with the Z9). Mirrorless is still evolving. Nikon's EVF and size and weight will need improvements for some. Their Dynamic Range at ISOs below 500 but above 64 could improve (and clearly drop below the D850). The masked OSPADF only in the horizontal direction sometimes making close small objects without edges (birds) difficult to refocus on after the camera locks on the background. All this is to say, there are so many advantages of mirrorless, but the technology isn't completely there yet and some people just do not need the additional benefits which come at a huge price (i.e. old used f-mount lenses less expensive, Compact Flash, SD cards, XQD cards less expensive, try getting a replacement part for the Z9 right now should something break). Be a photographer because you love taking photos and stay within your means to do it.
Hey @dance2jam, Thanks for the feedback. All very valid, and I’m sorry if the video fell short for your needs. A few points, if I may…. This wasn’t a Nikon PR show at all. Both this, and the show I did with Canon, were my idea. In fact, these are not at all any like the normal show. I describe in the blog post why I wanted to do these, and a bit in the video. My goal was simply to give an explanation of the available menu options related to AF. As I stated at the start, this was not intended to a technical training or explore use cases too deeply. That I’m and of itself is a rabbit hole. Like you here, I’d have someone say I didn’t cover their scenario. Don’t misunderstand me, I love the feedback you give here, and you are right… for what you’d like. For Michael however this did fit his need and expectations. I thought about showing through the lens, and did at one point with just white paper in front of it, to show the AF box. The issue with the bobble head idea - which is a damn good idea - is part logistics, as I’d need a slightly different recording setup. The issue with getting into various situations is, as mentioned above, you can get lost in that, and you’ll always leave out the one person A wanted. We did touch on the AF working outside of the box in the listener questions, but yes, not exactly as you meant but at least we got that in there that it does it. Bottom line, great points you make, and I’ll keep them in mind. Let me add one thing… and this is by no means an excuse - again, love the criticisms you make here, - but as you point out this show is already long (the Canon show was 5 min longer). While on YT it’s not an issue, I release this as a two podcasts - audio only and video. My podcast hosting plan unfortunately has limited space, and I need to get multiple shows a month uploaded. While that’s not an issue any viewer cares about, and rightly so, it is something I have to be aware of when length greatly increases file sizes. Lastly, my guests always have a time limit. Here, I went well past Mark’s end of day, but he kindly stayed at work late to finish. So again, thank you. Your kind, fair critique was refreshing. ~ Steve
@@BehindTheShot Thank you very much Steve for taking the time to produce the video and respond to my freaking comment. LOL Let me say first: I really do appreciate the effort you undertook and watching the video I just enjoyed listening to you (great voice for radio talk). After sleeping on it I had a specific thought about the AF modes (and now I understand your goal and constraints). Clearly, a complete review would have to have been broken up into parts and I get limited time to touch on it. If I were directing your video, had unlimited time/resources etc. I would have shot each AF mode in "live view" and put two bobble heads (or one animal, one person) in front of the lens at separate depths or same depth and revealed why you would choose the different AF modes and the limitations of each. The main reason for this is to show people both new and experience in the Nikon world how these modes work and the limitations of each. No one else on RUclips has done that to my knowledge. I know your video wasn't a promotional video. Didn't mean to make it sound like I did. I know you did not have that intent at all. Mark was clear, but also doesn't mention the limitations you might find using each mode (i.e. a negative). I get it. I understand why. Just sayin. I'll look forward to going through the other work you do. Just know your attempt was more appealing than my comment might have made it sound. You're follow-up comment just shows you're a quality guy with great intentions. I look forward to future podcasts.
What’s funny is I thought about doing the live view idea, but my friend David Bergman has used mannequin heads (or maybe the ones they use for wigs) and I was stuck on wanting that and then the space to do exactly what you say, multiple at different depths. Damn that would be a great demo. And again, your time, both watching and commenting are very appreciated. Not everyone leaves constructive comments so politely. So this was awesome. This really is different than any normal show I do. The normal podcast is me, with one photographer and one of their photos. We dissect it to better understand why they may have made the choices they did. Basically, interviewing the photo. Anyway thanks again, and have a great week!
Hi Russell, Yes, the D500 will have many of the same settings / options. The performance of most of those will be different however, just as the overall AF performance is different. My Canon 7D from years ago had auto focus, and many of the same options for customizing it existed back then as do for modern cameras, but it struggled to get and hold focus in situations my R5 would have no issues with. Not to mention my R5 would do it all faster. All that said, if the D500 still meets your needs today then yeah, it serves its purpose.
Please Nikon read this as it is very important I think many people would want to have those features on Z6II: 1. When you save the modes on any of the users settings, it does not save the shooting mode (high speed, low speed, single mode etc.) and stays as it is. So if I want to switch from still object shooting mode let’s say stored in “U1” to fast moving subject mode stored in “U2” I want camera also switch immediately from “single shooting” mode to for ex. “continuous high shooting” mode as stored. 2. Again, user modes store file name information individually. So if I want to change the file name, I need to change it for all 3 user modes one by one which is totally unnecessary and a waste of time. However, file name setting should apply to all modes. Thank you :)
I have a Z 50 and love it but I will always continue to use my old DSLRs.The D3 is the best camera ever made and will never stop using it.Wish I had the money to buy a Z 9 .
Hey Steve, first time seeing your channel and what a great introduction! The word “awesome” is so overused, but Mr Cruz’s expertise and clarity combined with your thoroughness in taking us through the menu system made this, for me, an awesome and enjoyable piece of instruction. Thank you so much 🙏
I have had the Z9 since Dec and have watched many videos on this camera. Yours is by far the best on the AF system video I have come across. Thank you tons.
Thank you both esp Mark for explaining these AF features, my ZF didn’t come with a guide, good to save paper, but needed this extra explanation to remedy my new diagnosis, old man-itis with understanding new tech. Cheers Gentlemen.
Thanks Allen for watching. I agree. Mark was awesome. I had already done the Canon version of the show, and the guys at Nikon know the Canon guy I talked to - Rudy Winston. I asked them to get me the Nikon equivalent of Rudy, and they knew who they’d use instantly.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This was an excellent explanation of the Nikon auto-focus system. I have looked at countless videos, and I still didn't have a clear understanding of all of these features. This was clear, concise, informative, and most importantly interesting. I know I will rewatch it again. I can not tell you how much this helped. Great interview Steve and great explanations Mark.
Well… I happen to catch this video as well because I happen to shoot with Nikon Z and canon. This video you did wonderful. There were basically zero interruptions when the presenter was speaking. Not sure which video was first , if the Canon one or this one , but you did Amazing here !! 10/10. I just had to say it.
Hahaha. Thank you. And yes, the Canon one was 5 or 6 months earlier than this one and I had comments like yours in my mind - plus my hosting company had increased my storage just before this one, so I was less worried about file size. Thank you again for your time watching.
Re - back button focus - yes for a dslr No for the Z9 in my action/wildlife shooting bank. My default af-c is area c1 activated with subject tracking(normally wildlife only)when I slightly depress the shutter. However when I press the af-on button the af changes to 3D tracking with wildlife subject detection. This has vastly improved my ability to find and lock-on to animals - particularly eagles/hawks - and hold them with 3D as they dive. Should I loose them out of the view finder I lift the af-on button and press it again once I have found them again in af-w2.
@@BehindTheShot What we Z9 shooters are discovering is just how powerful/complex and confusing the Z9 can be. Particularly as we change/optimise our settings across the 4 shooting banks and, in my case, forget what each button / option is set to. I do use a paper aide-memoir and even then as time is passing and I have shot over 100k images across my 2 Z9s I am finding that simplification and standardisation are increasingly critical to the effectiveness of my shooting. Sure if I am in an interior setting with flickering light/add panels I am going to use the new High-frequency flicker reduction tools added as part of Firmware update v2.1 and this will apply to all my shots in that environment. BUT for the bulk of the rest I am of the school that tries to keep the same actions programmed to the same buttons across all Memory/Shooting Banks. Sure my Action Bank (B) is optimised to fast action; my Portrait (C) optimised for portrait AND landscape/still life (D) optimised for landscape - but these do not change what each of my button control settings do. e.g. The Movie Record button is used to Recall Hold the appropriate go-to Shooting Settings I use for each type of shoot.
Just received my Z-9. Having difficulty setting up for bird photography. Found this discussion very interesting. Watched to the end. I am 83 and started photography 4 years ago. Have moved from D-7200, D-750, D-500 and tried a Z-7 which I didn’t care for. Having more success than I could have hoped for but the Z-9 is initially intimidating. Not able to get the eye detection function to be operational so far. Guess you just have to keep practicing. Thanks for your videos.
Hi Robert, Thanks for watching. You’re not the only one having issues with eye detection for bird photography. If you scan the comments here you will find others. The latest firmware helped a little I’ve heard, but if there are branches etc in the way that can cause issues, and a different AF method might be more effective in those scenarios. Thanks again!
Sometimes it pays to put in the time. Thank you for teaching us how to look at the menu settings and read them (all) so we can begin to learn to solve our own questions. (There is so much information on RUclips from people that want face time and have no gravitas.) Education is teaching us to form our own, better questions, so we can more-easily find the answers.
Awesome video. Steve you are a great host with a lot of value added. Mark Cruz was wonderful. Very detailed discussions. He really new everything you asked him and explained it really clearly. Best video on the Z9 auto focus that I have seen. Thank you!!!
Hey Gary, Thank you so much for taking the time to comment, and for the kind words. It means a lot. More importantly. thanks for watching, and I’m very happy you enjoyed it.
What a brilliant video and explanation of feature. While I only have a Z6 and a Z7 it helps me understand better some of the features on my cameras and makes me want to explore them more. Just brilliant - thank you I will be watching this a second time. Who knows I may win lotto and get a Z9 with all the lenses I would like, or perhaps the Z8 when it arrives.
Hi Les, Thank you so much for the kind words and, most importantly, I’m glad that it helped. I’d love to enter that lottery too! After playing with the Z9 for just a couple of days, getting ready for this video, it is just an amazing camera. It’s a camera that could get people to switch brands.
Phenomenal! Thank you Steve and Mark, was so helpful. Easy to follow in depth explanation of the focus modes. It would be great if you had additional series on remaining setting of the Z9.
Hey Mike, Thank you very much for watching! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I hadn’t actually considered going through all the menus, since I figured that auto focus settings were the biggest challenge for most people, but I like the idea. Let me reach out to Nikon and see if that something they’re interested in doing. Thank you again!
Hey Andy, I agree, even though I’m not a Nikon shooter, the D750 is an awesome body. However, you are correct. With a Canon having a Crop mirrorless now, and Nikon clearly heading the same direction, DSLRs are on the way out.
Thanks guys. I use a d810 and this has also demystified some settings for me. Great to actually see the menus and that they are similar to older models too.
Hi Steve, This is so so valuable. Big thanks to you and Mark Cruz, to create this content and help me understand my brand new Z9 AF System. Can't express the value this video has.
Great video and thanks for all your hard work in putting it together and for taking the time to help people like me to understand autofocus which has been somewhat frustrating for me because of my ignorance.
Wow, this was my first podcast/video from Behind the Shot, but I love it. Couple of minuites in I hit subscribe. You take your time, have a very pleasant voice and of course the topic was of great interest to me. Looking forward to the next one!
Best Focus video ever. Just technical enough with great usage guidence for each option. This is a downloaded keeper. Thank you very much. New Subscriber.
Even though I have a D850, I followed along on my menus. For the settings that the D850 and the Z9 have in common, and for Nikon's AF and menu practices in general, this was very helpful. I only wish we could get a similar monumental firmware upgrade for the D850 that would substantially improve its capabilities. It's just sad the Nikon has decided it has to abandon its DSLR shooters in an effort to move everyone to mirrorless. The D850 was my aspirational camera and I only just bought it - don't have ten grand plus to make the switch, and probably wouldn't if I did.
Re: BBAF - I'm finding it much less necessary in mirrorless bodies, given the tracking modes available (even for action). But one thing I love about the Z9 is we now have AF-C in-focus display (focus point turns green like in AF-S). I feel like BBAF might be useful to me again with this option. In AF-C / BBAF, I rarely (if ever) let go of AF-ON and then shoot, I just never knew exactly where the focus plane landed. Main thing is, these cameras are entirely customizable to suit everyone's needs. Excellent & helpful interview, thanks!
That last sentence is so key. The options are so deep that users can customize at a very granular level. BBF to me is still very helpful simply because I want no AF on the shutter. Thanks so much for watching, and sharing your thoughts! Glad you found the info helpful.
This video helped me a lot. I mainly shoot on the d850. So some of the explanations don't apply. However, I do have a Z6ii. I'm still not 100% sold on mirrorless. A lot of the customization that can be done on the D850 & Z9, cannot be done on the Z6ii. It's as simple as nikon updating firmware and unlocking some of this for their cheaper cameras. I was disappointed with the Z6ii in that regard. I hope they can throw us some crumbs in a future firmware update.
Greetings to Nikon from a Nikon shooter still having the FM2n: Amongst Z7, a bunch of Z lenses, I have the Z9 and the Z400 2.8 TC VR S. The camera is awesome the Z glass is generally best of the best, Nikon nailed it with the Z mount. I have firmware 2.0 installed. But if it comes to AF and subject detection and tracking, specially if it comes to birds, the Z system, even the Z9 on firmware 2.0 is a total failure. It simply does not work as expected. In comparison to a1 + 200-600 5.6-6.3 G, something like subject detection does not exist on the Z9, I could test this myself. According the some RUclips videos, the OM-1 even outperforms the a1, special if birds are sitting in bushes behind branches. Also the Z9 is super prone to background, where the the a1 immediately is focusing on e.g. mallards in flight. They come in like bullets, the a1 picks them in full auto area immediately. No time for single point AF or so, the Auto-area mode must catch this. Maybe I have a faulty Z9. However, why having the best lens in the world (Z400), if the AF system does not focus the subject? The (unfortunately discontinued) D500 + 500 PF delivers more keepers! Damm it Nikon make your homework on AF or licence the OM-1 or a1 software. Give me a reason not to switch to Sony or OM.
Hi Roland, I’m not Nikon, or affiliated with Nikon in any way. I’m just a podcast that invited Nikon on to explain the AF options available. That said, you’re not alone. 3 or 4 others have said the same thing, that the Z9 fails with bird detection. I passed a few of those other comments to Nikon, and perhaps they will answer them. If they do I’ll post them to the relevant comments here. On the OM, I know Scott Bourne loves their AF. Hopefully, Nikon will update the firmware again to solve these issues.
First of all thanks to both of you from the core of my heart. This is the first I am seeing a video about the Nikon autofocus system from Nikon Senior Manager Mark Cruz. But, this is for Nikon Z9 only. I use Nikon Z6II and mainly do bird photography and face focusing issues, particularly when a bird is sitting on a tree and there are foliages. For action photography particularly birds in a flight, I use Wide-Area AF (L) or Wide Aera AF (S). This works well sometimes but not all the time, when a bird's size is small. I feel the contrast-detect fails. The lens I use is Nikon Z 100-400 mm. Pls. suggest depending upon the situation described above what are your suggestions? I am sorry to say that I find Auto Area AF particularly tracking is basically useless. Waiting for a response from your end. Thanks in advance.
Hi Alokes, First, to be clear, this video is not for the Z9 only. As I said at the start, the majority of the options we go through apply either directly or conceptually to many other Nikon bodies, and in fact conceptually they apply to other brands, although their terminology is usually different. That said, you aren’t the only with this issue, and based on a few other comments here I have passed that onto Mark. For a few comments / questions, he has emailed me answers that I have shared with those comments. One key point in a reply from Mark was that part of the issue is what you mention. You mention “when a bird’s size is small, and that’s important. You’ll find his text somewhere below, but his point was that as long as the bird fills enough of the frame it will work, but it does need to fill a fair size. Unfortunately, that’s the way the detection works as best as I can find. Sorry to not be of more help, or that I don’t have a solution, but I have passed it to Mark and to my knowledge he’s passed it on to the engineers he has access to.
@@BehindTheShot Thanks a lot for a quick reply and I will go through the other posts also to clear my concept. Truely speaking thanks again for this discussion about nikon autofocus system.
Absolutely amazing and informative video. I changed from my D750 to the Z6ii last week and now how so much more insight and confidence about how to make the focus system work for me. Many thanks.
Thanks for watching, and I am right there with. Cant justify the top of the line body. Still, much of what we discussed applies to all the Nikon mirrorless bodies. Not everything, but a lot of it.
First, Let me say, this was an excellent video. I learned a lot. I am a Z6ii shooter and I just wanted to see how the autofocus differed comparing the z9 to the z6ii. The best features I saw were first the tip on using the i button and the primary wheel which I found worked the same on my z6ii. Second the ability to assign a function button to a focus area and third the recall shooting functions, both were not available on my z6ii. I am also a D500 DSLR shooter and the reason I still have kept my D500 is because the Z6ii does not allow changing the focus area with a single button press like the D500. I have not sprung for the Z9 because it is too heavy and to expensive. If we could just get these two functions in the other z series models that would be great. These are simple menu settings so should not be very processor intensive, so why not add these features?
Hi Ken, Thanks so much for watching, and for the kind comment. Your time is much appreciated. As to the question of adding those features, via a firmware update, to the Z6 II I’m not sure why. I’m not a Nikon employee obviously, but I will pass this on to Mark. If he answers, which I can’t guarantee, I’ll post it here. In my head, I agree that button assignments to enable or disable features that the camera is already able to do should not be limited by processing power. Camera companies make these decisions based on what feels like the oddest reasons sometimes. It’s like canon not have the Spot Meter follow a focus point except on a 1 series. That’s software that is written, but even an R3 the Spot Meter only meters from a center AF point regardless of where the active AF point is. Anyway, sorry I’m not if more help on this.
@@BehindTheShot Thanks Steve for the reply. I was really only hoping Mark would see the comment and pass along the feedback to those who make such decisions at Nikon.
I loved to hear these explanations, thank you very much. Of course, there are some functions I already knew, but some I did not an that was very helpful. Therefor am I asking you two, could it be possible, that you are going trough the whole Z9 settings. If you explain it step by step as you did will it be extremely helpful, even if you are explaining already, ore easy knowing parts, because I know where in the Menu you are. And as you do not know which part could be the most interesting ore helpful for your audience, would it be verry helpful to hear all the explanations step by step, as you did. Thanks again very much.
Not sure if Mark will see or read the comments but here are some future enhancements I'd love to see. 3D tracking. Once I locked focus on the subject, I'd love to have an option so the AF acts as a toggle and the camera would stay focus on the subject I identified until I press the BBF again. It seems futile to me and rather uncomfortable to have to hold the button down most often for a long time. The camera being heavy already it's just creates more stress on the hand. Or even better, have an AF settings where we can let the camera acquire focus automatically (like on the video side in AFF) so right away the camera finds the eye of the person, animal, car etc. which can be quickly overridden if the user moves the focus point or presses the BBF to get a new target. As the camera is doing it in video mode I can't see that being a big issue to have it behave the same on in photo mode or is there? Banks. I'd love to have more bank slots. With so many options and specific parameters for any given scenarios being limited to 4 (and that is for both camera and video) is far from enough. Also having it so we save the settings and not have them automatically saved as soon as a change is made which to me defeats the purpose of carefully crafting a set of parameters for recall when as soon as you change something (which you always do, those banks are a starting point for a shooting scenario). In essence, have them behave more like U1,2,3 on Z7II so those settings don't get changed or overwritten automatically as soon as you change a parameter. I also would want them so if turn off the camera it doesn't recall the original bank settings but stays on whatever settings it had before turning it off. That's the one thing I didn't like on the Z7II U banks. You'd switch to say U1, change your ISO or shutter. I would turn off my camera for a few minutes for a break and it would recall the original U bank settings.
Thanks for the input Marc. I’m not sure if Mark has been watching any comments yet, as the video came out right before the weekend, but we will see. One note just for clarity, which I’m sure you’re already aware of, Mark is with Nikon USA, and not an engineer or in a role to make decisions like this at the international corporate level. He can, I assume, pass these ideas on to the people in those decision making roles however.
Thanks for the video. It was very helpfull. Is there any chance that there will be a update for af for ball sports? Now you can choose between animal and birds should be fine that we can can choose between human and a player with a ball?.
Unfortunately, I’m not with Nikon, Mark was just my guest. I don’t personally think that they would do an update like what you describe, but I’ve been wrong many times. If they were planning that, of course companies like Nikon will never comment on development or unreleased features.
Thanks for watching. I am not 100% clear on your question, so if the answer below isn’t what you meant let me know. It doesn’t sound like you’re talking about the actual AF setting being AF-C (continuous focusing) or AF-S (single shot focus). It sounds like you’re talking about the “Priority” settings of “Release Priority” or Focus Priority”. The actual AF setting - C or S - tell the camera how long to focus - as long as the shutter is pressed half-way (or the back AF button is pressed) vs focus one time until focus is achieved and then stop. The priority settings are completely different. Release Priority tells the camera to prioritize releasing the shutter - taking a photo - EVEN IF FOCUS HAS NOT BEEN ACHIEVED. So it will let you take a photo even when it hasn’t gotten a positive focus. Focus Priority tells the camera to prioritize getting focus before allowing the shutter to be released to take a photo. That gives you a better chance of an in focus shot, but at the expense of possibly having to wait longer to trigger the shutter.
I am still confused, what is the difference between Dynamic and Wide-area. Wide-area seems to include subject detection. Is there any advantage to use Dynamic area at all?
Great question! So first of all, yes, Wide-Area allows for subject detection, but that’s not all. Wide-Area is a larger area and the initial focus point can be anywhere inside that area. Let’s say you’re not using subject detection… it can grab AF anywhere in the area to start. That’s awesome, say for a runner doing hurdles as you pan. BUT, you don’t get to chose the subject. It decides based on factors like distance etc - or subject detection if it’s on. It might not see the face (maybe they have a hat on and are in shade), so it may grab their chest. Could work great, maybe not always. Dynamic is a single point AF - the center point. It will always start AF on that point. So, you can manually place that on their face / eye and pan to keep it there, even if their face is shadowed to where the subject detection wouldn’t have worked in Wide-Area. You pick the subject. But, if you don’t keep it exactly on their face, because they’re moving erratically that’s ok because it has a helper area around it. If they leave the chosen center point the buffer area kicks in to help. It’s important to realize that this is not multiple AF points in use - it’s one. The other only kick in to help the main one if needed.
Hi Chris, First of all, I’m not Nikon support, and in fact have no connection to Nikon. Mark was simply a guest on the show. As such I don’t have every body to look up features. Not to mention, answering questions for people that don’t watch isn’t what I’m here for. That said, I’ll answer this one time. The feature I think you’re talking about (I’m not a Fuji user) is called pre-release capture (I was wrong and the correction is below, but I’m leaving this here anyway). If your body has it, which I think it does, you’ll find it under: Custom Settings D - Shooting / Display D3 - Pre-Release Capture Options NOTE: I had a friend correct me that my feature mentioned above is wrong: “Pre-release capture isn't related to focus. In Fujifilm parlance, Pre-release capture is the same as Pre-shot Electronic Shutter. The Zf doesn't have a stills equivalent of Fujifilm's Pre-AF.” Thanks, Steve
I just want to say this was immensely helpful. Autofocus settings can be so confusing and really has to be explained by someone articulate and succinct. Mark is the perfect person for this. When I first came across him in the Z8 introduction video, I actually wondered if he was a hired actor because his delivery was so controlled and eloquent. Pleasantly surprised that it all comes from the fundamentals.
Thank for watching, Steve. So glad you enjoyed it, and that it helped.
Just switching to Nikon Z. I need to watch this video again and again camera in hand. Many thanks!
Hey Steve,
Thanks for watching, and glad it helped!
Finally! Somebody who actually knows what they are talking about. Thank you!
Thanks Frank! Appreciate you taking the time to watch, and for the kind comment.
Excellent! Mark's explanations were broken down in such an easily understood manner.👏👏👏 This one is definitely saved in my favorites! Thanks so much!
So glad you liked it, Rachel. Thanks for watching.
Both your questions and follow up comments and Mr Cruz’s insightful explanations were great. It’s good to see someone at Nikon who has such intimate knowledge of the system, yet can still explain such technical items with the joy of an enthusiast. This was very helpful and I look forward to watching future discussions on your channel.
Thanks Wayne! Appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment. Mark is such a great guy, and yes, his ability to convert the technical into the basic language of a user was wonderful.
Mark Cruz is the man! Mark has help change photography from a fundamental level!
This is brilliant. By far the most thorough explanation I have seen on the Nikon auto-focus system. I am currently using the Nikon Z7-2 and have a much better understanding of the menu options now than I did before watching the interview. The interactive demonstration of the menu displays was extremely helpful.
Hey Michael! Hope you’ve been great!
Thanks for watching, and glad it helped.
Actually, Michael, I have to VERY STRONGLY disagree. Now I love the concept of the video and thank Mark and the host for putting this together and spending a lot of their time (for this and the podcast). That said, let's just start at the beginning with the Auto-focus Area discussion. The good: Thank you Mark for telling us that "Pinpoint" only uses the slower contrast detection AF method (wish you went down that rabbit hole, but I understand why you didn't). That was terrific. The subsequent discussion of Single point, dynamic (S, M, L), Wide Area, 3D, and Auto-Area AF (now also Wide Area C1, C2) would have benefited immensely from an Atomos through the viewfinder look at what those areas look like and then a quick demo (with bobble head) how they work (rather than just talking). The discussion was also far from complete. For example, it did not mention the several key features of the AF areas (i.e. 1. that in wide area it will follow the subject slightly outside the box, 2. the reason to go 3D vs. WA or Auto-Area is to control what the AF point stays on (since other people, objects entering the frame, and closer than the desired object, will end up as the focus point). I know this is a very long video, but I was hoping it would go more in depth and reveal the best situations to use each mode, and the failures of each mode. That was just a little too much to hope for from a Nikon Senior manager (even though I enjoy his commentary). This felt more like a Nikon Public relations event than serious discussion. Last Gripe (and sorry for this as I just really want to thank the host for putting this on). The Comment "Just go to mirrorless people". Listen, I'm already there with the Z9. I would never tell people that. Does it have advantages, for me lots (especially with the Z9). Mirrorless is still evolving. Nikon's EVF and size and weight will need improvements for some. Their Dynamic Range at ISOs below 500 but above 64 could improve (and clearly drop below the D850). The masked OSPADF only in the horizontal direction sometimes making close small objects without edges (birds) difficult to refocus on after the camera locks on the background. All this is to say, there are so many advantages of mirrorless, but the technology isn't completely there yet and some people just do not need the additional benefits which come at a huge price (i.e. old used f-mount lenses less expensive, Compact Flash, SD cards, XQD cards less expensive, try getting a replacement part for the Z9 right now should something break). Be a photographer because you love taking photos and stay within your means to do it.
Hey @dance2jam,
Thanks for the feedback. All very valid, and I’m sorry if the video fell short for your needs. A few points, if I may….
This wasn’t a Nikon PR show at all. Both this, and the show I did with Canon, were my idea. In fact, these are not at all any like the normal show. I describe in the blog post why I wanted to do these, and a bit in the video. My goal was simply to give an explanation of the available menu options related to AF. As I stated at the start, this was not intended to a technical training or explore use cases too deeply. That I’m and of itself is a rabbit hole. Like you here, I’d have someone say I didn’t cover their scenario. Don’t misunderstand me, I love the feedback you give here, and you are right… for what you’d like. For Michael however this did fit his need and expectations.
I thought about showing through the lens, and did at one point with just white paper in front of it, to show the AF box. The issue with the bobble head idea - which is a damn good idea - is part logistics, as I’d need a slightly different recording setup. The issue with getting into various situations is, as mentioned above, you can get lost in that, and you’ll always leave out the one person A wanted.
We did touch on the AF working outside of the box in the listener questions, but yes, not exactly as you meant but at least we got that in there that it does it.
Bottom line, great points you make, and I’ll keep them in mind. Let me add one thing… and this is by no means an excuse - again, love the criticisms you make here, - but as you point out this show is already long (the Canon show was 5 min longer). While on YT it’s not an issue, I release this as a two podcasts - audio only and video. My podcast hosting plan unfortunately has limited space, and I need to get multiple shows a month uploaded. While that’s not an issue any viewer cares about, and rightly so, it is something I have to be aware of when length greatly increases file sizes.
Lastly, my guests always have a time limit. Here, I went well past Mark’s end of day, but he kindly stayed at work late to finish.
So again, thank you. Your kind, fair critique was refreshing.
~ Steve
@@BehindTheShot Thank you very much Steve for taking the time to produce the video and respond to my freaking comment. LOL Let me say first: I really do appreciate the effort you undertook and watching the video I just enjoyed listening to you (great voice for radio talk). After sleeping on it I had a specific thought about the AF modes (and now I understand your goal and constraints). Clearly, a complete review would have to have been broken up into parts and I get limited time to touch on it. If I were directing your video, had unlimited time/resources etc. I would have shot each AF mode in "live view" and put two bobble heads (or one animal, one person) in front of the lens at separate depths or same depth and revealed why you would choose the different AF modes and the limitations of each. The main reason for this is to show people both new and experience in the Nikon world how these modes work and the limitations of each. No one else on RUclips has done that to my knowledge. I know your video wasn't a promotional video. Didn't mean to make it sound like I did. I know you did not have that intent at all. Mark was clear, but also doesn't mention the limitations you might find using each mode (i.e. a negative). I get it. I understand why. Just sayin. I'll look forward to going through the other work you do. Just know your attempt was more appealing than my comment might have made it sound. You're follow-up comment just shows you're a quality guy with great intentions. I look forward to future podcasts.
What’s funny is I thought about doing the live view idea, but my friend David Bergman has used mannequin heads (or maybe the ones they use for wigs) and I was stuck on wanting that and then the space to do exactly what you say, multiple at different depths. Damn that would be a great demo.
And again, your time, both watching and commenting are very appreciated. Not everyone leaves constructive comments so politely. So this was awesome.
This really is different than any normal show I do. The normal podcast is me, with one photographer and one of their photos. We dissect it to better understand why they may have made the choices they did. Basically, interviewing the photo.
Anyway thanks again, and have a great week!
Thank you. What this tells me is my 7 year old Nikon D500 is an amazing camera.
I have 95% of the features in the Z9 at 75% less the cost.
Hi Russell,
Yes, the D500 will have many of the same settings / options. The performance of most of those will be different however, just as the overall AF performance is different. My Canon 7D from years ago had auto focus, and many of the same options for customizing it existed back then as do for modern cameras, but it struggled to get and hold focus in situations my R5 would have no issues with. Not to mention my R5 would do it all faster.
All that said, if the D500 still meets your needs today then yeah, it serves its purpose.
I shoot Nikon for years and can't wait to watch this. I just watched the Canon Pro 1000 17 and it was excellent.
Thanks, and hope you enjoy it.
Please Nikon read this as it is very important I think many people would want to have those features on Z6II:
1. When you save the modes on any of the users settings, it does not save the shooting mode (high speed, low speed, single mode etc.) and stays as it is. So if I want to switch from still object shooting mode let’s say stored in “U1” to fast moving subject mode stored in “U2” I want camera also switch immediately from “single shooting” mode to for ex. “continuous high shooting” mode as stored.
2. Again, user modes store file name information individually. So if I want to change the file name, I need to change it for all 3 user modes one by one which is totally unnecessary and a waste of time. However, file name setting should apply to all modes.
Thank you :)
I can’t promise Nikon will ever see this, but thanks for watching.
I have a Z 50 and love it but I will always continue to use my old DSLRs.The D3 is the best camera ever made and will never stop using it.Wish I had the money to buy a Z 9 .
Hey Roy,
Oh yeah. The D3 is / was awesome! Still, if you ever get to use a Z9 I think you find it’s pretty insane.
This was fantastic! I wish Nikon would do this on a regular basis for each camera release.
Thanks Heather! And, I’d love to do more shows with Nikon. Super nice people.
Just bought my first camera on 30 November 2022, my journey starts with the Nikon D200... GoodVibes
That was OUTSTANDING! Nikon just released my Z9 and I will probably listen again when I get it in my hands. Great job!
Awesome! Thanks for watching.
Just received my Z9 and found this video! Perfect timing! I have learned so much. Thank you
Thanks for watching, Martha. So glad it helped.
Hey Steve, first time seeing your channel and what a great introduction! The word “awesome” is so overused, but Mr Cruz’s expertise and clarity combined with your thoroughness in taking us through the menu system made this, for me, an awesome and enjoyable piece of instruction. Thank you so much 🙏
Hey Iain, Thanks so much for watching, and so glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you Steve and Mark Cruz! This is gold. So well presented and I will be referring back to it many times.
Mary! How the heck have you been? Thank you, as always. Please tell Terry hi!
Steve and Mark, what a brilliant and informative session. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!
Thanks for watching, Reymond.
I have had the Z9 since Dec and have watched many videos on this camera. Yours is by far the best on the AF system video I have come across. Thank you tons.
Thank you Dr. Goldman! Appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment.
By far the best AF explanation for any Nikon body. Thank you for your time and effort guys. 🙏🙏🙏😊
Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed it.
Excellent. You two are such good communicators that even I understood most of it. (Z8 owner)
Thanks for watching, and for the kind comment. Have a great week.
I'm new to photography and recently got a Z5. This was immensely helpful. Thanks.
Welcome to the wonderful world of photography! You’ll love the Z5, I’m sure. So glad this helped, and thanks for watching.
Mark, thank you for explaining the Autofocus system settings. It was very helpful.
Thanks for watching, James.
Thank you both esp Mark for explaining these AF features, my ZF didn’t come with a guide, good to save paper, but needed this extra explanation to remedy my new diagnosis, old man-itis with understanding new tech. Cheers Gentlemen.
Glad it helped, and thanks for watching.
Don't understand why Nikon isn't using him all the time. Excellent spokes person with a commanding understanding of the subject.
Thanks Allen for watching. I agree. Mark was awesome. I had already done the Canon version of the show, and the guys at Nikon know the Canon guy I talked to - Rudy Winston. I asked them to get me the Nikon equivalent of Rudy, and they knew who they’d use instantly.
This was great, thank you. It's great to listen to someone who actually knows the product so well!
Thanks, Jessica!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This was an excellent explanation of the Nikon auto-focus system. I have looked at countless videos, and I still didn't have a clear understanding of all of these features. This was clear, concise, informative, and most importantly interesting. I know I will rewatch it again. I can not tell you how much this helped. Great interview Steve and great explanations Mark.
Thanks for watching, and I’m so glad it helped.
Wow!
This is an amazing video (pod cast)
Modern cameras are just so customisable, so many settings.
How that guy remembers them all I have no idea.
Highly valuable information. Thanks so much
Well… I happen to catch this video as well because I happen to shoot with Nikon Z and canon. This video you did wonderful. There were basically zero interruptions when the presenter was speaking. Not sure which video was first , if the Canon one or this one , but you did Amazing here !! 10/10. I just had to say it.
Hahaha. Thank you. And yes, the Canon one was 5 or 6 months earlier than this one and I had comments like yours in my mind - plus my hosting company had increased my storage just before this one, so I was less worried about file size.
Thank you again for your time watching.
Re - back button focus - yes for a dslr No for the Z9 in my action/wildlife shooting bank. My default af-c is area c1 activated with subject tracking(normally wildlife only)when I slightly depress the shutter. However when I press the af-on button the af changes to 3D tracking with wildlife subject detection. This has vastly improved my ability to find and lock-on to animals - particularly eagles/hawks - and hold them with 3D as they dive. Should I loose them out of the view finder I lift the af-on button and press it again once I have found them again in af-w2.
Great point, and not much different than my dual-button setup, except that my dual buttons are still on the back.
@@BehindTheShot What we Z9 shooters are discovering is just how powerful/complex and confusing the Z9 can be. Particularly as we change/optimise our settings across the 4 shooting banks and, in my case, forget what each button / option is set to. I do use a paper aide-memoir and even then as time is passing and I have shot over 100k images across my 2 Z9s I am finding that simplification and standardisation are increasingly critical to the effectiveness of my shooting. Sure if I am in an interior setting with flickering light/add panels I am going to use the new High-frequency flicker reduction tools added as part of Firmware update v2.1 and this will apply to all my shots in that environment. BUT for the bulk of the rest I am of the school that tries to keep the same actions programmed to the same buttons across all Memory/Shooting Banks. Sure my Action Bank (B) is optimised to fast action; my Portrait (C) optimised for portrait AND landscape/still life (D) optimised for landscape - but these do not change what each of my button control settings do. e.g. The Movie Record button is used to Recall Hold the appropriate go-to Shooting Settings I use for each type of shoot.
Been Nikon all my life, did learn even more than ever… Thanks Steve and Mark
Awesome. Glad to hear that Jean Pierre. Thanks, as always, for watching.
Waiting for my pre-orded z6II, this is a great help..after a lot of negative reviews on Nikon Z cameras in terms of AF..
Thanks for watching, and enjoy the new Z6II!
Just received my Z-9. Having difficulty setting up for bird photography. Found this discussion very interesting. Watched to the end. I am 83 and started photography 4 years ago. Have moved from D-7200, D-750, D-500 and tried a Z-7 which I didn’t care for. Having more success than I could have hoped for but the Z-9 is initially intimidating. Not able to get the eye detection function to be operational so far. Guess you just have to keep practicing. Thanks for your videos.
Hi Robert,
Thanks for watching. You’re not the only one having issues with eye detection for bird photography. If you scan the comments here you will find others. The latest firmware helped a little I’ve heard, but if there are branches etc in the way that can cause issues, and a different AF method might be more effective in those scenarios.
Thanks again!
Focus point wrap around is something I’ve wanted for a long time!
I can’t live without it. There are time I accidentally go to far, that’s a pain, but overall it’s a must have feature.
Sometimes it pays to put in the time.
Thank you for teaching us how to look at the menu settings and read them (all) so we can begin to learn to solve our own questions. (There is so much information on RUclips from people that want face time and have no gravitas.)
Education is teaching us to form our own, better questions, so we can more-easily find the answers.
Thanks for watching!
This is absolutely the best video for Z9 I've seen great job both of you Thank you .
Thanks Doug!
I just purchased a Nikon Z8 and I find your video very helpful.
Thanks for watching, Charles. Glad it was helpful.
Awesome video. Steve you are a great host with a lot of value added. Mark Cruz was wonderful. Very detailed discussions. He really new everything you asked him and explained it really clearly. Best video on the Z9 auto focus that I have seen. Thank you!!!
Hey Gary,
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment, and for the kind words. It means a lot. More importantly. thanks for watching, and I’m very happy you enjoyed it.
A fantastic show on Nikon AF. Easy to follow, great info, in depth menu discussion, and action oriented.
Thanks for watching Duane. Glad you enjoyed it.
One of the best videos on Autofocus on you tube. Very informative.
Thanks for watching. Glad it was helpful!
Thanks so much for making this video. You've de-mystified all the focus settings of my new Z8.
Thanks for watching, David. So glad it helped.
Please do a similar video with Nikon's metering modes and white balance options.
Perfect suggestion. I was talking to Mark at WPPI about doing another show, and we were trying to figure out the topic. I’ll ask him about this one.
Excellent!! Superb work there guys, this particular pod-cast will be a much returned-to resource, many thanks to you both.
So glad that it helped, and thank you for watching.
Excellent! Perfect timing as I work my way though 2.0 and some of the initial customizable options. Thanks to both of you from 🇨🇦
Thank you for taking the time to watch Raymond. I’m glad it helped.
What a brilliant video and explanation of feature. While I only have a Z6 and a Z7 it helps me understand better some of the features on my cameras and makes me want to explore them more. Just brilliant - thank you I will be watching this a second time. Who knows I may win lotto and get a Z9 with all the lenses I would like, or perhaps the Z8 when it arrives.
Hi Les,
Thank you so much for the kind words and, most importantly, I’m glad that it helped.
I’d love to enter that lottery too! After playing with the Z9 for just a couple of days, getting ready for this video, it is just an amazing camera. It’s a camera that could get people to switch brands.
Great information! I just got a Z8! This was extremely valuable!!!! Thanks for your work!
Glad it was helpful, Randy! Thanks for watching.
WOW !!!!! THANKYOU BOTH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for watching John.
Very nice bhai. You have taught me very much. Kindly upload more of these videos. Not a single video like this on youtube
This video deserves so much credit! Great content that is explained in such detail, thank you both of you!
Hi Nikola,
Thanks so much for such a nice compliment. I very much appreciate you taking the time to watch, and I’ll pass this on to Mark as well.
Glad I found you and your channel! I'm a Nikon D750 camera dude and this is really helpful...THANKS!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
Phenomenal! Thank you Steve and Mark, was so helpful. Easy to follow in depth explanation of the focus modes. It would be great if you had additional series on remaining setting of the Z9.
Hey Mike,
Thank you very much for watching! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
I hadn’t actually considered going through all the menus, since I figured that auto focus settings were the biggest challenge for most people, but I like the idea. Let me reach out to Nikon and see if that something they’re interested in doing.
Thank you again!
Galing kaayo ka Mark! Idol ka gyud !
Very helpful explanation of the differences of DSLR and Mirrorless. I just got my Z9 and so far, blown away1
Hi Caiolinn,
Yes, I’m so impressed with what Nikon pulled off, and for less than the Canon R3. It’s the camera right now.
Tim Hortons! Love it! Great explanation. I just got my Z9 and am still figuring things out so this was very helpful.
So glad to hear it helped Dan. Thanks for watching.
Tim Horton's , one more thing I miss since moving.
I just stumbled across this video, thank you! Great conversation and info! 👍
Greetings from Austria, Manfred
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching.
Absolutely phenomenal resource, this. Thank you Steve and thank you Mark. I'll keep fingers crossed for a part 2 on other settings/techniques :)
Thanks Benjamin! Appreciate you taking the time to watch.
Nikon fan forever .... I am still in love my D750, but a mirrorless I'm sure is in the future :)
Hey Andy,
I agree, even though I’m not a Nikon shooter, the D750 is an awesome body. However, you are correct. With a Canon having a Crop mirrorless now, and Nikon clearly heading the same direction, DSLRs are on the way out.
Thanks guys. I use a d810 and this has also demystified some settings for me. Great to actually see the menus and that they are similar to older models too.
Thanks for watching, and glad it helped.
Thanks bunch I will be back👍🏾
Thank you and Mr. Cruz for this informative video. I am looking forward for my Z9. But these hints will also help me for my D850 and Z 50.
Thank you Juri. Glad it helped.
Hi Steve,
This is so so valuable. Big thanks to you and Mark Cruz, to create this content and help me understand my brand new Z9 AF System. Can't express the value this video has.
So kind of you to say. Thanks for watching, and I’m glad it helped. Cheers!
Great video and thanks for all your hard work in putting it together and for taking the time to help people like me to understand autofocus which has been somewhat frustrating for me because of my ignorance.
AF is definitely frustrating. Don’t give up. There will be a moment where it “clicks” and makes sense. Seriously, you’re not alone.
Thank you, this really help me better understand when reading the manuals for the F4 and D4s which I "inherited" only recently.......😆
Glad it helped, and thanks for watching.
Back button focus is awesome!!! THANK YOU.
So glad you liked it. I tried going back as an experiment… nope, never.
Excellent description and very focused on Foucus
Thanks for watching!
Wow, this was my first podcast/video from Behind the Shot, but I love it. Couple of minuites in I hit subscribe. You take your time, have a very pleasant voice and of course the topic was of great interest to me. Looking forward to the next one!
Thanks Marc!
Best Focus video ever. Just technical enough with great usage guidence for each option. This is a downloaded keeper. Thank you very much. New Subscriber.
Hey Kevin,
Thanks for taking the time to watch. So glad you found it helpful.
Even though I have a D850, I followed along on my menus. For the settings that the D850 and the Z9 have in common, and for Nikon's AF and menu practices in general, this was very helpful. I only wish we could get a similar monumental firmware upgrade for the D850 that would substantially improve its capabilities. It's just sad the Nikon has decided it has to abandon its DSLR shooters in an effort to move everyone to mirrorless. The D850 was my aspirational camera and I only just bought it - don't have ten grand plus to make the switch, and probably wouldn't if I did.
So happy it helped, and yes, conceptually the AF settings have a lot in common.
That would be so amazing if Nikon would help us.
All the knowledge clearly explained-finally!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Love Nikon and this video is really helpful.
Thanks for watching, Roy. Glad you enjoyed it.
Re: BBAF - I'm finding it much less necessary in mirrorless bodies, given the tracking modes available (even for action). But one thing I love about the Z9 is we now have AF-C in-focus display (focus point turns green like in AF-S). I feel like BBAF might be useful to me again with this option. In AF-C / BBAF, I rarely (if ever) let go of AF-ON and then shoot, I just never knew exactly where the focus plane landed. Main thing is, these cameras are entirely customizable to suit everyone's needs.
Excellent & helpful interview, thanks!
That last sentence is so key. The options are so deep that users can customize at a very granular level. BBF to me is still very helpful simply because I want no AF on the shutter.
Thanks so much for watching, and sharing your thoughts! Glad you found the info helpful.
This video helped me a lot. I mainly shoot on the d850. So some of the explanations don't apply. However, I do have a Z6ii. I'm still not 100% sold on mirrorless. A lot of the customization that can be done on the D850 & Z9, cannot be done on the Z6ii. It's as simple as nikon updating firmware and unlocking some of this for their cheaper cameras. I was disappointed with the Z6ii in that regard. I hope they can throw us some crumbs in a future firmware update.
Thanks for watching, Nik!
Une excellent video. Un grand merci.
So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching, Pierre.
Greetings to Nikon from a Nikon shooter still having the FM2n: Amongst Z7, a bunch of Z lenses, I have the Z9 and the Z400 2.8 TC VR S. The camera is awesome the Z glass is generally best of the best, Nikon nailed it with the Z mount. I have firmware 2.0 installed. But if it comes to AF and subject detection and tracking, specially if it comes to birds, the Z system, even the Z9 on firmware 2.0 is a total failure. It simply does not work as expected. In comparison to a1 + 200-600 5.6-6.3 G, something like subject detection does not exist on the Z9, I could test this myself. According the some RUclips videos, the OM-1 even outperforms the a1, special if birds are sitting in bushes behind branches. Also the Z9 is super prone to background, where the the a1 immediately is focusing on e.g. mallards in flight. They come in like bullets, the a1 picks them in full auto area immediately. No time for single point AF or so, the Auto-area mode must catch this. Maybe I have a faulty Z9. However, why having the best lens in the world (Z400), if the AF system does not focus the subject? The (unfortunately discontinued) D500 + 500 PF delivers more keepers! Damm it Nikon make your homework on AF or licence the OM-1 or a1 software. Give me a reason not to switch to Sony or OM.
Hi Roland,
I’m not Nikon, or affiliated with Nikon in any way. I’m just a podcast that invited Nikon on to explain the AF options available.
That said, you’re not alone. 3 or 4 others have said the same thing, that the Z9 fails with bird detection. I passed a few of those other comments to Nikon, and perhaps they will answer them. If they do I’ll post them to the relevant comments here. On the OM, I know Scott Bourne loves their AF.
Hopefully, Nikon will update the firmware again to solve these issues.
First of all thanks to both of you from the core of my heart. This is the first I am seeing a video about the Nikon autofocus system from Nikon Senior Manager Mark Cruz. But, this is for Nikon Z9 only. I use Nikon Z6II and mainly do bird photography and face focusing issues, particularly when a bird is sitting on a tree and there are foliages. For action photography particularly birds in a flight, I use Wide-Area AF (L) or Wide Aera AF (S). This works well sometimes but not all the time, when a bird's size is small. I feel the contrast-detect fails. The lens I use is Nikon Z 100-400 mm. Pls. suggest depending upon the situation described above what are your suggestions? I am sorry to say that I find Auto Area AF particularly tracking is basically useless. Waiting for a response from your end. Thanks in advance.
Hi Alokes,
First, to be clear, this video is not for the Z9 only. As I said at the start, the majority of the options we go through apply either directly or conceptually to many other Nikon bodies, and in fact conceptually they apply to other brands, although their terminology is usually different.
That said, you aren’t the only with this issue, and based on a few other comments here I have passed that onto Mark. For a few comments / questions, he has emailed me answers that I have shared with those comments.
One key point in a reply from Mark was that part of the issue is what you mention. You mention “when a bird’s size is small, and that’s important. You’ll find his text somewhere below, but his point was that as long as the bird fills enough of the frame it will work, but it does need to fill a fair size.
Unfortunately, that’s the way the detection works as best as I can find. Sorry to not be of more help, or that I don’t have a solution, but I have passed it to Mark and to my knowledge he’s passed it on to the engineers he has access to.
@@BehindTheShot Thanks a lot for a quick reply and I will go through the other posts also to clear my concept. Truely speaking thanks again for this discussion about nikon autofocus system.
Of course. Thanks for reaching out and commenting.
Great video, very informative! Thanks for sharing!
This is so helpful! Thank you both!
Thanks for watching, Brad!
This is really enlighten me, thank you for both of you.
Phichak, Thank you for watching!
Very useful session! Thanks for posting this!!
Glad you enjoyed it.
Absolutely amazing and informative video. I changed from my D750 to the Z6ii last week and now how so much more insight and confidence about how to make the focus system work for me. Many thanks.
Thanks for watching Richard. Glad it helped.
@BehindTheShot I’m sorry. You video is awesome and I’m deleting my terrible comments.
Superb. Very clear and focused (ha!!) information. Don't think I will ever afford (or really need) a Z9 but still. My Z50 will do for now.
Thanks for watching, and I am right there with. Cant justify the top of the line body. Still, much of what we discussed applies to all the Nikon mirrorless bodies. Not everything, but a lot of it.
First, Let me say, this was an excellent video. I learned a lot. I am a Z6ii shooter and I just wanted to see how the autofocus differed comparing the z9 to the z6ii. The best features I saw were first the tip on using the i button and the primary wheel which I found worked the same on my z6ii. Second the ability to assign a function button to a focus area and third the recall shooting functions, both were not available on my z6ii. I am also a D500 DSLR shooter and the reason I still have kept my D500 is because the Z6ii does not allow changing the focus area with a single button press like the D500. I have not sprung for the Z9 because it is too heavy and to expensive. If we could just get these two functions in the other z series models that would be great. These are simple menu settings so should not be very processor intensive, so why not add these features?
Hi Ken,
Thanks so much for watching, and for the kind comment. Your time is much appreciated.
As to the question of adding those features, via a firmware update, to the Z6 II I’m not sure why. I’m not a Nikon employee obviously, but I will pass this on to Mark. If he answers, which I can’t guarantee, I’ll post it here. In my head, I agree that button assignments to enable or disable features that the camera is already able to do should not be limited by processing power. Camera companies make these decisions based on what feels like the oddest reasons sometimes. It’s like canon not have the Spot Meter follow a focus point except on a 1 series. That’s software that is written, but even an R3 the Spot Meter only meters from a center AF point regardless of where the active AF point is.
Anyway, sorry I’m not if more help on this.
@@BehindTheShot Thanks Steve for the reply. I was really only hoping Mark would see the comment and pass along the feedback to those who make such decisions at Nikon.
Got ya, and I did pass it on so that he could do that, and described exactly that. Thanks again!
Thank you so much for this video!
It helps a lot to get along with the controls menu :)
Thank you for watching.
I loved to hear these explanations, thank you very much. Of course, there are some functions I already knew, but some I did not an that was very helpful.
Therefor am I asking you two, could it be possible, that you are going trough the whole Z9 settings.
If you explain it step by step as you did will it be extremely helpful, even if you are explaining already, ore easy knowing parts, because I know where in the Menu you are.
And as you do not know which part could be the most interesting ore helpful for your audience, would it be verry helpful to hear all the explanations step by step, as you did.
Thanks again very much.
Thanks for watching, Herbert. I’m not sure if that’s something Nikon would want to do, but I’ll be sure to ask.
Great content, super helpful. Thank you very much.
Not sure if Mark will see or read the comments but here are some future enhancements I'd love to see.
3D tracking. Once I locked focus on the subject, I'd love to have an option so the AF acts as a toggle and the camera would stay focus on the subject I identified until I press the BBF again. It seems futile to me and rather uncomfortable to have to hold the button down most often for a long time. The camera being heavy already it's just creates more stress on the hand. Or even better, have an AF settings where we can let the camera acquire focus automatically (like on the video side in AFF) so right away the camera finds the eye of the person, animal, car etc. which can be quickly overridden if the user moves the focus point or presses the BBF to get a new target. As the camera is doing it in video mode I can't see that being a big issue to have it behave the same on in photo mode or is there?
Banks. I'd love to have more bank slots. With so many options and specific parameters for any given scenarios being limited to 4 (and that is for both camera and video) is far from enough. Also having it so we save the settings and not have them automatically saved as soon as a change is made which to me defeats the purpose of carefully crafting a set of parameters for recall when as soon as you change something (which you always do, those banks are a starting point for a shooting scenario). In essence, have them behave more like U1,2,3 on Z7II so those settings don't get changed or overwritten automatically as soon as you change a parameter. I also would want them so if turn off the camera it doesn't recall the original bank settings but stays on whatever settings it had before turning it off. That's the one thing I didn't like on the Z7II U banks. You'd switch to say U1, change your ISO or shutter. I would turn off my camera for a few minutes for a break and it would recall the original U bank settings.
Thanks for the input Marc. I’m not sure if Mark has been watching any comments yet, as the video came out right before the weekend, but we will see. One note just for clarity, which I’m sure you’re already aware of, Mark is with Nikon USA, and not an engineer or in a role to make decisions like this at the international corporate level. He can, I assume, pass these ideas on to the people in those decision making roles however.
@@BehindTheShot cheers!
Cheers!
🤘🏻😎👍🏻
Thanks for the video. It was very helpfull. Is there any chance that there will be a update for af for ball sports? Now you can choose between animal and birds should be fine that we can can choose between human and a player with a ball?.
Unfortunately, I’m not with Nikon, Mark was just my guest. I don’t personally think that they would do an update like what you describe, but I’ve been wrong many times. If they were planning that, of course companies like Nikon will never comment on development or unreleased features.
Excellent video, although I am still using an older D810. It convinced me to delve deeper into this matter.
Awesome. That’s the goal. Thanks for watching.
Incredibly helpful!!! Many Thanks!
Thanks for watching!
Massive enlightenment❤🎉😊
Absolutely fascinating - watched with my Z9 and have changed some settings
Awesome, thanks for your time Andy. Appreciate you watching, and glad it helped with some settings.
Very informative. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for Watching!
Please make a video on the firmware update version 4 and 4.1 as a continuation to this excellent tutorial video.
Thanks for watching. My goal right now is to wait for an R1, as that would be the most logical point to do an update.
Nice video. I have one doubt custom setting menu - AF-C is set to release and AF-s is set to focus. Is it correct or need to change ?
Thanks for watching.
I am not 100% clear on your question, so if the answer below isn’t what you meant let me know. It doesn’t sound like you’re talking about the actual AF setting being AF-C (continuous focusing) or AF-S (single shot focus). It sounds like you’re talking about the “Priority” settings of “Release Priority” or Focus Priority”.
The actual AF setting - C or S - tell the camera how long to focus - as long as the shutter is pressed half-way (or the back AF button is pressed) vs focus one time until focus is achieved and then stop.
The priority settings are completely different. Release Priority tells the camera to prioritize releasing the shutter - taking a photo - EVEN IF FOCUS HAS NOT BEEN ACHIEVED. So it will let you take a photo even when it hasn’t gotten a positive focus. Focus Priority tells the camera to prioritize getting focus before allowing the shutter to be released to take a photo. That gives you a better chance of an in focus shot, but at the expense of possibly having to wait longer to trigger the shutter.
This is a very useful walkthrough. Thank you for putting it together.
Glad it helped, Josh, and thanks for watching!
This was so informative! I just bought a Z7ii. This helped me so much. Thank you!
So glad it helped. Thank you so much for watching.
I am still confused, what is the difference between Dynamic and Wide-area. Wide-area seems to include subject detection. Is there any advantage to use Dynamic area at all?
Great question! So first of all, yes, Wide-Area allows for subject detection, but that’s not all. Wide-Area is a larger area and the initial focus point can be anywhere inside that area. Let’s say you’re not using subject detection… it can grab AF anywhere in the area to start. That’s awesome, say for a runner doing hurdles as you pan. BUT, you don’t get to chose the subject. It decides based on factors like distance etc - or subject detection if it’s on. It might not see the face (maybe they have a hat on and are in shade), so it may grab their chest. Could work great, maybe not always.
Dynamic is a single point AF - the center point. It will always start AF on that point. So, you can manually place that on their face / eye and pan to keep it there, even if their face is shadowed to where the subject detection wouldn’t have worked in Wide-Area. You pick the subject. But, if you don’t keep it exactly on their face, because they’re moving erratically that’s ok because it has a helper area around it. If they leave the chosen center point the buffer area kicks in to help. It’s important to realize that this is not multiple AF points in use - it’s one. The other only kick in to help the main one if needed.
Sorry, I can’t watch the whole video. How do I access the pre AF option? The XT 5 has the option in a menu. I can’t find it anywhere with the ZF?
Hi Chris,
First of all, I’m not Nikon support, and in fact have no connection to Nikon. Mark was simply a guest on the show. As such I don’t have every body to look up features. Not to mention, answering questions for people that don’t watch isn’t what I’m here for.
That said, I’ll answer this one time. The feature I think you’re talking about (I’m not a Fuji user) is called pre-release capture (I was wrong and the correction is below, but I’m leaving this here anyway). If your body has it, which I think it does, you’ll find it under:
Custom Settings
D - Shooting / Display
D3 - Pre-Release Capture Options
NOTE: I had a friend correct me that my feature mentioned above is wrong:
“Pre-release capture isn't related to focus. In Fujifilm parlance, Pre-release capture is the same as Pre-shot Electronic Shutter.
The Zf doesn't have a stills equivalent of Fujifilm's Pre-AF.”
Thanks, Steve
@@BehindTheShot Many thanks and happy New Year.
Excellent walk through! My z9 is on order but still most of it applies to my Z6ii
Hey Ron! Thanks so much for watching, and hoping you’ve been doing great!