Nikon Z8 slow to wake up from sleep? Is this normal? Or did I mess up some setting?

[rcooper102]

So I recently upgraded from Z7 II to Z8 and am mostly just blown away at how big of an upgrade it is. I am super happy with the camera and overall am just tickled pink by it.

That said, one thing is driving me insane. I notice that the Z8 is much slower than my Z7 II was when wakin up from a sleep state (or powering on), which seems weird to me as the Z8 has a much more powerful processor.

For example, when I am out birding, with the Z7 II if I see a bird as I raise the camera to my eye, I tap the shutter button and by the time the camera is to my eye, it is awake and the EVF is on.

In comparison, with the Z8, I am typically raising a black EVF to my eye and waiting 0.5-1s before it lights up I can start shooting.

Its not crazy long, but I've missed shots because of it. I'd estimate the wakeup time on the Z8 is double that of my Z7ii. Its at a point where I have resorted to reducing the sleep timer by a ton and just walking around with the camera awake. I go through batteries faster but at least I can trust that my camera will be awake when I go to take the shot.

I am wondering, could this be a setting I've messed up? Like some feature I've turned on that makes the camera slow to wake up? I've tried googling around and haven't found anything.

thanks so much for any help!

 

[camerosity]

New Z8 owner here as well, and I have it set to power save mode, and I also noticed its a little slow to wake up to shoot. So I've gotten in to the habit of hitting the shutter button (or toggle the joystick) as soon as I know I want to shoot the camera (its usually already in my hand) so that way by the time it is at my eye its ready. I guess turning power save mode off might speed up the wake time but this thing seems to be so power hungry I am going to leave that setting enabled for now.

 

[Dr Jason Polak]

None of the Z cameras are instantaneous like the DSLRs but the Z8 should not be slower than the Z7 II. I feel like even with the shutter curtain on, the Z8 wakes up by the time the viewinder is at eye-level after pressing the shutter. If you put them side by side, is the Z7 II really much faster?

 

[SilverEagle1962]

This is what I got from AI review:

"Yes, the Nikon Z8 typically takes longer to wake up from sleep mode than the Nikon Z7 II. Users have reported experiencing significant startup lag with the Z7 II, which can be a problem for capturing fast-moving wildlife or action subjects. While the Z8 offers more advanced autofocus tracking, its larger size and potentially slower wake-up time may not be ideal for all situations."

 

[madecov]

You don't mention what lens you are using. Some lenses have been reported to require a longer wake time, particularly the Tamron 35-150

 

[rcooper102]

It def is slower, I just recorded a quick video of them side by side. This is with the shutter curtain off on the Z8:
Its not a lot slower, but its a solid half second. Its enough that "I notice" it in the field.
In most use cases its irrelevant, but when a small songbird lands near you and only stays on the branch for a few seconds, that difference can make or break the shot.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ws7dGDk7O3GaBubWgo0nyALYKuZM-AtO/view?usp=sharing

 

[rcooper102]

I've noticed it with all lenses, though I am mostly using Nikon E series gold ring lenses on FTZ such as the 500 and 300 PF lenses, or the 105 1.4. I don't think it is lens specific though because if I take the lenses off the cameras and compare them, the speeds are about the same.

 

[rcooper102]

Interesting, I wonder why. The Z8's processor is a LOT faster. Its sensor readout speed is a LOT faster. Makes me really wonder why it would wake up so much slower.

 

[SilverEagle1962]

Please do this and try:

Go to menu

Shooting display (d)

( d5 exposure delay mode)

if it is anything but off it will delay a bit when you press shutter?

if it is off it is not the culprit will keep searching

--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/151760793@N02/

 

[Dr Jason Polak]

I've noticed it with all lenses, though I am mostly using Nikon E series gold ring lenses on FTZ such as the 500 and 300 PF lenses, or the 105 1.4. I don't think it is lens specific though because if I take the lenses off the cameras and compare them, the speeds are about the same.

I will say that I think it should be faster too!

 

[rcooper102]

Please do this and try:

Go to menu

Shooting display (d)

( d5 exposure delay mode)

if it is anything but off it will delay a bit when you press shutter?

if it is off it is not the culprit will keep searching

It was already off, but that was a good idea! thanks

 

[rcooper102]

I've noticed it with all lenses, though I am mostly using Nikon E series gold ring lenses on FTZ such as the 500 and 300 PF lenses, or the 105 1.4. I don't think it is lens specific though because if I take the lenses off the cameras and compare them, the speeds are about the same.

I will say that I think it should be faster too!

Yeah, I was actually shocked that it wasn't nearly instant. The Z7ii always felt a bit slow to me itself and I assume the Z8 would just be faster at everything, I was surprised when it was actually slower.

 

[PLShutterbug]

It's not exactly like yours, but I have the original Z7 and the Z8. I just set both so they go to sleep after ten seconds, then:

1. Wait for each camera to go to sleep.
2. Count to 5.
3. Press both shutter buttons halfway at the same time.
4. Eyeball which shows the rear LCD faster.

After about ten repetitions I see that they both come back on at exactly the same instant, and it takes about one second.

If your "ii" is faster than that then I dunno. If your Z8 is slower than that, let's compare settings.

• No lens on either camera
• Aperture priority auto-exposure mode
• Auto-ISO
• MF autofocus mode, because there is no lens mounted
• Bluetooth is on
• Single-frame exposure mode

I just mounted my Z 100-400mm S on the Z8 and did some informal tests, then did the same thing with the Z7. For each camera:

1. Settings as above.
2. Set camera to auto-switch between EVF and monitor.
3. Wait for camera to go to sleep.
4. Raise camera to eye.
5. Half-press the shutter button.

It takes at most a second for the Z8 to be ready to shoot.

It takes maybe 25% longer than that for the Z7, but maybe that's just my hope that my spending all that money on the Z8 makes it faster than my six-year-old Z7.

Really, they're very close but the Z8 is faster to wake up.

Frankly, I don't know what else might affect wake-from-sleep timing.

How about you?

 

[rcooper102]

It's not exactly like yours, but I have the original Z7 and the Z8. I just set both so they go to sleep after ten seconds, then:

1. Wait for each camera to go to sleep.
2. Count to 5.
3. Press both shutter buttons halfway at the same time.
4. Eyeball which shows the rear LCD faster.

After about ten repetitions I see that they both come back on at exactly the same instant, and it takes about one second.

If your "ii" is faster than that then I dunno. If your Z8 is slower than that, let's compare settings.

• No lens on either camera
• Aperture priority auto-exposure mode
• Auto-ISO
• MF autofocus mode, because there is no lens mounted
• Bluetooth is on
• Single-frame exposure mode

I just mounted my Z 100-400mm S on the Z8 and did some informal tests, then did the same thing with the Z7. For each camera:

1. Settings as above.
2. Set camera to auto-switch between EVF and monitor.
3. Wait for camera to go to sleep.
4. Raise camera to eye.
5. Half-press the shutter button.

It takes at most a second for the Z8 to be ready to shoot.

It takes maybe 25% longer than that for the Z7, but maybe that's just my hope that my spending all that money on the Z8 makes it faster than my six-year-old Z7.

Really, they're very close but the Z8 is faster to wake up.

Frankly, I don't know what else might affect wake-from-sleep timing.

How about you?

Here are mine side by side,, I repeated this at least 10 times and it was exactly the same each time:

IMG_3139.MOV

drive.google.com

I tried with lens, and without. None of the above settings seems to make any difference in my testing. I also don't know what might impact wake timing. Based on other responses to this thread, it sounds like the Z8 is just slower, I'm not sure why, though. The Z8 has a much faster processor and a sensor with a much fast read time so there isn't any obvious logical reason as to why it would be slower. But it is.

 

[shuncheung]

Just checked my Z8. I think its waking up from sleep mode is much faster than 1 second. Sometimes when I switch the Z8 on, its start up is slow because I have a new memory card inside. If the card does not already have the file structure and folders for that Z8 (i.e. not formatted on that Z8), it needs to create the folders, but that shouldn't be the issue if the card is already inside the Z8 and the camera is merely waking up again.

In any case, try removing all memory cards from the Z8 and test the wake up time again, and probably without any lens attached to establish the baseline time.

 

[monte12345]

Had the same issue with my Z7 II when I first got it. Spotted a large formation of Geese coming in for a landing to a large Pond/tiny Lake I was on a crossing bridge over. Missed the landing completely because it took so damned long for the camera to wake up. That had to be at least 20 to 30 seconds where I watched a shot of a lifetime vanish while waiting for the camera to wake up.

Learned my lesson quite well and won't ever use that mode again. Note while I was using it I didn't notice any change in the rate at witch the battery was depleted. I will also note that you will find this Fools Mode in the SETUP menu.

 

[PLShutterbug]

It's not exactly like yours, but I have the original Z7 and the Z8. I just set both so they go to sleep after ten seconds, then:

1. Wait for each camera to go to sleep.
2. Count to 5.
3. Press both shutter buttons halfway at the same time.
4. Eyeball which shows the rear LCD faster.

After about ten repetitions I see that they both come back on at exactly the same instant, and it takes about one second.

If your "ii" is faster than that then I dunno. If your Z8 is slower than that, let's compare settings.

• No lens on either camera
• Aperture priority auto-exposure mode
• Auto-ISO
• MF autofocus mode, because there is no lens mounted
• Bluetooth is on
• Single-frame exposure mode

I just mounted my Z 100-400mm S on the Z8 and did some informal tests, then did the same thing with the Z7. For each camera:

1. Settings as above.
2. Set camera to auto-switch between EVF and monitor.
3. Wait for camera to go to sleep.
4. Raise camera to eye.
5. Half-press the shutter button.

It takes at most a second for the Z8 to be ready to shoot.

It takes maybe 25% longer than that for the Z7, but maybe that's just my hope that my spending all that money on the Z8 makes it faster than my six-year-old Z7.

Really, they're very close but the Z8 is faster to wake up.

Frankly, I don't know what else might affect wake-from-sleep timing.

How about you?

Here are mine side by side,, I repeated this at least 10 times and it was exactly the same each time:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ws7dGDk7O3GaBubWgo0nyALYKuZM-AtO/view?usp=drive_link

I tried with lens, and without. None of the above settings seems to make any difference in my testing. I also don't know what might impact wake timing. Based on other responses to this thread, it sounds like the Z8 is just slower, I'm not sure why, though. The Z8 has a much faster processor and a sensor with a much fast read time so there isn't any obvious logical reason as to why it would be slower. But it is.

One thing I see is that the Z8 is in video mode and the Z7ii is in stills mode - at least if the stills/vide mode switch on the “ii” has stills at the top like I do on my “i”. Look at the arrows in my screen grab below. You can see the Z8 switch setting at video; the bit of white on the Z7ii is clearly above the “disp” indicator, which on my camera means it is set to stills mode.





I cannot tell if there is any other difference between the two camera setups.

I suggest making sure the two cameras are set up as close to identically as you can, and then run the test again.

 

[jthomas39]

Some lenses will slow down the power-on.

power on speeds, Z6 vs Z6 iii.

My old Z6 when new was obviously slow, maybe 1.5 seconds at power on. But at some point, one of the firmware updates seems to have improved this. It's now fairly similar to my Z6 iii start up speed, of a little less than 1 second.

Just now, trying to flip both switches simultaneously -- that's not easy!

The Z6 with 24-70 f/4 was typically quicker, but sometimes lagged a bit longer on startup. The Z6 iii had the 24-120 on it.

So I swapped lenses.

Now the Z6 iii with the 24-70 is obviously faster than the Z6 with the 24-120. The 24-120 lens just takes longer to initialize than the simpler 24-70, I guess.

~~

Z6 vs Z6 iii, body only no lenses:

The Z6 iii is very fast, I'm guessing 1/2 second approx.

The Z6 seems to be almost 2 seconds. That's noticeably slower with no lens than with a lens! That's interesting.

 

[Horshack]

It def is slower, I just recorded a quick video of them side by side. This is with the shutter curtain off on the Z8:
Its not a lot slower, but its a solid half second. Its enough that "I notice" it in the field.
In most use cases its irrelevant, but when a small songbird lands near you and only stays on the branch for a few seconds, that difference can make or break the shot.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ws7dGDk7O3GaBubWgo0nyALYKuZM-AtO/view?usp=sharing

May not make a difference but in your video the Z8 is set to Movie mode and the Z7 II set to stills. Also, the Z7 II doesn't have a media card installed.

 

[Kenneth Almquist]

In the video, there are 34 frames between the time the light next to the info button on the Z8 comes on and the time the rear screen is fully populated. At 24 frames per second, that's about 1.4 seconds.

On my Z8, the delay between switching the camera on and the rear screen being populated is 17 frames at 29.95 frames per second, or a bit less than 0.6 seconds. It takes one frame for the light to illuminate.

Configuration:

• Firmware 1.01
• Lens: Nikon 50mm f/1.8
• Memory cards: CFexpress card only, no SD card
• Mode: photo (as opposed to video)
• Sensor shield closed on power off (so the sensor shield opens during that 0.6 seconds)
• Save focus position: ON
• Energy saving (photo mode): OFF

I certainly hope that the difference in wake up time is not because I have out of date firmware.