Roy Kikuta
Senior Member
What were you shooting with the D750? What lenses do you have? Other than the sale - what is it about the D750 that makes you want to upgrade to a Z?
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Bought a Z8 but think I may have made a mistake......
- Thread starter theres126
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As others have suggested, there's no requirement that you use the Z8's banks. If one configuration meets the needs of the photography you do, setup the camera to your liking and enjoy using it. Similarly, you don't have to create and store user configurations in the Z6III should you opt to return the Z8.
Here's something that may come as a surprise, however, even if you don't use the banks, you're already creating them. Every owner of a Nikon professional or flagship camera creates banks. They're not required to use them but they make them.
The stumbling block for me when I first started learning and using my D500's banks in 2018 was coming to terms with and groking that you don't need to save the banks. In fact, you can't. There is no "save" option with any of the individual banks. The camera simply remembers.
Z9 menu display: Photo Shooting Menu
Z9 menu display: Custom Settings Menu
If you go into the Z8 camera's menu (it's similar to the Z9 menus shown above), the first lines of the Shooting and Custom Settings menus allow you to choose a bank. You have the option of selecting any bank from A through D. The default is bank A. There is no option to not be in a bank.
As previously mentioned, there's no option (or need) to save settings to a bank. The settings and configuration choices you make in the Shooting menu will simply be remembered in whichever bank has been selected. Similarly, whichever settings and configuration choices you make in the Custom Settings menu will be remembered in the chosen bank, A through D.
Another quirk of the Nikon banks system is that, although the Shooting and Custom Settings banks can be named the same, they're different. Each remembers only the settings choices made in their respective menus.
The big question is, would it be to your benefit to create more than one pair of banks? I think of the banks as working best in paired sets of Shooting and Custom Settings configurations. That's just one approach.
To answer that question, I'll recommend you make a brief inventory of the kind of photography you do. For example, I do bird, wildlife, landscape and occasional portraiture. I find it useful to have different bank pairs for each. I use different autofocus modes and burst rates for each, different exposure and ISO settings, and different functions assigned to my favorite programmable buttons. All of the above can be tucked away for quick access using the banks system.
Good luck with whichever camera you decide to go with.
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Bill Ferris Photography
Flagstaff, AZ
Here's something that may come as a surprise, however, even if you don't use the banks, you're already creating them. Every owner of a Nikon professional or flagship camera creates banks. They're not required to use them but they make them.
The stumbling block for me when I first started learning and using my D500's banks in 2018 was coming to terms with and groking that you don't need to save the banks. In fact, you can't. There is no "save" option with any of the individual banks. The camera simply remembers.
Z9 menu display: Photo Shooting Menu
Z9 menu display: Custom Settings Menu
If you go into the Z8 camera's menu (it's similar to the Z9 menus shown above), the first lines of the Shooting and Custom Settings menus allow you to choose a bank. You have the option of selecting any bank from A through D. The default is bank A. There is no option to not be in a bank.
As previously mentioned, there's no option (or need) to save settings to a bank. The settings and configuration choices you make in the Shooting menu will simply be remembered in whichever bank has been selected. Similarly, whichever settings and configuration choices you make in the Custom Settings menu will be remembered in the chosen bank, A through D.
Another quirk of the Nikon banks system is that, although the Shooting and Custom Settings banks can be named the same, they're different. Each remembers only the settings choices made in their respective menus.
The big question is, would it be to your benefit to create more than one pair of banks? I think of the banks as working best in paired sets of Shooting and Custom Settings configurations. That's just one approach.
To answer that question, I'll recommend you make a brief inventory of the kind of photography you do. For example, I do bird, wildlife, landscape and occasional portraiture. I find it useful to have different bank pairs for each. I use different autofocus modes and burst rates for each, different exposure and ISO settings, and different functions assigned to my favorite programmable buttons. All of the above can be tucked away for quick access using the banks system.
Good luck with whichever camera you decide to go with.
--
Bill Ferris Photography
Flagstaff, AZ
AstigmaticOwl
Senior Member
Hudson Henry also has YouTube videos showing his recommendations for setting up the Z8. He goes into extensive detail on how he uses the bank system, including pitfalls.
Nikon Z8: Full Menu Setup Guide For Bank A Standard Settings
Nikon Z8: Full Menu Setup Guide For Bank A Standard Settings
You don't have to use everything on the camera. You're buying something for the features you are going to to use.
Do you find yourself thankful for the silent shutter that comes from the stacked sensor? If the answer is yes, then the purchase is justified. Do you pixel peep and crop in a lot and require the extra resolution? If the answer is also yes, then the purchase is also justified.
So say for example if you don't use the USB-C port or the HDMI ports and that's fine. Don't use all the connectivity options? Sure that's fine too.
But if a Z6iii does the things you want without needing to go to a Z8, then the cheaper body may be the better buy. Especially with the lower price tag. Also helps with the feeling that you were being upsold something.
Ultimately it comes back down to whether the thing has the features you're actually using, and whether you can comfortably afford it without putting burden on yourself.
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Here's my suggestion.
- Set the camera to shooting bank A and custom bank A.
- Go through the manual and pick the settings you like.
- Save the settings to your memory card.
In fact, I'd take an old SD card that I wouldn't use for images, save the settings to that card also and keep it in a safe place.
Personally, my custom banks are all the same and I only use two different shooting banks, but I could easily enough get along with only one shooting bank as well. You don't need to make things any more complicated than you want them to be.
studio460
Leading Member
NO MISTAKE!
You have just purchased one of the best cameras in the world! Just use the simplest mode and enjoy the ultra high-performance aspects of the camera. They will lead to more and better shots!
KEEP THE CAMERA AND LEARN AS MUCH OR LITTLE AS YOU NEED AT YOUR LEISURE!
I had a similar progression and moved from a D750 --> Z6 II and now to a Z8 because the price differential with a new Z6 III just made the Z8 so much more attractive.
I don't regret the decision but in the short time of having used it I know for sure that it is too much camera for what I NEED. It is already probably everything I could WANT in a camera even 5 years down the line.
I mostly shoot when travelling so do I need the 20fps etc, for sure no, but for the very few occasions that I have used it for, it just blows me away and later on leaves me with a bunch of work to now select what images I want to keep.
I haven't used the banks yet and mostly fiddle around with settings in A/M modes and using the different combinations of AF modes + subject detection based on what I am shooting. I think I need to get more efficient with managing some of the settings and changing stuff faster since right now I use it similar to how I was using the Z6 II. The AF for sure is insane and almost feels like borderline cheating.
I will not be returning the camera since there's nothing wrong with it but I will be trying to upskill myself to make better use of it both from a shooting and workflow/image management perspective.
I don't regret the decision but in the short time of having used it I know for sure that it is too much camera for what I NEED. It is already probably everything I could WANT in a camera even 5 years down the line.
I mostly shoot when travelling so do I need the 20fps etc, for sure no, but for the very few occasions that I have used it for, it just blows me away and later on leaves me with a bunch of work to now select what images I want to keep.
I haven't used the banks yet and mostly fiddle around with settings in A/M modes and using the different combinations of AF modes + subject detection based on what I am shooting. I think I need to get more efficient with managing some of the settings and changing stuff faster since right now I use it similar to how I was using the Z6 II. The AF for sure is insane and almost feels like borderline cheating.
I will not be returning the camera since there's nothing wrong with it but I will be trying to upskill myself to make better use of it both from a shooting and workflow/image management perspective.
bjn70
Veteran Member
I recently bought a used Z6ii, coming from a D750 and D810. There are a few new things with the Z6ii, and I don't expect the Z8 to have much more to figure out than the Z6ii. I think if you can handle a D750 you should be able to handle a Z.
Suntan
Veteran Member
Me too.
I much prefer to adjust shutter speed, aperture, ISO and AF functions directly as the situation requires. Never would I rely on pre-configured banks to set those. Even if I qas the one who pre-configured them.
I would possibly make use of memory banks when changing between studio shoots (switching picture quality to lossless, second memory card to backup, etc) and event (HEstar, second memory card to overflow, etc.) But since the banks can't be locked, I'd never trust that they didn't get changed accidentally and so I would still cycle through all those settings anyway to check them.
No way am I going to jerk-around with backing-up and reloading the banks to memory cards everytime I use them or format a memory card. The way they are implemented today on the high end cameras is ludicrous.
To the OP, I came from a D750 to the z9 (then got a z8 the next year) the learning curve is real, and it is steep. Nikon's menu system was acceptable back in the D750 age, but it is loaded to bursting with all the options available now, and the result is it is a bit of a mess. This is not a recommended solution so much as just an acknowledgement that you are not alone in feeling overwhelmed.
I would suggest spending more time with it to get comfortable with it. Between all of the options for customizing buttons, setting frequently used items in the "i" menu, the My Menu options, and the ability to set any common secondary setup you might want to switch to with the Recall Shooting Function; there's a lot of options to setup the camera without wasting time with the shooting banks.
I much prefer to adjust shutter speed, aperture, ISO and AF functions directly as the situation requires. Never would I rely on pre-configured banks to set those. Even if I qas the one who pre-configured them.
I would possibly make use of memory banks when changing between studio shoots (switching picture quality to lossless, second memory card to backup, etc) and event (HEstar, second memory card to overflow, etc.) But since the banks can't be locked, I'd never trust that they didn't get changed accidentally and so I would still cycle through all those settings anyway to check them.
No way am I going to jerk-around with backing-up and reloading the banks to memory cards everytime I use them or format a memory card. The way they are implemented today on the high end cameras is ludicrous.
To the OP, I came from a D750 to the z9 (then got a z8 the next year) the learning curve is real, and it is steep. Nikon's menu system was acceptable back in the D750 age, but it is loaded to bursting with all the options available now, and the result is it is a bit of a mess. This is not a recommended solution so much as just an acknowledgement that you are not alone in feeling overwhelmed.
I would suggest spending more time with it to get comfortable with it. Between all of the options for customizing buttons, setting frequently used items in the "i" menu, the My Menu options, and the ability to set any common secondary setup you might want to switch to with the Recall Shooting Function; there's a lot of options to setup the camera without wasting time with the shooting banks.
Banks are garbage, no matter how one comes up to manage them.
After using D750, which is still a great camera in 2025, you are used to U1, U2 etc which are excellent compared to banks.
Your best option would be to go with Z6iii.
Or wait for Z7iii if you need a higher megapixel camera.
Otherwise you will banging your head against the banks.
After using D750, which is still a great camera in 2025, you are used to U1, U2 etc which are excellent compared to banks.
Your best option would be to go with Z6iii.
Or wait for Z7iii if you need a higher megapixel camera.
Otherwise you will banging your head against the banks.
That is part I do not get about Banks or U# settings. What's the point, if Banks or U# settings get modified without doing a save?
It is almost like a "flaw" in Nikon's firmware.
The user configs do need to be saved to preserve changes. Banks don't and that's one of the features that make them superior to user configs.
Unfortunately, neither system is particularly user intuitive IMO. Both should be redesigned from the ground up. Preferably as one system shared throughout the Zcosystem of cameras. However, Nikon's a conservative company and unlikely to do that...too changey
Berend Botje
Leading Member
Agreed.
It took the user modes of the Z50ii to make me appreciate the banks of the Z8. Every time you dial in an adjustment to the scene in the user mode and you turn the camera off/on the z50ii defaults to the original settings. The Z8 changes dynamically with the adjustments you make and these stick until you change them again. Once I got used to the banks of the Z8 I have had no desire to go back to the user modes of earlier DSRLs or the Z50ii (otherwise it is a great little camera)
Unfortunately, neither system is particularly user intuitive IMO. Both should be redesigned from the ground up. Preferably as one system shared throughout the Zcosystem of cameras. However, Nikon's a conservative company and unlikely to do that...too changey
You certainly did a mistake not comparing them. The main differences for me are the speed of the sensor, the sensor resolution and the user modes.
But I wished I had a camera with 6 user modes on the dial, all customizable to be sticky or not (i.e. resetting with off/on or switch the user mode, or not resetting), and with everything selectable, including the PSAM mode. For me, both solutions, banks and user modes, are not ideal. In the end, you can live with both, however.
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HyperCypher
Veteran Member
Did not read all the posts … a couple of observations:
- understanding the full utility of the banks is incomplete without a full discussion of “save settings to card” which provides baseline non-volitility if you need it. It’s crude but useful.
- the banks and how to use them are not all that much more complex to use than the mode dial User settings on the 6iii. But it is a different logic. The stumbling block for both systems is remembering exactly what you did in either system … but if you persist you actually do begin to remember settings in detail.
- Both systems could use a rethink which has been done to death in other threads.
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toomanycanons
Forum Pro
Yup, buyers remorse takes many forms. Jumping from a D750 to your first mirrorless in the form of a Z8 and what it cost you, well...
MJ_Photo38
Veteran Member
I'm in the same boat when it comes to photography. I never felt like I needed them to do what I wanted to do.
The only use I have for the U1 to U3 settings on my Z6 is for video, th change the framerate and usecase because it's a bit of a headache to change everything when I need to (U1 is 4K25 with a faux-Log profile (made based on the flat profile) made for when I want to color grade or have the best image quality, U2 is 4K25 with a digital crop for better stabilization and just the flat profile for casual run and gun video, U3 is 1080p120 for slow mo. Other than that, I never use the U settings)
Vince P
Veteran Member
it's hard to please everyone and no one has to like or use either system.
I have been using banks for about 20 years and my biggest gripe with the Z7 and 6 are the U1 U2 U3 behaving differently. They reintroduced banks as a result of feedback from NPS members.
I can revert to the base banks in about a second but I don't have to, unless I want to which is not an option I have with U1 U2 U3. That means, if I am traveling around doing general shooting on the way to shoot some wildlife, and have tweaked the set ups (Banks) for those scenarios on that day, I can swap back and forth, then I take some landscapes and tweak for that, when I go back to wildlife it's still the same tweaked settings and I am not limited to which shooting mode I am in whilst still in the bank. I can leave those setting as is for as long as they make sense to me. Then when it's a new situation I am back to the base settings. It's even more useful now we have video.
It's even possible to have as many base sets as you like but that is a little more clunky and I wish that Nikon would make that a little easier. Though I wouldn't use it personally "Sticky" banks could also be made an option, but I imagine that would increase their helpline calls significantly.
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nikonzednaikonzee
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If the fastest to use camera in the hands of someone who knows how to use it is the best camera in that size, then yes it is the best.
And by 'in the hands of someone who knows how to use it' I don't mean an expert, just anyone who has used the camera a few times and knows a reasonable amount about photography.
like others have said, you really don't need to use banks unless you have a reason to do so. The problem you have found is that anytime you ask the internet for some help with setting up and using the z8 or z9 the people offering advice and help jump in straight away with banks, banks and more banks.
the problem is not the camera, rather the problem is the kind of people that populate forums (well enough of them to continually want to know how banks work).
Just know that banks are not the same as your U modes on the D750. They do not replace them really. They can do in some situations, but if they don't then they don't.
I borrowed one for quite a while before getting one. Only because I was lucky and there was one to borrow for a few months from a dear friend who could not use it for that time. From the very first I knew it was the best compromise camera I had used. I say compromised because I have a Z9 as well.
I don't use the banks with that camera either.
Learn how the thing can do what you want to do with it without using banks first. And try to ignore the fear of missing out when you are bombarded with advice about banks, banks and banks again.
So I am not quite in your situation, but like you I spent a goodly amount of time when looking for online instruction for the Z9 and Z8, and all I got was gobbledegook about banks that thank the lord I realised I didnt need to use.
ericbowles
Veteran Member
As others have suggested, there is no need to use the Banks. Like many other features, the banks are there for specific uses and photography styles.
Everything you knew using your D750 can be done with the Z8. The AF modes from the D750 are there - and you can use them. Wide modes are another name for Group mode. If you use Lightroom, you should be sure you are applying Camera Settings in your Import Preferences rather than the Adobe defaults. Take one setting at a time and learn that setting then try it.
Stick with the Z8. It's a great camera. The Z6iii is also a good camera, but just take your time with the Z8 and you should be happy with it.
Another tip with AF is to understand that it uses the image you see through the viewfinder to find contrast for focus. If the image is too dark, subject detection does not work and focus may fail because you lack contrast.
Stick with it.
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