Chimping with the Z5ii

I have to say again that I love my new nikon Z5ii.

However, I like to often review the photo I have just taken using the view finder on the rear monitor. sometimes this works without any difficulty yet suddenly the rear view monitor stops showing me a picture I've just taken. I have experimented with the display option on the left side of the view finder, and the automatic display switch would seem to be the one that makes sense. I do not know what prioritized view finder number one or prioritized view finder number 2 actually do and the difference between them. I have also played with the picture review function on the playback options menu.

The camera is new to me and worked perfectly for the first month or so. I am playing with many of the options to see what they do. My fear is that I've set something obscure that is causing me difficulties. I have experimented with turning the camera off and on and also removing the battery. Sometimes that seems to fix the problem, but other times it doesn't work.

Also, I notice that when I switch from menu to playback option on the rear panel the camera will make a mechanical sound. this strikes me as a bit odd.

I can not go back to the dealer from which I bought the camera because I am traveling for the next month. All advice welcome.

bgillies said:

I have to say again that I love my new nikon Z5ii.

However, I like to often review the photo I have just taken using the view finder on the rear monitor. sometimes this works without any difficulty yet suddenly the rear view monitor stops showing me a picture I've just taken. I have experimented with the display option on the left side of the view finder, and the automatic display switch would seem to be the one that makes sense. I do not know what prioritized view finder number one or prioritized view finder number 2 actually do and the difference between them. I have also played with the picture review function on the playback options menu.

The camera is new to me and worked perfectly for the first month or so. I am playing with many of the options to see what they do. My fear is that I've set something obscure that is causing me difficulties. I have experimented with turning the camera off and on and also removing the battery. Sometimes that seems to fix the problem, but other times it doesn't work.

Also, I notice that when I switch from menu to playback option on the rear panel the camera will make a mechanical sound. this strikes me as a bit odd.

Click to expand...

It is the same with my original Z6. I suppose it is the stabilization of the sensor parking the sensor, or the blades of the lens. Mine also make sound when I switch from preview to shooting mode.

bgillies said:

I can not go back to the dealer from which I bought the camera because I am traveling for the next month. All advice welcome.

Click to expand...

On my Z8, I usually use prioritize viewfinder. That means that only the viewfinder is used for shooting pictures, but but it acts like automatic display switch for menus and playback.

Nevermess said:

bgillies said:

I have to say again that I love my new nikon Z5ii.

However, I like to often review the photo I have just taken using the view finder on the rear monitor. sometimes this works without any difficulty yet suddenly the rear view monitor stops showing me a picture I've just taken. I have experimented with the display option on the left side of the view finder, and the automatic display switch would seem to be the one that makes sense. I do not know what prioritized view finder number one or prioritized view finder number 2 actually do and the difference between them. I have also played with the picture review function on the playback options menu.

The camera is new to me and worked perfectly for the first month or so. I am playing with many of the options to see what they do. My fear is that I've set something obscure that is causing me difficulties. I have experimented with turning the camera off and on and also removing the battery. Sometimes that seems to fix the problem, but other times it doesn't work.

Also, I notice that when I switch from menu to playback option on the rear panel the camera will make a mechanical sound. this strikes me as a bit odd.

Click to expand...

It is the same with my original Z6. I suppose it is the stabilization of the sensor parking the sensor, or the blades of the lens. Mine also make sound when I switch from preview to shooting mode.

Click to expand...

Could also just be the shutter opening, as I think it closes if you're using the menus. I'd be a bit surprised if it's the IBIS mechanism though as Nikon seems to be doing it differently starting with the Zf which doesn't lock down the sensor sled when VR is enabled/disabled. But maybe to keep costs down, they re-used the same mechanism as was found on the Z6 II for example which does lock the sled. I know on other cameras like my Z8, it does make the thud noise when IBIS is enabled. Maybe the OP can verify this by turning off VR/IBIS and then going into the menus and back to shooting and see if they hear the noise again or not. If not, then it's the IBIS mechanism. If they do, then it might just be the shutter opening/closing.

Nevermess said:

Nevermess said:

I can not go back to the dealer from which I bought the camera because I am traveling for the next month. All advice welcome.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Once you have the camera set up the way you want, or close. Save the settings to the SD card. That way if you need to re set the camera to clear something you don't like you have the settings available to re load.

madecov said:

Once you have the camera set up the way you want, or close. Save the settings to the SD card. That way if you need to re set the camera to clear something you don't like you have the settings available to re load.

Click to expand...

In fact, I go further. I keep a separate SD card that has just my settings on it. I guess I'm a belt-and-suspenders kind of guy. Actually, I've been dealing with data backup professionally for over 40 years and one thing I've learned is that you can never have too many backups.

The noise is definitely VR/IBIS, the Z6III does it too if VR is turned on.

Born2Code said:

madecov said:

Once you have the camera set up the way you want, or close. Save the settings to the SD card. That way if you need to re set the camera to clear something you don't like you have the settings available to re load.

Click to expand...

In fact, I go further. I keep a separate SD card that has just my settings on it. I guess I'm a belt-and-suspenders kind of guy. Actually, I've been dealing with data backup professionally for over 40 years and one thing I've learned is that you can never have too many backups.

Click to expand...

Yeah I have a card for each body. And a copy on a laptop hard drive

bgillies said:

I have to say again that I love my new nikon Z5ii.

However, I like to often review the photo I have just taken using the view finder on the rear monitor. sometimes this works without any difficulty yet suddenly the rear view monitor stops showing me a picture I've just taken. I have experimented with the display option on the left side of the view finder, and the automatic display switch would seem to be the one that makes sense. I do not know what prioritized view finder number one or prioritized view finder number 2 actually do and the difference between them. I have also played with the picture review function on the playback options menu.

The camera is new to me and worked perfectly for the first month or so. I am playing with many of the options to see what they do. My fear is that I've set something obscure that is causing me difficulties. I have experimented with turning the camera off and on and also removing the battery. Sometimes that seems to fix the problem, but other times it doesn't work.

Also, I notice that when I switch from menu to playback option on the rear panel the camera will make a mechanical sound. this strikes me as a bit odd.

I can not go back to the dealer from which I bought the camera because I am traveling for the next month. All advice welcome.

Click to expand...

A disappearing image review:

It sounds like you have Menu-->Playback menu -->Picture review: OFF. So, no automatic review after each shot.

Press the Playback button on the back of the camera. The noise is the IBIS locking, as expected. It makes a noise again when it unlocks when the scene view returns.

The photo will stay visible until one of these happens:

1. half press shutter, or AF-On press. Or the Exp Comp button. Now it's back to shooting mode.

2. the c3 Power off delay choices. Check your Playback timer -- does the screen go black when your review stops? That's this timer.

Playback: this is the Playback button sleep mode! The screen goes dark into sleep mode. I have this at 1 minute, since I usually half press the shutter to go back to shooting, and it rarely times out.

Menus: I have this set to 1 minute, since I'm either looking at the complex menus, or half pressing the shutter to exit back to shooting mode. It rarely reaches the 60 seconds.

Picture review: how long the auto review displays before reverting to shooting mode. I have it at 10s. I rarely use auto review, but it's helpful in certain difficult to shoot situations.

To do auto picture review after each shot, you need the Playback menu -->Picture review ON or ON monitor only. That's what works with this Picture review timing.

Standby timer: the camera goes into sleep mode from shooting mode. I usually use 30s, but might make it 5 min if I'm just going to be shooting for an hour or so. Then the battery will last even with the screen on all the time.

~~

or,

3. If viewing on the rear monitor: if the eye sensor is triggered by holding the camera too close to you or getting a hand in the way, then the EVF lights up and the rear screen goes off. But this would change back to the rear screen if the camera is moved away, and I think you would notice this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On my Z6 and now my Z6 iii:

I use Automatic Display Switch: The rear screen is on, unless the EVF proximity sensor is triggered, which turns off the monitor and turns on the EVF viewfinder.

There's a whole thread on Prioritize Viewfinder. Some posts give their preference for (1) or (2).

I do have Prioritize Viewfinder (2) as a choice, for two uncommon-for-me situations:
1. In events where I don't want the rear screen to display, to avoid annoying nearby people in a dimly lit space. It still allows Menu or Playback image review to use the rear screen.

2. This also saves quite a lot of battery power if I only lift the camera to my eye when I'm going to shoot. So there's no 30 second timeout on the rear screen to eat up battery, and I could lengthen the timeout to keep the EVF on, without it's distracting dimming before it times out.

~~~

F2=100% Zoom!

This zooms to the focus point, then a second press zooms all the way out. It works with Playback image review too. I use this a lot.

It's set in f2:Custom controls (shooting) --> Fn2: Zoom on/off, then right arrow --> 100% zoom. (That right arrow to select 50%, 100%, or 200% is difficult to notice! I think it defaults to 100%?)

jthomas39 said:

bgillies said:

I have to say again that I love my new nikon Z5ii.

However, I like to often review the photo I have just taken using the view finder on the rear monitor. sometimes this works without any difficulty yet suddenly the rear view monitor stops showing me a picture I've just taken. I have experimented with the display option on the left side of the view finder, and the automatic display switch would seem to be the one that makes sense. I do not know what prioritized view finder number one or prioritized view finder number 2 actually do and the difference between them. I have also played with the picture review function on the playback options menu.

The camera is new to me and worked perfectly for the first month or so. I am playing with many of the options to see what they do. My fear is that I've set something obscure that is causing me difficulties. I have experimented with turning the camera off and on and also removing the battery. Sometimes that seems to fix the problem, but other times it doesn't work.

Also, I notice that when I switch from menu to playback option on the rear panel the camera will make a mechanical sound. this strikes me as a bit odd.

I can not go back to the dealer from which I bought the camera because I am traveling for the next month. All advice welcome.

Click to expand...

A disappearing image review:

It sounds like you have Menu-->Playback menu -->Picture review: OFF. So, no automatic review after each shot.

Press the Playback button on the back of the camera. The noise is the IBIS locking, as expected. It makes a noise again when it unlocks when the scene view returns.

The photo will stay visible until one of these happens:

1. half press shutter, or AF-On press. Or the Exp Comp button. Now it's back to shooting mode.
2. the c3 Power off delay choices. Check your Playback timer -- does the screen go black when your review stops? That's this timer.

Playback: this is the Playback button sleep mode! The screen goes dark into sleep mode. I have this at 1 minute, since I usually half press the shutter to go back to shooting, and it rarely times out.

Menus: I have this set to 1 minute, since I'm either looking at the complex menus, or half pressing the shutter to exit back to shooting mode. It rarely reaches the 60 seconds.

Picture review: how long the auto review displays before reverting to shooting mode. I have it at 10s. I rarely use auto review, but it's helpful in certain difficult to shoot situations.

To do auto picture review after each shot, you need the Playback menu -->Picture review ON or ON monitor only. That's what works with this Picture review timing.

Standby timer: the camera goes into sleep mode from shooting mode. I usually use 30s, but might make it 5 min if I'm just going to be shooting for an hour or so. Then the battery will last even with the screen on all the time.

~~

or,

1. If viewing on the rear monitor: if the eye sensor is triggered by holding the camera too close to you or getting a hand in the way, then the EVF lights up and the rear screen goes off. But this would change back to the rear screen if the camera is moved away, and I think you would notice this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On my Z6 and now my Z6 iii:

I use Automatic Display Switch: The rear screen is on, unless the EVF proximity sensor is triggered, which turns off the monitor and turns on the EVF viewfinder.

There's a whole thread on Prioritize Viewfinder. Some posts give their preference for (1) or (2).

I do have Prioritize Viewfinder (2) as a choice, for two uncommon-for-me situations:
1. In events where I don't want the rear screen to display, to avoid annoying nearby people in a dimly lit space. It still allows Menu or Playback image review to use the rear screen.

1. This also saves quite a lot of battery power if I only lift the camera to my eye when I'm going to shoot. So there's no 30 second timeout on the rear screen to eat up battery, and I could lengthen the timeout to keep the EVF on, without it's distracting dimming before it times out.

~~~

F2=100% Zoom!

This zooms to the focus point, then a second press zooms all the way out. It works with Playback image review too. I use this a lot.

It's set in f2:Custom controls (shooting) --> Fn2: Zoom on/off, then right arrow --> 100% zoom. (That right arrow to select 50%, 100%, or 200% is difficult to notice! I think it defaults to 100%?)

Click to expand...

I want to thank everyone for their replies and in particular thank jthomas39 for their detailed and methodical answer. I now understand what to do.

madecov said:

Born2Code said:

madecov said:

Once you have the camera set up the way you want, or close. Save the settings to the SD card. That way if you need to re set the camera to clear something you don't like you have the settings available to re load.

Click to expand...

In fact, I go further. I keep a separate SD card that has just my settings on it. I guess I'm a belt-and-suspenders kind of guy. Actually, I've been dealing with data backup professionally for over 40 years and one thing I've learned is that you can never have too many backups.

Click to expand...

Yeah I have a card for each body. And a copy on a laptop hard drive

Click to expand...

You don't need a card for each camera, as the file names are different for each camera.

Thom Hogan said:

madecov said:

Born2Code said:

madecov said:

Once you have the camera set up the way you want, or close. Save the settings to the SD card. That way if you need to re set the camera to clear something you don't like you have the settings available to re load.

Click to expand...

In fact, I go further. I keep a separate SD card that has just my settings on it. I guess I'm a belt-and-suspenders kind of guy. Actually, I've been dealing with data backup professionally for over 40 years and one thing I've learned is that you can never have too many backups.

Click to expand...

Yeah I have a card for each body. And a copy on a laptop hard drive

Click to expand...

You don't need a card for each camera, as the file names are different for each camera.

Click to expand...

in my case, I have two identical bodies with the same settings, so it's a non-issue for me.