Nikon Z6iii -- is it possible to lower the frame rate in electronic shutter mode?

If you really need electronic shutter, an option is to set a burst limit in custom setting d2 (this will restrict the number of images taken per shutter press).

The frame rate of continuous H and H extended, are largely determined by a combination of shutter mode and image quality settings:

https://onlinemanual.nikonimglib.com/z6III/en/release_mode_37.html#:~:text=Frame Advance Rate

It is interesting that there's no settings near 10 or 12 fps in electronic shutter.

I just go to 20 fps if I need fast shutter speeds, since the view has less blackout/flashing than the 15/16 fps High setting. That manual reference above does mention some 20 fps limitations, but I haven't noticed them.

Along with the shutter sound styles and volume settings, there's also a visual indicator:

d15 Release timing indicator: I like "B", which is a thin white line on all four sides of the scene.

~~~~~~~~~~~

related: grouping burst shots makes image reviewing easier.

Useful Burst shots settings in the camera Playback image review

In Menu --> Playback menu -->Series playback:

Sub-selector displays first shot: On. I usually use the front or back control wheel to scroll through the images in sequence. This setting allows the separate joystick (the "sub selector") to jump to the first image of each burst set, in either direction, previous set or next set. Nice! The up/down joystick moves one image at a time. The joystick center press zooms in/out. I like this!

Auto series playback: Off. I don't use this. When On, a 2 second pause in the review at the first image of a set will rapidly display each image, maybe 10 images a second, then stops on the last image in the set. Useful to some photographers.

List series as single thumbnails: On. Image Review shows the image filename in the top right. With this option On, it shows a second line of data: a stack icon and the count of images in the set. (and that's nice when using the joystick to jump to the next set.)

Zooming out to a thumbnail view, this "On" setting only shows 1 image per set, with the same two counters. And single images show a counter of 001. If Off, it's the usual "show every image thumbnail" classic method. That would be a huge set of thumbnails if I hold down the shutter for a long time. Ha, the count of images in a set only goes to 999. My 60 second burst had around 1800 images, but still shows "999" in the Image Review.

It really is that simple.

Put the camera in the Silent mode and all release rates are electronic. monte12345 said:

It really is that simple.

Click to expand...

The OP did already know that 1fps to 7fps and 15/16 fps and 20 fps are available. But there's no 8 fps thru 14 fps -- that was the original question, are these alternate frame rates possible? No, they aren't

~~~~

"Silent" isn't the same as ES electronic shutter.

Those are two different settings. Older Nikons titled electronic shutter as Silent in the menu, I think.

ES electronic shutter only sets the shutter to electronic. I have it in my i-menu.

Silent does extra things. Setup menu --> Silent mode on/off

From the useful Hogan Guide to the Z6 iii:

monte12345 said:

"On" sets an override of electronic shutter, mutes the
Z6III’s speaker, and lowers aperture and focus sounds,
which has performance implications.

Click to expand...

The synthetic shutter sound through the speaker is turned off, and any menu beeps, etc. Flash is disabled, I suppose because we are trying to be stealthy. Only IBIS lock/unlock noise still happens, so avoid sleep mode. Oh, pressing Menu doesn't lock the IBIS and make the noise in silent mode, a nice detail.

The green self-timer light still flashes in self-timer mode, but a better option is the d5: Exposure Delay settings, which are more for tripod use. No flashing green light, and more choices on delay times. Better than self-timer, which is for getting the photographer into the frame.

Hi nightowlnz,

Thanks so much for the good advice.

I don't like the d2 option, since I would forget the limit per burst, and what if a cheetah comes hurtling past and the camera suddenly stops shooting?

I have now tried just shooting on Continuous Low for general photography at 7fps, and that works okay.

With the turn of a dial I can switch to Continuous High and do the fast action at up to 16 fps... I think that should do.

Thanks and God bless,

Friedrich von Hörsten

Thank you for all the suggestions and advice!

After experimenting a bit, I realized that my biggest gripe was shooting 20 fps on static subjects like animal portraits etc.

So I will use standard setting of Continuous Low at 7 fps for general subjects and slower moving animals, or even slow flying birds like pelicans etc.

Then Continuous High at about 15 fps should do for most of my faster action needs.

Thank you so much for helping me enjoy my Z6iii so much more -- it feels like a sleek, silent D500 with much more options!

God bless from Africa!

Friedrich von Hörsten

Ps. If ever you want to visit Southern Africa for wildlife safaris on a BUDGET, just contact me -- here we do self-drive for 20% of the price quoted by safari operators in Kruger, Hwange, Kgalagadi, Etosha etc. I will happily recommend my favourite parks with budget accommodation and enjoyable safaris.

Friedrich von Horsten said:

Thank you for all the suggestions and advice!

After experimenting a bit, I realized that my biggest gripe was shooting 20 fps on static subjects like animal portraits etc.

So I will use standard setting of Continuous Low at 7 fps for general subjects and slower moving animals, or even slow flying birds like pelicans etc.

Then Continuous High at about 15 fps should do for most of my faster action needs.

Thank you so much for helping me enjoy my Z6iii so much more -- it feels like a sleek, silent D500 with much more options!

God bless from Africa!

Friedrich von Hörsten

Ps. If ever you want to visit Southern Africa for wildlife safaris on a BUDGET, just contact me -- here we do self-drive for 20% of the price quoted by safari operators in Kruger, Hwange, Kgalagadi, Etosha etc. I will happily recommend my favourite parks with budget accommodation and enjoyable safaris.

Click to expand...

You could try setting U3 for fast action.

I usually shoot in Aperture mode, AF-C, wide area small or single point, 2 fps or 3 fps (I can hold down the shutter to get a set of photos when I have very slow shutter speeds, to pick out the sharpest one later).

If you are out shooting animals, you are likely in Manual or Shutter mode.

To set U3, for example:

I switched to Shutter, temporarily set 1/1000, set Wide Area C1 (I set it to a tall and narrow AF box). ISO Sensitivity settings --> Max sensitivity 12800. Subject detect: Animals, or People, etc. I could make other changes, like F1 or F2, or i-menu setups, but that just confuses me when I switch.

Now do Menu --> Setup menu --> Save users settings --> Save to U3.

(For any future changes to this U3 setup: switch to U3, make the menu changes, save to U3 again.)

~~~~

Now, for example, if I'm shooting Shutter mode, 3 fps, 1/200 second, max ISO 6400: Or shooting Aperture, f/5.6, AF-S, single point AF:

It's 3 clicks of the mode dial to reach U3 from Shutter (2 clicks from Aperture). Now it's the U3 saved settings, with a fast shutter, fast fps, and wide range ISO. I can switch without looking at the dial. I like U3 instead of U1 to make this no-look switching easier. My U1 and U2 are for other uses.

When I switch back to Shutter, it changes back to the current Shutter settings I was using just before I switched to U3. Nice!

jthomas39 said:

The OP did already know that 1fps to 7fps and 15/16 fps and 20 fps are available. But there's no 8 fps thru 14 fps -- that was the original question, are these alternate frame rates possible? No, they aren't

Click to expand...

Skipping frame rates started with the Z9. Basically the "missing" frame rates don't divide well into the sensor offload rate. Some of the frame rates are "rounded," as well (e.g. IIRC 8 fps is more like in the high 7's on a Z8/Z9).

The focus system relies on sensor offload, so that's the gating element.

The Z6III is a bit different in its offloads and doesn't have the dual sensor stream, so has a different set of available frame rates.

Thom Hogan said:

jthomas39 said:

The OP did already know that 1fps to 7fps and 15/16 fps and 20 fps are available. But there's no 8 fps thru 14 fps -- that was the original question, are these alternate frame rates possible? No, they aren't

Click to expand...

Skipping frame rates started with the Z9. Basically the "missing" frame rates don't divide well into the sensor offload rate. Some of the frame rates are "rounded," as well (e.g. IIRC 8 fps is more like in the high 7's on a Z8/Z9).

The focus system relies on sensor offload, so that's the gating element.

The Z6III is a bit different in its offloads and doesn't have the dual sensor stream, so has a different set of available frame rates.

Click to expand...

That's certainly possible but I would be surprised if true, esp when one considers the range of shutter speeds supported - slower shutter speeds impose their own effective fps.

Deleting all or most of a long burst:

I found a few new Playback / image review settings.

I don't normally delete any files while shooting -- I do that after transferring files to my PC. I might do it if I'm shooting a huge amount of bursts all day long, or I just tested some changed settings.

~~~

There are burst delete settings to bulk delete burst sets:

Menu --> Playback menu:

Delete pictures from both slots: OFF. if this is ON, the bulk delete is grayed out. I don't do live backups to the SD slot, it could slow down the frame rates on long bursts. I use the SD for overflow if I ever fill up the CFE card, and the SD is mainly for video, since it can easily handle my 4K 8 bit videos.

I already have Playback --> Series playback --> List series as single thumbnails=ON.

So I zoom out in image review to see the current series as a single thumbnail, showing "022" as the count. It has the yellow frame, showing it's selected.

I can zoom back into the series images with the "+" button, then scroll through with the up/down joystick or the rear command wheel. Press the image lock button (which is the Release mode when shooting, there's a "key" icon under it as a reminder.) Once I've protected the few images I want to keep in the series, I can delete the rest:

to delete the burst, except for the locked/protected images in it:

Playback button --> zoom out to thumbnails --> select the burst series. i-menu --> manage series --> Delete. (I've protected 4 images of the 22 in the burst.) It prompts: Delete? 18 pictures --> Yes. Now the burst series has a count of "004", good.