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Nikon z5 newbie

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robmarshall77

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Hi guys

As the title says I'm shortly going to be receiving a very low shutter count z5 body in excellent cosmetic condition. I'm pretty excited to be honest. At the moment I'm holding off on lens purchases but I'm going to hire the 24-120 s lens as I've read good things about it and I want a solid all-rounder.

Has anyone got any good tips in usage for a newbie to the Nikon Z system? I will be coming from a Fujifilm xt20 which is a very different camera being quite a lot smaller and lighter. I like to shoot landscapes, some street stuff (although I think this is really quite challenging to do well, especially in this day and age) and family.
 
robmarshall77 said:
Hi guys

As the title says I'm shortly going to be receiving a very low shutter count z5 body in excellent cosmetic condition. I'm pretty excited to be honest. At the moment I'm holding off on lens purchases but I'm going to hire the 24-120 s lens as I've read good things about it and I want a solid all-rounder.

Has anyone got any good tips in usage for a newbie to the Nikon Z system? I will be coming from a Fujifilm xt20 which is a very different camera being quite a lot smaller and lighter. I like to shoot landscapes, some street stuff (although I think this is really quite challenging to do well, especially in this day and age) and family.
Click to expand...
Congratulations with your purchase.

I learned a lot from Thom Hogan's e-guides Nikon Z System Books | Thom Hogan and also from Secrets To The Nikon Autofocus System: Mirrorless Edition – Backcountry Gallery Web Store.

For lens info i refer to Nikon Z-Mount FX Lens Reviews | Thom Hogan
 
I own the Nikon z5 ii camera, and Iam sure you will like the z 5 model. That 24 120 S lens is amazing, so versatile. Try it on low light. For me it’s one of the best lens I have owned. I call it a vacation lens. Good luck and enjoy your camera.
 
mrbr said:
robmarshall77 said:
Hi guys

As the title says I'm shortly going to be receiving a very low shutter count z5 body in excellent cosmetic condition. I'm pretty excited to be honest. At the moment I'm holding off on lens purchases but I'm going to hire the 24-120 s lens as I've read good things about it and I want a solid all-rounder.

Has anyone got any good tips in usage for a newbie to the Nikon Z system? I will be coming from a Fujifilm xt20 which is a very different camera being quite a lot smaller and lighter. I like to shoot landscapes, some street stuff (although I think this is really quite challenging to do well, especially in this day and age) and family.
Click to expand...
Congratulations with your purchase.

I learned a lot from Thom Hogan's e-guides Nikon Z System Books | Thom Hogan and also from Secrets To The Nikon Autofocus System: Mirrorless Edition – Backcountry Gallery Web Store.

For lens info i refer to Nikon Z-Mount FX Lens Reviews | Thom Hogan
Click to expand...
I think that the action autofocus settings, that allow handoff to 3D and other shortcuts, can wait a bit. Get familiar with the camera controls first, then try the autofocus mods later.

I got the Thom Hogan guide for my Z6 in 2019, and really liked it. 1000 pages! But I like digging into the details and options, so it worked great for me. That might be a bit much for other photographers. "TL-DR" mode.

I got the Z6 iii last year, and the new Z6 iii Hogan Guide was very useful, again. I could skim over the familiar parts of the book, that were similar to the Z6 operation.

~~~

New to Nikon:

I've kind of forgotten my first days with the Z6. Here's what I do remember:

I set the Mode dial to Program, and did a bunch of experimental shooting. I didn't really like the Program mode, since it was changing it's own settings depending on the scene, a bit confusing.

From advice I'd read, I changed to Aperture mode with Auto ISO. Then I could set the lens aperture with the front control dial, and the camera picked the shutter speed and the ISO to use for a correct exposure.

Aperture is still my main choice for non-action shooting. (With experience, I'm starting to use more Manual mode in more difficult scenes, to control both the aperture and the shutter speed.)

Lots of test sessions!

In the first weeks, I tried all kinds of camera features. High speed continuous shooting. Subject detect, pets, people, cars, etc. Picture Controls for the look of the jpgs. Customizing the i-menu selections. etc etc. Take a bunch of test shots, and then delete them when that testing is finished.

Playback - Image Review:

When new to the camera, you might want to turn on Playback, so you can see the shot instantly after it's taken. Half press the shutter to go back to shooting mode.

Menu --> Playback menu --> Picture Review=ON.

I normally keep this turned this off, and just use the rear Playback button to review when I need to. Because now I'm confident that most scenes will be correctly shot, no need to review!

Touch screen:

Use the touch to navigate the menus, since it's easier than the 4-way controller (which is still better on some menu selections.)

On Playback, use pinch to zoom, drag to move the zoomed area.

~~~

AF-S vs AF-C

AF-S will turn the autofocus box green when it finds focus, and then stop focusing until the button is released and pressed again. It also has a Pinpoint option for slower, very accurate focusing.

AF-C (continuous autofocus) is for moving subjects or moving camera. It keeps focusing as long as the half press shutter or the AF-On is pressed.

For AF-C, turn on this option:

Menu--> Custom settings menu --> a focus --> a10: Focus point display --> AF-C in-focus display=ON. Now the AF-C focus box is Red when it doesn't find focus, and turns green when in-focus. That's very useful, and I don't know why it's not the default setting.

Now, I use AF-C most of the time when handholding the camera. I used to use AF-S on the Z6, which didn't turn the AF-C box green.

~~

Nikon pdf and online manual

Download the Reference Guide PDF. It's quite useful, but doesn't always explain "why" to pick a setting, just "how" to choose in the menu.

https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/648/Z5II.html

The online Reference manual with the search box is handy too: (google "Z5 ii online manual")

https://onlinemanual.nikonimglib.com/z5II/en/
 
Last edited:
jthomas39 said:
mrbr said:
robmarshall77 said:
Hi guys

As the title says I'm shortly going to be receiving a very low shutter count z5 body in excellent cosmetic condition. I'm pretty excited to be honest. At the moment I'm holding off on lens purchases but I'm going to hire the 24-120 s lens as I've read good things about it and I want a solid all-rounder.

Has anyone got any good tips in usage for a newbie to the Nikon Z system? I will be coming from a Fujifilm xt20 which is a very different camera being quite a lot smaller and lighter. I like to shoot landscapes, some street stuff (although I think this is really quite challenging to do well, especially in this day and age) and family.
Click to expand...
Congratulations with your purchase.

I learned a lot from Thom Hogan's e-guides Nikon Z System Books | Thom Hogan and also from Secrets To The Nikon Autofocus System: Mirrorless Edition – Backcountry Gallery Web Store.

For lens info i refer to Nikon Z-Mount FX Lens Reviews | Thom Hogan
Click to expand...
I think that the action autofocus settings, that allow handoff to 3D and other shortcuts, can wait a bit. Get familiar with the camera controls first, then try the autofocus mods later.

I got the Thom Hogan guide for my Z6 in 2019, and really liked it. 1000 pages! But I like digging into the details and options, so it worked great for me. That might be a bit much for other photographers. "TL-DR" mode.

I got the Z6 iii last year, and the new Z6 iii Hogan Guide was very useful, again. I could skim over the familiar parts of the book, that were similar to the Z6 operation.

~~~

New to Nikon:

I've kind of forgotten my first days with the Z6. Here's what I do remember:

I set the Mode dial to Program, and did a bunch of experimental shooting. I didn't really like the Program mode, since it was changing it's own settings depending on the scene, a bit confusing.

From advice I'd read, I changed to Aperture mode with Auto ISO. Then I could set the lens aperture with the front control dial, and the camera picked the shutter speed and the ISO to use for a correct exposure.

Aperture is still my main choice for non-action shooting. (With experience, I'm starting to use more Manual mode in more difficult scenes, to control both the aperture and the shutter speed.)

Lots of test sessions!

In the first weeks, I tried all kinds of camera features. High speed continuous shooting. Subject detect, pets, people, cars, etc. Picture Controls for the look of the jpgs. Customizing the i-menu selections. etc etc. Take a bunch of test shots, and then delete them when that testing is finished.

Playback - Image Review:

When new to the camera, you might want to turn on Playback, so you can see the shot instantly after it's taken. Half press the shutter to go back to shooting mode.

Menu --> Playback menu --> Picture Review=ON.

I normally keep this turned this off, and just use the rear Playback button to review when I need to. Because now I'm confident that most scenes will be correctly shot, no need to review!

Touch screen:

Use the touch to navigate the menus, since it's easier than the 4-way controller (which is still better on some menu selections.)

On Playback, use pinch to zoom, drag to move the zoomed area.

~~~

AF-S vs AF-C

AF-S will turn the autofocus box green when it finds focus, and then stop focusing until the button is released and pressed again. It also has a Pinpoint option for slower, very accurate focusing.

AF-C (continuous autofocus) is for moving subjects or moving camera. It keeps focusing as long as the half press shutter or the AF-On is pressed.

For AF-C, turn on this option:

Menu--> Custom settings menu --> a focus --> a10: Focus point display --> AF-C in-focus display=ON. Now the AF-C focus box is Red when it doesn't find focus, and turns green when in-focus. That's very useful, and I don't know why it's not the default setting.

Now, I use AF-C most of the time when handholding the camera. I used to use AF-S on the Z6, which didn't turn the AF-C box green.

~~

Nikon pdf and online manual

Download the Reference Guide PDF. It's quite useful, but doesn't always explain "why" to pick a setting, just "how" to choose in the menu.

https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/648/Z5II.html

The online Reference manual with the search box is handy too: (google "Z5 ii online manual")

https://onlinemanual.nikonimglib.com/z5II/en/
Click to expand...
Good advice from jthomas !!

Also Lens Reviews - Photography Life if OP wants more technical lensinformation and examples of pictures.

And digitutor from nikon : Digitutor | Nikon Consumer

Also , to be able to see the settings used for Z pictures , download NX studio ( free ) from the nikon downloadcenter Nikon | Download Center
 
Last edited:
Z5 ii setup videos.

I saw this one while looking for the Steve Perry and Hudson Henry videos:

Z5 ii Beginners Guide

It starts with just mounting a lens and shooting the first photo. no experience needed. Lots of menu choice discussions and useful new camera info. 90 minutes.


~~~

Hudson Henry Z5 ii menu setup.

He shoots action and some landscape. He dicusses each menu item, nice.

I don't always agree with his menu choices! But now I know why I like my setting better.

90 minutes on this video 1 of 2!


~~~

Steve Perry doesn't have a specific Z5 ii setup video, but his channel has lots of interesting birding and action shooting methods, most of which will apply to the Z5 ii.

You might avoid the ones that are years old, things have changed since then.

Loading…

www.youtube.com
 
mrbr said:
robmarshall77 said:
Hi guys

As the title says I'm shortly going to be receiving a very low shutter count z5 body in excellent cosmetic condition. I'm pretty excited to be honest. At the moment I'm holding off on lens purchases but I'm going to hire the 24-120 s lens as I've read good things about it and I want a solid all-rounder.

Has anyone got any good tips in usage for a newbie to the Nikon Z system? I will be coming from a Fujifilm xt20 which is a very different camera being quite a lot smaller and lighter. I like to shoot landscapes, some street stuff (although I think this is really quite challenging to do well, especially in this day and age) and family.
Click to expand...
Congratulations with your purchase.

I learned a lot from Thom Hogan's e-guides Nikon Z System Books | Thom Hogan and also from Secrets To The Nikon Autofocus System: Mirrorless Edition – Backcountry Gallery Web Store.

For lens info i refer to Nikon Z-Mount FX Lens Reviews | Thom Hogan
Click to expand...
I have both Thom's Z5 book and Steve Perry's book.

The combination helped me really transition from DSLR to mirrorless. Moving from Fuji to Nikon I learn toward Thom's book first since he goes through all of the settings for all functions in the camera and generally has a much better explanation of what settings do than Nikon's manual.
 
jthomas39 said:
Z5 ii setup videos.

I saw this one while looking for the Steve Perry and Hudson Henry videos:

Z5 ii Beginners Guide

It starts with just mounting a lens and shooting the first photo. no experience needed. Lots of menu choice discussions and useful new camera info. 90 minutes.


~~~

Hudson Henry Z5 ii menu setup.

He shoots action and some landscape. He dicusses each menu item, nice.

I don't always agree with his menu choices! But now I know why I like my setting better.

90 minutes on this video 1 of 2!


~~~

Steve Perry doesn't have a specific Z5 ii setup video, but his channel has lots of interesting birding and action shooting methods, most of which will apply to the Z5 ii.

You might avoid the ones that are years old, things have changed since then.

https://www.youtube.com/@backcountrygallery/featured
Click to expand...
OP wrote "Z5" not ""Z5 ii"

There is a substantial difference.
 
jthomas39 said:
I think that the action autofocus settings, that allow handoff to 3D and other shortcuts, can wait a bit. Get familiar with the camera controls first, then try the autofocus mods later.
Click to expand...
No handoff to 3D with the Z5 which has more more limited autofocus capabilities compared ot the Z5 ii
jthomas39 said:
I got the Thom Hogan guide for my Z6 in 2019, and really liked it. 1000 pages! But I like digging into the details and options, so it worked great for me. That might be a bit much for other photographers. "TL-DR" mode.

I got the Z6 iii last year, and the new Z6 iii Hogan Guide was very useful, again. I could skim over the familiar parts of the book, that were similar to the Z6 operation.

~~~
Click to expand...
 
Good tips. I will add couple of thoughts below.
jthomas39 said:
mrbr said:
robmarshall77 said:
Hi guys

As the title says I'm shortly going to be receiving a very low shutter count z5 body in excellent cosmetic condition. I'm pretty excited to be honest. At the moment I'm holding off on lens purchases but I'm going to hire the 24-120 s lens as I've read good things about it and I want a solid all-rounder.

Has anyone got any good tips in usage for a newbie to the Nikon Z system? I will be coming from a Fujifilm xt20 which is a very different camera being quite a lot smaller and lighter. I like to shoot landscapes, some street stuff (although I think this is really quite challenging to do well, especially in this day and age) and family.
Click to expand...
Congratulations with your purchase.

I learned a lot from Thom Hogan's e-guides Nikon Z System Books | Thom Hogan and also from Secrets To The Nikon Autofocus System: Mirrorless Edition – Backcountry Gallery Web Store.

For lens info i refer to Nikon Z-Mount FX Lens Reviews | Thom Hogan
Click to expand...
I think that the action autofocus settings, that allow handoff to 3D and other shortcuts, can wait a bit. Get familiar with the camera controls first, then try the autofocus mods later.

I got the Thom Hogan guide for my Z6 in 2019, and really liked it. 1000 pages! But I like digging into the details and options, so it worked great for me. That might be a bit much for other photographers. "TL-DR" mode.

I got the Z6 iii last year, and the new Z6 iii Hogan Guide was very useful, again. I could skim over the familiar parts of the book, that were similar to the Z6 operation.

~~~

New to Nikon:

I've kind of forgotten my first days with the Z6. Here's what I do remember:

I set the Mode dial to Program, and did a bunch of experimental shooting. I didn't really like the Program mode, since it was changing its own settings depending on the scene, a bit confusing.
Click to expand...
That is the purpose of Program mode:the camera does everything. It uses some machine learning to determine what kind of scene you are shooting and adjusts settings based on most-common for that scene type. It’s not often right. My wife loves this setting on her Z50ii; I never use it.
jthomas39 said:
From advice I'd read, I changed to Aperture mode with Auto ISO. Then I could set the lens aperture with the front control dial, and the camera picked the shutter speed and the ISO to use for a correct exposure.

Aperture is still my main choice for non-action shooting. (With experience, I'm starting to use more Manual mode in more difficult scenes, to control both the aperture and the shutter speed.)
Click to expand...
Most shooting is non-action, and even for action shots in bright environments it works really well. I prefer to control how n}much of the scene is in focus and that is what this mode is for.

You can get the advantages of manual mode while in A mode by using the exposure compensation function. A mode gets you close; dial in precisely where you want the histogram using EC.
jthomas39 said:
Lots of test sessions!

In the first weeks, I tried all kinds of camera features. High speed continuous shooting. Subject detect, pets, people, cars, etc. Picture Controls for the look of the jpgs. Customizing the i-menu selections. etc etc. Take a bunch of test shots, and then delete them when that testing is finished.
Click to expand...
Good advice!
jthomas39 said:
Playback - Image Review:

When new to the camera, you might want to turn on Playback, so you can see the shot instantly after it's taken. Half press the shutter to go back to shooting mode.

Menu --> Playback menu --> Picture Review=ON.

I normally keep this turned this off, and just use the rear Playback button to review when I need to. Because now I'm confident that most scenes will be correctly shot, no need to review!

Touch screen:

Use the touch to navigate the menus, since it's easier than the 4-way controller (which is still better on some menu selections.)
Click to expand...
I never remember to use the touch screen for this. Good idea, though.
jthomas39 said:
On Playback, use pinch to zoom, drag to move the zoomed area.

~~~

AF-S vs AF-C

AF-S will turn the autofocus box green when it finds focus, and then stop focusing until the button is released and pressed again. It also has a Pinpoint option for slower, very accurate focusing.
Click to expand...
Not so much “very accurate” but it makes the focus box even smaller, which lets you position it precisely. Generally for use on a tripod.
jthomas39 said:
AF-C (continuous autofocus) is for moving subjects or moving camera. It keeps focusing as long as the half press shutter or the AF-On is pressed.

For AF-C, turn on this option:

Menu--> Custom settings menu --> a focus --> a10: Focus point display --> AF-C in-focus display=ON. Now the AF-C focus box is Red when it doesn't find focus, and turns green when in-focus. That's very useful, and I don't know why it's not the default setting.
Click to expand...
I didn’t know that exists, thanks.

It is probably off by default because an always-red box was the only AF-C behavior in prior models, and to change the behavior after a firmware upgrade could confuse a lot of people.
jthomas39 said:
Now, I use AF-C most of the time when handholding the camera. I used to use AF-S on the Z6, which didn't turn the AF-C box green.
Click to expand...
I have the Z7 and I’m pretty sure it and the Z6 now allow you to turn the box green.

The reason the box didn’t turn green before was concern for a box that constantly flickers between red and green as the AF-C system continually locks focus on slightly different subjects. But enough people complained that Nikon added the ability.
jthomas39 said:
~~

Nikon pdf and online manual

Download the Reference Guide PDF. It's quite useful, but doesn't always explain "why" to pick a setting, just "how" to choose in the menu.
Click to expand...
I keep manuals on my iPad. Much simpler than a shelf of dead-trees books, and searchable.
jthomas39 said:
https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/648/Z5II.html

The online Reference manual with the search box is handy too: (google "Z5 ii online manual")

https://onlinemanual.nikonimglib.com/z5II/en/
Click to expand...
 
A few responses to your comments:

....snip...
PLShutterbug said:
PLShutterbug said:
AF-S vs AF-C

AF-S will turn the autofocus box green when it finds focus, and then stop focusing until the button is released and pressed again. It also has a Pinpoint option for slower, very accurate focusing.
Click to expand...
Not so much “very accurate” but it makes the focus box even smaller, which lets you position it precisely. Generally for use on a tripod.
Click to expand...
The Pinpoint also includes Contrast Detect autofocus, where I can see the focus moving in and out as it zeros in on the sharpest focus. The other modes mostly use Phase Detect, which is very fast and effective, but maybe less accurate in certain situations.
PLShutterbug said:
PLShutterbug said:
AF-C (continuous autofocus) is for moving subjects or moving camera. It keeps focusing as long as the half press shutter or the AF-On is pressed.

For AF-C, turn on this option:

Menu--> Custom settings menu --> a focus --> a10: Focus point display --> AF-C in-focus display=ON. Now the AF-C focus box is Red when it doesn't find focus, and turns green when in-focus. That's very useful, and I don't know why it's not the default setting.
Click to expand...
I didn’t know that exists, thanks.

It is probably off by default because an always-red box was the only AF-C behavior in prior models, and to change the behavior after a firmware upgrade could confuse a lot of people.
PLShutterbug said:
Now, I use AF-C most of the time when handholding the camera. I used to use AF-S on the Z6, which didn't turn the AF-C box green.
Click to expand...
I have the Z7 and I’m pretty sure it and the Z6 now allow you to turn the box green.
Click to expand...
I don't think the green focus box for AF-C ever was added to the Z6. Maybe to the Z6 ii?
PLShutterbug said:
The reason the box didn’t turn green before was concern for a box that constantly flickers between red and green as the AF-C system continually locks focus on slightly different subjects. But enough people complained that Nikon added the ability.
Click to expand...
Before I got my Z6 iii, I wondered if the green focus box confirmation would rapidly go red-green-red-green and be distracting, but it's quite stable and useful. I can see when the camera is struggling to focus, in very low light and low contrast targets. I like the green box and depend on it now.
 
Last edited:
robmarshall77 said:
Hi guys

As the title says I'm shortly going to be receiving a very low shutter count z5 body in excellent cosmetic condition. I'm pretty excited to be honest. At the moment I'm holding off on lens purchases but I'm going to hire the 24-120 s lens as I've read good things about it and I want a solid all-rounder.

Has anyone got any good tips in usage for a newbie to the Nikon Z system? I will be coming from a Fujifilm xt20 which is a very different camera being quite a lot smaller and lighter. I like to shoot landscapes, some street stuff (although I think this is really quite challenging to do well, especially in this day and age) and family.
Click to expand...
Oh, sorry, I thought you were getting a Z5 ii. Some of my comments won't apply.

I loved my Z6, which is pretty similar to your Z5. Fantastic evening shooting in city streetlight scenes, with the VR allowing reliably sharp 1/10 second shutter times at 24 mm. I slightly damaged the sensor (a long story), so that moved up my upgrade to the new Z6 iii.

I bought the DxO PhotoLab editor, which works great with raw files. Editing raw files allows very good noise reduction for dark scenes, and easy control over colors and contrast and brightness. It's actually easier than editing jpgs with a little practice.
 
Enjoy your Z5! The 24-120 is a wonderful lens. Consider a prime in the focal length you use the most. The Viltrox Air series offers interesting primes. Nikon refurbished lenses are a great value too.
 
Nikonparrothead said:
Enjoy your Z5! The 24-120 is a wonderful lens. Consider a prime in the focal length you use the most. The Viltrox Air series offers interesting primes. Nikon refurbished lenses are a great value too.
Click to expand...
Indeed. The 24-120 is the lens I use most often with my Z5.
 
robmarshall77 said:
Hi guys

As the title says I'm shortly going to be receiving a very low shutter count z5 body in excellent cosmetic condition. I'm pretty excited to be honest. At the moment I'm holding off on lens purchases but I'm going to hire the 24-120 s lens as I've read good things about it and I want a solid all-rounder.

Has anyone got any good tips in usage for a newbie to the Nikon Z system? I will be coming from a Fujifilm xt20 which is a very different camera being quite a lot smaller and lighter. I like to shoot landscapes, some street stuff (although I think this is really quite challenging to do well, especially in this day and age) and family.
Click to expand...
Maybe check out Thom Hogan's webiste (zsystemuser.com) and specifically his pages about the Z5 and the Z 24-120.

Be sure to read the manual and maybe check out Youtube as there are a lot of resources there for free.

But Thom's guides are quite concise and detailed and don't cost that much money (maybe $30-$50 but likely worth it, although I haven't bought any myself as I never needed to, but a lot of people on here like his guides. This is nothing against Thom... I 've just never needed the guides).
 
Thanks so much for this, really useful info. I got the 24-120 f/4 but I'm thinking it really is a bit of a big lens for daily use around the city and so on, so for now I will return it (maybe one to come back to later).

Yesterday I picked up the 35mm 1.4. I've never had such a fast lens, can't wait to really get out there and use it.
 
Thanks everyone for your really useful replies. Still haven't properly used the camera as I've returned the zoom lens for now and will start with the 35mm 1.4 prime as I like the size and want to concentrate on composition and "zooming with my feet" (I believe is what it's called among photographers ha ha).

Just a quick one about eye and face autofocus detection: whatever I seem to select, the LCD screen always shows an icon with with face detect "off". Kind of confused about this. Is there something I'm missing?
 
robmarshall77 said:
Thanks everyone for your really useful replies. Still haven't properly used the camera as I've returned the zoom lens for now and will start with the 35mm 1.4 prime as I like the size and want to concentrate on composition and "zooming with my feet" (I believe is what it's called among photographers ha ha).

Just a quick one about eye and face autofocus detection: whatever I seem to select, the LCD screen always shows an icon with with face detect "off". Kind of confused about this. Is there something I'm missing?
Click to expand...
I don't think the Z5 (or my old Z6) show an icon for face detect. (The Z6 iii does have an icon for the type of subject detect that's selected.)

The Z5 face/eye or animal detect is set in a4: Auto-Area AF Face/Eye Detection. And it only works in Auto-area AF mode, not one of the smaller AF box sizes.

Is this the "off" icon, in green? That's the touch screen AF. Tap it to change the touch screen AF methods. (I normally leave this set to Off, since I accidentally move the AF box by touching the screen. It is useful on a tripod, though.)

The icon in red is the active-d lighting icon -- it kind of looks like a "people" icon.

From the Z5 display manual page: Camera Displays.

8f000339a8474103b6d1544434484d84.jpg
 
Last edited:
robmarshall77 said:
Thanks everyone for your really useful replies. Still haven't properly used the camera as I've returned the zoom lens for now and will start with the 35mm 1.4 prime as I like the size and want to concentrate on composition and "zooming with my feet" (I believe is what it's called among photographers ha ha).

Just a quick one about eye and face autofocus detection: whatever I seem to select, the LCD screen always shows an icon with with face detect "off". Kind of confused about this. Is there something I'm missing?
Click to expand...
You might want a used 24-70 f/4. That was bundled with my Z6, and I really liked it. It was great in low light, and was small and lightweight. There were so many of them discounted as a bundle and sold when the Z cameras were new, since the Z lens choices were limited back then. So used copies are common.

I do like the extra reach of the 24-120, but occasionally miss my old 24-70.

~~~~

Composition:

With practice, I got pretty good at estimating what portion of my eye's view will be included in the photo with the prime lens that's on the camera. "the whole width of this building will fit in the frame" -- then lift up the camera and see the actual photo area. Did it fit?

With a single focal length, I'll ignore interesting scenes that just won't work with the lens coverage, and concentrate on looking for scenes that will fit.

With a f/1.4, try estimating the in-focus region, for nearby subjects or ones farther away. The Z cameras will show the current aperture depth of field, from wide open down to f/5.6. Smaller apertures, like f/8 or f/11, will have the lens temporarily opened to f/5.6 for viewing and for AF effectiveness. The lens closes to the selected aperture as the shutter is pressed.

~~

Try the black & white Picture Controls for an interesting view of the world in black and white. And see how the Exposure Compensation button changes the grayscale quite dramatically.

I like occasional sessions in B&W, since it often changes what type of scenes will work as a composition.
 
Thanks again guys. I think you're right about me mistaking that icon you highlighted for a face detection icon. A lot of the videos about focus on the Z cameras are about the later models. I've read though that the z5's autofocus has improved with firmware updates and I'm hoping that this is the case and I'm not expecting blazing fast AF especially with moving (or at least fast moving) subjects.

It's a pretty nice early October day here in Cheltenham, England and we're about to go out on a country walk. Excited to try out the z5 plus the 35mm 1.4:-)
 
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