Nikon z6 ii control rings and buttons - suggested customisations?

[Morgs_B]

I'm the proud owner of a brand spanking z6 ii. I'm glad I held off on getting the z6 and the additions are very welcome (charging via usb-c as I type).

I'm should start by saying - having been Panasonic and Blackmagic based for the last decade, and video cameras before that, I'm a total Nikon noob. I'm also just getting back into photography, with most experience being film based over a decade ago, so there's a welcome learning curve ahead on a bunch of fronts.

I'm reaching out to get feedback, and what you consider an essential customisation. Apologies if I'm duplicating threads, feel free to link me elsewhere.

While I realise I can customize nearly everything to do what I want, and am just getting started, a few defaults have left me scratching my head and am wondering if there's something I'm missing.

• The front control dial does nothing but changes ISO-auto off, unless I customise it?
• I can't seem to use the front control dial for changing ISO or shutter - the customisations don't seem to be there.
• In either A, S or P neither the front or back wheels by default do anything. At all (que?).

The only customisation I've made that I'll think I'll stick with:

• Fn2 to set image area (FX, DX), which has already been useful.

Thanks all, looking forward to seeing how you've tinkered!

 

[Ninpou_Bunshinnojutsu]

Play with both the front and rear dials when testing.

You can also reverse them (in your settings), so perhaps that's why you are not seeing anything happen in A, S, P modes.

 

[Morgs_B]

Play with both the front and rear dials when testing.

You can also reverse them, so perhaps that's why you are not seeing anything happen in A, S, P modes.

HI! I definitely have and just confirmed they indeed do nothing in either direction on A, S or P.

But now the front dial IS changing shutter in M, I swear it didn't before. I've: customize command dials/change main-sub/exposure setting: ON. But there's nothing that applies to shutter or front. Am I going mad?

Btw I'm latest firmware 1.01 and using a manual dumb adapter while I wait for the FTZ to arrive (got the rebate - hurrah!), and don't yet have any Z glass.

 

[Ninpou_Bunshinnojutsu]

Oh, it's probably just the dumb adapter. It can't change aperture for you, right?

 

[1llusive]

Play with both the front and rear dials when testing.

You can also reverse them, so perhaps that's why you are not seeing anything happen in A, S, P modes.

HI! I definitely have and just confirmed they indeed do nothing in either direction on A, S or P.

But now the front dial IS changing shutter in M, I swear it didn't before. I've: customize command dials/change main-sub/exposure setting: ON. But there's nothing that applies to shutter or front. Am I going mad?

Btw I'm latest firmware 1.01 and using a manual dumb adapter while I wait for the FTZ to arrive (got the rebate - hurrah!), and don't yet have any Z glass.

I recommend sticking with M. The other modes are just too frustrating because you'll find yourself needing control that you don't have.

 

[Morgs_B]

Oh, it's probably just the dumb adapter. It can't change aperture for you, right?

Right.

But neither dial affects shutter in S?

Does it affect shutter by default in M for you?

 

[Morgs_B]

I recommend sticking with M. The other modes are just too frustrating because you'll find yourself needing control that you don't have.

Sure thing. And now rear dial controls ISO only in iso-auto - yellow, which clearly isn't actually ISO. So what is it, and how do I set rear or front dial to manually change ISO (this is max, or min, Nikon auto-iso?).

 

[Ninpou_Bunshinnojutsu]

Maybe switch to M and take your adapter off and see if the S can be adjusted.

Works on my Z, w/o anything attached.

The only other thing that comes to mind is to make sure you did not set aperture/shutter lock.

If you fiddled with a lot of settings you can always try a reset.

 

[jthomas39]

Play with both the front and rear dials when testing.

You can also reverse them, so perhaps that's why you are not seeing anything happen in A, S, P modes.

HI! I definitely have and just confirmed they indeed do nothing in either direction on A, S or P.

But now the front dial IS changing shutter in M, I swear it didn't before. I've: customize command dials/change main-sub/exposure setting: ON. But there's nothing that applies to shutter or front. Am I going mad?

Btw I'm latest firmware 1.01 and using a manual dumb adapter while I wait for the FTZ to arrive (got the rebate - hurrah!), and don't yet have any Z glass.

In M mode on my Z6, with an FTZ or S lens: Front dial is aperture. Rear dial is shutter speed. (my f5-change main/sub settings are Off.)

I like the f6-Release button to use dial = Yes:

For switching between Auto-ISO and ISO, I had to hold the ISO button and awkwardly turn the front dial with another finger. With this setting to Yes, I just press ISO, then turning the front dial switches back and forth between Auto-ISO to ISO.

Pressing ISO once, then using the rear dial, I can adjust ISO. (But I rarely do this, usually using auto-ISO, or setting a manual ISO via the rear screen.)

But the main advantage is for Exposure compensation. Just press the Exposure comp button, let it go, then use either the front or rear dial to adjust compensation. I can see the results as I click through and pick the best setting. No awkward two-finger operation.

For any of these operations, the ISO or Exposure comp number shows yellow on the display while it's able to be changed via a dial. I just half press the shutter to get out of dial change mode, and the number changes back to white as usual.

Setting with the touch screen

I didn't realize this right away when the Z6 was new. Any control on the rear display with a white box around it can be changed using a touch of the box. Including turning on or off the "Touch shutter" which triggers the shutter if I touch into the image -- I never use this, but it could be useful on a tripod.

 

[Morgs_B]

In M mode on my Z6, with an FTZ or S lens: Front dial is aperture. Rear dial is shutter speed. (my f5-change main/sub settings are Off.)
I like the f6-Release button to use dial = Yes:

For switching between Auto-ISO and ISO, I had to hold the ISO button and awkwardly turn the front dial with another finger. With this setting to Yes, I just press ISO, then turning the front dial switches back and forth between Auto-ISO to ISO.

Pressing ISO once, then using the rear dial, I can adjust ISO. (But I rarely do this, usually using auto-ISO, or setting a manual ISO via the rear screen.)

But the main advantage is for Exposure compensation. Just press the Exposure comp button, let it go, then use either the front or rear dial to adjust compensation. I can see the results as I click through and pick the best setting. No awkward two-finger operation.

For any of these operations, the ISO or Exposure comp number shows yellow on the display while it's able to be changed via a dial. I just half press the shutter to get out of dial change mode, and the number changes back to white as usual.

Setting with the touch screen

I didn't realize this right away when the Z6 was new. Any control on the rear display with a white box around it can be changed using a touch of the box. Including turning on or off the "Touch shutter" which triggers the shutter if I touch into the image -- I never use this, but it could be useful on a tripod.

This is really useful, thanks @jthomas39 :-O

 

[Hubblefunk]

Some videos to help you find some settings that may suit you and other possibilities you didn't realize. I think these videos are a good starting point to find what works for you.

 

[1llusive]

Some videos to help you find some settings that may suit you and other possibilities you didn't realize. I think these videos are a good starting point to find what works for you.

I don't agree with most of their control assignments. I'll probably make a thread about how I set mine up, if anyone's interested in sharing theirs also.

 

[Morgs_B]

But the main advantage is for Exposure compensation.

I've got learnt behaviour, likely coz trying to defer to native-iso for video shooting, to avoid Exposure compensation.

But from researching this seems common practice for Nikon shooters?

You don't ever notice any detriments to this - adding noise, color shifts or the like?

 

[Hubblefunk]

I don't agree with most of their control assignments. I'll probably make a thread about how I set mine up, if anyone's interested in sharing theirs also.

I'd be curious to see your setup and that of others!

 

[jthomas39]

But the main advantage is for Exposure compensation.

I've got learnt behaviour, likely coz trying to defer to native-iso for video shooting, to avoid Exposure compensation.

But from researching this seems common practice for Nikon shooters?

You don't ever notice any detriments to this - adding noise, color shifts or the like?

That's interesting. Do you shoot evening or night time images at standard exposure, then darken them later when editing?

I've been using auto-ISO, all the way up to 12800, then using DxO for noise reduction. I want to try more 100 ISO night shooting, with longer exposures, likely on a tripod. I want to see just how much more dynamic range I'll get.

 

[Morgs_B]

But the main advantage is for Exposure compensation.

I've got learnt behaviour, likely coz trying to defer to native-iso for video shooting, to avoid Exposure compensation.

But from researching this seems common practice for Nikon shooters?

You don't ever notice any detriments to this - adding noise, color shifts or the like?

That's interesting. Do you shoot evening or night time images at standard exposure, then darken them later when editing?

I should have been more clear - no experience of these issues on the z6 ii, this is just a general rule of thumb, to avoid these issues when shooting DSLR video over the years.

I've been using auto-ISO, all the way up to 12800, then using DxO for noise reduction. I want to try more 100 ISO night shooting, with longer exposures, likely on a tripod. I want to see just how much more dynamic range I'll get.

The high ISO performance is the best I've ever experienced, no doubt. Haven't played enough yet to comment specifically, but I will!

 

[ipopov]

By default, the front dial changes aperture in A and M modes, the back dial changes shutter speed in S and M modes.

But you mentioned in another comment that you use a dumb adapter. That means the front dial won't do anything. The back dial should still control shutter speed in S and M mode. (It does for me).

About other customizations: I have assigned OK button to 1:1 zoom, joystick press to jump to center focus point, Fn1 to open custom menu (which I've configured for myself) and Fn2 to change focus mode. That's it.

 

[Morgs_B]

By default, the front dial changes aperture in A and M modes, the back dial changes shutter speed in S and M modes.

But you mentioned in another comment that you use a dumb adapter. That means the front dial won't do anything. The back dial should still control shutter speed in S and M mode. (It does for me).

Thanks, back wheel has been intermittently not doing anything and I don't yet know why! I'm assuming its user error and will report if I figure it.

About other customizations: I have assigned OK button to 1:1 zoom, joystick press to jump to center focus point, Fn1 to open custom menu (which I've configured for myself) and Fn2 to change focus mode. That's it.

Nice.

This reminds me:

1. Anyone know how to centre the selected zoom area, once zoomed in? Rather than waiting . . till . . yellow . . . box . . . . . gets . . . . . . . zzzzzz.

2. I still don't know how to manually change ISO, and seems it can't be done with either wheel!? Front wheel turns of auto-ISO, then what!? EDIT: The yellow ISO appears after turning OFF auto-iso (thus allowing manual-ISO to be set with back wheel) - I was confused thinking this was auto-ISO (saw yellow, didn't read ).
When auto-iso selected it allows the ISO to be changed with back wheel too, yet this is NOT changing manual-ISO but setting auto-ISO parameters (i think - max, min auto-iso?).

 

[ipopov]

1. Anyone know how to centre the selected zoom area, once zoomed in? Rather than waiting . . till . . yellow . . . box . . . . . gets . . . . . . . zzzzzz.

Joystick press (which I assigned to center focus point) snaps the zoom area to the center for me.

2. I still don't know how to manually change ISO, and seems it can't be done with either wheel!? Front wheel turns of auto-ISO, then what!? EDIT: The yellow ISO appears after turning OFF auto-iso (thus allowing manual-ISO to be set with back wheel) - I was confused thinking this was auto-ISO (saw yellow, didn't read ).
When auto-iso selected it allows the ISO to be changed with back wheel too, yet this is NOT changing manual-ISO but setting auto-ISO parameters (i think - max, min auto-iso?).

The front wheel switches Auto-ISO mode on and off. With Auto-ISO mode off, the back wheel changes ISO; with Auto-ISO on, the back wheel changes minimum value Auto-ISO will use. Maximum value is set in the menu.

 

[Morgs_B]

1. Anyone know how to centre the selected zoom area, once zoomed in? Rather than waiting . . till . . yellow . . . box . . . . . gets . . . . . . . zzzzzz.

Joystick press (which I assigned to center focus point) snaps the zoom area to the center for me.

Weird, just assigned joystick press to the same (zoom on fn1) and it definitely doesn't for me.

2. I still don't know how to manually change ISO, and seems it can't be done with either wheel!? Front wheel turns of auto-ISO, then what!? EDIT: The yellow ISO appears after turning OFF auto-iso (thus allowing manual-ISO to be set with back wheel) - I was confused thinking this was auto-ISO (saw yellow, didn't read ).
When auto-iso selected it allows the ISO to be changed with back wheel too, yet this is NOT changing manual-ISO but setting auto-ISO parameters (i think - max, min auto-iso?).

The front wheel switches Auto-ISO mode on and off. With Auto-ISO mode off, the back wheel changes ISO; with Auto-ISO on, the back wheel changes minimum value Auto-ISO will use. Maximum value is set in the menu.

This is what I'm confused about - I HAVE set it in menu, yet once I select something in auto-ISO with the front wheel, as you've described, I can't see this value having any affect.