Most popular choices for customizing Fn1 button and Fn2 button on Nikon Z6iii

[Neil S]

The wonderful aspect of the Nikon Z6iii ( and of course Z8 and Z9) are the host of button customization options
I think it would be very interesting and useful for the readers of this forum to describe how they have chosen to customize the Fn1 button and Fn2 buttons

Of course this will vary depending on personal preferences, and the specific use situation eg wildlife, birds in flight , sports action, portraits etc

I'm definitely not looking for advice here - there is so much available online
(eg https://www.youtube.com/@backcountrygallery, https://www.youtube.com/c/WILDALASKA and many more ), but rather to enjoy and appreciate the creative thinking of forum members.

At the moment I'm evaluating ( for wildlife) using Fn1 button on Single Point focus, and Fn2 button on Wide-Area AF (Large) or 3D Tracking

Thanks for all contributions!

 

[Ruby Rod]

IMO, one of them has to be DOF preview, though I can never remember which one!

 

[jthomas39]

I like this so far, on my Z6 iii. I do "a little of everything" while out shooting.

Associated with F1,F2 and AF methods:

I have f7: Release button to use dial=On. I can press and release F1,F2, Release Mode, Exp Comp, or ISO buttons, and the setting shows in yellow on the display. I make changes to it, and press any key, usually the half press shutter, to set it. Very helpful.

F1:

F1: "AF/[+]" Focus mode/AF-area mode. The front dial selects from my list of AF modes. The rear dial selects AF-C, AF-S, MF. I can switch to AF-S and then select Pinpoint in here. I choose from Auto area, Single point, Wide area small, Wide area Large, Wide area C1, or C2 -- and those can be resized on the fly with the 8-way controller!

With the F7 "release button" setting, I can just press F1 and release. It would be a little awkward to hold F1 and turn the front dial, I think.

I've been switching AF modes way more often, now that I'm used to having this F1 method. It's very fast and efficient to switch. Nice!

F2:

F2:100% zoom. I've used this setting for years. Zoom to the focus box, or zoom to the focus point in Playback image review. Press F2 again, and it zooms all the way out. That's quicker than the repeated "+" and "-" buttons.

And f2: Custom controls(shooting) --> Command dials -->Sub-command dial zoom role=Zoom. When I press F2 100% zoom while shooting, now the front dial zooms out to 50% , 100%, or 200% only. Useful. (But this doesn't work in Playback, I would like it there too.)

~~~

AF:

I have AF-On=only. (The half press shutter still locks the exposure, for one shot at a time.)

The DISP button is changed to AF-area mode+AF-On. For a wide area AF handoff to this 3D tracking, or launch the 3D box and track whatever is in the box.

The previous DISP viewing choices are moved to the joystick button press: Sub-selector center=DISP cycle live view info display.

 

[sirhawkeye64]

The wonderful aspect of the Nikon Z6iii ( and of course Z8 and Z9) are the host of button customization options
I think it would be very interesting and useful for the readers of this forum to describe how they have chosen to customize the Fn1 button and Fn2 buttons

Of course this will vary depending on personal preferences, and the specific use situation eg wildlife, birds in flight , sports action, portraits etc

I'm definitely not looking for advice here - there is so much available online
(eg https://www.youtube.com/@backcountrygallery, https://www.youtube.com/c/WILDALASKA and many more ), but rather to enjoy and appreciate the creative thinking of forum members.

At the moment I'm evaluating ( for wildlife) using Fn1 button on Single Point focus, and Fn2 button on Wide-Area AF (Large) or 3D Tracking

Thanks for all contributions!

Speaking generically here yes it depends on your shooting style. While I don't have the Z6 III, I can use the Z6 II as an example as to how I programmed my Fn buttons.

Since the Z6/Z7 series don't have a dedicated AF button like the Z8 and Z9, I programmed one to be for AF (i think this is by default).

The other button I would use to zoom into 200% (since I was mostly shooting landscapes) and would program the Record button for metering mode. This allowed me to access the most commonly used functions (for me) without having to use menus or minimize the use of menus. Everything else I needed when into the My Menu system so I rarely went into the regular menus.

 

[ajr images]

My choice is to use the most readily available buttons for various focus methods, so my Z6III (and two Z9’s) has 3D Tracking on the AF-On button, Wide Area AF - Large on Fn1, and Single Point AF on Fn2.

Of course, the Z9’s also have Fn3, which I have set to Wide Area AF - Small.

It’s a personal choice as to what works best for each user, and of course it’s not a huge deal to change the function of these buttons.

 

[Alberto Tanikawa]

Fn1: FX <-> DX with button press and wheel turn, for lenses that do not have a Lfn button.

Fn2: metering modes

Nothing special. I also assign Lfn to switch between FX & DX, which doesn’t require turning any command wheel, just a button press.

 

[Neil S]

Thank you everyone for your interesting and useful replies!

Much appreciated

 

[ericbowles]

I like this so far, on my Z6 iii. I do "a little of everything" while out shooting.

Associated with F1,F2 and AF methods:

F1:

F1: "AF/[+]" Focus mode/AF-area mode. The front dial selects from my list of AF modes. The rear dial selects AF-C, AF-S, MF. I can switch to AF-S and then select Pinpoint in here. I choose from Auto area, Single point, Wide area small, Wide area Large, Wide area C1, or C2 -- and those can be resized on the fly with the 8-way controller!

With the F7 "release button" setting, I can just press F1 and release. It would be a little awkward to hold F1 and turn the front dial, I think.

I've been switching AF modes way more often, now that I'm used to having this F1 method. It's very fast and efficient to switch. Nice!

F2:

F2:100% zoom. I've used this setting for years. Zoom to the focus box, or zoom to the focus point in Playback image review. Press F2 again, and it zooms all the way out. That's quicker than the repeated "+" and "-" buttons.

And f2: Custom controls(shooting) --> Command dials -->Sub-command dial zoom role=Zoom. When I press F2 100% zoom while shooting, now the front dial zooms out to 50% , 100%, or 200% only. Useful. (But this doesn't work in Playback, I would like it there too.)

I use the same functions with the assigned buttons reversed. My F1 button is to zoom to 100% both for shooting and for playback. My Fn2 button is for AF with the front control wheel to control AF area and the rear to control AF-S, AF-C or M. The Fn2 button is the default on some of my cameras so I have just left it there. The OK button centers the AF point.

My Video shutter release is programmed to Cycle AF on my Z8, and will be used in the same way when that firmware update is available in the Z6iii.

The logic behind the Fn button to 100% is twofold. I want to be able to use the camera before pressing the shutter to view the subject as I would using binoculars, but then watch for precise focus and precise subject position with the head toward the camera and wings and/or legs in an attractive position. Chimping largely takes place through the EVF, but for the EVF or LCD I can immediately zoom to 100%.