Z9 with Flash not working: an obscure reason

[FrankG]

Today I spent nearly all day trying to figure out why my Z9 was refusing to work with any of my flash units. Despite having owned the Z9 for nearly 2 years now this is the first time I have actually bothered to try fitting a flash to the hotshoe - I normally just use my D850 if I want to use flash (rarely these days for most of the stuff I do)!

So eventually, after working through various ideas and failing I saved all settings and did a full reset: problem solved, flash system working. So I re-loaded the settings hoping the problem was a temporary glitch .. but no, the flash was back to refusing to work again. No access to "flash mode" settings with the flash symbol with a circle round it indicating flash disabled. Hmmm.

So I reset again and proceeded this time to laboriously redo all my setting manually. That should work I thought - umm but no! Back to flash not working again!

So I started selectively disabling various settings starting with the "Setup" menu and almost immediately found the culprit: Silent Mode !!

Disable Silent Mode and the flash system gets re-enabled. It seems that Silent Mode for some reason disables the hotshoe! I have no idea why. Is this a Z9 bug or an intended feature I wonder? It doesn't seem to make much sense.

Nowhere have I found any documentation from Nikon warning about this. I wish they would include a warning IN-CAMERA (via the ? info button perhaps) and also a note in the user manual.

Having done a search I see that this issue has previously been obscurely mentioned in a post somewhere .. but I bet many users don't know about it!

Frank

 

[Wahrsager]

Is this a Z9 bug or an intended feature I wonder?

Nowhere have I found any documentation from Nikon warning about this. I wish they would include a warning IN-CAMERA (via the ? info button perhaps) and also a note in the user manual.

See page 756 of Reference Manual or search "Silent Mode" and read caveats in online guide:

https://onlinemanual.nikonimglib.co...12480bc3-9f80-212e-7426-1f1e6f00d3e0_266.html

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/65878139

 

[FrankG]

Is this a Z9 bug or an intended feature I wonder?

Nowhere have I found any documentation from Nikon warning about this. I wish they would include a warning IN-CAMERA (via the ? info button perhaps) and also a note in the user manual.

It's not an issue, it's in the manual:

https://onlinemanual.nikonimglib.co...12480bc3-9f80-212e-7426-1f1e6f00d3e0_266.html

Well thank you. So they added that info into the section on silent mode to the latest version of the manual. Do they give any warning in any of the sections relating to flash? Why would anyone reading the manual for guidance on flash usage turn to the section on Silent Mode?? Serendipity? That's why I call it obscure.

In any case that information was NOT available in the earlier version of the reference manual that I had been consulting (Nikon Z9 Reference Guide Z9RG_(En)02.pdf) which to be fair is a little out-of-date now (despite being supplemented by various firmware update addendums).

Frank

 

[j_photo]

This is true for all Nikon mirrorless cameras--flash doesn't operate in silent mode. And as already noted, this behavior is documented in the manual.

 

[Sagittarius]

Is this a Z9 bug or an intended feature I wonder?

Nowhere have I found any documentation from Nikon warning about this. I wish they would include a warning IN-CAMERA (via the ? info button perhaps) and also a note in the user manual.

It's not an issue, it's in the manual:

https://onlinemanual.nikonimglib.co...12480bc3-9f80-212e-7426-1f1e6f00d3e0_266.html

Well thank you. So they added that info into the section on silent mode to the latest version of the manual. Do they give any warning in any of the sections relating to flash? Why would anyone reading the manual for guidance on flash usage turn to the section on Silent Mode?? Serendipity? That's why I call it obscure.

In any case that information was NOT available in the earlier version of the reference manual that I had been consulting (Nikon Z9 Reference Guide Z9RG_(En)02.pdf) which to be fair is a little out-of-date now (despite being supplemented by various firmware update addendums).

Frank

It was in the manual from the very beginning. And it is mentioned in the section related to flash on the page 422.

 

[FrankG]

This is true for all Nikon mirrorless cameras--flash doesn't operate in silent mode. And as already noted, this behavior is documented in the manual.

Obscurely documented by a single line note in the "Silent Mode" section of the latest online version of the reference manual but it's not documented at all in an earlier version of the manual that I have held for some time downloaded as a pdf. I don't find any reference to any warning about this in any section devoted to flash nor is there any in-camera warning or info.

So I thought it a good idea to highlight the issue as I bet others will blunder into this the same way. Especially people who don't often use flash or who, like me, have tended up to now to stick to using a flash with a DSLR.

Frank

 

[HyperCypher]

Today I spent nearly all day trying to figure out why my Z9 was refusing to work with any of my flash units. Despite having owned the Z9 for nearly 2 years now this is the first time I have actually bothered to try fitting a flash to the hotshoe - I normally just use my D850 if I want to use flash (rarely these days for most of the stuff I do)!

So eventually, after working through various ideas and failing I saved all settings and did a full reset: problem solved, flash system working. So I re-loaded the settings hoping the problem was a temporary glitch .. but no, the flash was back to refusing to work again. No access to "flash mode" settings with the flash symbol with a circle round it indicating flash disabled. Hmmm.

So I reset again and proceeded this time to laboriously redo all my setting manually. That should work I thought - umm but no! Back to flash not working again!

So I started selectively disabling various settings starting with the "Setup" menu and almost immediately found the culprit: Silent Mode !!

Disable Silent Mode and the flash system gets re-enabled. It seems that Silent Mode for some reason disables the hotshoe! I have no idea why. Is this a Z9 bug or an intended feature I wonder? It doesn't seem to make much sense.

Nowhere have I found any documentation from Nikon warning about this. I wish they would include a warning IN-CAMERA (via the ? info button perhaps) and also a note in the user manual.

Having done a search I see that this issue has previously been obscurely mentioned in a post somewhere .. but I bet many users don't know about it!

Frank

Isn't a Z9 always in silent mode ?? Isn't this redundant? ... When I turn it on I still hear the sensor shield, aperture blades, and even the IBIS ... what else actually changes ?

Silent mode on non stacked Nikons enables electronic shooting ... a non sequester in Z8, 9 land.

I think what I like most about my Z8 is how quiet it is ... although the sensor shield is pretty noisy and maybe that's why Nikon defaults it to inactive ...

Fred

 

[Wahrsager]

Isn't a Z9 always in silent mode ?? Isn't this redundant? ... When I turn it on I still hear the sensor shield and aperture blades and even the IBIS ... what else actually changes ?

When you turn on Silent, besides disabling Flash, it turns off menu sounds and VR Lock and minimizes lens drive noises.

 

[Thom Hogan]

Disable Silent Mode and the flash system gets re-enabled. It seems that Silent Mode for some reason disables the hotshoe! I have no idea why. Is this a Z9 bug or an intended feature I wonder? It doesn't seem to make much sense.

It's been like this on all Nikon Z cameras. I suspect an oversight on the Z9 engineering team, though (and Z8). The reason for disabling the flash in silent mode on the earlier cameras had to do with placing the flash signal properly in the rolling shutter window for the Z6 and Z7 and all subsequent Z's. That really shouldn't apply to the Z8/Z9, though, as they can do that with sounds turned on ;~).

Nowhere have I found any documentation from Nikon warning about this. I wish they would include a warning IN-CAMERA (via the ? info button perhaps) and also a note in the user manual.

It's been noted in every Nikon Z manual to date, as well as my books. It's one of the top support questions Nikon (and I) receive.

 

[FrankG]

Is this a Z9 bug or an intended feature I wonder?

Nowhere have I found any documentation from Nikon warning about this. I wish they would include a warning IN-CAMERA (via the ? info button perhaps) and also a note in the user manual.

It's not an issue, it's in the manual:

https://onlinemanual.nikonimglib.co...12480bc3-9f80-212e-7426-1f1e6f00d3e0_266.html

Well thank you. So they added that info into the section on silent mode to the latest version of the manual. Do they give any warning in any of the sections relating to flash? Why would anyone reading the manual for guidance on flash usage turn to the section on Silent Mode?? Serendipity? That's why I call it obscure.

In any case that information was NOT available in the earlier version of the reference manual that I had been consulting (Nikon Z9 Reference Guide Z9RG_(En)02.pdf) which to be fair is a little out-of-date now (despite being supplemented by various firmware update addendums).

Frank

It was in the manual from the very beginning. And it is mentioned in the section related to flash on the page 422.

So I re-checked and I'm still not seeing any mention of this issue in that section in the reference manual (v2) (nor in any other section relating to flash) that I have had for some time. I don't have any earlier version than that of the manual any more.

So I just downloaded the latest version (Z9RG_(En)05.pdf) ... and I still don't see any reference to this, ie Silent Mode, anywhere in the entire section relating to flash in that version either.

As pointed out by Wahrsahger there is now a note about it in the section on Silent Mode, but I think that's a bit obscure for anyone to find. Why would anyone go to read the section on Silent Mode when researching flash usage? It's not obvious that this feature would be related to flash use.

Frank

 

[HyperCypher]

Thom,

Why does the sensor shield have to drop when you go to a menu? ... I think it is dropping ... makes for quite a bit of noise ... same for time out ... silent mode does not seem to have any effect on the shield which is pretty much the noisiest thing in the camera if you have "sound" muted ...

F. oh wow answered my own question ... that's IBIS "parking" ... not the sensor shield ... so I can get really quiet if I kill IBIS ...

 

[FrankG]

Disable Silent Mode and the flash system gets re-enabled. It seems that Silent Mode for some reason disables the hotshoe! I have no idea why. Is this a Z9 bug or an intended feature I wonder? It doesn't seem to make much sense.

It's been like this on all Nikon Z cameras. I suspect an oversight on the Z9 engineering team, though (and Z8). The reason for disabling the flash in silent mode on the earlier cameras had to do with placing the flash signal properly in the rolling shutter window for the Z6 and Z7 and all subsequent Z's.

Interesting.

That really shouldn't apply to the Z8/Z9, though, as they can do that with sounds turned on ;~).

Exactly!

Nowhere have I found any documentation from Nikon warning about this. I wish they would include a warning IN-CAMERA (via the ? info button perhaps) and also a note in the user manual.

It's been noted in every Nikon Z manual to date, as well as my books. It's one of the top support questions Nikon (and I) receive.

Also interesting. I still haven't managed to find any reference to this in the version of the reference manual that I had been using (v2) which I suppose is now quite a bit out-of-date. So I have now downloaded the latest. There is a note in the Silent Mode section in this latest version, nothing about it in the section on flash so that's all I've been able to find so far. Obviously the section on flash in all versions documents that a flash disabled mode exists - but as far as I can see there is no mention of this being caused by Silent Mode.

No wonder you get so many support questions on this!

Frank

 

[Thom Hogan]

Thom,

Why does the sensor shield have to drop when you go to a menu? ... I think it is dropping ... makes for quite a bit of noise ... same for time out ... silent mode does not seem to have any effect on the shield which is pretty much the noisiest thing in the camera if you have "sound" muted ...

Not the sensor shield. It's the VR sled. Nikon is locking it when the camera is inactive.

 

[HyperCypher]

I can'r figure what silent mode actually silences, aside from muting "camera sounds" ... I don't hear any difference in focus motor noise using my 24-120 for instance ... it has no effect on the IBIS parking mech. which is pretty darn loud ... and it does not disable the shield which is audible, but not as much as the IBIS brake... is there something else ... ?

I do know that strobes are quite audible, esp at full output ...

 

[Sagittarius]

Is this a Z9 bug or an intended feature I wonder?

Nowhere have I found any documentation from Nikon warning about this. I wish they would include a warning IN-CAMERA (via the ? info button perhaps) and also a note in the user manual.

It's not an issue, it's in the manual:

https://onlinemanual.nikonimglib.co...12480bc3-9f80-212e-7426-1f1e6f00d3e0_266.html

Well thank you. So they added that info into the section on silent mode to the latest version of the manual. Do they give any warning in any of the sections relating to flash? Why would anyone reading the manual for guidance on flash usage turn to the section on Silent Mode?? Serendipity? That's why I call it obscure.

In any case that information was NOT available in the earlier version of the reference manual that I had been consulting (Nikon Z9 Reference Guide Z9RG_(En)02.pdf) which to be fair is a little out-of-date now (despite being supplemented by various firmware update addendums).

Frank

It was in the manual from the very beginning. And it is mentioned in the section related to flash on the page 422.

So I re-checked and I'm still not seeing any mention of this issue in that section in the reference manual (v2) (nor in any other section relating to flash) that I have had for some time. I don't have any earlier version than that of the manual any more.

So I just downloaded the latest version (Z9RG_(En)05.pdf) ... and I still don't see any reference to this, ie Silent Mode, anywhere in the entire section relating to flash in that version either.

As pointed out by Wahrsahger there is now a note about it in the section on Silent Mode, but I think that's a bit obscure for anyone to find. Why would anyone go to read the section on Silent Mode when researching flash usage? It's not obvious that this feature would be related to flash use.

Frank

Look on page 401 (instead of 422 in the old one) third sentence after "On camera" vs. "Remote" .

"When using a flash, select [OFF] for [Silent mode] in the setup menu."

 

[j_photo]

This is true for all Nikon mirrorless cameras--flash doesn't operate in silent mode. And as already noted, this behavior is documented in the manual.

Obscurely documented by a single line note in the "Silent Mode" section of the latest online version of the reference manual but it's not documented at all in an earlier version of the manual that I have held for some time downloaded as a pdf. I don't find any reference to any warning about this in any section devoted to flash nor is there any in-camera warning or info.

So I thought it a good idea to highlight the issue as I bet others will blunder into this the same way. Especially people who don't often use flash or who, like me, have tended up to now to stick to using a flash with a DSLR.

Frank

It doesn't seem obscure to me. It's stated plainly. You seem determined to put the blame on Nikon for your not understanding something about your camera. It's documented and always has been.

All that said, it's a common point of confusion, so nothing wrong in pointing it out once in a while here in the forums. There will always be new users who could benefit from the reminder.

 

[ghostfox_1]

So I started selectively disabling various settings starting with the "Setup" menu and almost immediately found the culprit: Silent Mode !!

Disable Silent Mode and the flash system gets re-enabled. It seems that Silent Mode for some reason disables the hotshoe! I have no idea why. Is this a Z9 bug or an intended feature I wonder? It doesn't seem to make much sense.

Silent Mode

onlinemanual.nikonimglib.com

It's intentional

Nowhere have I found any documentation from Nikon warning about this.

I wish they would include a warning IN-CAMERA (via the ? info button perhaps) and also a note in the user manual.

You didn't read the manual, since I linked the section above. It's clearly stated.

Having it in the in camera help would also be beneficial though.

Having done a search I see that this issue has previously been obscurely mentioned in a post somewhere .. but I bet many users don't know about it!

That's why reading the manual is important, and everyone should check it first when they have an issue, or even to brush up on things. Often times the answers are there.

I've run into one issue where that wasn't the case.

 

[FrankG]

Is this a Z9 bug or an intended feature I wonder?

Nowhere have I found any documentation from Nikon warning about this. I wish they would include a warning IN-CAMERA (via the ? info button perhaps) and also a note in the user manual.

It's not an issue, it's in the manual:

https://onlinemanual.nikonimglib.co...12480bc3-9f80-212e-7426-1f1e6f00d3e0_266.html

Well thank you. So they added that info into the section on silent mode to the latest version of the manual. Do they give any warning in any of the sections relating to flash? Why would anyone reading the manual for guidance on flash usage turn to the section on Silent Mode?? Serendipity? That's why I call it obscure.

In any case that information was NOT available in the earlier version of the reference manual that I had been consulting (Nikon Z9 Reference Guide Z9RG_(En)02.pdf) which to be fair is a little out-of-date now (despite being supplemented by various firmware update addendums).

Frank

It was in the manual from the very beginning. And it is mentioned in the section related to flash on the page 422.

So I re-checked and I'm still not seeing any mention of this issue in that section in the reference manual (v2) (nor in any other section relating to flash) that I have had for some time. I don't have any earlier version than that of the manual any more.

So I just downloaded the latest version (Z9RG_(En)05.pdf) ... and I still don't see any reference to this, ie Silent Mode, anywhere in the entire section relating to flash in that version either.

As pointed out by Wahrsahger there is now a note about it in the section on Silent Mode, but I think that's a bit obscure for anyone to find. Why would anyone go to read the section on Silent Mode when researching flash usage? It's not obvious that this feature would be related to flash use.

Frank

Look on page 401 (instead of 422 in the old one) third sentence after "On camera" vs. "Remote" .

"When using a flash, select [OFF] for [Silent mode] in the setup menu."

Ah - OK found it at last, thank you for pointing me to it! And yes it is also in the same spot in the v2 manual. My bad - I completely missed that page of the manual!

Frank

 

[FrankG]

This is true for all Nikon mirrorless cameras--flash doesn't operate in silent mode. And as already noted, this behavior is documented in the manual.

Obscurely documented by a single line note in the "Silent Mode" section of the latest online version of the reference manual but it's not documented at all in an earlier version of the manual that I have held for some time downloaded as a pdf. I don't find any reference to any warning about this in any section devoted to flash nor is there any in-camera warning or info.

So I thought it a good idea to highlight the issue as I bet others will blunder into this the same way. Especially people who don't often use flash or who, like me, have tended up to now to stick to using a flash with a DSLR.

Frank

It doesn't seem obscure to me. It's stated plainly. You seem determined to put the blame on Nikon for your not understanding something about your camera. It's documented and always has been.

Ok - well I completely missed seeing that they actually do point this out right at the very start of the section on Flash - so that's my oversight .. but it in general I think it's not an obvious thing to think of and there is no mention of it in-camera (as far as I can see!). So it's not surprising that people often fall into this one - like I did.

All that said, it's a common point of confusion, so nothing wrong in pointing it out once in a while here in the forums. There will always be new users who could benefit from the reminder.

I think so. Thank you.

 

[FrankG]

So I started selectively disabling various settings starting with the "Setup" menu and almost immediately found the culprit: Silent Mode !!

Disable Silent Mode and the flash system gets re-enabled. It seems that Silent Mode for some reason disables the hotshoe! I have no idea why. Is this a Z9 bug or an intended feature I wonder? It doesn't seem to make much sense.

https://onlinemanual.nikonimglib.co...12480bc3-9f80-212e-7426-1f1e6f00d3e0_266.html

It's intentional

Nowhere have I found any documentation from Nikon warning about this.

I wish they would include a warning IN-CAMERA (via the ? info button perhaps) and also a note in the user manual.

You didn't read the manual, since I linked the section above. It's clearly stated.

Yes I trawled at length through many pages but somehow missed the very start of the first page of the section on Flash, where it is plainly stated! Ugh.

Having it in the in camera help would also be beneficial though.

Yes it wouldn't take much for them to add that, perhaps add a note to the info that gets displayed if the "?" button is pressed in relation to the Silent Mode menu option?

What I found particularly confusing is not merely that the flash is disabled but that also there is no way to access the "flash modes" options via either the flash button (the one on the mode settings tower) or, if access to that via the i menu is attempted. Basically no clue is offered as to why nothing happens. Obviously once you find out the reason .. problem solved.

Having done a search I see that this issue has previously been obscurely mentioned in a post somewhere .. but I bet many users don't know about it!

That's why reading the manual is important, and everyone should check it first when they have an issue, or even to brush up on things. Often times the answers are there.

I've run into one issue where that wasn't the case.