Ken Rockwell's Nikon Z8 User's Guide

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Sony vs. Nikon vs. Canon Full-Frame

Nikon Z8. bigger.

Introduction top

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio

I buy only from these approved sources. I can't vouch for ads below.

Here are tricks and secrets I use with my Nikon Z8.

Mastering every feature has nothing to do with making great pictures. See How to Take Great Pictures to learn that.

I received my Z8 from B&H back on May 30, 2023 because I ordered mine the day it came out. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. If it's not in stock, order it and be patient, otherwise you'll pay much more to get one today used at eBay (How to Win at eBay).

Z8 Body: $3,996.95 at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

Z8 & Z 24-120mm f/4: $4,896.95 at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

You can't wait to find one in stock; order yours now and it will ship as soon as it comes in, long before you'll ever see them marked as IN-STOCK sitting on a shelf. See also How to Get Hot, New Items First — or you can pay more to a scalper to get a used one today at eBay (How to Win at eBay).The Z8 is this good!

This is as of firmware 1.00; menu locations can move around over time.

Charging & Power top

You can charge the battery the old-fashioned way in the included Nikon MH-25a external charger, or plug the Z8 into any USB-C source.

I can charge from a USB-C charger, USB-C power bank, USB-C source in a car, solar panels or solar generators — but it only charges from USB-C sources, not USB-A. No longer can we old-timers charge with a USB-A to USB-cable; you have to use a USB-C to UCB-C cable.

While there are two seemingly identical USB-C jacks on the left side, only the bottom one, marked PD on the rubber flap, will charge your Z8!

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com The Amber CHARGE LED is usually hidden behind the strap on the top left side of the Z8; it's not on the back where we can see it easily:

Nikon Z8 Charge LED. bigger.

It won't charge while ON, but will charge while sleeping or OFF. No worries if you plug it in and walk away with the power ON; it will go to sleep and start charging.

Hint: Always confirm that the Amber CHARGE LED comes on a few seconds after you plug it in. It's easy to plug power into the top USB-C socket and go to sleep for the night — with an uncharged Z8 waiting for you the next morning!

It charges at 15V at 10 W from USB-C.

It draws a 116 mW "trickle" when done charging.

See Performance: Power & Battery for measured power drains while shooting and battery life.

Hint: By default the power drains quickly while shooting all day because it usually doesn't go to sleep while carried around my neck with the power switch ON, however if you set

MENU > 🔧 SETUP > Energy saving (photo mode) > ON

it sleeps and wakes magically without running down the battery and I can leave my Z8 ON for weeks of light shooting, while it was usually dead in a day with this option OFF. I can't see any degradation in performance with Energy Saving ON.

Extended Menu Banks top

I always activate these; otherwise some of the settings below may not be available.

Enable these at

MENU > 📷 PHOTO SHOOTING MENU (camera icon) > Extended menu banks > ON

and at

MENU > VIDEO SHOOTING MENU (movie camera icon) > Extended menu banks > ON.

Shooting at 30, 60 and 120 FPS top

The Z8 really rips at 30, 60 or 120 FPS with full autofocus and exposure tracking, but there are some feature restrictions explained below to allow it to run that fast. If you want to shoot raw files or use any of the other settings and features unavailable at 30, 60 or 120 FPS, no big deal; shoot at 20 FPS and you're good. 20 FPS is no slouch either, or shoot the Canon EOS R3 which has no restrictions at 30 FPS.

To set 30, 60 or 120 FPS, hold the top left advance mode button (the bearded rectangle) and turn the top rear control dial to select the frame rate. Hint

Hint: The rear dial sets big changes in frame rate (self-timer, single, 3 FPS, 20 FPS, 30 FPS, 120 FPS, etc.), while the front dial can fine-tune most of those frame rates (self-timer duration, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 FPS, etc.).

The new smart shutter sound is brilliant. The 30 FPS shutter sound sounds like 30 FPS, however shooting at 60 or 120 FPS sounds the same as 30 FPS.

Specific Restrictions 30, 60 & 120 FPS top

The longest continuous burst at these speeds is a five- or six-second continuous burn. This means about 180 frames at 30 FPS (six seconds), 360 frames at 60 FPS (six seconds) or 600 frames at 120 FPS (five seconds).

Luckily this is all buffered inside the Z8 and not dependant on card speed. I get most of the same burst lengths even with an ancient 30 MB/s card — it just takes a while (80 seconds) to unload the Z8's buffer into the card so I can make the next full burst. With modern Sony 300 MB/s cards everything runs fast, and even if you use really slow cards you can keep shooting more as the buffer loads into the card, just that you only an shoot as much as the buffer has cleared each time. Not to worry, modern cards don't need any waiting. The buffer completely unloads in 12s to my Sony 300 MB/s cards, so no worry.

At 30 FPS the slowest available shutter speed is 1/60 and the picture format is fixed at LARGE JPG NORMAL (45 MP, 8,256 × 5,504 pixels), only. You can't shoot raw or any other image size or JPG compression level. Each JPG file is about 11 MB, depending on detail and contrast.

At 60 FPS it shoots in DX mode, also fixed at LARGE JPG NORMAL (19 MP, 5,392 × 3,592 pixels), only. The slowest shutter speed is also 1/60.

120 FPS only works with full-frame lenses and with a slowest shutter speed of 1/125. Images are fixed at SMALL JPG NORMAL (11 MP, 4,128 × 2,752 pixels), only. You can't shoot raw or any other image size or JPG compression level. Each JPG file is about 3 MB, depending on detail and contrast.

At Any of the 30, 60 or 120 FPS Settings: 30, 60 & 120 FPS top

The battery-gauge shot counter only increments by one for each burst, even if you shoot hundreds of frames.

The EXIF shot counter increments correctly for each shot.

Picture Control settings work as always.

All the autofocus settings work; focus tracks great at these frame rates.

You can shoot in any of the P, S, A or M exposure modes.

You can't use Program Shift; instead use other exposure modes to select any particular aperture or shutter speed.

ISO can be set between ISO 32 (L1) and ISO 25,600; you can't use any of the pushed ISOs above ISO 25,600.

Auto ISO works, except that the minimum shutter speed works only at the AUTO (based on lens focal length) setting; it ignores manual settings like 1/500. Use the Shutter-preferred or Manual exposure modes to select a particular shutter speed.

Flicker reduction is OFF.

You can't use flash.

You can't use exposure bracketing.

You can't make multiple exposures on the same frame; get a room and take it up on your own computer to stack frames.

You can't do HDR overlays.

You can't use the interval timer.

You can't do time-lapse video.

You can't do focus shift.

Cards & Files 30, 60 & 120 FPS top

A lot of data is created in these modes. Any of these modes generate about 2 GB of JPGs in a 6-second burst.

Bring plenty of big cards. I made 12,000 shots shooting in a half an hour, or about 60 GB of data!

I set my Z8 to shoot to both cards for backup at

MENU > 📷 PHOTO SHOOTING MENU (camera icon) > Secondary slot function > Backup.

Sadly when either card fills, the camera stops dead. The last thing we want to happen is anything that locks-up our camera. Previous Nikons didn't seem to have this problem although the Z9 also has this flaw. When one card fills or has an error, it should continue to write to the good card, the whole point of backup.

If you shoot to two cards for backup as I do, remember to keep changing both cards, because the Z8 stops whenever either gets full!

The Z8 packs not more than 5,000 shots in a folder. You won't see it while shooting, but it creates a new folders after images 4,999 and 9,999. While you can combine two of these folders with images 0001 to 9,999 in the same folder on your computer, you can't combine all of them if you shot more than 10,000 images.

Digesting, Sorting and Selecting Images 30, 60 & 120 FPS top

We all have our favorite methods for selecting the best images out of all we shot. Here's how I do it.

I don't bother copying all the images to my computer to pick the good shots because there's too much data and it's not necessary. Worse, often you can't copy all the images and put them in the same folder because once you shoot 10,000 images, now trivially easy to do, the file numbers repeat and can't be put in the same folder!

I pop my CFexpress type B cards in my Ritz Gear CFexpress Type B Reader (or my SD cards in my OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock) then view and select the best images directly from the card with Photo Mechanic on my Mac. My RitzGear 256GB cards are faster than hard drives, and Photo Mechanic is so smart that it works super-fast even if reading from a hard drive.

In Photo Mechanic, I tap my Mac's number buttons to color-code the better shots by rating. I sort by color code, select the few winning shots and drag only them to my computer for actual use. I may select and delete the non-winners directly from the card if I don't plan simply to reformat these cards. In this way I've never clogged my computer or had to wait for the files to copy from the card, especially on my little 13" MacBook Pro (2017) whose SSD was only 128 GB, half the storage space of my RitzGear 256GB card, before I updated it to an OWC Aura Pro NT internal 1TB SSD.

Autofocus Settings top

Some people spend years learning how to twiddle with the Z8's innumerable AF system settings.

I don't.

I only use a few settings, and disable all the others so they don't get in the way of me setting the few I do use.

I go to

MENU > ✎ (pencil icon) CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU > a Focus > a8 Limit AF-area mode selection > and I uncheck everything except Single-point AF, 3D-tracking and Auto-area AF.

Now when I use my Z8's Focus Mode Button to set my AF Area mode, I only have to click through the two or three modes I actually use.

I use AF-S (Single) for things not moving. It focuses and locks. If things are moving I use AF-C (continuous), which continues to track focus. Easy.

I usually use the All-Area AF-Area mode[▆] , in which the Z8 just figures out which area(s) to use, and just locks (AF-S) or tracks (AF-C). Easy.

Only if my Z8 can't find the subject, I'll use the 3D AF-area mode [3D] and put the AF area where I need it. Focus locks in AF-S, and it tracks and moves all over the frame in AF-C.

Hint: Rather than moving a single sensor with the clicker in single-AF-area mode [□] , use the 3D AF-area mode [3D], point the camera so the center sensor is on the subject, then recompose in AF-C [3D] and the sensor will move itself to stay on the subject as you recompose! Hand-held it's much easier to move the camera than to use the clickers to move the sensor.

Hint: I set MENU > ✎ (pencil icon) CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU > a Focus > a1 AF-C priority to Focus + release. In English, this setting means most of your pictures will be in focus. The default Release setting means that the Z8 shoots away whether a subject was in focus or not.

Getting Green for GO! top

In 2018 Nikon paradoxically chose to make in-focus AF areas in AF-C (continuous AF) mode show in red, which means stop, rather than in green which means GO!

The Z8 finally allows us to fix this, but ONLY if we set:

MENU > ✎ (pencil icon) CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU > a Focus > a11 Focus point display > AF-C in-focus display > ON.

Finder Size top

A new "Finder display size" option lets you reduce the size of the Live View image to allow the Z8 to be held farther away and still allow the complete live image to be visible through the finder. Set this at

MENU > 🔧 SETUP > Finder display size (photo Lv) > SMALL if you prefer.

The menu display has always been reduced in the finder but full-size on the rear LCD; this option doesn't change the menu or playback image size, just the Live View image in the finder.

Finder Release Displays top

A new selectable finder modes let you choose how the camera lets you know it shot: either nothing, lines around the frame, lines at just the left and right sides or the frame blacks-out.

Select this at

MENU > ✎ (pencil icon) CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU > d13 > Release timing indicator:

OFF does nothing. Use the Shutter Sound if you like.

TYPE A blacks-out the frame when it shoots, like a DSLR.

TYPE B blinks lines along all four sides of the finder frame. They are both black and white so you can see them regardless of the picture you're taking. I use this mode.

TYPE C blinks lines only at the left and right sides of the frame.

Level Display Options top

To show the level display, hit the rear DISP button until it appears.

There are two different kinds of level display.

Type A is the usual aircraft-style artificial horizon lines, and TYPE B are two little bars along the bottom and right side.

Select these at

MENU > ✎ (pencil icon) CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU > d16 > Virtual horizon type.

Setting ISO in Full Stops top

Except for when Auto ISO selects them, I have no need for fractional ISOs like 125 or 8,000. I don't want to have to make three times as many clicks to skip past the fractions.

Therefore I set (manual) ISOs to set in full stops at

MENU > ✎ (pencil icon) CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU > b Metering/exposure > b1 ISO setting increments > 1 stop.

Setting this to FULL STOPS only effects manual settings; AUTO ISO still sets itself in what looks like sixths of a stop.

Set to FULL STOPS I can get from ISO 100 to ISO 6,400 in just 6 clicks of the dial rather than 18!

Setting Exposure Modes top

I dislike having to use two hands to change the exposure mode, since the MODE button is on the top left and the dials are on the right.

I program my ⬤ red circle button next to my shutter button to be another MODE button at

MENU > ✎ (pencil icon) CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU > f Controls > f2 Custom controls (shooting) > MOVIE BUTTON > MODE.

This also has the benefit of not starting to record movies if I hit the ⬤ red circle button by accident. If I want to shoot a movie, I use my iPhone 14 Pro Max or move the lever around the DISP button to MOVIE and I'm good.

Shutter Sounds top

The brilliant smart shutter sound changes with shutter speed, and at slow speeds it makes a soft click as it opens and again as it closes, just like a leaf shutter.

We musical folks we can confirm our shutter speeds by ear, and set to SOFT it's just right so we can hear it, but no one else does. Set this at:

MENU > 🔧 SETUP > Camera sounds > Shutter sound ON , volume 1, Pitch L. Bravo!

I can't hear any difference between Pitch L and Pitch H.

Here is also where you can turn off the foolish beeps for other things.

Dynamic Image Optimization user's guide top

Nikon has a magic image optimizer that does its best to ensure that everything from highlights to shadows and everything in between always look great. I always use this feature, and in other cameras it's usually ON by default.

For some reason it's OFF by default in my Z8, so I activate it at:

MENU > 📷 PHOTO SHOOTING MENU (camera icon) > Active D-Lighting > Auto.

The Auto position does its best every time; I've never used any of the manual settings like Normal or High.

Black and White Shooting top

Black and White is hidden as an option in the Picture Controls. Set these at:

MENU > 📷 PHOTO SHOOTING MENU (camera icon) > Set Picture Control > MC Monochrome.

If you have sky and clouds, select Filter effects > Yellow, or for an even stronger effect, select Orange or Red, which will make the clouds stand out from the blue sky. Yellow gives a natural rendition; Orange and then Red are stronger effects. The photos are Black and White; the filter settings make the blue sky darker against the white clouds. Without a filter the blue sky tends to be too light and hide the clouds.

I prefer setting Toning > Sepia 1.0 or so for warmer-toned images. Setting this higher (Sepia 3.0) makes even warmer-toned Black and White images.

A huge advantage of mirrorless is that you see all these effects in your finder before you take a photo. The finder shows all the effects as you're shooting; you're looking at a Black and White image as you focus and compose, possibly even toned.

These effects only apply if you're actually taking pictures (JPG images) rather than merely collecting raw data to process later. I never shoot raw; you probably lose all this if you do.

This is fun, but honestly I always shoot with my usual color settings and convert to B&W later in Photoshop with a B&W adjustment layer and adjust its color sliders in Layer Properties to taste because these sliders let me choose my color-filter effects manually after I've shot, and then lets me use a expert warm split-tone that Nikon's simple toning options can't replace.

Regardless of how you get to Black and White, know that all these methods result in dull B&W images because that's how color sensors are designed: for less overall contrast than we prefer for powerful Black and White. Regardless of the conversion method you use (either the Black and White Picture Control or later in Photoshop), I always increase the contrast with a Curves adjustment layer in Photoshop.

I make the curve into an "S" by lifting it at 75%, lowering it at 25% and leaving 0%, 50% and 100% alone. This adds snap, impact and contrast, and leaves midtones, highlights and shadows alone. Cool, huh? I haven't tried the contrast options in Black and White Picture Controls which may — or may not — do the same thing.

I add this contrast layer before I tone the final print.

That was the easy part. Black and White is all about leading the eye and creating your story with selective burning and dodging (lightening and darkening). You need to lighten what's important and darken what's not to give your image impact and make your message stand out. No message = boring image. I prefer to burn and dodge with curves adjustment layer masks; you can do it with whatever software and methods you prefer, but you do need to do all this to get powerful Black and White images.

Hint: I program my Fn3 button to get me directly to Picture Controls at:

Custom Controls top

Program your buttons, dials and controls as you like at

MENU > ✎ (pencil icon) CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU > f Controls > f1 ~ f13.

VR Settings top

With a non-VR lens, I prefer to set VR to normal at

MENU > 📷 PHOTO SHOOTING MENU (camera icon) > Vibration reduction > NORMAL. It defaults to SPORT.

If you can set this with switches on a VR lens, then these menu options are grayed-out.

Auto White Balance top

There are now four different Auto White Balance (AWB) settings. I usually use the AUTO1 setting, which is not the default.

There are three of the usual AWB settings: AUTO0, AUTO1 and AUTO2, and a fourth Natural Light Auto setting. Use whichever looks best. Geesh; if you have to choose among four of them, it's not really Automatic, is it?

We set these at

MENU > 📷 PHOTO SHOOTING MENU (camera icon) > White balance

or by holding top left WB button and turning the dials. Hold WB and use the rear dial to select between AUTO (1, 2 or 3) or ☀ AUTO, with ☀ AUTO being Natural Light Auto. Use the front dial to select among 1, 2, or 3 if you select AUTO (1, 2 or 3). It's easier to do than to explain here.

They all look the same in daylight and under most conditions. They vary in what they do under tungsten, sunsets, and with green or yellow subjects or under fluorescent light.

The AUTO0, AUTO1 and AUTO2 settings differ only in how low they will allow the camera's Kelvin color temperature compensation to drop to compensate for tungsten light. Regular AUTO lets the camera correct from a maximum of about 7,500 K and as low as about 1,500 K in AUTO0 Keep White, about 2,700 K in AUTO1 Normal and about 4,000 K in AUTO2 Keep Warm. In any of the AUTO0, AUTO1 or AUTO2 settings the camera will vary all over the green/magenta axis as needed.

The AUTO0 "keep white" setting allows the camera to correct more fully under tungsten light to let indoor shots look whiter (less orange).

The AUTO2 "keep warm lighting colors" limits the camera's ability to correct for tungsten light, leaving indoor shots to look warmer (more orange).

Which of these three you prefer depends on how warm you want indoor shots to look. Most people and I prefer the default AUTO1 setting. The Z8 defaults to AUTO0, which I rarely use.

The Natural Light Auto setting is specifically for shooting under natural light, which means light from the sun either directly, under clouds or shade, or indoors lit from a window without other interior lights. The Natural Light Auto setting can look better (warmer) in shade or indoors by window light, and also prevents the camera from confusing green subjects or plants in shade with fluorescent light so these shots stay green instead of turning too purple. It also prevents shots with pale yellows or oranges from being presumed to be under tungsten and made to look too blue. It allows the camera to correct from about 10,000 K to 5,000 K on the amber/blue axis, and doesn't let it vary much on the green/magenta axis.

Use regular AUTO1 most of the time, and especially under artificial light, and consider using Natural Light Auto in under natural light. (Invention disclosure, Friday, 20 October 2017, 2:15PM PDT: Ideally there should be an Auto Auto White Balance setting that figures out which Auto WB setting to use all by itself. A white balance system also should look for flickering light, and if it sees it, presume that it's artificial light and set itself accordingly — but if not flickering, know that it could be any kind of lighting.)

Dimmed Tungsten Auto WB top

Click any to enlarge:

This was not a regular tungsten light; it was a tungsten light deeply dimmed so it was about 1,500 K or less— and the AUTO0 Keep White mode still did exactly that!

The Natural Light Auto setting is expecting light from the sun, so it doesn't correct for tungsten at all and it stays very orange. Not shown here is that for sunsets, Natural Light Auto keeps sunsets and warm afternoon light looking like sunsets and afternoon light, leaving everything in its warm brilliance.

12V 20W halogen Malibu lights at dusk Auto WB top

Click any to enlarge.

It's similar here, but notice how Natural Light Auto didn't make the twilight turn blue on the sandstone to the left; it left it neutral as it looked at the time.

Green Agave in Shade Auto WB top

Click either to enlarge.

This is why Nikon added Natural Light Auto: green plants in shade are often confused with fluorescent lights, and the usual AWB will try to remove what it thinks is too much green, making greens duller and everything else too magenta (purple). When you set it to Natural Light Auto, it knows there isn't any fluorescent light, and lets the leaves stay as green as they should.

Warm White Fluorescent Auto WB top

Click either to enlarge.

In this case the AUTO1 setting expertly renders the subject naturally, while the Natural Light Auto setting is powerless to try to correct the fluorescent light.

Long Time Exposures top

California Desert Home, 22 June 2019, 8:50-8:52 PM. Nikon Z7, Nikon 14-30mm at 14mm at f/11 at ISO 64, 104 second time exposure, Perfectly Clear v3.7 "landscapes" mode. bigger, full-resolution or camera-original © file.

Select TIME in manual exposure mode. It's one click to the left of BULB, which is to the left of the longest time setting. Easy!

Press the shutter and it stays open until you press it again. Use the self-timer to start and put your hand or a hat over the lens when you press the shutter to stop and you don't need a remote release!

There is a count-up timer on the top LCD in TIME mode, but to torment us Nikon disables the top LCD illuminator while it exposes, so you can't read it unless you bring your own light in the dark.

Even better, the Z8 has manual exposures settable out to 15 minutes in Manual exposure mode (only) if you enable them at

MENU > ✎ (pencil icon) CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU > d5 Extended shutter speeds (M) > ON.

These extended manual shutter speeds read in seconds, so actually it goes to 900 seconds rather than reading 60 minutes.

Astronomical and Surveillance Night-Vision Preservation Mode top

This mode makes the rear LCD and electronic finder a dim monochromatic red so it doesn't affect your ability to see in the dark. It only affects the finder and rear LCD; it doesn't affect how the pictures look.

Set this at

MENU > ✎ (pencil icon) CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU > d10 Warm display colors.

Mode 1 makes everything red, and Mode 2 lets you see images in color and just the menus are red. You can set the dimness here; note that what's ideal for use in the pitch dark will be very dim and difficult to see in typical indoor light.

Starlight View top

A new "Starlight View" option doesn't do anything to the pictures, but makes live-view shadows and dark areas look brighter which may help you see better while trying to compose in the dark.

Set this at

MENU > ✎ (pencil icon) CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU > d9 Starlight view (photo Lv) > ON.

Delete from Both Cards top

Previous two-slotted Nikons have deleted photos only from the first card (as I prefer), leaving your deleted photos on the second backup card in case you need them later.

If you prefer that your delete button deletes from both cards while shooting in Backup mode (I don't), set this at

MENU > [▶] PLAYBACK MENU > Delete pictures from both slots > YES.

Front Dial Playback Function top

You can program what the front dial does during playback. I set mine to advance or retreat 10 frames per click.

I set this at

MENU > ✎ (pencil icon) CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU > f3 Custom controls (playback) > Sub-command dial > OK > Frame Advance > 1, 10 or 50 frames per click, or lots of other things as well.

Sensor Dust Cover top

Nikon Z8 Shutter Blind. bigger.

You can set a mechanical shutter to cover the sensor while off, or not.

Set this at

MENU > 🔧 SETUP > Sensor shield behavior at power off.

I leave mine ON (sensor shield closes).

HLG Still Image Format top

You can select this at

MENU > 📷 PHOTO SHOOTING MENU (camera icon)> Tone mode.

CAUTION: by all means try this format if you like, but:

1.) Before shooting anything important, be sure your software can read these files. I kid you not; it's not uncommon for some people to shoot a job or special vacation trip for which they bought this new camera in RAW or some new format only to discover after the shoot is done that they have no way of reading the files, and

2.) Before you save edited images or try to deliver original images to your client or try to post them, first be sure that wherever or to whomever you are planning to send them likewise can use or read the file type.

I have never used this format for exactly these reasons.

Image Review top

Set this at

MENU > [▶] PLAYBACK MENU > Image Review.

Set it to ON and the picture pops up right after you shoot it.

Voice Note Recorder top

This is very useful for taking notes for news, sports, party and event reporting. It records an additional audio file along with the image file.

I set my Fn3 button so it records notes while I hold it while playing an image. Critical is that I just hold the button and talk; one-click and done — no menus required. Set this at:

MENU > ✎ (pencil icon) CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU > f Controls > f3 Custom Controls (playback).

My Personal Setup Files top

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Save Settings to Card (MENU > 🔧 SETUP > save/load menu settings) works great, recalling all my settings including my copyright information. This is a huge time saver every time I get another Z8, or have one return from service.

If you'd like to set your Z8 exactly as I set mine, simply download my personal NCSET012.BIN file (325 kB, 12 July 2023, v1.00 firmware) on your computer and copy it to the top-level of a card (don't put it in the DCIM or any other folder) in a card reader.

Put a card in your Z8 and press:

MENU >🔧 SETUP > Save/load menu settings > Load menu settings > OK.

Your Z8 will become a copy of mine, complete with my personal information programmed into the EXIF of each of your files.

Be sure to set your own personal EXIF information in your camera if you choose to use my settings. Set these at

MENU >🔧 SETUP > Copyright Information > and MENU > Wrench (Setup) > Image Comment

and be sure to set all of the IMAGE COMMENT, ARTIST and COPYRIGHT fields.

My NCSET012.BIN file won't do anything on your computer and certainly won't do anything here in your browser; you download it from this link to your computer and then use your computer for no other purpose other than to copy it to a card from which the camera can load the settings.

Before you put my settings in your camera you should save your own settings first by pressing

MENU >🔧 SETUP > Save/load menu settings > Save menu settings > OK

and then copy that file to your computer for safe keeping in case you hate my settings.

Remember, this only works if the camera is in P, S, A or M mode and only if the file isn't in any folder but is in the top-level directory of the card, the same place as the DCIM and NIKON folders. Otherwise you won't be able to load settings from a card. It doesn't run or do anything on your computer; it only runs in the Z8.

2023 Recall top

By this time it's unlikely any newly purchased Z8s will have any problems, but some early samples had problems with lenses not mounting or the strap lugs falling off. See here for the details and to check if yours has either of these problems, in which case Nikon of course will fix it for free, under warranty or not, new or used.

Thanks for helping me help you!

Ken.

Help Me Help You top

I support my growing family through this website, as crazy as it might seem.

The biggest help is when you use any of these links when you get anything. It costs you nothing, and is this site's, and thus my family's, biggest source of support. These places always have the best prices and service, which is why I've used them since before this website existed. I recommend them all personally.

If you find this page as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may have had to take, feel free to help me continue helping everyone.

If you've gotten your gear through one of my links or helped otherwise, you're family. It's great people like you who allow me to keep adding to this site full-time. Thanks!

If you haven't helped yet, please do, and consider helping me with a gift of $5.00.

As this page is copyrighted and formally registered, it is unlawful to make copies, especially in the form of printouts for personal use. If you wish to make a printout for personal use, you are granted one-time permission only if you PayPal me $5.00 per printout or part thereof. Thank you!

Thanks for reading!

Ken.

01 October 2023 recall, 13, 29 July 2023 mostly from Z9