My Settings for the Nikon Z5

 

Nikon Z 105mm MC

The Nikon Z system has now been around for six years. I bought into it three years ago, replacing my almost new Nikon D7500 with a Nikon Z5. I am an amateur and cannot justify to spend too much on cameras. Moreover, I consider the camera the least important ingredient for image quality. The lenses and the ergonomics of the camera are far more important. So I decided for the Nikon Z5 and the beautiful Nikon Z lenses.

Shortcomings

There are some points where the relatively affordable Z5 lacks behind other models.

• In low light, the camera focusses worse than the the Z6 and above. The published specs clearly show the difference of one stop low light performance of the AF system. You can overcome the issue by other focusing techniques. But I would not use this camera if I had to shoot fast action in low light.
• I'd love to have a display that tilts also in vertical orientation. I would not want a fully articulating one, but the one from the Nikon Z8 looks just right. A workaround is to shoot and focus horizontally, and crop or recompose in awkward angles.
• The Z5 has also less resolution in the display than the Z6, but gladly not in the viewfinder. 
• Very rarely I wished that I had a faster burst mode. The Z6 is already twice as fast.

That's it for me. There are some other quirks shared by the other Nikon Z cameras. See below. Still, this is an excellent camera both in image quality and ergonomics.

Nikon 24-70mm f/4 at 62mm f/4.5 1/60 ISO400

Overall

My overall impression is that the Nikon Z5 is a well designed working horse at an affordable price. The ergonomics are great. I like the big grip, the two dials in easy reach, the two card slots, the overall good configurability, and the big and detailed electronic viewfinder. 

The goal of this posting is to talk about the settings that are important to me, and to explain why I set them the way I did. 

Nikon 24-70mm f/4 at 24mm f/4 1/100 ISO1400

Lenses

All images on this page are done with the Nikon Z5 with various lenses. It is mainly the lenses which draw me to this system. So it should be okay to talk very briefly about the ones I use.

• Nikon Z 24-70 f/4 S. This should not be called a kit lens, because it is way above the usual 18-55 lenses that accompanied earlier APS-C cameras. My advice is to use it at f/5.6 for maximal sharpness across the frame and maybe f/8 on the 70mm end. But, of course, f/4 is most welcome to isolate subjects, with great sharpness in the center. The S marks the high level S-line lenses with resistance to flare and chromatic issues. Like all lenses, diffraction starts to become visible at f/11. The alternative 24-70 f/2.8 S is a lot better, but unreasonably expensive and too bulky for me.
• Nikon Z 70-180 f/2.8. I sold my 24-200 for this because it is faster and much sharper in the shared range, and I found myself using the 24-70 f/4 most of the time for travelling. This longer lens complements the 24-70 range nicely. It can be used for landscapes and portraits as well. Even micro shots are working if you shoot at the long end and objects are not too small. The background will be soft and smooth.
• Nikon Z 50mm f/1.8 S. This is my favorite for any situation where I expect low light or where I wanted to isolate subjects by open apertures, actually for almost anything where I can get away with 50mm. I use it for portraits of kids (which I do not want to share here). It is relatively big for a nifty-fifty, just like Nikon's other f/1.8 lenses. A smaller option would be the Nikon Z 50mm MC or the 40mm f/2. But those are optically not on the same level. The lens is at its best at f/2.8. But center sharpness at f/1.8 is very good.
• Nikon Z 85mm f/1.8 S. I learned to love this focal range only recently. It is often marked as a portrait lens, and indeed, it excels in this area. But it will render everything beautifully that you throw at it, with nice background and Bokeh. In contrast of to the 50mm it shows less background and does not make foreground objects larger like wider lenses. 
• Nikon Z 105mm f/2.8 MC. This macro lens is excellent. It doubles as a portrait lens too. Or you can take it into a museum where you expect smaller items too. I love this lens. It is one good reason to go into the Nikon Z system. If you compare it the Lumix 40mm f/2.8 macro lens, you wonder why the Nikon has to be that large. But good optics and doubled front diameter takes its toll. There is the 50mm macro for Nikon Z. But I do not consider that a good macro distance. You can use this lens at any aperture up to f/8 for excellent results. In the macro range it will not open effectively to f/2.8. That is normal for a macro. This is my least use lens. The 70-180 f/2.8 is a good competition for objects which are not really tiny.
• I do not use the small and affordable 28mm and 40mm lenses, nor any third party lens. I am okay with the larger f/1.8 S-line lenses. They simply provide more reliable image quality. But those little gems can be good enough for most things too.

Nikon 24-200mm f/4-63 at 115mm f/6.3 1/250 ISO1600

RAW and Card Slots

You have to decide if you shoot RAW. I'd understand if you don't. Some do not want to process images. But I strongly advice to rethink that decision. You miss a lot of what this camera has to offer.

I shoot RAW and use the second card slot for backup in RAW. The card in that slot never leaves the camera. Occasionally, when I am sure to have the images on the PC, I format the second card. The most mishaps with a card happen when the card is outside the camera. The disadvantage of this procedure is that the camera will show the backups too in replay. When deleting an image, you can select to delete the backup and the image. Backing up with JPEG would not be good enough for me.

Nikon Z50mm f/1.8 at f/2.8 1/100 ISO400

Transitioning from DSLR

The main points are that you have a full life view now and your viewfinder shows much more than was possible on your optical viewfinder.. If you never used life view on your DSLR and only shoot through the viewfinder, you will probably do the same on the mirrorless camera. You can still enjoy a histogram or a level in the viewfinder, cycling with the DISP button. The image preview can be forced to appear only on the display. 

You should consider using the life view to shoot more often, especially at low or high or other awkward angles. I find myself not using the viewfinder most of the time. There are some situations where I prefer it still, like in bright sunlight, or very close up in macros.

Abandoning the optical viewfinder is the most important reason why some photographers stick with their DSLR. It does not take long to adapt to the somewhat artificial view of an electronic viewfinder. Fortunately, the Z5 has a very good one. Note, that by default you get a preview of the image when using flash. Also note, that the camera leaves the aperture open to measure to get light for the AF.

User Modes

The Nikon Z5 has three user modes which I encourage you to use. The user modes save almost everything. Once you switch the camera off and, after a delay, back on, or switch the dial away from the user mode and back, the user mode is reset to where it was. I need this for fast response. 

To create a user mode, select one of the PSAM modes and change the settings to your liking, including things like button settings or special ISO settings. Then save into a user mode with the Setup menu.

Here are some ideas for user modes.

• A landscape mode might consist of aperture priority A at f/11. ISO could be at AUTO limited to ISO1600 and set to SLOWER in the specific settings for AUTO ISO. You could select a single point auto-focus for AF mode.
• A point and shoot mode might be A at f/5.6, ISO to AUTO and set to faster, AF to large area with eye AF on.
• An action mode might be A at f/2.8, ISO to AUTO limited to ISO1600 and faster than 1/200 second, AF set to AF-C. 
• A bird mode might be S at 1/500, ISO to AUTO limited to ISO 6400.

I think you get the idea.

Nikon Z 24-70 f/4 at 38mm 1/40 f/8 ISO110

Dials and Buttons

There are a few things that are so indispensable to me that I would wish to have them at every other camera I use.

• Back Button Focus. The idea is that focusing is no longer done by a half-press of the shutter release, but with a separate button. I use the AF-ON button on the back of the camera with my thumb. It is already at AF-ON by default. If not, set it in f2. You also need to remove the focusing from the shutter release in c1. The advantage is that you can now concentrate on correct focusing and then take the shot. In AF-C, you can simply stop focusing by releasing your AF-ON button and effectively get AF-S in AF-C.
• The other dial is set to Easy Exposure Correction in b2. That works in A or S mode. I have it on RESET, which means, that the correction is reset when you turn off the camera. This is not the case for the correction done with the +/- key. Most cameras do not offer this option.
• I used to set one of the front buttons in f2 to start Focus Tracking. The OK button enables tracking too, but does not easily release it by a second press. You need to press the - key. With the front button, you can enable and disable the Focus Tracking with one key.
• I have set the red video button to zoom 100% in f2. This applies only in stills mode, of course. AF at 100% is very accurate, but slow. Since I use back button focus, I can release the AF-ON button and the zoom out to compose the shot. I found this way of focusing the most accurate on this camera.
• I often use Manual Override. Whenever you turn the focus ring while focusing with AF-ON, you can override the AF system of the camera. You could then use the focus indication in the lower right of the display. But it is easier to enable focus peaking in d9. I have it at sensitivity 1. This will highlight sharp areas in the image in red (by default). After some practice, it can be used to set the focus. Note, that back button focus comes in handy, because you can release AF-ON after focusing and compose your shot. Focus peaking is not 100% precise, and I prefer zooming in.

Nikon Z 28mm at f/4 1/30 ISO1100

Sharpness

Clearly, sharpness is influenced by many things like motion blur, camera shake, focusing, DOF, the lens, good light and even post-processing. Here are my top tips for sharper images.

• In Lightroom, sharpen at least at 40%. I use 100% simply, or 80% if over-sharpening is visible by white borders. Details should be at 25, radius at 1.0 or below. For JPEGS out of camera, set a medium sharpening.
• The most accurate focusing is done by zooming in to 100% and sharpening there. Alternatively, use the slow single point focusing. You can use the stick to set the focus point, and you can set its center click to reset it.
• Avoid camera shake and object movements with slow shutter speeds. Kids require 1/200, and sports and animals may require 1/1000. Rather use high ISO than blurring due to motion blur. Shoot more then one image in burst mode.
• Do not expect sharp images in bad light with high ISO. This is physically not possible. If there is no good light, there is no good image

Nikon Z 24-200 f/4-6.3 at 135mm f/8 1/160 ISO180

Other Tips

• You do not have to hold the +/-, AF settings or ISO button if you change that in f6. Pressing the shutter halfway will then release the setting mode.
• The monitor button on the viewfinder can be limited in the setup menu. I use only automatic and monitor only.
• You can make the user menu display your recent menu points, or you can add menu points and define a menu for you.
• Do not forget to use the i-menu. You can customize the content of this menu in f1, even depending on your use mode.
• In f3, you can customize the OK button to zoom in 100% while reviewing images.
• The screen can be used to focus, and even to release by touching. I tend to shoot with the display only, e.g. from low angles, and then it helps to set focus. It is also nice for focus stacking.
• The camera can do focus stacking automatically. That works well once you get the right parameters.
• For aperture bracketing, you can use the burst mode. It will shoot the right amount of shots. Note that the burst mode is globally, and not reset in user modes.
• When reframing, the camera will recompute the exposure. You can fix the exposure with half-presses of the shutter in c1. This works well with back button focus. 
• Use manual mode M often. It is the best way to get exactly what you want.
• You can buy new rubber eyepieces. Use original Nikon parts. Nikon sells almost all repair parts for their cameras.

This concludes my report on how I use my Nikon Z5. Clearly, I sometimes wished I had another camera for special purposes. But for day-to-day use, it is almost perfect.

Nikon Z 24-200 f/4-6.3 at 200mm, heavily cropped.