Recommended Nikon Z8 & Z9 Menu Settings For Sports

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Today, I'm taking you through my preferred camera settings for the Nikon Z8 and Z9. I'll focus on the Photo Shooting and Custom Settings Menus, with the minimum settings you need to get started in sports photography with these cameras.
Here's the link to Hudson's in-depth setup guide for the Z8:
• Nikon Z8: Full Menu Se...
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
1:20 - Photo Shooting Menu
12:15 - Custom Settings Menu
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#sports #nikon #nikonz9 #sportsphotographer #sportsphotography #camerasettings #camera #topaz #topazdenoise #topazphotoai #topazgigapixel #lightroom #nikon #nikonz8

[@PhillyPimpStick]

Awesome info, per usual! Thank you!

[@pamelajensen2009]

Greatly appreciate the explanations as to why to you choose the settings you do. Very very helpful!!

[@user-ci3vx7so9e]

Jack, Outstanding video! I just got the Z8 primarily for my son's soccer games. Your video provided me with great advice and a seasoned professional's Z8 sports settings. Thank you very much. I am now a subscriber.

[@michaelrice2993]

This was extremely helpful to a newbie! Thank you!!

[@jjmoyles]

I’m now using these settings on both of my Z9’s for rugby in the UK and they work so well, thanks Jack

[@garrettfitzgerald955]

My Z8 is on order. Thanks Jack. Much appreciated

[@abdulsameer8274]

Thanks a lot. In simple way u make to soo easy to understand settings.. 😊. Best video for photo setting.

[@bubbachua]

nice vid thank you Jack

[@tectoramia-sz1lu]

Nice video Jack, it's interesting to see how various people choose different settings, and their reasons for doing so. You were a little quick for my old brain, but replay solved that. Of course a lot will depend on the type of sport you are shooting.

[@NikCan66]

Excellent video

[@soumakbinduwildlife]

thank you for sharing all the information

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

You bet!

[@ad19yoyo45]

Thanks for your guidance. I'm engaged in photographing 8 and 9 year old children's soccer games. My settings are similar to yours and I've made some changes to align with some of the ones that you've set (flash sync speed 1/250* and AF-C priority selection "release" from "focus + release" where I have lost some images). I have set the Pre & Post-release bursts to 1s to good effect in capturing some surprising and unexpected action.

[@percymoore279]

I'm going to try some of these settings on my Z5 as well. I've been getting some great shots, but never hurt to try something different.

[@yolo-cars]

Thank you for this great tutorial!! Please tell if you have any plans to make another tutorial regarding Z8 video settings (video recording menu and custom settings)? And I'd like to watch a good tutorial regarding metering modes and where to use each mode. Currently I'm using metering mode only. I like to shoot racing cars when they fly by you on a race track. I'm trying to master moving my body properly to make sure camera follows the car in order to make the background horizontally blurred, so the car looks like its in motion, not static. The only thing is that different drivers change speed differently, and it's difficult to adjust to each car.

[@isoawe1888]

Thanks Jack. Would love to see video one ( especially on using different focus modes… can’t find much info on that ). Also, any way you can do more detailed on what specific challenge might make you change focus mode. I, too usually shoot AF area small. One example I’ll switch. Shooting the back row of volleyball. The dig is usually a profile shot, while the defender watching her is looking straight at camera ( along with the bench behind her ). I’ll usually switch to single point or change my eye detect to vehicle. Was wondering if you had any specifics like that. Appreciate you.

[@dmourati]

Brand new z8 owner. I went out for my first soccer matches yesterday and did okay but not great with the 70-200 f2.8. A few of your tips will change how I setup my camera for next time.

[@ChuckandAvaFish]

Do you have a video showing your folder/file structure? If not, I would love to see one.

[@uhoh7541]

Great video, sir! I'm shocked to hear you're happy with images shot up to 16000 ISO. I personally try to keep it under 6000 and never go over 8000. Would love to see a video on your post processing of an image shot at ISO 16000- sounds like i could learn a few things and maybe feel more comfortable turning mine up.

[@randybocksnick3750]

Randy Bocksnick(Mont) Just waiting for High School Sports and the return of my Z8(Recall) Jack this a very nice video! Thank You for your expertize!

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Thanks for watching!

[@MaxMustermann-fd3wn]

Hi Jack, thank you for sharing you settings in Z8/Z9. I´m shooting sports as well and I pretty much can confirm that this settings work great. I was woundering if you recently have switched from JPG to RAW? In one of you last settings video you mentioned to shoot JPG, if I remember right. I do as well but with the hgh eff RAW in Z9/Z8 I think about switching to raw as well. Any thoughts on this? Thanks,

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

A couple years ago, I was a big advocate of JPG for high ISO simulations. But with the advent of Topaz Denoise and other noise reduction software, I’ve shifted over to RAW.

[@stadiongigant]

Super 👍🏻💪🏻🙏🙏🙏

[@kuau714]

Nice video Jack, though in certain use cases I find the Auto Area AF works quite well. I shoot mostly Alpine skiing, Downhill, Slalom,. GS etc... Lastly it maybe worth noting to RAW only shooters that one should shoot between ISO 64-200 then go directly to ISO 500 where the dual gain circuit kicks in the the Z8/Z9

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Nice points. You’re right, I do primarily team sports with lots of potential faces (as do the majority of my viewers), so I don’t get a lot of opportunities to do the sports you mentioned. Plus, I live in Phoenix, so not a lot of skiing around here!

[@kuau714]

@@JackBeasleyMedia Yeah not much snow in Phoenix... Like yourself I have 2 Z9's and jus picked up a Z8, I went out the other day with it and I enjoyed using it until I had to shoot I vertical mode...

[@JoelRiveraMD]

Love your videos! Subscribed ! Question : you said in another video you shoot events hoping that people will buy the photos later on. 1- what platform you use for selling those 2- how do you get people to go and look in that platform to see if they can find their picture and buy it. Let’s say I was in that event and I want to find my picture, which I don’t even know if you photographed me or not 3 - how are the players notified where to go to find their photo ?

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

I'm in the MaxPreps.com network. Images are posted for free when you're in the network. I post the link on social media and tag all the school's social accounts, plus any coaches or players I can find. When I have the roster, I tag the individual players. If they have a membership on the site, they are notified.

[@championsportsphotography2195]

Hi Jack, Great video again. A question - i am looking to go next level with my sports photography and have just purchased a 400mm 2.8 G ED VR from Japan. I have a D850 and D500 but am looking to 'upgrade'/add another camera. On a budget - D5 or Z8 would you recommend? Only have F mount lenses. Cheers Phil👍

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

You'll be successful with either one, however, I held out on selling my D5 until the Z8 came out, as it was only a somewhat step down from the Z9 and outperformed the D5 in AF face tracking. Your f-mount lenses will work fine on it with the FTZii adaptor.

[@cognaman]

Hi Jack, with Z9 new firmware there are some new function, will you do some video upgrade about it?

[@ryansimon6103]

Hey Jack, I am wanting to get into sports photograpghy for my high school. What would you reccomend lens and camera for around $2,000?

[@michaelwood9032]

Hey Jack....just finished your video, after just buying my z9. I have a question regarding using the DX mode. Will it give my lenses a little more reach due to the crop factor, and is it 1.5? Also, do you know how much lower than 45MP the DX produces in this camera? Thanks much sir and appreciate your videos greatly.

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Honestly, DX mode just crops in on the sensor giving the appearance you have more “reach”. In fact, you can crop in post and get the same effect. If you’re in DX, make sure you’re filling the frame as you’ve already cropped down. Yes, it’s a factor of 1.5. A guesstimate is that you’ll trim about 1/3 of the megapixels when in DX mode.

[@dance2jam]

@michaelwood9032 Jack is absolutely correct about DX not giving actually increased reach, just "apparent" reach as it is a crop of 1.5 of the frame. This yields an image of approximately 19.1 megapixels (if memory serves). You get the same MP count if shooting with pre-capture at 60 fps even though it's only a JPG. At 30 fps, you get a full sized default JPG of approximately 45.7 MP and at 120 fps you get a jpg that is 11 MP. As to the second point: DX Mode vs FX and crop - It is true that cropping in post gives you more flexibility, but what that doesn't account for is AF speed and accuracy, especially when shooting sports in low light (or especially when shooting wildlife). I'm an amateur photographers, but I've used the Z9 for 1 1/2 years (since release) and I find jumping in and out of DX mode (function button set to toggle it) is very helpful when FX won't grab focus on the players head or eye (or focus on the birds eye). This likely varies with the lens used, proximity, subject, and the amount of light present. A few other things about this. I find that Dynamic Small is my fall back position, if nothing is working well. Jack has much more experience than I do, as I shoot for myself, and for pleasure but I find C1 and C2 setting immensely helpful both for sports and wildlife. As an example, in Ice Hockey, sometimes a long slightly narrow vertical slit AF-Area mode will easily allow me to keep a specific player (and his eye) in focus. It is very hard to keep something like Wide Area Small, single point on very fast moving players (close to NHL speed). I also find that using a Wide Area just smaller than "Full" for one of my custom areas is helpful for birds if shooting against a barren background to initiate focus lock (i.e. it is the fastest to pick up a bird in flight in the sky, and then toggle to something more limited if necessary). In most sports scenarios, that would probably not work out well, but some I could see it being fine. Like Jack, I find 3D problematic, but I do use it. It's got several problems: The biggest being it is just not sticky or reliable enough. Nikon has a way to go before they catch Sony in this regard. One caveat with using DX mode, and trust me - it will happen, is make sure to toggle out (look at the upper right hand part of the screen for the flashing "DX") as soon as your done with that. What will happen, is you'll go to shoot something else and forget you're in DX mode and that flashing DX is harder to spot than you would think.

[@chipsrafferty8362]

I was ready to ask your recommendation for surfing……but Arizona…….never mind.

[@chipsrafferty8362]

On a serious not though,great tips,thanks.

[@andymc1932]

Could you explain why you use AF small area instead of large? And thanks for these videos!

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Mostly because I'm usually tracking a single individual and in team sports where there may be many possible faces for the camera to lock onto, the WA-Large gives the camera more opportunities to get confused as to who it should be tracking. Rarely I use C1, which is a large, horizontal rectangle, for groups that are in the same general plane and I'm OK with it locking onto any of the faces.

[@andymc1932]

@@JackBeasleyMedia thanks for the response! I’m gonna give the small area a try.

[@TheFlowMind]

What kind of area mode would you recommend for figure skating or motorsport (mainly enduro)? Should I switch from dynamic small to medium if I go from single skating to pair/ice dance?

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

If you’re using either a Z8 or Z9, I’m wondering why you aren’t using the wide area modes with face recognition? They’re far superior to the older dynamic modes.

[@JoelRiveraMD]

Hi: I’m going to be shooting baseball this weekend. I mostly shoot wildlife with canon but here is my question. I have RF 100-300 F2.8 , sigma 150-600mm EF , and Rf 100-500mm 4,5-7.1 Which Lens you think is more appropriate for daytime baseball ? Shooting full frame Canon R5

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

I would think either of the two longer lenses would be better, especially to catch the action at second base, which is farther out. Pick the one that focuses faster.

[@MrDan1509]

Flicker Reduction will cause your camera to have a stutter like pause when flicker is detected. Your image will be milliseconds off from where you pressed the shutter button! When I have venues with bad flicker I shoot a lil sooner and have had great luck getting the action shot I needed. Kinda like leading a duck!!

[@tonyhoard2574]

Hey Jack..On my Z9 .I've been trying AF wide-small with subject detection shooting basketball but not had much luck. It seems that it wants to jump from one player to another never getting a hard lock on the player I'm covering....so I switch back to dynamic small. Any thoughts or advice?

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

If you are not already, move the aiming square up near the face, in both vertical and horizontal.

[@njtrackfield3902]

Jack, do you use auto iso for sports? I haven’t had any luck using on my z9, nor on my canon r6 mark II or canon Idx Mark III. It never works for me. Most photos come out dark although the histogram looks well balanced. I played with the viewfinder brightness to force myself to overexpose a bit but still the photos come out too dark. I use f2.8 and f4 lenses; no difference. Please advise.

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Generally, yes. I usually give it about +0.3 compensation and it's in the ballpark. Sometimes it gets thrown off, and I have to adjust (subject in shadow, background very bright). Since I shoot RAW, I can usually fix it if it's off some.

[@adamkrauss303]

You mentioned in a prior Z9 video a year ago, that Topaz Sharpen was not working properly with High Efficiency* Mode. Is that still the case?

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Topaz hasn't been updating Sharpen, Denoise, or Gigapixel for months. All they update is Topaz Photo AI. As far as I can tell, none of first three play nicely with Nikon high efficiency RAW files.

[@4score]

If you had a Z lens on the Z8, like the 70-200 2.8 Z, why would you turn Vibration Reduction off?

[@user-yz8mx3ll3z]

would you recommend these settings for Ice Hockey? I tried them but came out super dark. I had a lot of trouble getting the picture itself brighter and ended up with blurry photos.

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

You’re probably going to have to use manual ISO because your light meter will get thrown off by all that white background.

[@user-yz8mx3ll3z]

@@JackBeasleyMedia thank you very much, I visited the hockey arena last night for senior photos and did some testing with different manual settings. I feel like I have a good starting point after realizing the auto ISO was still on but realized I'm not happy with results yet, pictures are still a little dark and very grainy or snow flake effects when you zoom in. Hockey is the hardest sport I've photographed. I won't quit tho :)

[@erik5024]

Not a Nikon shooter, but most of these settings are comparable. Question about you setting your upper ISO limit to 16000.....do you increase exposure in post, or what do you do when it's a dark venue(night football game, for example)? I've been to some night football games and my ISO (using auto ISO setting on my R3) wants to hit north of 50000.

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

I get into the same problem with some fields if you go behind the end zone. In those cases, I stay on the sidelines. Worst case, I drop shutter speeds down to about 1/640, open the lens wide open (f2.8), and pray I can recover some of the details and color in the shadows in post.

[@Rev.DavidJTowns]

Nikon z8 is set to af-c -- shooting raw only -- set to continuous high 20fps -- but when I hold down the shutter button, I can only fire off 1 shot? What am I missing?

[@user-yz8mx3ll3z]

What mode does he use in the video? I'm assuming Manual but it doesn't actually say.

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Manual

[@jeremya403]

Hey Jack, not related to this video, but I sent you a message on Facebook. I'll just ask here though, how do you get paid by maxpreps?

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

MaxPreps is based on speculative sales. So, you get paid based on the photos sold from a game or event.

[@adamkrauss303]

I assume your Z9 was working with firmware update 4.0 in this vid?

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

Yes

[@Dondotcom]

CONFUSION! 23:49 shutter banding? Maybe show examples here... I'm confused/not clear on how there could be 'shutter' bands on a camera with no shutter.....???

[@JackBeasleyMedia]

You can see for yourself. Take any camera - mirrorless too - set the shutter to something like 1/1000 with high speed sync turned off, take a flash photo, and look at the black cutoff portions at the top or bottom of the image. Supposedly, the new "global shutter" from Sony doesn't have this problem.

[@Dondotcom]

@@JackBeasleyMedia Thanks for replying. will test this out...