Master Panning Photography on Nikon Z cameras | Z 8 | Z 24-120mm F4 S | Settings Guide

Panning is a photography technique used to instil speed or motion in moving subject. In this video, I visit the old Hill St Building (currently MCI building) to make use of its colourful facade to create interesting panning shots. I'm also exposing all the best settings to master panning photography for your Nikon Z cameras, though it also works well for any camera.
This effect is entirely created in camera, no AI generation used!
Here’s the key takeaways from the video:
Exposure Settings:
Aperture F9 to F13.
Shutter Speed 1/30 to 1/6.
ISO will be whatever you need after adjusting the aperture and shutter to make a well-exposed image.
Camera Settings:
Vibration Reduction on. (for smoother panning)
d14 Releasing timing indicator set to Type B or C for no blackout mode. (Nikon Z8 or Z9 only)
Photo Flicker reduction set to OFF for no blackout mode. (Nikon Z8 or Z9 only)
Autofocus on AF-C, 3D Tracking.
High burst mode. (6 FPS was enough for me)
Panning Technique:
Use a stable monopod or tripod.
Left to right or right to left movements only.
Use L-bracket extended as an extra handle if you have one.
The key to sharp images is that the speed of the pan must match the speed of the moving vehicle going across the frame. This is very important.
The presence of traffic lights will mess up your timing if it affects the speed of the moving vehicles.
Do not hit the shutter immediately while shooting, follow the subject for a short distance to match its speed before pressing the shutter. After pressing the shutter, continue following its movement across the frame.
Personally, I prefer interesting vehicle shapes like bicycles, motorbikes, buses or construction vehicles.
You don’t have to wait for singular subjects. A group of vehicles work just as well as long as at least one vehicle looks sharp.
Note that this building is only lighted up 7pm to 11pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Pan over to my blog for the a simple breakdown of the tips and tricks and high res images: www.zacharylai...
You can also catch me at:
www.zacharylai...
/ zachagraphy
zacharyl...
#ZacharyLaiPhotography #NikonSG #NikonCreators #Zcreators #SGPhotography
Photos and videos captured with:
Nikon Z 8
Nikkor Z 24-120mm F4 S
Cobra iFootage 3
DJI Pocket 3 Osmo
Wandrd Prvke 31L

[@clarkie6454]

It's a good idea to turn the VR to sport mode not normal when panning, that way it will on correct for vertical movement not horizontal

[@ZacharyLaiPhotography]

Good tip!

[@peterronchetti1736]

Very useful tips, it's a great technique to practice, and I'm glad the men from the ministry building didn't come over and arrest you!

[@ZacharyLaiPhotography]

To be honest I'm surprised that didn't happen!

[@46spanner]

I was practicing my panning techniques on a passing police car in Penang last month, he looked at me in a very suspicious manner ! 😅

[@ZacharyLaiPhotography]

@@46spanner 🤣stay safe out there!

[@Augnos]

Sick video, thanks for sharing. I'm wondering where you got those yellow Peak Design anchors! They look very nice on your Nikon.

[@ZacharyLaiPhotography]

They come with the Nikon Z Peak Design Limited Edition Slide Lite camera strap. facebook.com/nikonsingapore/posts/we-heard-you-the-peak-design-z-series-silde-lite-strap-is-now-available-for-sale/2336748853045920/

[@NikhilMhapankar]

Great tutorial - very practical tips and sensible no-frills approach

[@ZacharyLaiPhotography]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@desibooyyz]

Thanks for such lovely Tutorials, I would love to accompany you to one of your locations and witness this live.

[@ZacharyLaiPhotography]

Do consider joining my workshops if you're interested. :) www.zacharylaiphotography.com/workshops

[@FB_Photograpy]

Nice work man, keep it up 👍 Thanks for sharing!

[@carlmcneill1139]

Are you recording your z8 screen on your cell phone?

[@ZacharyLaiPhotography]

Yes 😊

[@carlmcneill1139]

@@ZacharyLaiPhotography how are you doing that? Do you need an app? I have a z8 and I'd love to be able to record my screen.

[@ZacharyLaiPhotography]

@@carlmcneill1139 look into this accsoon.com/accsoon-seemo/ , it's clunky and there're other solutions, but this was the cheapest one in my region. The Accsoon Seemo enables me to use my iPhone as a monitor and also record videos directly into it.

[@carlmcneill1139]

@@ZacharyLaiPhotography thank you.

[@sachiiendhopade]

Which software you use to record z8 screen

[@ZacharyLaiPhotography]

Accsoon Seemo with the Accsoon app

[@jac5085]

hmnmm....I have mixed emotions after this "tutorial". I wonder why you are not using Mode A for such situations. As you mentioned aperture is not that important, THE MOST important is Time and this is where Mode A comes very handy, as you control Time and don't really care for F. Second, you do not mention a word about Focusing !!! This is first or second most important setting (after/with Time) while panning. Z8 offers several options for tracking objects but you do not mention even one. Actually you do not even mention which focusing mode you are using. One can see it on your screen that you are using AF-C and probably single point tracking. While single point tracking can be usefull when the object has some contrast lines but at sime stage you are trying to focus on a bus side without any lines - in my opinion you will have a problem with focus. (you mentioned that first 1000 photos was not good - I am not surprised). Try some matrix or objects tracking modes for better in-focus photos. Also, you go very very low with timing to 1/6-1/30. I don't think you need to go so slow. the slower you go the less focus you might get. Last but not least, you set your ISO at 2500. I guess this is because otherwise you would not be able to get to 1/6s but I would rather use ISO 800 to get much more better photos quality and would use timing between 1/30-1/60 to get more photos in Focus/Sharp. Then, with Monopod you need to place your camera in the center of the scene - you cannot really pan when you are behind or in front of the car, because monopod will not allow you to maintain a horizontal line. Anyway, good luck with your panning but I would recommend to look at other Z8 features/modes to reach min. 70% of your photos in Focus.

[@ZacharyLaiPhotography]

Thanks for the feedback! I always only shoot in full manual, not any other modes. 😊 In this case I want to control a specific aperture and shutter speed, the only setting that is flexible is iso, so manual mode is definitely the only way I’d go for this. No need for auto-iso as the light isn’t changing 🙂 Perhaps I wasn’t clear, but focusing is actually mentioned in the video, in the video description, and additionally, also in the blog article linked. Regarding shutter speed, slower shutter speed gives more motion blur, though it’s harder to get a sharp subject as you need to pan accurately for a longer time. The challenge I was facing getting sharp photos isn’t focus related, it’s motion blur. So you’re right that I’m digging my own grave with the slow shutter speed, but I liked the effect 😉Lastly, iso is almost irrelevant at this point because noise simply isn’t an issue in an image like this.