New Z8 firmware

Pistnbroke

Dedicated Bird Subject Detection Mode

New Cycle AF-Area Mode option (allows you to toggle AF areas)
Auto Capture
Pixel Shift Shooting, allows 180MP capture
Rich Tone Portrait Picture Control
More customizable buttons
Exit Zoom with a half-press of the shutter release
New shutter sounds
Adjustable focus point border widths
Option to omit shooting orientation in EXIF
Prefer Focus Point Face Priority (centers on the face when scrolling through images)

donaldejose

I think its great and look forward to trying the Pixel Shift when I can get to it. Also interested to see what Ritch Tone Portrait does. I have already changed my focus point boarder width to 3.

donaldejose

Here it is, my first attempt at pixel shifting with the Z8. 50mm f1.8 lens, f 5.6, ISO 400, 1/2000 sec shutter speed, 32 images, processed in NX Studio. The result is a 189 mb jpeg of 16, 512 x 11,008 pixels. The image is nothing special. It was choses because it is inanimate and should have lots of detail. Click on the image below and go to flckr where you can pixel peep the original full size file. I don't know whether it is impressive or not since I uploaded it without examining the file myself. Just wanted to get it out to all ASAP.

donaldejose

photobunny

I just got a Z8 last Friday as a backup and second camera to my Z9. I would really love the Z9 to get the Cycle AF-Area Mode as it is just absolutely spot on having it go single -> 3D -> auto area. If I want another AF mode I can still override, but having my 3 main main starters for 99% of wildlife subjects on a super quick cycle has made it really wonderful to work with. I now could only ask for something similar to cycle though subject detection modes so I can free up my recall shooting functions.

donaldejose

Should be doable with a Z9 free firmware update. Hopefully, soon. I would think anything the Z8 can do can also be put into a Z9 firmware update. Only the power of the big battery should be not-doable in the Z8 and I expect everything doable in the Z8 will be doable in the Z9. We will see.

photobunny

donaldejose said:

Should be doable with a Z9 free firmware update. Hopefully, soon. I would think anything the Z8 can do can also be put into a Z9 firmware update. Only the power of the big battery should be not-doable in the Z8 and I expect everything doable in the Z8 will be doable in the Z9. We will see.

Hopefully soon, it's a bit of a bother having my config out of sync. I like the fatter AF boxes on the Z8 and the AF cycle button. Would still like some way to cycle selected subject detection modes from both.

photobunny

So firmware 5.0 for the Z9 just got my Z9 to the same button config as the Z8. Freeing up my two of three of my front custom buttons in the process with the AF cycle button. I suspect more and more people will get attached to the cycle button as it is really so much better than a AF mode per fn button.

donaldejose

Good idea

trolley

I wanted pixel shift. No idea what for, but still...

donaldejose

Yes, Nikon should do it in the Z9 if it is possible with the sensor IBIS. Unless sensor IBIS changed between Z9 and Z8, it should be able to be put into the Z9 with a firmware update. Maybe Nikon wants to keep some differentiation (other than the big battery in an integrated vertical grip) between the two bodies. You can see some examples of pixel shift I did for illustrative purposes back a few pages in the Photo a Day thread.

trolley

I did think that it might be a demarcation thing - Z9 for action/sports, Z8 for the rest

Ton14

@trolley Some kind of pixel shift I have been using for years, mostly for evening photography. This saved me from having to lug around a tripod.

Out of hand, I take 3-5 photos, bring them in as layers in Affinity (or Photoshop), align them and merge them as median or mean for a noise-free photo.

This always allowed me to shoot at a very high ISO number. Of course, a 100mp photo requires pixel shift in the camera.

Mean-averages pixel content across the stack of images. Good for long exposure simulation and noise reduction.
Median-removes pixel content that is not consistent in each image. Suitable for object removal and noise reduction.

donaldejose

Ton14 Try Topaz Photo AI. It does both noise reduction and upscaling. I have provided many examples linked to flckr in the recent past photo a day thread. It really is amazing.

Capt_Spaulding

@photobunny I’m with you on the button config. I installed 2.0 on my Z8 the day it came out and by the next morning had replaced three of my fn buttons with the af mode cycle button. It makes life much, much simpler.

Ton14

Hi Donald, I use DxOpureRaw for a long time, easy and fast. Version 4 is just released. This in place of the method I mentioned. There is a 30 days trial a available.