Nikon Z8: Pocket Guide: Buttons, Dials, Settings, Modes, and Shooting Tips (The Pocket Guide Series for Photographers, 32)

Essentially a must have to learn and refresh your memory

Great quick guide to camera settings. Only wish that some of the pages wouldn’t stick together when you’re trying to find them.

This small reference book fits easily in my camera bag. It is very nice to have along to check information about my new camera as I still have much to learn in practicing with my new Nikon Z8.

This series is good if you want to know about the menus but already know how to take photos. I've been doing photography since 1970 so I know how to compose and that sort of thing. But the menus of every new camera a different. I don't want a 500 page book of which only 50 pages are about the menus and that sort of thing.

I’ve got more in-depth books on the Nikon z8, but I find myself turning more often to this guide to review my settings and options. I keep it with me whenever I set out for my photographic journey. I highly recommend.

The Nikon Z8 is the most exciting camera I've ever shot with. It's also the most complicated. How do you keep track of every menu item and camera function, especially when so many of these can be customized or re-assigned? This Pocket Guide looked to be one answer to that question. It's a great concept, a smallish flip page note book to keep in your gear bag as a quick reference on camera functions and where they can be found among all the menus, buttons, and dials. But what we get are the most basic basics, camera anatomy 101, with cursory descriptions of camera functions and boilerplate tips for several common scenarios. The key words here are *basic* and *cursory.* A few examples will make this clear. Under Metering Modes (p. 17), matrix metering is described as using color and distance information from G, E, and D Nikkor lenses. Which is interesting, because those are F mount lens types and the Z8 uses the newer Z mount, a fact I'm not sure gets pointed out anywhere in the Pocket Guide (the FTZ adapter is of course available). Many Z mount lenses are simply brilliant performers and in almost all cases at least somewhat better than their F mount counterparts. Also under Metering Modes, center-weighted metering is described rather casually as using data "predominantly" from the center of the frame. The division is in fact about 75 percent from frame center and 25 percent from the rest. These numbers apply whether using the Standard or Small center-weighted metering circle, Knowing this might well affect deciding when to use the center-weighted system. It would also have been appropriate to have mentioned here that when using filters with an EV greater than +1 (e.g. polarizers, neutral density), Nikon recommends using center-weighted metering rather than matrix metering. Picture Controls (p. 22) are described as affecting the appearance of JPEG files, but this omits a very important point. Even when shooting RAW, the previews and playbacks you see are in fact JPEG images and so affected by Picture Control choices. If you want a closer representation of what your RAW files look like (contrast, overall tonality), select Neutral under Picture Control in the Photo Shooting Menu. In the Landscape Shooting Scenario (landscape being what I mostly do), there are two points worth noting. The first is the recommendation to shoot at f/16 for depth of field, without any mention that noticeable diffraction effects begin at about f/13 or f/14. Corrections are available in camera or in post, but by f/16 you could be facing problems. The second point is the recommendation to turn off VR when shooting on a tripod. While this was standard practice, I've seen more pros saying it's not a problem with the Z8's VR set to Normal. Finally, there is no mention of My Menu or i Menu, which are essential to managing the Z8's complexity in active shooting. Nor of focus stacking, focus peaking, or pixel shift shooting, which are all part of its power. In the end, the Pocket Guide never really comes to grips with the camera it's supposed to be about. The Z8 comes across as another generic mid-level camera than one of the powerful mirrorless cameras yet produced. If you can operate it properly, you already know more than the Pocket Guide can remind you of. Which is too bad, because the concept behind this Pocket Guide is a good one that if better executed could yield a handy addition to any gear bag. For now, save your money or put it into a solid, thorough manual like Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the Nikon Z8 or Steve Perry's books from Back Country Gallery specifically on wildlife photography but helpful generally as well (web searches will take you to both authors).

Handy guide.

Recently upgraded from the d800 to the Z8 and this guide has been very helpful in learning the new functions of this amazing camera

Okay for the most basic functions

Have used these before on my other Nikons - extremely useful, especially for super complex mirrorless cameras like the Z8. Great value for money. Highly recommended

ne reprend que les fonctions les plus basiques que l'on maitrise de toute façon ou que l'on trouve facilement. Pour les fonctions utilisées plus occasionnellement, ou des fonctions particulières, ne cherchez pas dans ce truc. J'ai acheté ce "guide" lors de mon passage du reflex à l'hybride, mais ce fût la dépense la plus inutile que j'ai pu faire!

Je cherche un manuel d'emploi en Français concernant l'appareil photo Nikon Z8, Il y a une application "ScanTrad" ,me permet avec mon Cellulaire de scanner la page et ensuite elle est traduite de l'anglais au français ce petit guide est tres pratique !!! A présent je cherche toujours un Guide en français du Nikon Z8

Excellent! - Very clear and well written, great pocket guide!