I’ve been using Nikon’s Z 7 and Z 6 cameras for over a year now, and for the most part have been very happy with them. Here’s why, and the camera settings I’ve used that work best for me. (if you want to see images, most of what I’ve posted to Instagram the past year is from those two cameras)

The first thing anyone notices when they get these cameras in their hands is that the electronic viewfinder is bright and crisp, and accurate. Actually seeing what your image will look like before pressing the shutter button becomes a game-changer. I spend much less time reviewing images afterwards to check exposure ,and have a higher confidence I’ve gotten the frame I want when I press the shutter button.

Since neither camera was introduced as a “sports” camera, it’s no surprise my only real quibble with them is with the autofocus. While I find the AF very good in general, I miss the 3D option in Nikon’s mirrored cameras, and the speed isn’t as fast as the top-of-the-line autofocus system shared by Nikon’s D5/850/500 cameras. The “stutter” effect in the viewfinder, when shooting at high frame rates is also a little off-putting, although the more I’ve used the cameras the more I’ve gotten used to it.

So overall, for Nikon’s first serious foray into mirrorless cameras, I’ve been very impressed and can’t wait to see what they release this year. Okay, on with the settings and how I use them.

The the first thing I do with every new camera is adjust the diopter to my eyesight. With that out of the way, here’s what else I’ve done with my Z 7. While these settings are for that camera I use the same for my Z 6 with the exception of the “Image Size” menu. More on that below.

Display button

This lets you cycle through four different choices in the information you see in the viewfinder. I use two of them a lot. The first shows me a small histogram in the lower right corner of the screen. I love this one. A quick glance shows me how my exposure will be before I take the picture. That, combined with the excellent WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) of the viewfinder, for color and exposure, mean I get those things right more often when shooting. The other one I use regularly is the virtual horizon indicator. I just wish it was less obtrusive (it’s big and bright and colorful, blocking parts of the center of the scene). In my perfect world, that would be more of a ghost image in the viewfinder, and I’d also be able to have the histogram showing at the same time. Here’s hoping for a firmware update to do that!

i button on the back of camera – this, to me, is one of three buttons I use all the time (the others are the Function 1 and Function 2 buttons on the front). I’ve programmed the twelve slots the “i” button offers me for the primary things I change on a regular basis. Any options I can’t put in there, like Flash Control and Format, are in “My Menu” (listed further down in this story).

Top Row, L to R

Picture Control

Image Quality

Image Size (I use this a lot with the Z 7, which lets me switch to a DX framing and still have about 20-megapixels of data. I don’t use it much with the Z 6, as then I drop down to about 10-megapixels)

Flash compensation

Vibration reduction

AF-area mode

Bottom Row, L to R

White balance

Choose image area

Multiple exposure

Exposure delay mode

Silent photography

Focus mode

Function buttons

Function 1 – Playback – I don’t want the image popping into the viewfinder every time I shoot a picture because it’s distracting and slows me down. However, there are times where I do want to check the image I’ve shot immediately, in the viewfinder without taking the camera down from my eye, and so program F1 to let me do that. And, I find it much easier to review images I’ve captured looking at them inside the viewfinder instead of on the back of the camera. This capability is one of the things I truly love about this EVF camera. In fact, I’ve gotten so used to pressing that button for Playback that I’ve even programmed my mirrored Nikons to do the same, though, of course, I have to look at the rear LCD to see the image on them.

Function 2 – My Menu – Most Nikon cameras give you an option, after the “Retouch” menu, to use either “Recent Settings” or “My Menu.” I’m a huge fan of “My Menu,” as it lets me load up to 20 of my favorite menu choices into one, easy-to-get-to place. That way, even the things I don’t change often (like the self-timer), I can access quickly without having to hunt through the menus. Below you’ll see what those choices are.

PLAYBACK MENU

Playback folder – ALL

Playback display options – This controls what different pages of information I can see when using Image Playback to review an image. “Highlights” is my default screen on the camera, as it flashes any areas that have been overexposed, warning me I might want to change my exposure. The second most used is “RGB histogram,” which gives detailed exposure information, both overexposure and underexposure, of all three color channels. Here are the four pages I set to view on all my Nikons (mirrored or mirrorless):

Focus Point

Highlights

RGB histogram

Overview

Image review – OFF (again, I don’t like having the image pop up every time I shoot)

Rotate tall – OFF (this means I have to turn the camera sideways to view vertical images, but also means they’re larger on the LCD, which is more important to me.

PHOTO SHOOTING MENU

File naming – RAH

NEF (RAW) recording – compression ON, 14-bit

Color space – Adobe (you should use sRGB unless you’re also using color management software and hardware like I am)

Metering – Matrix (I use this probably 99% of the time while in Aperture Priority mode and shift EV – exposure compensation – as necessary to get the exposure I want)

Flash mode – Rear (I prefer having the flash fire at the end of the exposure)

Focus Mode – AF-C

AF-area mode – what I use most are:

Single-point AF – for landscapes and portraits.

Wide-area AF – (s) – most sports, similar to “Group AF” on my mirrored Nikons.

Auto-area AF – if I want to take advantage of Eye Detect.

MOVIE SHOOTING MENU

I’ll probably cover this in another story.

CUSTOM SETTING MENU

a1 and 2 – AF-C and AF-S Priority – Release

a3 – Focus tracking with lock-on – 3 for regular work.

a4 – Auto-area AF face/eye detection – Face and eye detection on.

a7 – AF activation – OFF (I use back-button focus)

a11 – Low-light AF – OFF (this can slow down focus)

a12 – Built-in AF-assist illuminator – OFF

b2 – Easy exposure compensation – ON (this lets me use the Main Command dial to adjust EV while in Aperture Priority mode, which is the exposure mode I primarily work with).

c3 – Power Off delay

Playback – 20s

Menus – 20s

Image review – 20s

Standby timer – 1m

d7 – File number sequence – ON

d8 – Apply settings to live view – ON

d10 – Peaking highlights – Level 2, Red

e1 – Flash sync speed – 1/200s (Auto FP) – this lets me go above the 1/200-second flash sync limit when paired with a flash that can do the same.

e2 – Flash shutter speed – 1/15s (this means that in A or P exposure modes the camera won’t use a shutter speed below this while using flash)

f3 – OK button –

Shooting mode – Zoom on/off – 1:1 (100%)

Playback mode – Zoom on/off – 1:1 (100%) – one of my favorite options, means than when I’m reviewing an image I’ve shot, all I need to do is press the OK button to jump to a 100% view where the active focus sensor was.

SETUP MENU

Viewfinder brightness – AUTO

Control panel brightness – Manual, 7 (this means I can see the top display clearly even in bright sun. I leave it at that setting unless in dim light or while doing night photography)

Limit monitor mode selection – “Monitor only” and “Prioritize viewfinder” (this means when I cycle the display, these are the only two choices. I keep it on “Monitor only,” which means the viewfinder, unless I’m using the rear LCD to frame a picture, in which case I switch it)

Image Comment – ON (my name)

Copyright information – ON (my copyright)

MY MENU

ISO Sensitivity settings – allows me to quickly adjust my Auto ISO settings.

Battery info

Airplane mode

Time zone and date

Flash control

Format memory card

Metering

Self-timer

AF activation (switch between back-button and shutter button)

Auto-area AF face/eye detection

Focus tracking with lock-on (I shift this based on the sport I’m shooting)

Silent photography (turns off the Mechanical shutter, but also prevents use of flash)

Focus shift shooting

HDR (high dynamic range)

Multiple exposure

Auto bracketing

Vibration reduction

Long exposure NR

Control panel brightness

Apply settings to live view

That’s all, nothing to it, right? As they say, “knowledge is power.” In over twenty years shooting digital cameras, I’ve learned that to get the most out of each new camera, it’s not enough to simply read about what the new buttons and menu options do. More important is to test them, and push each camera to its limits. Truly understanding what each camera is capable of is my goal. If I’m lucky, that will make me a better photographer and teacher. (if you’d like to see an example of this, check out a recent blog post on using high-resolution cameras for sports)

(If you like this story, please share it with your friends and let them know about the links on photography that I post on my business Facebook page. I’m also on Instagram and Twitter, @reedhoffmann. And if you’re curious about the workshops I teach, you can find them here.)