Nikon z8 z9 shutter angle rage

[gethin]

I’m in the middle of overreacting to Nikon implementing something on my camera that I was using on a competitors 8 years ago and they have stuffed it.  I know this shouldn’t be bothering me as much as it is. I really need to get out more.  Nikon: the Microsoft of cameras 🤦

The fact you can only use shutter angle in manual mode. Why?  Or at least let us set the minimum shutter angle in those modes ffs. Because otherwise the camera will happily shoot unusable 360degree shutter angle video in those modes.

(Please don’t post any variety of “real men only shoot manual”.  For what I do shooting in aperture priority is essential. It lets me get shots that would be impossible unless I’d have another operator ramping exposure.  I’m not shooting drama. It’s not controlled. I could do this on the gh5 ffs).  

 

 

[Emanuel]

Firmware age. Designed like that or priorities of their own... I guess? : ) We always have distinct paths to arrive there, anyway ; ) Maybe a future update, who knows? Welcome to digital rage! : P 

In a different note, the recent turn to Nikonists here is really something! ; ) Sounds today, like yesterday. Any mechanical yearning or method is past now or at least discarded and... move on, let's accept that, I'm afraid, no matter the apparatus ; ) A few manufacturers are a bit more user-friendly or oldschool than others, though.

My 1st serious photo camera (Sony was my 1st prosumer video thing, 35 years before my return back to the brand almost a quarter of century later my CineAlta F900 adventure) with more than 3 decades in my hands is still here with that pentaprism... a way earlier than the current smartphones/action cams/Osmo Pockets... street photography (yet, method of a workmate of mine in those years that we organised a photograph exhibition in one of the most fancy short film festivals of the indie circuit currently implemented and one of the best worldwide class photographers I've ever seen in my entire life, still alive and kicking nowadays, as you can check by your own in that link left here...) was then used to be shot like that with a F3 (still here in all its splendid piece of machinery):

Ah that exposure compensation dial... No touch screen replaces it xD How I miss that!

Unfortunately, what is not in my hands anymore is some other device 'cause had to sell it a year later when the next V6000 model came. Thought to update my V5000 and ended to get some other self-guided walk route with my brand new MX12 then, before going to film school for learning how to manage post and become an editor/director -- those were the times when we had no YT tutorials but analogue/analog (in both English variations for not misunderstandings : D ; ) tools and serious instructors for real:

In a line, patience is the best tool of any craftsman :- )

PS: While for some reason I should have deleted the 1st part with a more comprehensive line/paragraph tone now... = D Rebuilt and back.

 

[Andrew Reid]

[Ilkka Nissila]

52 minutes ago, gethin said:

I’m in the middle of overreacting to Nikon implementing something on my camera that I was using on a competitors 8 years ago and they have stuffed it.  I know this shouldn’t be bothering me as much as it is. I really need to get out more.  Nikon: the Microsoft of cameras 🤦

The fact you can only use shutter angle in manual mode. Why?  Or at least let us set the minimum shutter angle in those modes ffs. Because otherwise the camera will happily shoot unusable 360degree shutter angle video in those modes.

(Please don’t post any variety of “real men only shoot manual”.  For what I do shooting in aperture priority is essential. It lets me get shots that would be impossible unless I’d have another operator ramping exposure.  I’m not shooting drama. It’s not controlled. I could do this on the gh5 ffs). 

When you're in video mode, aperture priority on the Z8 doesn't necessarily give anything useful over manual mode. When selecting A mode, you select aperture manually (the same as manual mode) and the camera will choose shutter speed and ISO for you (you cannot select aperture priority and adjust ISO manually in that mode). If you go to manual mode, and select the shutter angle manually along with the aperture, by turning on Auto ISO, you get automatic exposure via the camera adjusting ISO. Why would you want the camera to adjust shutter angle during the take when Auto ISO is available?

 

I understand that Auto ISO may not be ideal for log video as then the noise in the image will vary, but surely that's less distracting than shutter speed or angle varying during the take?

[Andrew Reid]

It's not really a 180 degrees firmware update problem.

It's the missing feature of setting minimum shutter speeds in Aperture Priority.

Just set it to 180 degrees in manual mode with base ISO in N-LOG and use a variable ND.

Or set it to 180 degrees and auto ISO in manual mode when you're in low light and it is forcing 1/25 on you.

I agree that in Aperture Priority mode there should be a way to set the minimum shutter speed to 1/50 in video mode but it's quick enough to override.

Either with a quick mode-switch or hiking the ISO.

[Ilkka Nissila]

23 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said:

It's not really a 180 degrees firmware update problem.

It's the missing feature of setting minimum shutter speeds in Aperture Priority.

Just set it to 180 degrees in manual mode with base ISO in N-LOG and use a variable ND.

Or set it to 180 degrees and auto ISO in manual mode when you're in low light and it is forcing 1/25 on you.

I agree that in Aperture Priority mode there should be a way to set the minimum shutter speed to 1/50 in video mode but it's quick enough to override.

Either with a quick mode-switch or hiking the ISO.

I don't have the camera with me to test but according to the Z8 reference guide, in aperture priority (in video mode), the user can not manually adjust the ISO. It's always in Auto ISO mode in S, P, and A. Manual ISO is only available in manual mode. (In stills mode, Auto ISO is not coupled to a shooting mode.)

 

When the camera is in Auto ISO mode, there is a minimum shutter speed that you can set in the ISO sensitivity settings menu. I don't know if they changed this to shutter angle when the camera is in shutter angle mode, if not, then probably it is an oversight that they didn't think of.

 

I can check these things when I have the camera with me.

[gethin]

7 hours ago, Ilkka Nissila said:

When you're in video mode, aperture priority on the Z8 doesn't necessarily give anything useful over manual mode. When selecting A mode, you select aperture manually (the same as manual mode) and the camera will choose shutter speed and ISO for you (you cannot select aperture priority and adjust ISO manually in that mode). If you go to manual mode, and select the shutter angle manually along with the aperture, by turning on Auto ISO, you get automatic exposure via the camera adjusting ISO. Why would you want the camera to adjust shutter angle during the take when Auto ISO is available?

 

I understand that Auto ISO may not be ideal for log video as then the noise in the image will vary, but surely that's less distracting than shutter speed or angle varying during the take?

Let’s say I’m shooting an interior and transition to exterior.  I want to shoot the interior at the lowest iso possible.  I shoot h.265 with active d light on max at the lowest isos possible. I find I get the lowest noise and best dynamic range this way, better than nlog. If I move to a brighter environment the image will be overexposed. There is no lower iso to go to.  If I expose for the exterior then the interior will be at ridiculously high isos.  
 

shooting in A it will happily ramp the shutter speed when it moves outside. It works better than ramping iso imho. It’s smoother, and in most situations you don’t see the change of shutter speed. 
 

 

[gethin]

I shoot on a gimbal, variable nds are not an option.  Shit even my 7d had a better way of dealing with this.

 

yes Andrew you’re right it’s a lack of setting minimum shutter speed and Nikons dumb policy of allowing 360 degree shutter angle as the max in the auto modes, but shutter angle should have been the easy fix to this.  
 

 

[Andrew Reid]

7 hours ago, Ilkka Nissila said:

I don't have the camera with me to test but according to the Z8 reference guide, in aperture priority (in video mode), the user can not manually adjust the ISO. It's always in Auto ISO mode in S, P, and A. Manual ISO is only available in manual mode. (In stills mode, Auto ISO is not coupled to a shooting mode.)

 

When the camera is in Auto ISO mode, there is a minimum shutter speed that you can set in the ISO sensitivity settings menu. I don't know if they changed this to shutter angle when the camera is in shutter angle mode, if not, then probably it is an oversight that they didn't think of.

 

I can check these things when I have the camera with me.

There's only a minimum shutter speed in the ISO settings for Photos.

The ISO settings in the video menu lacks it.

Definitely a firmware fix for Nikon to consider here.

[gethin]

7 hours ago, Ilkka Nissila said:

 

 

When the camera is in Auto ISO mode, there is a minimum shutter speed that you can set in the ISO sensitivity settings menu. I don't know if they changed this to shutter angle when the camera is in shutter angle mode, if not, then probably it is an oversight that they didn't think 

ISO sensitivity mentions minimum exposure in the stills version only as far as I can see. I got all excited for a mo.

 

I think the issue is that when I bring this up - the essential problem of Nikon allowing you to shoot at 1/25 when shooting 25fps, the answer I most often get is more like apples “you’re holding it wrong”.  People seem bamboozled that it’s an issue but it shouldn’t be there to be an issue.  It’s a rooky amateurish policy to have.  
 

My workaround is to shoot at 30p which has a minimum shutter of 50fps (it’s not even consistent!) which is close enough to 180 to be passable. Not great but it allows my to get those shots which have 6+ stops of exposure variation 

[gethin]

3 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said:

There's only a minimum shutter speed in the ISO settings for Photos.

The ISO settings in the video menu lacks it.

Definitely a firmware fix for Nikon to consider here.

I wrote to Nikon about this when I got the z6 however long ago that was. Their answer: you’re holding it wrong

[newfoundmass]

Hopefully they fix that for you, because it really doesn't make sense to limit it to certain modes. 

[Ilkka Nissila]

On 3/7/2025 at 8:24 PM, Andrew Reid said:

There's only a minimum shutter speed in the ISO settings for Photos.

The ISO settings in the video menu lacks it.

Definitely a firmware fix for Nikon to consider here.

I see, I hadn't realized that. I think Nikon should be able to easily fix this in firmware, as you suggest.