Best Nikon Z6 II AF settings for Portraits
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- Опубліковано 18 тра 2021
- Thanks to B&H for the loaner.
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First time here? Hi, I'm Omar Gonzalez, a professional portrait and event photographer in the NYC/NJ area. On this channel, we talk cameras, lenses, and techniques to improve our photography.
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If you choose custom menu "A6: Store points by orientation", when you switch between portrait and landscape it will remember where the box/AF point was left and position it for you so that you don't have to move it so much!
"You are smarter than your camera" -- you have an enormous faith in humanity 😂
Excited to see more videos from you Omar, I hope you’re doing well. I just wanted to say that if you enjoyed it, a series/ video like your framing vs cropping ones would be great. Something that involves you looking at pictures from subscribers and talking about them and/ or just giving tips in general about photography is really fun and informative to see.
Thanks for the videos, ever since I got my X-T2 I binged almost all your videos lol, but I still watch them. I came for the Fujifilm tutorials and stayed for the Omar.
Their expressions are spot on. This is not AF related. The photographer did a good job interacting with the people.
Excellent video! As a new Z6ll owner, this is very helpful. You touched on a good point about saving these mode with the FN button. I think I’ll give that one a go. Last, excellent point made about fiddling with the camera while interacting with your clients. That would be me. I have to work on that one. ✌️
Thanks for being balanced and fair, I have found my Z6ll to be pretty good at AF also.
Man! That was fun, informative and entertaining! I really enjoyed how you spoke as an experienced photographer without resorting to bash Nikon and the camera. This is much better than what they do in those other channels where all they do is trash Nikon and/or compare cameras, specs and kiss Canon's and Sony's little behinds. Keep up the awesome and positive vibes of the channel.
They make it sound like before now all photos were garbage because if eye AF isn’t GREAT you are doomed.
@@AlexP-qs5db yep, it is mostly these new influencers and photographers who watch channels from the Afros and Mannys of the world, if you know which youtube channels I mean... they are nice people, don't get me wrong, but too focused on specs and bashing and comparing... I personally believe the cameras and lenses from Nikon are great... yes, they could improve on the AF but like you mentioned, these UA-camrs and new photographers make it seem like AF is what makes a camera and photos great.. and also, I believe these Nikon cameras haven't even reached their full potential as there are still a lot of new firmwares yet to be released.. the present and future is bright!
It’s not that they are kissing Sony and Canons butt. The reality is Nikon is a legit camera company that got pushed down by an electronics company that made cameras (Sony). This has been going on for many years.
Many Nikon users made excuses and said Nikon will take their time to build a mirrorless and eventually blow Sony away. 8 years later, Nikon still hasn’t caught up to Sony.
Canon lagged behind for years, but they caught up and succeeded in many ways. The R5/6 are amazing!
Nikon users are upset that Nikon is now in third place. The Z6 and Z7 First models were just ok. The II models fixed banding and made focus and tracking just a hair better, but still lag behind.
Nikon users will say that there is a work around, but reality is they are nowhere close to Sony or Canon.
Nikon users are also upset that they stopped making DSLR’s and they can only buy mirrorless, but their mirrorless is still not up to competition.
Nikon does have excellent bodies and lenses. I love them. They just need to up their sensors and processors to allows more calculations per second in the next III models.
Also you can’t be mad at multi brand shooters. I was a Nikon and Canon shooter for a decade and went to Sony for their amazing technology. I eventually went back to Canon with R5/6 and sold off my Sonys. I then got a Nikon Z7II and it felt like I went backwards in tracking and focus. Yes, there is a workaround for focus, but that is not what mirrorless is all about.
Once you get used to Sony and Canons amazing tracking and focus, using Nikons will be a huge letdown side by side.
This is why many that use different brands give Nikon crap. It’s a big difference in comparison.
Now if you’re only a Nikon shooter and get mad at them, you are just a fanboy and will never see the difference. You can’t be mad at others for using other brands and comparing them.
All you can do is write to Nikon and have them fix it. You are the consumer and have a say. They need your money to succeed.
Canon were in same situation and they listened and they succeeded to number one spot now. I hope to see Nikon close to them someday. My fingers are crossed. Yes I have written to Nikon many times.
@@ryanb8736 I understand and agree with some of your points, but AF isn't everything in photography... I understand that it makes things easier but it isn't everything...the Z6ii and Z7ii are already pretty good and the next iterations will be even better, at same level as the R3 etc or better. We are happy over here, if Sony and Canon shooters are happy with their cameras, they shouldn't be coming over to our happy side and tell us how much our cameras suck compared to theirs, everyone is enjoying what they shoot with and that's what matters, I am super happy with my Z6ii and can't wait to see what Nikon has in store in the near future, cheers and stay blessed. 😎🙏🏾
Nikon's eye auto focus has gotten so much better since this video It finds eyes much much further and seems to notice smaller objects in the middle of the frame in auto area af
Love the energy and humour in the video. Very informative overall. Cheers!
Thank you, sir! So well done and I thoroughly enjoy your sense of humor! This is my favorite thus far!
Super Great content as usual. Thanks for the tips Omar!
Great topic. It made the difference for me to know and understand how my camera/s work and how/when to change my settings.
Great discussion for me as a new owner of a Z6ii
Years ago when I had a Nikon SLR ELW it was easy, now there are so many settings to consider.
As an older guy, I want slow and easy.
Great, helpful video, Omar. Thanks!
I have the F2 button set to switch to focus tracking. So when wide area eye starts struggling you press the button and get a small box. Put that on a face and start focusing then the camera will lock onto it until you let go of the focus. Quick and reliable with you just tapping the F2 button again to go back to wide area eye.
Me too and so far working pretty great.
Yes this is what I've been doing as well, Why didn't Omar talk about the Tracking on this camera, It's awesome
True...I do as well and mentioned in my initial Z6 video. I've been shying away from it because the other modes have been working (too many choices syndrome). I'll give tracking more of a chance.
@@ogonzilla Glad you are willing to think outside the red box
Is there a video in how to set that up - so far all this is giving me a headache 😃 think ill stick to my focus and compose on my D750.
That ‘peace’ at the end brought me to tears.
I think your advise in the first couple of minutes was the most useful; we as the photographer need to judge and assess which is the best AF mode/area for any given situation. Of course, this only comes with experience and doing lots of portrait shoots. When I used to do children's portraits in a studio setting using my DSLR and 2/3 studio lights I would set aperture to about F11 and using Single centre point AF, just focus on the nearest eye and re-compose, worked a treat most of the time.
I've been looking for this tip since I started using the Nikon Z5. Wide-area focus mode will keep everyone in the shot in focus. Thank you!!!
Hey Omar, thanks for the videos with Z6 II. You explain very well interesting and helpfull things.
Still using the first gen z camera and love it. I stay in continuous myself and in auto area. If I need to lock on a subject I hit f1 to engage subject tracking in busy situations. Kudos for giving Nikon a chance.
The original Z is a super value right now!
@@ogonzilla Yes, I agree, and if you have the time take a look at the 85 1.8s lens, its beautiful. the 2.8s are out of my budget but the 1.8s primes outperform the fmount 1.4s and are amazing.
Gracias Omar. Tengo 3 dias con la z6ii y fue de gran syuda tu video!!
Thanks for the good and practical video with hands on and real life scenarios. Contrary to other videos on UA-cam, you give concrete examples with real life situations which helps people understand faster and easily inscribe it in our brains
Omar - thanks for the timely video. I just love it. I am a D750 user and I've been researching which mirrorless system to move to. I dd purchase the Fuji X100V to dip my toes into the mirrorless world - and it has helped me understand a bit more how mirrorless works. I would love to stick with Nikon - I do love the colors but Im so unsure about the focus system.
Thank you for this video! Just got my z6ii 2 weeks ago and the menu is similar to my d750 but just enough different to give me pause. Taking it to a family shoot tonight!
Awesome! Enjoy. The image quality is the BEST!!
Man, dude - this is so helpful. I watched one of your other videos a while ago (a newer one than this I think), where you get us to set it up with the white, square, tracking box on one of the function buttons. I use this a lot, when my AFC eye box loses the eye, but I still need tracking. However, as you say, if it loses the eye, in eye tracking, then it kind of goes goofy looking for something that looks like an eye. I'm going to try that red square and let it do its thing. I shoot a lot of paid, fast moving events, so if this can make my hit rate better still, then that is a big plus.
Thanks for the show 🔥
Amazing review, love it. This a real life one and that's what matters.
Another excellent video. Thank you 👍🏻
Thanks for making these videos. I just traded in my Nikon D750 and 70-200 VR II. I'm putting that money towards getting a Z6II along with that I have saved up. So I'm learning a lot.
Thank you.
Man!! I love your videos…..
Love from India
Great real world examples. thanks.
Thank you so much! I have watched so many videos on the best focus modes for Nikon Z6ii and am so glad I found yours! I wanted something specially for family photography. I love that you showed the camera view while using certain modes. That helped a bunch!!! Now to watch more of your videos. 🙌🏼
Thanks. That was very useful.
Excellent video Omar! Love your approach to using the camera and not resorting to comparisons to that other company starting with an S... ;) Oh and by the way, completely concur on the 70-200 f2.8 VR S lens. It's just phenomenal :)
I think I did compare it to *ony a couple times, but thank YOU. The 70-200mm is bonkers good.
Great video, great pictures!
Love the Nikon colors!!
SAME...
New favorite channel
as always, REALLY helpful. i am SO close to pulling the out the credit card and getting the Z6II. i am a very satisfied D750 user but do which i can use the mirrorless features and better AF modes on the Z. thanks for the effort and the sharing. I am an appreciative subscriber. thumbs up.
Save money for the next gen z cameras....
@@aditya_gupta like what ? .
the Z6 lll ?
Omar, great videos and thanks for this one. we’d like a two minute update of this regarding subject tracking mode, please.
That first five minutes really helped me understand eye AF.
After watching about 20 of your videos and liking all of them, finally subscribed 😬
You only live once, take risks!
Thanks Martin!!!
Omar you have become my favorite photography channel because of your personality, sense of humor..and photography skills. LOVED this video as I picked up a Z6II a week ago and felt a bit overwhelmed with so many auto focus choices. Yesterday went to a cool Ghost town in Utah and took a bunch of wife pics (portraits). The sun in Utah is bright as hell? Is it bright in hell? lol Anyway I found eye focus would sometimes go past my wife if the background was brighter than where she was standing. I found using boring "single point" got me 99% of my photos IN focus with very sharp eyes. I wonder if the bigger red box can be as accurate as single point as to eyes as it covers a wider area than a POINT no?. Pinpoint works well too but is prob too slow. I have a Panasonic S5 which nobody would believe has amazing auto and eye focus. I knoooow -Just contrast detect but works GREAT. I felt the Z6II was a bit overall clunky somehow, BUT the files and color are off the charts GREAT. So as you mentioned perhaps Nikon will keep improving auto focus. For sure it's not as fluid/fast/easy as to focusing as a Sony or even the FF Panasonics..but the FILES!! WOW. And you said it best..as a photographer we have to make decisions and not just rely on the camera to choose. ha, I do wish the Z6II could choose a bit better but when you think JUST a little, like what mode works best at what time...learn how to change modes quick and all, I feel the truly outstanding files are worth the little extra effort you may need to get focus. That said auto focus works GREAT actully but it's not like it will drive itself...you have to steer.. Now I'm talking about cars?...:) keep up the great work!!
We’ll said! Yes. I’m finding bright backlighting is tough for it. Try turning off “image preview”. It helps. Thanks for the great comment and support!!
Great video for new mirrorless cameara users as well.
Its really good information❤
Great video dude, But it might be good for you to test and use the tracking mode for moving subjects and like family moving towards you and when the girl was spinning around it works really well, I'm in a wedding and portrait Nikon Z Facebook and we have talked about the different focus modes in depth, Let me know if you would like to join mate. I'm shooting my first wedding on Saturday with 2 Z6ii's and I cant wait. I'll let you know How I get on. Cheers Geoff
Nice vedeo Omar, as i am new to z6 ii family.
Very informative. 👍🥂
Question: Have you tried using the touch screen to move the focus point when using point focus, as opposed to eye tracking? If so, does either have a better result in your opinion, and or do you feel like that would free up your time to interact with the subject?
So after you have experience the Nikon z2 give us your opinion on autofocus compare to Fuji XT-4 .
Hi Omar
Thanks for all the amazing videos and work
One question there how does the Z6ii Af compare to XT4’s Af specially for moving subjects like kids?
Thanks again
14:49 deserves a comedy award🤣😂🤣🤣 I just watched it over and over again! Man! You're something else😂😂😂
Edit: in the heat of the moment I forgot to say that this was very useful👍 Just that Z6II "Eureka" moment stole the thunder of everything else😂
Thank you!!
i use AFC Eye Af and when in trouble i have "Subject tracking" on F2 custom button...but gonna try the rectangle you use as second chance to see how it works for me..grear bideo btw
I have same experience with z6ii after 10days of use :) AFC without green box confirmation is missing. Is R6 more reliable for auto eye focus? Btw: that z70-200 looks amazing, very sharp! I have still opportunity to decide which system to keep, z6 ii or R6. I have sold all my old gears recently, m50 crop sensor.
"You could get lucky!" Nikon should use that on their marketing materials :-)
Thanks for your presentation, I have been following your content for a while. I will soon get the Nikon Zii but need some advice on my first Z lens. I have only about $1200 to work with and I think I have narrowed it down to these two, the the14-30 f4S and 24-70F4S, with the 24-200 being a third somewhat important lens. I mainly do landscapes and family, and my dog. Please advise...
Could you explain what you might use for settings/auto focus settings if your subjects were in slightly different planes or slightly different depths?
Focus and recompose can still be just as useful today as it wes in the days of manual film cameras.
Not a Nikon user but I have something to comment: I personally haven't used Eye AF (other than trying it) on my R5. Not even once. I like having control over my focus points, composition and just about everything else. I shoot documentary, street portraiture and wildlife, I need full control over my focus. Eye AF doesn't allow me to do that. As good as the Eye AF system in the 'XYZ' camera might be, I have no control over it. This goes specifically for my type wildlife work, where I can not afford to depend on the cameras Animal Eye AF to work or not. To mention another point; for some of my compositions, I do not want to focus on the eyes.
Hi! Great video Omar! I've recently bought a z6ii and it happens a strange issue: the camera always finds the eye of the model, and when I see the photo, I can see that in many photos the face is not in focus (another thing is in focus), but the camera shows the focus point on the reproduction menu over the eye. I mean: When I'm taking the photo, sometimes, the autofocus find the eye and I shoot and the camera shows later on the final photo the focus point confirmation over the eye, but actually the face is out of focus. It's my camera defective?
This was great! What firmware were you using? Sometimes the box drifted off their eye or face. With a non busy background which mode would you start in? Are you using back button focus? Great video!
Hi! The latest one (1.20). Back button focus in Wide area eye. 😁
It has pin point!! Want to try the pin point! 😎
Díky!
Thanks so much for the support!
Hi Omar! I need to learn how did you master the way to focus the person body instead of the face using the rectangle? Please teach me how to do it and what aperture I need to make it work? Thanks in advanced!
what do think of nikon z6ii Af vs Fuji xt4 auto focus?..
very nice tuto. do you mean activating wide red box, without eye detection, at middle of lcd is enough for good depth of field on eyes ? no need to move it to face to be sure ?
do you use AF-ON back button focus. i did it first but so many buttons and not having green+beep in AF-S, i came back to half shutter press. do you set FN1 to subject tracking and FN2 to AF mode to quickly switch ? you don't mention subject tracking and how it would behave with respect to your red box. I tried on skate boarders but not easy.
Hey Omar I have z6ii and my friends has Sony a7iii.
We have tested both with the same distance with 50mm 1.8 and when zoom in the Sony is wheyyy sharper🤷♀️
Any news on the new fuji viltrox lenses dropping this year? Think they delayed the 13mm.
I agree, no camera is a "miracle worker". It's up to us. Hopefully, we can all get off the "camera battle" merry go round"!
Watching your video(s), it's obvious to those who know, you know your shit.
Subscribed.
Great video! With the rectangle, would it ever focus on the shirt and not the face? Or were they close enough to the same plane where you couldn’t tell. Thanks!
Definitely same plane. If I was closer definitely the shirt.
Very timely series on Nikon, as a Z just joined my stable of Fujis. Gotta work on getting more fluid and intuitive with the focus options.
Great combo...Fujifilm and Nikon colors get along nicely.
@@ogonzilla Ok, time for my first real shoot with the Z, with 50 18, 80 1.8 and old school 105 f2.5 with the FTZ.
Nikon D700 vs Z6 II. Which camera delivers the best colors? Thank you Omar!!!
Both amazing but different. Pastel vs bold.
How has your experience been with eye autofocus for people of colour?
Question: what if you only have one lens that came with the camera? I have the 24-70mm what do you do with that? Can you still do family portraits or portraits period? What is the 24 - 70mm lens for?
This is where I think that nikon should eat their pride and put the focus mode selector lever on the back of the d700 on z,.. if you had a lever that you can quickly go through all focus modes without wasting a function button or going to the menu, it would make things easier.
I definitely would like that too or have it on the first ring of the lens.
colors look amazing. Are those SOOC or are they edited?
SOOC colors slightly edited (shadows lifted a bit plus a curve adjustment)
@@ogonzilla wow beautiful Nikon colors
should I upgrade to the z6ii? I really dont know what to do. What lens do you Recommend? Wedding, Families, etc! Great video. Thanks
What do you have now?
I maybe shoudn't comment on this but if autofokus is an important part of your work flow shooting people, wildlife or anything that moves Nikon is still several years behind competition for autofokus. There are other reasons to choose Nikon such as image rendering, ergonomics, lenses etc but Nikon does not master autofokus like the two tops manufacturers today. As a sport and wildlife shooter, with the occational wedding and portrait shoot reliable and consistant AF is key to get the work done. In 2021 one shoudn't need to ask the model to pose again and again because you missed focus on the eye. It's all down to reliability and workflow. Until Nikon gets AF on par with the competition you need to learn the limitations. My main concern is that the bodies doesn't have enough computational power if Nikon should write a functional algorytm for eye AF and fast paced moving subjects. That would be in a third relase of the Z series. Eyes are on Nikon now to show the world that they can when releasing the Z9. The AF needs so bad to equal or better that Canon or Sonys AF. If not they would loose the pros first and second the prosumer/enthusiasts and they are really in trouble. All hope for the Z9 and that the tech will trickle down to lower models.
Would have liked to see how to turn the different modes on. All the videos assume you know how to enable the different autofocus points but instead they talk about the modes.
Haven’t found a good video that shows you how to enable a mode and then how it looks and acts.
I shoot in continuous ficus with the back button. I was wondering why I wasn't getting a confirmation on the focus on my z6 II. Now I know. I took pictures at my daughter's play last week. I had to shoot at ISO 6400 most of the time to keep my shutter speed up. It was fine when they weren't moving much but I did get some blurry shots from time to time but not because of the focus. I think nearly every shot was in focus. Much improvement over my d750 I had. I used the small box many times because I didn't want it to pick up another person standing close to my daughter. I did her prom pictures with that camera and got some great shots but that was easy. The play was my first real test with it.
Also in low light the small zone does a good job.
@@ogonzilla I believe that was improved with the last update. Did your loaner camera have the latest firmware update?
@@carlmcneill1139 updated myself
Omar wow bro how do u color grade your pictures for they are so beautiful...Grant us some tips man🤯🥺🥺
Nikon files. Sooooo easy in LR using the camera matching color presets.
Agreed. Very nice skin tones in post. I don’t seem to get such nice skin tones out of my Z body. I did see a color checker in your vid. Wondering if you create your own profile or is that to match your Sony’s?
Wow, the colors (specially the skin tones) are amazing. Have you made any color correction/grading or are they SOOC photos?
Thanks for your videos!
Pretty close to sooc. Using LR with camera matching standard or portrait works great
Ooh, thanks Omar! I have never even tried the portrait profile, always stuck to standard...
Can you do a comparison between fuji film simulation and nikon picture control film simulation?
I shoot Nikon RAW...
Was your camera updated with the latest update for nikon z6ii ime 1.20
Yes sir
How come you didn't use subject tracking for AFC? Even on AFS I really like how the box auto centers once it jumps off the object. Don't need to use a D pad, or Stick to move the focus point :)
I got a Z6ii to expand, I only did landscape and macro. Since we have a baby girl I wanted to take great picture memories. Doing a baby photo shoot is so hard hahah, I have nooo idea what focus to use I'm always switching around, and the baby always on the move 98% of the time. Oh man I feel like I bit off way more than I could chew, but she just turned 1 so I bet it gets easier.
It gets worse. She'll be faster! lol....You're sure to get some great images with the Z. For me, I found using the subject tracking works pretty well, but engaging it and managing it (turning it off, for example)...didn't work intuitively for me on shoots, so I ditched it for a single point.
@@ogonzilla I agree using the - to shut it off is super annoying, however using the one of the front function buttons uses it as an on/off button! Which is huge! Keep in it auto area eyeAF, and pop on or off tracking instantly, to grab an eye. But I bet you're super comfy with your button layout, maybe try that in a dif body. Best of luck and thanks!!
How do you get the red square when reviewing a photo?
The z6ii have a af touch focus like sony a7riii?
As photographer, would you say it would have been (much) easier with a Sony? Great channel by the way! All the best!
Definitely easier with Sony but then Nikon colors yo
Thanks for the reply Omar! It would be a nice video fuji colors vs nikon colors!
Omar? Di the Z6ll ever get that firmware update? Do your job sir!
The main reason I returned my Z6 was the unreliable AF. I remember the day before I returned it I was trying to get some video of my daughter and the Z6 AF kept on latching to the chair behind her.
That stinks. From what I've seen, Nikon has been releasing firmware improvements for the older models which is great.
sony a7riii or nikon z6ii?
I wish you made this video but for Z8.
can the camera detect eyes of different people at the same time?
Not sure if you have spoken about it, nobody does, but the ISO in today's sensors, and I know because I review my AUTO shots and see the ISO it chose and its incredible the detail that remains above ISO 500. Nobody talks about ISO because they think its something you avoid. It's a way to get out of a low light situation, lean on it, and get results.
Truth...crazy clean files at 12800
Nikon z6ii firmwre updated 1.50 release date?
No wonder my moving portraits suck. choosing the right AF mode, on the fly, is tough
If your pic is not good enough, you are not close enough - Robert Capa . Always get as close as possible !!!!
great video BUT I wish you had walked through the actual setting and buttons to achieve this during a shoot. I am lost on that part... I am a visual learner and so not knowing how you are getting these menu options isn't helping me... some of my menu settings look different.
I’ll work on it
PS, which where your lenses for this shoot?
Sigma 50mm 1.4 art.....Z 70-200mm 2.8
@@ogonzilla Very nice.
Missing focus on native premium lens like the 70-200 2.8 is a bit disappointing. Especially when the subject is stationary. Was looking at making a transition to the Z lineup but now I have serious doubts.
I’m eagerly awaiting the firmware update that really makes a huge difference. 😁
@@ogonzilla lets hope we see miracles :) look forward to your review post the firmware update
No entiendo nada Omar; ¿Podrías poner subtítulos en español?. Muchas gracias.