6 key features in the Nikon Z 8 v.2.0 firmware update that videographers will love

 3. Enhanced Hi-res zoom 

Benefit from up to 2x zoom during 4K ULHD and full HD video recording with up to 11 speed options. “The zoom is much finer than before, having tried the zoom on the Z 8 before the update and after,” says Dimitri. “When I take my product shots, I put my camera on a tripod and zoom in and out of the product. The update allows for such smooth camera zoom, while also keeping the quality 4K.”

Try it out: Dimitri recommends using the zoom during an interview to focus in on facial details or try zooming over vast landscapes.

4. Additional videography features

Record 4x and 5x 1080p slow-motion footage straight to your memory card, exit zoom with half-press release, and test out the expanded custom control functions for video (eye switching, power zoom and AF-area mode rotation). There’s improvement in the memory card time remaining on display for video, updates to non-CPU lens data, support for power zoom lens, and focus point thickness has now added to focus point adjustment.

5. Display playback improvements 

During magnified playback and frame-by-frame playback, the zoom-in position can also be selected via the prioritise focus position.

1. Keep current position – maintains current zoom-in position
2. Focus point priority – centre the display on the mainly focused position
3. Face detect priority – centre the display on the face detection position

6. Three Picture Controls 

First seen in the Nikon Z f, the Z 8 now includes three new Picture Controls: Rich Tone Portrait, Flat Monochrome and Deep Tone Monochrome for both stills and video. Rich Tone Portrait supports beautiful rendering of skin textures and provides an image with more pronounced contrast compared to conventional Picture Control ‘Portrait.’

“I prefer to create the photo I want inside the camera, not through post-processing,” Dimitri says. “The new Deep Tone and Flat Monochrome is very good, and the Rich Tone Portrait is excellent for group photos at weddings, for example, where you might not want to touch up everyone’s skin tone in post.”

Read more: What are the Rich Tone Portrait and Deep Tone Monochrome settings like? Wedding photographer Frøydis Geithus tests the new Nikon Z 8 firmware v.2.0 update

Bonus for photographers: Pixel Shift

For still users, Pixel Shift offers the ability to photography multiple RAW files while moving image sensor position (utilising the in-camera VR). Launched in the Nikon Z f, there are four kinds (4 shots, 8 shots, 16 shots and 32 shots), and with 16 shots and 32 shots, an astonishingly high resolution of 180MP can be achieved. This is perfect for vast interiors or landscapes and product photography where you need the highest quality. “180MP is phenomenal, it’s fun to be able to zoom to the maximum and crop easily,” Dimitri shares. Below Dimitri has used Pixel Shift for product imagery. 

What’s in Dimitri Lazardeux’s kitbag?

• Bodies: Nikon Z 9, Nikon Z 8, Nikon Z 6II
• The NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.2 S is Dimitri’s go-to lens for both film and stills, especially portraits.
• The NIKKOR Z 40mm f/2 is small and discreet. “It’s a great beginner lens, too, as it’s quite reasonably priced,” Dimitri says. He uses the 40mm and 50mm prime for film.
• Dimitri uses the NIKKOR Z 105mm f/2.8 VR S for product photography and precise guitar shots for the Tone Factory YouTube channel.
• For wildlife and landscape, Dimitri prefers the NIKKOR Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S: “You can often catch me photographing European pine martens in a forest near my house!”

Learn more about the new firmware update here or, for easy instructions on how to install firmware updates and to download the free Nikon Z 8 firmware v.2.0, click here.