Zebra-ing for stills on the z8?

[John Di Leo]

Is this possible for stills? I see the setting for it in video, but not for stills. There is the setting that shows the overexposed areas POST capture, but I'm looking for PRE capture zebras.

DPreview says it's not possible on stills. Why would that exist for video, but not for stills? <smh>

[ilkka_nissila]

Still photographers and videographers have their own needs and preferences and the features of still and video cameras evolved separately for a long time. 

 

Zebras, waveforms, focus peaking etc. can block large areas of the viewfinder which can be distracting if you just want to concentrate on the subject, how the image will look and choosing which moment to capture. For video recording, exposure can be more critical (to keep the file sizes in check, image settings are typically baked in, heavy compression is applied and room for post work is reduced, so the exposure must be set correctly). Another reason is live streaming or broadcast where there is basically no time to make post-processing adjustments. For still images, the use of raw format is common and so is doing post-processing, but one generally wants to reduce the post work time by being selective wrt. what moments being photographed. A clear viewfinder image uncluttered by extra information is typically preferred for that.

 

Now things are getting blurry between stills and video in the camera implementation. But not all features are implemented in both modes.

 

In my opinion video and stills are completely different media and the mindset and procedures for shooting the two are very different and the camera is just a tiny component. I just don't see much benefit in the integration and would undo it happening in history if I had any influence. But I don't. 😉 To me it is just making one person do the work of two or that of a whole crew. I don't see how that will improve the art.

Edited June 24, 2023 by ilkka_nissila

[mike_halliwell]

 

23 minutes ago, ilkka_nissila said:

Now things are getting blurry between stills and video in the camera implementation.

I can see that Nikon's 120 jpegs per second is kinda akin to a still from an 8K video at 120fps.

[ilkka_nissila]

1 hour ago, mike_halliwell said:

 

I can see that Nikon's 120 jpegs per second is kinda akin to a still from an 8K video at 120fps.

Those are 11 MP JPGs if I remember correctly, so not quite like stills from 8K video. I haven't turned the release mode dial that far.

 

Note also that the sensor in video recording is read more slowly than in stills photography, probably to manage heat. It depends on the video mode being used but with the highest-quality video from the Z8/Z9, there is more rolling shutter than in stills.

[mike_halliwell]

32 minutes ago, ilkka_nissila said:

I haven't turned the release mode dial that far.

Me neither!

So, it's still full frame but binned down to ~4K?

[John Di Leo]

On 6/24/2023 at 6:20 AM, ilkka_nissila said:

Zebras, waveforms, focus peaking etc. can block large areas of the viewfinder which can be distracting if you just want to concentrate on the subject, how the image will look and choosing which moment to capture.

That's a good point, but with 3 function buttons that can be programed, it could be actuated while a func button is pressed and go away when pressure is released. Also, there are other cameras that do offer it; Leica I believe does.

[mike_halliwell]

On 6/25/2023 at 10:34 PM, John Di Leo said:

it could be actuated while a func button is pressed and go away when pressure is released.

Sometimes I wish the user could select how a function button operates.

Press-to-select/release-to-deselect or...

Toggle-through options and select the last 'seen'.. such as choosing from a 3 option 'rotary' Fn, such as Single Point, Dynamic or Auto Area AF.

Sometimes pressing and holding or pressing and command dial is clumsy.