A Tour of the Body

A kingfisher lands on a reed twenty metres away. You have perhaps two seconds before it dives, and your eye is already at the viewfinder, so everything that follows happens by touch. Your right thumb presses AF-ON to focus. The same thumb rolls the main command dial two clicks for a faster shutter speed. Your index finger presses the shutter-release button. Three controls, none of them seen. The picture exists because your hand knew where each one was.

This chapter walks around the camera one face at a time, naming every control, lamp, door and socket, what each does from the factory, and whether you can change it. Page numbers in parentheses point to Nikon's Z6III Reference Guide, edition 09, which matches firmware 2.00. Nikon's parts diagrams begin on page 47, and the drawings here are my own schematics, not to scale.

01.How the Controls Are Organised

A body carries three kinds of thing. Some controls have a fixed job, such as the power switch and the mode dial. Others have a default job you may replace. The rest are not controls at all: lamps, sockets and doors.

Custom Setting f2 lists nearly every control whose photo role you can change. Its defaults are tabled on pages 625 and 626, and each control below says whether it is on the list. A control missing from it I treat as fixed, with one exception: with a power zoom (PZ) lens, f12 lets the two zoom buttons drive the zoom in photo mode, and g8 does the same in video (pages 628 and 739). Firmware 2.00 added new roles to this menu and to its video twin.

added in Firmware 2.00

One button can hold three different jobs. f2 applies when you take photos, g2 in video mode (page 748), and f3 when you review pictures (page 723). Menus and Controls shows how to reach those menus.

A command dial is a ridged wheel you turn to change a value, and the Z6III has two. The main command dial sits at the back of the top plate under your right thumb, and the sub-command dial sits at the front of the grip under your index finger. In S the main dial sets shutter speed (page 140). In A the sub dial sets aperture (page 141). In M the main dial sets shutter speed and the sub dial aperture (pages 141 and 142). In P the main dial trades the camera's shutter speed and aperture for another pair giving the same exposure, which Nikon calls flexible program (page 139).

Many buttons follow a hold-and-turn rule: hold the button, turn a dial. ISO, exposure compensation, release mode, Fn1 and Fn2 all work this way (pages 74, 151, 153 and 159). Custom Setting f7, Release button to use dial, lets you press and release first and then turn. It is off by default (pages 627 and 734).

02.The Front

The sub-command dial, the ridged wheel at the top of the grip's front face, sets aperture in A and M, and the Command dials item in f2 can change that.

The Fn1 and Fn2 buttons sit between the grip and the lens mount, Fn1 above Fn2, where your middle and ring fingers fall. Fn stands for function: these buttons have no fixed purpose. By default Fn1 sets white balance and Fn2 sets focus mode and AF-area mode, each by holding the button and turning the dials (page 74). Both are reassignable in f2, g2 and f3. In playback they do nothing until you give them a job (page 626).

The lens mount is the metal ring the lens locks into. Line up the lens mounting mark on the body with the mark on the lens and rotate the lens until it clicks into place (page 97). To remove it, hold the lens release button beside the mount and turn the lens back (page 98). The pads inside the mount are the CPU contacts, through which body and lens communicate. Without a lens, the BF-N1 body cap keeps dust out (page 970). Behind the mount sits the image sensor, the chip that records the picture.

The small window above and to the right of the mount is the AF-assist illuminator, which lights to help autofocus in dim light while Custom Setting a11 is on, as it is by default. In photo mode it lights only when the focus mode is AF-S (pages 105, 623 and 643). It is also the red-eye reduction lamp (page 421) and the self-timer lamp, which flashes during the countdown and stops two seconds before the shutter fires (page 158). On a dark stage in AF-S, switch a11 off so the beam distracts nobody. A strap eyelet sits at each side (page 87). The monitor mode button is described with the viewfinder.

03.The Top

The mode dial on the left shoulder chooses the shooting mode: AUTO, P, S, A, M, and the user positions U1 to U3, which recall settings you have saved (pages 138 to 142). Hold the mode dial lock release in its centre while you turn it (page 138). The dial is not reassignable.

The power switch is the collar around the shutter-release button (page 100). The shutter-release button has two stages: half-press to focus and measure the light, full press to take the picture (pages 102 to 104). Neither has a photo role to assign, though g2 can give the shutter-release button a video job (page 628).

Beside the shutter sits the video-record button. In video mode it starts and stops recording (pages 107 and 108). In photo mode its default job is to hide the shooting information, which surprises people expecting video (page 626). It is reassignable in f2 and g2.

Behind the shutter are two hold-and-turn buttons. The exposure compensation button makes the next picture brighter or darker than the meter would choose. It is counted in EV, exposure value, where one EV is a doubling or halving of the light: from $-5$ to $+5$ EV for photos and $-3$ to $+3$ EV in video, in thirds of a stop by default, with either dial (page 151). The ISO sensitivity button sets ISO, the amplification applied to the sensor's signal, with the main command dial (page 159). Both are reassignable.

The control panel is the small monochrome screen beside the viewfinder housing. While the camera is on it shows shutter speed, aperture, battery level, exposures remaining (or recording time), ISO, release mode and a card indicator for each slot (page 53, with the full list on page 942). In a dark theatre it is far less conspicuous than the monitor. The illuminator button lights it, and a second press turns the light off (page 52). Its default role is LCD illumination, and f2, f3 and g2 all list it, so you can give it another job (page 626). Custom Setting d13 keeps the backlight on while the standby timer runs, at some cost in battery. It is off by default (page 677).

The accessory shoe takes a flash, a flash trigger or a microphone. It is an ISO 518 hot shoe (page 1003), and a BS-1 cover protects it when empty (page 970). The stereo microphone is the pair of openings at the front of the housing (page 107), and the speaker is the small grille near the control panel. The focal plane mark, a circle crossed by a line, shows where the sensor sits. Focus distance is measured from it, which matters for manual focus and macro work, and the lens mount flange sits 16 mm in front of it (page 137).

04.The Back

The Viewfinder and the Eye Sensor

The viewfinder is a small electronic screen seen through a magnifying eyepiece: a 0.5-inch OLED panel of about 5,760,000 dots (a dot is one red, green or blue element), showing about 100 percent of the frame at about 0.8 times magnification, with a 21 mm eyepoint (page 999). The eyepoint is how far back your eye can sit and still see the whole frame, which matters with glasses. The rubber eyecup, the DK-29, makes the viewfinder image easier to see and spares your eye (page 971).

Beside it, the diopter adjustment control focuses the viewfinder for your eye, from $-4$ to $+2$ dioptres (page 999). Lift it, rotate until the display text looks sharp, and push it back in (page 67). Set it once and leave it.

Just above the eyepiece is the eye sensor, which switches the picture from the monitor to the viewfinder when something comes close. Nikon warns that fingers trigger it too (page 65).

The monitor mode button, set into the side of the viewfinder housing, decides how the eye sensor behaves, stepping through five modes (page 66). Automatic display switch lets the sensor choose. Viewfinder only keeps the monitor dark for everything, menus and playback included. Monitor only keeps the viewfinder dark. Prioritize viewfinder (1) uses the viewfinder when you look and leaves the monitor off afterwards. Prioritize viewfinder (2) adds a few seconds of viewfinder after power-on, a half-press or AF-ON. In video mode, both Prioritize viewfinder modes behave like Automatic display switch. You can drop the modes you never use from the cycle.

Firmware 2.00 fixed a real annoyance. Choose On (when monitor docked) and the camera keeps using the monitor whenever it is swung out, switching to the viewfinder only while the monitor is in its storage position (page 820). The default, On, keeps the old behaviour (page 805).

added in Firmware 2.00

The Monitor

The monitor is a 3.2-inch (8 cm) touch screen of about 2,100,000 dots covering about 100 percent of the frame (page 1000). Nikon calls it vari-angle. It swings out sideways on a hinge at its left edge (seen from behind) through up to 175 degrees, and once open it rotates up to 180 degrees one way and 90 degrees the other (page 58). Tilt it up for low shots and down for overhead ones. Folded with the screen facing in, it is safe from scratches, which is how Nikon suggests storing it (page 59).

The screen takes touch input (pages 68 to 73). Custom Setting f4, Touch Fn, turns it into a touch pad for moving the focus point while your eye is at the viewfinder. It is off by default and works only with the monitor folded, screen out (pages 69 and 627). Firmware 2.00 changed its Move focus point function.

The Buttons

Left of the viewfinder are two buttons. The release mode button chooses single frame, the continuous modes or the self-timer: hold it and turn the main dial, with the sub dial for options such as frame rate (page 153). In playback it protects the picture on screen from deletion (page 245). Its photo role is reassignable in f2. In video it does nothing until g2 gives it a job (page 627). The delete button erases the picture on screen after a second press to confirm (page 114). Its role is fixed.

Right of the viewfinder, the photo/video selector is a lever that switches between photo and video mode (pages 102 and 107). The DISP button at its centre cycles the information displays (page 56), and Custom Settings d20 and d21 choose which displays are in the cycle (pages 686 and 688). DISP is reassignable, but the selector is not.

The AF-ON button starts autofocus without the shutter-release button (page 135), the basis of back-button focus in Part IV. The sub-selector beside it is a small joystick: push it to move the focus point (page 131), press its centre for AE/AF lock, which holds focus and exposure (page 626). Both AF-ON and the sub-selector centre are reassignable. The i button opens a short menu of the settings you change most (page 81), with a different list in playback (page 236). f1 and g1 choose its contents.

The multi selector is a ring you press in four directions to move through menus and the focus point, and the OK button at its centre confirms (page 76). While shooting, OK selects the centre focus point by default, a role you can reassign (page 626).

Down the right of the monitor, below the multi selector, run four buttons (page 50). The MENU button opens the menus (page 75). The playback button shows your pictures (page 111) and is the only one of the four that f2 lets you reassign. The exception is a power zoom lens, when f12 and g8 can hand the two zoom buttons the zoom itself (page 739). The playback zoom in button enlarges the picture, in playback or while shooting to check focus (pages 106, 136 and 243). The zoom out/thumbnails button does the reverse and, when a help icon shows in a menu, explains the highlighted item, which is why Nikon also calls it the help button (page 79).

The memory card access lamp near the thumb rest lights while the camera writes to a card (pages 105 and 108).

05.The Left Side

The side away from the grip carries every cable socket under two covers, one for sound and one for data (page 48).

The external microphone/line input is a 3.5 mm stereo mini-pin socket (page 1006). The Audio input selection item in the video recording menu sets it to External mic or to Line, for a mixer, and Nikon warns that feeding a line source with External mic selected may cause malfunctions (page 610). The headphone connector below it, the same size, lets you hear the sound as it records, with volume set in the video recording menu (page 616).

The USB connector is Type C at SuperSpeed USB rate (page 1006). It connects to a computer, charges an EN-EL15c or EN-EL15b in the camera (page 91), and can power the camera from a suitable supply (pages 90, 323 and 856). Firmware 2.00 lets it present the camera to a computer as a webcam and microphone, which Nikon calls USB streaming (page 219). The charge lamp lights while the battery charges over USB (page 90), and First-Day Setup explains its states.

added in Firmware 2.00

The HDMI connector is the full-size Type A, for an external monitor or recorder. Switch the camera off before you plug the cable in or pull it out (pages 301 and 1006). The threaded hole for the cable clip takes the clip supplied with the camera, which stops an HDMI or USB cable being pulled out by accident. Keep the monitor in its storage position while it is fitted (page 975). The accessory terminal takes wired remotes such as the MC-DC2 (page 970) and wireless receivers such as the WR-R11b and WR-R10, which need the cover fully open (page 973).

06.The Right Side and the Card Slots

The grip side has one door, the memory card slot cover, with two slots behind it (page 93). The upper slot takes CFexpress Type B or XQD cards, and the lower takes SD, SDHC or SDXC, including the faster UHS-II kind (page 999). Nikon names the slots by card type, not by number.

To remove a card, wait for the access lamp to go out, switch off, open the cover and press the card in to release it (page 96). Which card records first is a menu setting: by default the CFexpress/XQD slot is primary and the secondary slot takes the overflow once the first card is full (pages 446, 456 and 457). Those two settings govern photos only. Videos go wherever Destination in the video recording menu sends them (page 456).

07.The Bottom

The tripod socket is a quarter-inch thread to ISO 1222 (page 1008), the thread tripod plates, L-brackets and hand straps screw into. The battery chamber cover under the grip opens with its latch (pages 88 and 89). Inside, an orange latch holds the battery: push it aside with the battery's edge, slide the battery in until the latch locks, and press the latch to release it. Switch the camera off first. The camera takes the EN-EL15c, a 7.0 V, 2,280 mAh lithium-ion pack (page 1010), and also accepts the EN-EL15b and EN-EL15a. Only the EN-EL15c and EN-EL15b charge inside the camera (page 91).

08.Which Controls You Will Reach For

Table 1 lists the controls I reach for most, in their default roles, by kind of shooting.

09.Beginner Mistakes

Forgetting Where the Mode Dial Was Left

The lock stops a bump moving the mode dial, so the usual mistake is the reverse: the dial left on U1 from last week's recital, and a morning walk shot in settings meant for a dark hall. Glance at it before shooting.

A Viewfinder That Looks Soft

If the viewfinder looks blurred but the pictures are sharp, the diopter control has turned, usually because it was left raised in the bag. Re-set it and push it back in.

The Screen That Keeps Going Black

The eye sensor cannot tell an eye from a finger. If the monitor blanks whenever you reach for the touch screen, switch to Monitor only with the monitor mode button, or use On (when monitor docked) when the screen is swung out.

Pressing Record and Getting No Video

In photo mode the video-record button hides the shooting information. Move the photo/video selector to video first.

A White Balance That Changed Itself

Fn1 sits under your middle finger. Squeeze it while turning a dial and white balance changes unseen. If colours shift for no reason, check white balance before blaming the light.

Pulling a Card Too Early

The burst is over but the access lamp is still lit, because the camera is still writing. Wait for the lamp to go out, then switch off.

Carrying the Camera by Its Screen

A swung-out monitor looks like a handle. Lift the camera by the grip or the lens instead.

10.Related Chapters

• What the Z6III Is: what kind of camera this is.
• First-Day Setup: charging, cards and the first settings.
• Menus and Controls: how to reach f2, f3 and g2.
• Firmware: checking the version, and what 2.00 changed.

Later parts go further: back-button focus in Part IV, custom controls, the i menu and displays in Part V, audio and external monitors in Part VII, and batteries, cards and cleaning in Part IX.