Custom Controls

The house lights go down and the dancer steps into a pool of deep blue. Before her first lift, two things on the camera need to change. The shutter has to fall silent, and the viewfinder has to show enough of a dark stage to frame her. At factory settings each change is a trip into the menus with your eye off the viewfinder, for seconds the performance will not give back. On my camera, each is one press of a button within reach of a finger already on the body, if the camera offers those roles there.

Custom Setting f2 sets what the buttons, dials and lens controls do for stills, f3 sets them for playback and g2 for video. Ten smaller settings lock, reverse or reshape the controls, and two more serve optional remotes.

01.A Camera Is a Set of Inputs

To your hands, a camera is a set of physical inputs. Buttons are pressed. The two command dials click round in steps: the main command dial sits at the top of the rear under your thumb, and the sub-command dial at the front of the grip (pp. 47, 51). Lens rings turn, and the monitor answers to touch. Each input is mapped to a function, which Nikon calls its role. Most roles move a function to a quicker finger, and a few, such as Preview and + RAW, exist nowhere else (pp. 707, 710).

Roles behave in three ways. A press role toggles: one press switches a state on and the next switches it off, as Silent mode and Starlight view (photo Lv) do on a button (pp. 710-711). A hold role acts only while your finger stays down. AE lock only freezes exposure while pressed, AE standing for auto exposure, the camera's own choice of shutter speed, aperture or ISO (p. 706). A press-and-dial role changes a value: hold the button, turn a command dial, and the new value stays after you let go. The Fn1 button and Fn2 button, the two function buttons on the front between the grip and the lens mount, ship with roles of this kind (pp. 51, 74).

The kind matters for safety as well as speed. A brushed toggle changes something and leaves it changed. A brushed hold role undoes itself when the finger lifts, except Power aperture in video, whose change to the aperture stays (p. 753). A press-and-dial role needs two deliberate actions at once, so a brushed button alone does nothing. That is why the Fn buttons, which sit under my middle and ring fingers, never carry a toggle in my map.

Where the Fingers Already Are

At the eye, the right thumb rests by the AF-ON button and the sub-selector, the small joystick beside it, and rolls onto the main command dial (pp. 47, 50). The index finger lives on the shutter-release button and reaches the video record, ISO and exposure compensation buttons and the sub-command dial (pp. 47, 51). A function on any of those is one movement away. A function in the menus means eye away, thumb onto the multi selector, the four-way ring with OK at its centre, and several presses.

So the rule is simple. A function you change between shots belongs on an input your fingers already touch. One you change a few times an outing belongs in The i Menu, and one you change once a trip in My Menu.

A Little Arithmetic

Suppose you change $k$ functions during a shoot. Let $n_j$ be how many times per hour you change function $j$, and $t_j$ the seconds its control takes to reach and operate. The time per hour spent working the camera instead of watching the subject is

$$C = \sum_{j=1}^{k} n_j \, t_j .$$

For a fixed set of controls, $C$ is smallest when the most frequent function sits on the fastest control, the next on the next fastest, and so on. This is the rearrangement inequality: a sum of products is minimised by pairing the largest values of one list with the smallest of the other.

Take two functions and two places, with illustrative numbers rather than measured ones. A switch from a small focus area to a wide one happens $n_1 = 60$ times in an hour of birds in flight, and a white balance change $n_2 = 4$ times. A button under the thumb takes $t = 0.3$ s and a trip through the i menu $t = 2.5$ s. With the area switch on the button,

$$C = 60 \times 0.3 + 4 \times 2.5 = 18 + 10 = 28 \text{ s}.$$

Swapped,

$$C = 60 \times 2.5 + 4 \times 0.3 = 150 + 1.2 = 151.2 \text{ s}.$$

The wrong arrangement costs $151.2 / 28 \approx 5.4$ times as long. The real loss is the frames inside those seconds, because a bird leaving a branch does not leave twice.

02.Three Maps for Three Jobs

The camera keeps three maps. f2 Custom controls (shooting) applies in photo mode, g2 Custom controls in video mode, chosen with the photo/video selector, and f3 Custom controls (playback) in playback (pp. 703, 723, 748). The video record button starts recording in video mode, while its photo default is Live view info display off (pp. 626, 628). The user setting positions U1, U2 and U3 each store the Custom Settings (p. 142), so each carries its own copy of all three maps, as User Settings and Settings Files explains.

03.Reassigning a Control in f2

Open f2, highlight a control, press OK and choose a role (p. 703). f2 has 22 entries (pp. 703-704). Thirteen are on the body, three on the optional battery pack's vertical grip, and six on lenses that have them, from the Lens Fn button to the Lens control ring. Nikon says the roles on offer vary with the control (p. 704) and prints no grid of which control takes which, so I mark "where offered" against each choice in my map that depends on it.

Press and Hold Roles

Back-Button Focus and Focus Limiter, Saved Positions and Manual Focus teach the focus roles, so two will do here. AF-area mode swaps to a preset AF-area mode, the setting that decides where in the frame the camera looks for focus, until you let go, and AF-area mode + AF-ON also starts focus (p. 705).

AE locks differ in when they end (p. 706). AE lock only holds while the button is down. AE lock (hold) locks on one press and stays locked through any number of shots until a second press or the standby timer ends it. AE lock (Reset on release) also ends at the next shutter release. AE/AF lock holds focus and exposure together while pressed, and it is the sub-selector centre's default (p. 626). AWB lock (hold) freezes auto white balance, AWB, and works only with an auto setting or Natural light auto (p. 706).

Preview shows colour, exposure and depth of field, the band of distance that looks sharp, while pressed (p. 707). Starlight view (photo Lv) toggles Custom Setting d11, which brightens the display in the dark at the price of slightly jerky motion and no histogram (pp. 675, 711). + RAW adds a copy in NEF, Nikon's raw format, to the next picture while the camera records JPEG or HEIF, then reverts (p. 710).

Press-and-Dial Roles

Hold the button and turn a dial (p. 712). White balance chooses the setting with the main command dial and its finer options with the sub-command dial. Others include Image quality/size, Metering and Release mode (p. 712). Focus mode/AF-area mode is my most used: the main command dial picks the focus mode and the sub-command dial the AF-area mode (p. 713). Custom Setting a8 Limit AF-area mode selection trims the modes the sub-command dial steps through (p. 639), and mine holds seven, as The Focus Custom Settings explains.

Control lock works as a role too. With the button held, a turn of the main command dial freezes shutter speed in S or M, and a turn of the sub-command dial freezes aperture in A or M (p. 713).

f7 Release button to use dial at ON lets you press and release the button, then turn the dial, which keeps adjusting that setting until a second press, a half-press of the shutter-release button or the standby timer ends it (p. 734). The default is OFF (p. 627), and I keep it. At ON, a Fn button brushed by a middle finger leaves the dial waiting, and the next turn meant for shutter speed changes white balance instead. That is my inference from p. 734, not Nikon's warning.

Command Dials

The Command dials entry holds three choices (p. 716). Exposure setting decides, mode by mode, which dial changes what. By default the main command dial runs flexible program in P, which trades shutter speed against aperture at the same exposure, and sets shutter speed in S and M, while the sub-command dial sets aperture in A and M (p. 626). Focus/AF-area mode selection swaps the dials' jobs under Focus mode/AF-area mode, and Sub-command dial zoom role lets the sub-command dial zoom a zoomed-in display instead of its default Exposure setting (pp. 626, 716).

f6 Reverse dial rotation flips the direction for exposure compensation, for shutter speed and aperture, or both, including the battery pack's dials (p. 733). Both are off by default (p. 627).

The Sub-Selector Centre

The sub-selector moves the focus point when pushed and works as a button when pressed. f16 Prefer sub-selector center at ON, the default (p. 627), stops a sideways push from moving the point while the centre is pressed. At OFF, the push moves it (p. 744). With AF-area mode on the centre and f16 at OFF, you can hold a temporary AF-area mode and still steer the point (p. 744). That is the bird-in-flight setup in Menus and Controls. I set OFF everywhere, so my thumb learns one behaviour. Where the centre holds an AE lock instead, OFF gains nothing and only lets a careless press nudge the point.

Lens Controls

By default the Lens Fn button is AE/AF lock, the Lens Fn2 button is AF-ON, the Lens Fn ring recalls a saved focus position, the Lens memory set button saves one, and the Lens control ring varies with the lens (p. 626). The ring's roles include Focus (M/A), Aperture, Exposure compensation and ISO sensitivity (p. 714). Focus (M/A) lets you turn the ring to override autofocus while the shutter-release button is half-pressed, and a fresh half-press hands focus back (p. 714). Nikon is silent on how it behaves with back-button focus, so test it first.

f13 Control ring response tunes how readily the ring reacts when it holds Aperture, Exposure compensation or ISO sensitivity, or the video roles Power aperture and Hi-Res Zoom (p. 740). The default is High (p. 627), and p. 740 names no alternative.

f14 Switch focus/control ring roles at ON gives the focus ring the control ring's role and leaves the control ring only Focus (M/A), on compatible lenses that the page does not list (p. 741). It is OFF by default (p. 627).

f11 Zoom ring control (PZ lens) and f12 Assign power zoom matter only with a power zoom (PZ) lens, whose zoom is motor-driven, such as the NIKKOR Z 28-135mm f/4 PZ (pp. 738-739). f11 can reverse the zoom ring and set how far it turns, and f12 lets the camera's buttons drive the zoom. None of my lenses needs either.

Touch Fn

f4 Touch Fn turns the monitor, folded in its storage position with the screen facing out, into a touch pad for use at the viewfinder (pp. 69, 730). It is off by default, set to Move focus point in the top-right quarter (pp. 626-627). The other roles are Switch eyes, Framing grid, Zoom on/off and Virtual horizon (p. 730).

Locking Controls

f5 Control lock stops a setting changing by accident. Shutter speed lock works in S and M, Aperture lock in A and M, and Focus-point lock freezes the point in every AF-area mode except Auto-area AF, though under 3D-tracking a locked point still follows the subject during a half-press (p. 732). All are off by default (p. 627).

g3 Control lock does the same in video, except that shutter speed locks in M only (p. 758). It is off by default (p. 628).

04.Playback Controls in f3

f3 gives the same controls playback jobs (p. 723). By default the Release mode/protect button protects a picture, the OK button zooms in, and the playback, exposure compensation and ISO buttons return you to shooting, while the Fn buttons and video record button do nothing (p. 626). Spare roles include Start series playback, which plays a burst while held (p. 724), and Rating (p. 725).

Both dials skip one frame at a time by default (p. 626). Frame advance can instead jump 10 or 50 frames, skip by rating, protection, file type or folder, or use Skip to first shot in series, which shows only the first frame of each burst (p. 727). Frame advance zoom position decides where a zoomed view lands as you scroll, from Keep current zoom position to Prefer focus point (face priority) (p. 729).

05.Video Controls in g2

g2 lists the f2 controls plus a Shutter-release button entry set to None (pp. 628, 748). The Video record button records, the Release mode/protect button does nothing, and the dial settings cover S, A and M only (pp. 627-628).

AF-ON follows g5 AF speed, while Fast AF-ON focuses at full speed in AF-C, the continuous focus mode, whatever g5 says (p. 750). AE lock (hold) and AWB lock (hold) survive the start of recording (p. 751). Power aperture (open) and Power aperture (close) widen or narrow the aperture while held, and come as a pair: open on the Fn1 button gives the Fn2 button close (p. 753). On the Lens control ring, Focus (M/A) focuses manually whatever the focus mode, with a half-press or AF-ON to refocus, and Power aperture works only in A and M and may make the display flicker (p. 756).

06.Recall Shooting Functions

Recall shooting functions stores a bundle of shooting settings and applies them while you hold the button, in modes P, S, A and M (p. 707). Recall shooting functions (hold) applies them on one press and removes them on the next (p. 708). On U1 my Fn1 button takes the first, where offered, holding a flight group that Recall Shooting Functions explains. A stage evening that needs the toggle can borrow the Video record button for it, outside my standing map.

07.Resetting a Control

In the f2 list, highlight a control, press the delete button and choose Yes to restore its default. Holding the delete button for about three seconds resets every control (p. 717). f3 and g2 reset the same way (pp. 729, 757).

08.Remote Controls

Assign remote (WR) Fn button sets the role of the Fn button on Nikon's optional WR wireless remotes that have one (p. 853). The short list includes AF-ON, AE lock only, Preview and + RAW. The default is None (p. 807).

Wireless remote (ML-L7) options sets up the small ML-L7 remote (pp. 881-882). Save wireless remote controller pairs one remote at a time. Assign Fn1 button and Assign Fn2 button give the remote's two buttons a role. By default the connection is off, Fn1 is Playback and Fn2 is Same as camera MENU button (p. 869).

09.My Button Map

The base map covers P, S, A and M, for perched wildlife, stage dance, street and landscape. U1 is the Nikkor Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR for birds in flight, U2 the Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S for portraits, and video is g2. A blank cell means the base choice carries over or the row does not apply. Custom Setting a6, which decides whether the half-press focuses, belongs to Back-Button Focus.

The two top-plate buttons carry the stage roles from the opening scene, where offered: Starlight view (photo Lv), as Choosing an Autofocus Setup suggests, and Silent mode, as Silent Shooting, Timers and Time-Lapse sets it, which also stays in the i menu. The Illuminator button, reassignable since firmware 2.00 added in Firmware 2.00, carries Silent mode in photo mode on every setup, and d13 LCD illumination stays at its default OFF, so the control panel's backlight never comes on in photo mode (p. 677). In daylight the panel reads without it, and in the dark, on stage included, I read settings in the viewfinder. Anyone who wants the light can set d13 to ON (p. 677). U1's sub-selector uses plain AF-area mode because U1 keeps focusing on the half-press, the a6 default. Its lens Fn idea holds Dynamic-area AF (L) for a bird against branches, and sets both entries because the Reference Guide never says whether the 180-600's four L-Fn buttons answer to the Lens Fn button or the Lens Fn2 button entry.

10.Recommended Settings

For wildlife, U1's sub-selector centre is the most valuable single change here, and for stage dance with the Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VC VXD G2 the two top-plate toggles do the work. For video on a gimbal, AE lock (hold) keeps exposure fixed as the camera swings past bright and dark backgrounds, with the matrix metering that Metering recommends.

11.Beginner Mistakes

• Setting a button in f2 and expecting it in video. f2 and g2 are separate maps (pp. 703, 748).
• Leaving Focus-point lock on in f5, so the point stops moving and the sub-selector seems broken (pp. 131, 732).
• Turning f7 to ON and then changing the wrong setting with a dial after a brushed button (my inference from p. 734).
• Holding the delete button too long in the f2 list, which resets every control, not just the one highlighted (p. 717).
• Changing f2 in P, S, A or M and expecting U1 to follow. Each U position keeps the Custom Settings saved into it (p. 142).

12.Related Chapters

• Menus and Controls: the menu system and the U1 and U2 setups this map extends.
• A Tour of the Body: where each button sits.
• Back-Button Focus: moving focus to the AF-ON button with a6.
• The Focus Custom Settings: a8 and the other focus settings.
• Focus Limiter, Saved Positions and Manual Focus: the saved position and limiter roles.
• Recall Shooting Functions: a whole setup behind one button.
• The i Menu and My Menu: settings changed a few times an outing, and once a trip.
• User Settings and Settings Files: saving each map to U1, U2 and U3.
• Playback and Culling in the Camera: the f3 roles in use.