In case you missed it, Nikon has announced the release of a firmware update for its Z8 mirrorless camera. It’s the first major software update so far for this model.
Nikon is known by many users for the high level of usefulness that its firmware releases give to the brand’s major cameras. Those made available for other camera models such as the Z9 have offered genuine performance upgrades.
The Z8 is essentially the “budget” cousin of the Z9, offering many features and specs that are similar to those of its pricier, bigger cousin.
Firmware update 2.0 beefs these up further.
With this download, owners of the Z8 can now enjoy a new subject AF detection option that’s specifically geared at birds. The firmware also offers support for Nikon’s Auto Capture function, which lets a user conduct automatic shooting with preset criteria.
Another feature of update 2.0 is pixel shift. With this feature, the camera can combine multiple high-resolution photos to create a single huge 180MP combined image. The benefits of this technology for certain kinds of photography (particularly for still photos) are obvious.
An example image captured with a Nikon Z8
Some other notable features of Firmware update 2.0 include the following:
- A new preset called “Rich Tone Portrait Picture Control” for portrait photography
- Increased number of functions that can be applied to custom function buttons
- New shutter sounds and volume levels
- Function for adjusting the width of focus borders
- Ability to exit zoom with a half-press of the shutter button in manual focus mode
- Function in image scrolling for centering display on a face for quickly detecting sharp shots
- Control for exclusion of shooting orientation in EXIF data
If you own a Nikon Z8 mirrorless camera, you can download update 2.0 here. Clicking on the “Firmware” button shows update 2.0 as the upper option.
If you don’t own one of these rather excellent full-frame mirrorless cameras with a 45.7MP stacked CMOS sensor, it’s definitely worth considering if you’re looking for a new camera.
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