Nikon Z8 Botched Design: My Nose Changes the Crop Mode, Uknown to Me
Related: botched design, imcompetence crisis, Nikon, Nikon mirrorless, Nikon Z8
I am glad that I am nailing down the quirks of the Z8 before I head to the mountains!
UPDATE: the issue was not my nose after all (when something just appears it's rather confusing!). Rather, it was a pre-progammed front function button that my hand/grip was touching. Who needs a pre-programmed button to switch between APS-C and full frame? Someone might, but that someone clearly has unusual and very specific needs. It is idiotic to pre configure a camera for niche usage given the risk of accidental invocation that results in so modal a menu that I thought I had to pull out the battery to eliminate it.
...
I was shooting the Nikon Z8 handheld last night, having just mounted the Nikon NIKKOR Z 26mm f/2.8, so I was not paying attention to field of view. I ended up taking some shots in APS-C crop mode.
Why? Because unknown to me, my nose switched the camera to DX crop mode. How that is possible I cannot say, given that I had setting Enable DX image sizes = OFF. But there it was.
It appears that it involves the way I have to put my left eye to the EVF (most people would use right eye) along with where that lands my nose... so it might not happen to you. Along with whatever settings are on the touchscreen to be unknowingly altered.
A few shots in, I kept seeing the format-crop menu popping up, as my nose repeatedly invoked the format change. Then I caught on and at that point I was getting pretty damn annoyed, having powered-off the camera not being sure what was happening.
I had no option but to disable the touchscreen.
IMO, a design lets the nose operate the touchscreen while the eye is to the EVF is an exceedingly poor and dangerous design.
Anon writes:
17 years ago, when my right eye deteriorated with a cataract before my left eye became an issue, I became a left eye shooter. Not a problem until more modern cams came out with touch screens. I learned early on to disable touch screen AF and eventually just eliminated the use of the touch screen altogether (except for chimping). Nice to know there is someone who is also a left eye shooter. Just the other day I tried to use my right eye again.....felt strange but I will make an effort since I have 2 fairly decent eyes!
DIGLLOYD: my issue is an astigmatism that makes my right eye not great for focusing, so I always use my left eye.
