The easiest way to deal with ISO on the Zf is simple but not intuitive to first realize. Simply go into camera settings, Auto ISO and turn it ON. Now adjust maximum ISO to 200 (the lowest). Leave minimum shutter to auto. Now your ISO wheel is your maximum ISO allowed. So for example you want to limit the range to an upper of 12800 in a dark room, set 12800 on the dial, done. The camera will use 100-12800 prioritizing the lowest it can use. Walk outside into a cloudy day? Twist the dial to 800. Now your auto iso range is 100-800. Want lowest only? Twist dial to 100 and there you go. See how easy it is on this camera? All these other ways are convoluted and waste the ISO dials functionality as well as other programmable buttons which can be used for something better.

Yes, put an end to this drama😂👍 Great and simple explanation. This makes total sense if you have used the Nikon system before but I still think Nikon should offer the option to let people choose to make the dial override auto ISO into fully manual ISO again. It would then avoid the need to use a custom button (which are only a few on the ZF). I personally like it the Nikon way. I switch auto ISO off/on in the My Menu. Quick enough for me✌🏻

I set the max ISO to 200 so that I can use the dial to control max ISO. The dial will override the max ISO. So if I’m shooting in mixed lighting, I can quickly increase the ISO on the dial. This is the best implementation of auto ISO I have used.

Great info, Omar. I now finally understand how ISO works on the Zf. A little convoluted but definitely powerful if you know how to use it.

Hey Omar, thank you for the great content! I've got an important addition to using the ISO-wheel in auto-ISO mode: It sets the MINIMUM ISO in auto-ISO mode. Explanation: As Nikon bodies will always choose the lowest possible ISO at any given aperture/shutterspeed the more important thing you CAN change using the normal thumb wheel or the ISO-wheel of the ZF is the MINIMUM ISO. So in auto-iso the ISO-wheel doesn't only overwrite your max ISO. Setting it below your max ISO it also sets the minimum ISO. Use cases: So let's say you are in manual and your max. ISO is 12800 and min. ISO 100 and you are using a flash. By raising the min. auto-ISO you can bring up the ambiant light without lowering you shutterspeed below 1/60. Or suddenly there's more action and you need generally faster shutterspeeds. But you don't want to go full manual. Again just raise the min. auto-ISO. And as you still need the entire ISO-wheel in auto-ISO mode for setting the minimum ISO you can't just have an A on that wheel for auto-ISO. Because that would limit the ISO-wheel just to dial in auto-ISO and then remaining there without using it further for minimum ISO. Cheers from Stuttgart

Your explanation is the first one and only real deal! You've got it nailed! Thanks! It helped me a lot!😀

Thank you ..Great tip on the iso sensitivity custom setting. It makes it feel so much smoother on the zf.

The principle is the same as every other Nikon. I think using the dial to increase minimum ISO in A mode is quite useful - in situations where your aperture is fully open but you temporarily need to increase the shutter speed just turn the dial up. That way you don't need to go into a different mode first.

That explains so much about how the ISO dial looked to be sometimes on auto and sometimes not. Thank you so much! I'm almost starting to think some of the criticism about the Z f is actually related to complex programming Nikon opted for. I'm loving mine so far

Thanks, Omar for the use of information. I was confused by other channels. This makes sense. Great job.

I was wondering how auto ISO worked and you have answered all of my questions. I step further to buying zf. Thankssss

This was super helpful. I’m happy you showed how to activate auto-iso for us grab and go guys

Oh man, so glad I watched this. That "release to use button" switch is wonderful! So much easier! Thank you. Not f7 on my D850 (f6) so likely varies among models

Thank you VERY much for your extremly clear explainations! It was just what I need 👌🙏

I have to watch it again 😂 before my camera arrives. Thank you, Omar!

Thanks Omar, that was very helpful.

I really appreciate this information! it was really helpful!

Clearest explanation I've seen on the Zf's ISO use, thanks! That aside - Nikon NEEDS to update this so that once the ISO dial is moved from the C position, Auto-ISO should shut off and just allow the dial to take over full manual control. The way it is now, you need to toggle Auto-ISO back to being off first (although I didn't realize it kicked back in over 3200).

I've been shooting Nikon since I put down my Sony MAVICA if that tells you how ancient I am! The theory of it makes sense to me by experience only. It's interesting to me how this ISO thing befuddles others the fact that this is a big topic with the Zf is quite the statement about how many Fuji users have moved to the Zf! Fuji users need you Omar!

Bro you just solved my main issue coming from a Z6ii that I had customized the same way. I just got the camera and the iso not being same as my z6 was a pain point. Thx!!

I’ve been looking for videos showing how controls work on the Zf, thanks!

Nice, systematic explanation.

Your explanation is fabulous and clear as crystal. I had to watch it a couple of times to grasp it all as you packed in quite a bit of info there. However, does this implementation have to be rocket science like it is in Zf? How about c for camera decides aka Auto?

Hey Omar, can you compare ISO performance vs Nikon Z6 II? I know it's practically the same sensor but many people said the same when the Z6II came out and there are some differences in comparison with the Z6 (Z6II has slightly more dynamic range and got rid of the magenta tint on extreme shodow recovery, etc)

As a long time Fujifilm user, I find the Nikon Zf controls way too overcomplicated.

The blinking light, no pun intended, in auto iso on every Nikon I have tried drives me mad. I wish there was an option to turn the flashing indicator off. On the zf moving the iso dial off c should give the dial settings priority. A very good explanation of iso on the zf Omar but it demonstrates how confusing the Nikon iso control is.

Excellent

Thank you!

I think that is needlessly confusing. If "C" just had the option to make it Auto ISO.... Or trade one of those higher ISO values on the dial for an "A" position... Thanks for sharing this information! I still think Fuji's analog control scheme is better, but I agree there are benefits to still having access to the A and S modes, as they traditionally work on a PASM camera.

I don’t have the Zf (yet) but have been using my Fuji X-pro2 for over 4 years and have never needed to put the ISO dial into A mode. It’s a mirrorless so you see the exposure before you even take the photo. Easy enough to adjust on the fly.

All this could have been avoided with a little A on that dial 😊

I got confused too and figured this out myself. Thanks for posting. I hope Nikon can add a setting where we can decide if the ISO Dial completely overrides the ISO setting including auto ISO. So if you are in auto ISO and ISO dial is C, when you turn the ISO dial to 100 ISO, it will also turn off auto ISO Or at least don't block/grey out the Auto ISO on/off when you are using the ISO Dial

My setup. I try to stay below 5,000 so my Auto ISO is set to base of 100 and Max of 5,000. Dial set to C. Limits ISO to 5,000. When I need more I can turn dial to say 10,000 and while still in Auto ISO it raises ISO Max to 10,000.. when I’m done turn dial back to C. Max can be 200+. You could use Auto ISO at 200 Max then use dial to increase as needed.

I don't use my cameras for video, only photography. The reason why i bought the ZF and two Fujifilm XT bodys is the dial settings on top of the camera, i have several Pentax, Panasonic and Olympus along with a Fujifilm XH2 that have the standard PSAM setup so the beauty of the ZF AND XT5 AND XT3 IS that i have a few cameras that give me a totally different photographic experience and when you pair these cameras with a lens that has an aperture ring its photography as it was years ago and I enjoy using a camera this way.

I think I have got it, but maybe not 😂. Thanks you are a great instructor

The best thing with The DF and i seams like it's the same on ZF. Is when you put auto iso on the lowest say iso 200. The dial now works as a limit for the auto iso. Set the dial on 800 and the camera auto wount go over iso 800 This is briliant cant understand why fuji is not doing the same..

Love this video, so helpful. Would love to see how you setup and handle the B&W mode

I leave auto ISO on and set max ISO to 200. If I need more than 200, I just turn the dial. Brilliant!!!!

Also, if you choose to set a custom button to control your ISO (when in C mode on the ISO dial), you can use the front command dial to enable/disable AUTO ISO, so there is no need to go digging around in the menu system. This should make it a quick switch between AUTO ISO and manual utilizing the external dial, if you choose to operate it that way.

I've seen other videos on this with people whining about not being able to override the auto keep with the ISO knob on top. The reason why you can't do that when the knob is on C is so that you can still use auto ISO while in manual mode. Some people prefer to have 2 settings in their control. That means you have to be in manual mode and not shutter priority or aperture priority mode. But if you want to go back to controlling your ISO manually you just turn the auto ISO back off the way you turned it on or do as you did with setting a limit to the ISO and then overriding it when you go passed that limit. It's not really complicated like some of the other tourists are making it out to be. You have to remember that this is a different camera than almost all the other Nikon bodies because it has the dials on top forthe settings.

It's a fusion camera, providing manual controls for manual use, while allowing one to set to C and 1/3 step and use like a standard digital camera. Sub command wheels control aperture and shutter, ISO control via the screen or activate Auto ISO and continue to use wheels. Want to use the Dials, go to manual mode. I don't understand the fuss about the ISO dial, how often are people changing ISO? Why isn't anyone complaining about the shutter dial?

Amazing! At last, a definitive guide to the most misunderstood part of the Zf - superb!

I wish they'd provided the option to set the Auto ISO option to the C marker on the ISO dial

Thx for this video… because it s not so simple on this camera. Honestly I don t understand why it’s not possible to override the ISO with the dial all the time. Usually you are in auto iso as the sensor is very good letting the dial to C and if you want to give a value you turn the dial. It would have been simpler I think.

Great camera, it looks just like a Fuji 😀

It's like Nikon wanted us to complain about it's ISO implementation... I know that it's more like choosing film - you set it once a day maybe and stick to it, but I just can't see why I'd have to use it this was if I can grab fuji :) (still thinking about black z fc, but I really have some issues with user-friendliness)

Why would you program the movie button and turn the back dial when you already have a dedicated dial taking up all that space on top of the camera?

This all makes perfect sense to me. If a camera has an iso dial then by definition there will be a possible way to conflict with iso in the menus, I assume Fuji users have become used to this being addressed in a different way! That doesn’t make the Fuji way the correct way.

Great explaination Omar. I think once I get mine I am going to try and shoot exclusively in full manual using the dials. Kind of what this camera was intended for. My Z9 can do all the menu stuff

Thanks Omar, that answered a few questions for me. Not as confusing as the set up was on the DF, but still I don't like it where the internal menu overrides the dial when internal is set to auto, I would much prefer the dial to override everything all the time, so that when you look at the dial you see the actual setting, and not have to remember to switch off auto in the menu. c should take you to the menu settings but NOT influence the dial in any way. Rumour has it that a software upgrade will allow you to give complete priority to the dial settings in future.

Did they change it in the new firmware. Was shooting a Priority tonight with Auto ISO set to base 100/max 5000 and when I turned ISO dial to 6400 for more headroom over 5000 the camera shot in only 6400 ISO. Seems like ISO dial takes over now. Anyone else??

Do you know why in auto-ISO, aperture priority mode, if I set my max ISO for instance at 20k ISO, it'll always put ISO to 20k and not change to the lowest ISO possible? Sometimes it does (if I switch the ISO dial to 100 (from C) for instance), but I don't know what I need to get there while keeping ISO dial to C...

In movie mode lets say Shutter priority can you set an ISO range for Auto ISO ? I can not with my Canons but my Sony you can. Thank you.

It is good that they make it very nostalgic but still feel that at this price point an included joystick for AF points will be nicer.

As I view it, the best way to use Auto iso with the wheel is to set up the maximum auto ISO to the minimum value possible in the menu and control the max ISO with the Wheel - you are always and quickly in control of your max ISO. Then use the record button customized to switch to manual when needed.

What value is the sensor calibrated to? 640 ISO?

I really hope nikon had added auto iso to the top dial.

How did you get that red button

There’s been a lot of scuttlebutt about this very issue here on YT over the past three weeks!

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Also i don’t understand why exposure comp is so useless in manual mode if you aren’t shooting with a flash. They should make it so that ex. Comp dial affects the shutter speed dial in 1/3s. It would be great help with getting 90deg angle for eu ppl aswell as allow you to fine tune the SS because i find full stops in shutter speed to limiting.

I figured out why i was having issues with auto iso in AP Explaining Auto ISO on Nikon ZF in Aperture Priority Mode: When you're in Aperture Priority mode with Auto ISO enabled on your Nikon ZF, you have the ability to set a 'minimum shutter speed'. Let's say you set this to 1/200th of a second. Interestingly, in certain situations, the camera might choose a slower shutter speed than this minimum. Here's why: Your camera maintains the minimum shutter speed (like the 1/200th you set) as long as the ISO stays within its set range (the minimum to maximum ISO you've defined in the settings). If the light conditions are such that even at your maximum ISO, the correct exposure can't be achieved at your set minimum shutter speed, the camera will lower the shutter speed further to get the right exposure. This means, in very low light, your shutter speed can drop below your set minimum to compensate, ensuring your photo isn't underexposed. When there's enough light, or if the ISO is comfortably within its range, your camera respects the minimum shutter speed you’ve set. This is a clever feature that prioritizes getting a correctly exposed shot, even if it means slightly slower shutter speeds in low light situations. Remember, this only happens when the ISO hits its upper limit and the correct exposure can't be maintained at your chosen minimum shutter speed. Hope this helps clarify how Auto ISO functions in Aperture Priority mode on the Nikon ZF, making it a versatile tool for photographers of all skill levels!"

Sometimes I believe there can be too many choices. 🤕 Carry on. 👍🥂

I’ll stick with Fuji thank you very much 😅

Puh. Thank god Fujifilm has sorted this out for years.

auto iso and using manual dial is weird, for example i want to use dial when i know a specific iso i want to use but then switch to auto C on dial when i just want auto but this looks weird because manual dial iso does not really change iso when its set to auto it just gives the highest auto all the time

There is no joystick?

Nikon made a mistake by not repurposing the ISO and SS dials for Auto max ISO and min SS correspondingly. I practically always shoot in Auto ISO, so those dials are useless to me.

Thanks for making this. Until I literally had this in my hands, I just assumed that "c" stood for "command dial" and that it could be assigned to one. The fact that it can't is just completely insane to me. As a wedding and event photographer, I change my aperture maybe a dozen or so times per day (obviously your workflow may vary, not speaking for all wedding/event photographers). I change ISO thousands of times. I just can't wrap my head around why aperture gets a dedicated command dial but ISO just cannot, under any circumstance, ever just live on a command dial in the Nikon world. It's the ONE thing I need to change all day every day, and every single time I need to do it, I have to take my finger off the shutter button to press the record button, or I have to mess up muscle memory for the other Z cameras by assigning it to a different custom button, and even then if I'm holding the camera above my head or down low, it's incredibly awkward to operate a custom button and move a command dial. I finally ended up assigning the focus ring to ISO, which has worked decently for the past few jobs, but it tends to get moved around a lot when I'm using another body. If I need manual focus, moving the switch on the lens disables the custom control and it returns to a focus ring. Anyways - I appreciate this broad overview of ISO on the camera, and still hoping Nikon makes some major changes either with future cameras or firmware!

A good example of how the intention of creating flexibility turns into a behemoth of a system.. I would rather go for K.I.S.S. Like with Fuji

Zed!

Is there any way to use a custom function to change minimum shutter speed in auto ISO Aperture priority mode without going to the auto ISO menu?

I think that here Nikon lost sight of its audience for this camera and tried too hard to compromise between modern and old approaches making something too awkward for ISO adjustments. An "A" for auto ISO on the dial would do the trick. This is also true for shutter speed. Even my old FM3A has an auto position on the shutter speed dial.

Some people thought it was a bug the way it worked😂 take the time to learn how it works but its certainly been controversial with some still moaning🙄

Wow! That is so complicated, why didn’t they simply put an “A” on the dial to set to auto? and in the menu have they Auto ISO preferences as the Fuji do. I like Sony how they starting to make lenses with aperture dials but can’t understand why Nikon don’t especially now that they want to start making retro style cameras. To me Nikon don’t seem to have much long term planning with the ergonomics, the ZF is just a quick cash grab to take advantage of the current X100v Fab,

So to make a long story short... 1. When the ISO dial is not on C, its the only way to set ISO. Nothing else works. You can still use your quick buttons and dialsl and menus to turn auto-ISO on/off but not actually change the ISO number. 2. When its on C, you can use all these other methods to change ISO number. 3. When Auto is on, the dial can be used override the max-ISO allowed in the menu settings. But below that max number, AUTO kicks in with higher prio than the dial. So if the "normal' exposure for the pic is below the maximum set in the menus, the dial is effectively useless when Auto ISO is on. Did I get that all correctly ? There is some logic to it, and not confusing at all, when you think about it this way.

Yep that’s as clear as mud, first I thought u said the Dial always overrides? But later in the Video apparently the dial won’t do anything until u go 3200 iso? I don’t understand that at all. Sorry Nikon thats Ridiculous

Thanks Omar, now we put this whole Zf ISO issue to bed! And maybe the peanut gallery will shut up. Thanks again bro.

thanks Omar - I'm close to pulling the trigger on a Zf 24-70 I think.

Thanks for posting, but I've read around that the interaction of Auto-ISO function with the ISO dial that you have shown (dial can be used to increase ISO value once you go above the value set in the Auto-ISO menu) is ONLY valid for the M mode set by the PASM dial. In aperture priority mode (A) this behavior will change. Can you please confirm that, and check how the Auto-ISO function interacts with the ISO dial in A and S modes?

Very complicate ISO feature. Why just they put A into the dial.

It sounds needlessly confusing. Having an Auto setting on the ISO dial (ala Fuji) would be far more logical.

Thank you Omar that’s really helpful. Although Nikon could have made this easier I think anything that slows us down and think has to be good imo. Isn’t that the intention with retro cameras? So much bitching and whining out there 😃

Come on nikon. Add an 'A' to the dial so we can get to auto ISO without scrolling through a menu.

I don't get it. When I'm on auto iso on apature priority my shutter speed get stuck at 1/50

Way too confusing, I prefer the Fuji system. So much easier for my brain :=)

Right off the bat thank you for saying zed, it's irrational I know but it annoys me that Americans say zee lol

I'm having PTSD flashbacks of Nikon DF lol. What a mess

You know it’s a bit too complex if a KZfaqr needs to explain it 😂

Are you in an ISO relationship? Nikon. Its complicated

Seem like there are way too many options.

They need to stop having engineers design menus. It’s getting ridiculous at this point how badly designed most menu systems are. Have you all seen the new Hasselblad user interface?! It needs to set the new standard for menus and settings.

Dude, just use manual mode, auto ISO and control ISO with exposure compensation knob

Heaven forbid that they put auto ISO on the dial! We mustn't make things too easy for the user. I wonder if anyone will ever produce a genuinely retro camera. Canon?

Very nice! Thank you! You will still see somebody complain about something below lol.. smh.

Still lost. You said flick a switch flick what switch ? Why can’t they just copy Fuji

if only Nikon gave us a few lenses with aperture rings we could use then the front dial could be ISO all the time, same as Fuji... go figure. Great camera but also a stupid camera half thought through by super-intelligent people who don't use cameras for a living. would like to do a survey of 1000 users to see how many actually use the retro dials, having many years skin in the game I remember having to use them and when we didn't was a revelation and even though currently own xh2, xh2s and an xt5 i much prefer not to use them on the XT5 and have it setup to do just that, the XH2 line is actually fantastic in its ergonomics and comparing them to the ZF is chalk and cheese for a working pro. have the ZF on trial with the 40mm se lens and extensive testing of the ZF and the xh2s as nearest in the MP and the image on the 2s is very very comparable and with the 33 1.4 images are better and dynamic range is also almost the same and where many would say noise will be way better on the ZF and it is, but honestly not by much, may a stop if that, the XT5 and xh2 though maybe 1.5 but ZF dynamic range is a little better than those. where the ZF trumps the fujis though is AF, Nikons AF is better, and more assured in all modes (sadly) and little things fuji has never gotten right like image review, its so slow on the fujis and when puch into check on the XH cameras image looks dang awful, nikon is quick and punchs in great and the image looks great, the evf holds to gether unlike the Fujis. I wanted to love the ZF but its silly ergonomics and its lack of thought on the lenses puts me off, I can't really hold and use this camera even with the grip for prolonged periods so it would be a play toy as it is not a system to get behind. im told by Nikon the GR1 hand grip also has a thumb grip but only available in Japan WTAF! Nice try Nikon for making a camera to sit on the desk to be admired but not really to use as a functioning pro tool. although i expect this comment will be berated LOL. Love your videos Omar. Peace out from the UK

Can anyone else see the irony of people buying a camera that features the ability to use manual dials to change settings, complaining about having to twiddle around a bit more to get their ISO settings right? Maybe they should have just bought an iphone or the latest Samsung, lol..

Thanks. Very bad implementation by Nikon. It's flexible but it does not go with the touch approach the camera should have. It should be a 100% dial affair. You select the ISO and auto ISO is C nothing more nothing less. My guess is that it was designed by some electric engineer.

Ah geez. This is an ergo disaster. The movie record button is a workaround but it’s not great.