Some features of this lens disable Z fc features. For example, vibration
reduction is disabled on the Z fc because the lens has its own vibration reduction
switch.
book by: David D. Busch | Book Website
compiled by: Jesse M. Heines | Personal Website
This page was last modified on Sunday, March 24, 2024 at 5:50 PM.
These errata and suggested improvements represent my own reading of Busch’s text, my own understanding of the text, and the result of tests on my own Z fc. They are based on the black-and-white printing of the book. I am aware that there are some differences between this printed version and the color PDF, which I also have and which appears to have some of the issues corrected.
My comments are not meant to criticize Busch’s book, which I truly think is excellent and from which I have indeed learned a great deal. Rather, they are meant to help others where I had trouble with the book’s explanations and/or found discrepancies or small errors that confused me.
Some features of this lens disable Z fc features. For example, vibration
reduction is disabled on the Z fc because the lens has its own vibration reduction
switch.Finally, please note that David Busch is aware of this webpage, but he has neither approved nor disapproved what is written here. Thus, these errata and suggested improvements should only be interpreted as my opinion.
The Index needs to be regenerated. All page references are off by 2 or 3 pages.
While the explanations of the many, many settings and options are excellent, it is sometimes hard to find the setting or option being discussed. I would recommend that some sort of graphic treatment identifying how to find the setting or option be adopted as in the Nikon Z fc Reference Guide.
Page iii, last paragraph, end of line 1: “as well ...” should be “as well as ...”
|
| Correct Figure 1.4 |
Page 1-34, Figure 1.4: This appears to be the wrong figure. It is exactly the same as Figure 1.1 on page 29. It does not illustrate the viewfinder diopter correction dial, which is illustrated on page 45 of the Nikon Z fc Reference Guide as at the right.
Page 2-42: The descriptions in the last two bullets on the page for Auto-area AF and Auto-area AF (People) are exactly the same. I believe that the former should not include “especially humans” at the end of the first sentence. The latter may be OK, but perhaps it should replace “especially humans” with “and will search and focus on human faces or eyes if detected” as in the description for Wide-area AF (Large - People) in the 5th bullet on this page.
Page 2-43, last bullet, paragraph 1, last line: “the” should be deleted.
Page 2-45, bullet 1, sentence 1: This is not a sentence. I believe that it should read “Using the i menu and White Balance icon (far left of the bottom row, see Figure 2.7), rotate the main command dial ...”
|
| Corrected Figure 2.8 |
Page 2-46, Figure 2.8: The callouts for “Next image” and “Previous image” are reversed. These callouts should simply be swapped.
Page 2-47, list item #3: Correction: There is no USB cable furnished with the camera. Also, note that the Z fc’s USB port requires a USB-C cable.
Page 2-55, 5th row from the bottom, column 2: This option is >Picture review, not >Image review.
Page 2-55, 4th row from the bottom, column 2: The word that is cut off is “timer.” The full option is therefore >Standby timer.
Page 3-59, paragraph 3: “important 12 settings” should be “12 important settings.”
Page 3-60, paragraph 3, line 5: “Feedback from readers have...” should be “Feedback from readers has ...” [The subject of the sentence is the singular “feedback,” not the plural “readers.”]
Page 3-64, last bullet, 3rd line from the bottom: The acronym EVF is used but not defined. The term “electronic viewfinder” appears on the next page in the 2nd line of the 1st bullet. I suggest that EVF on Page 3-64 be changed to “electronic viewfinder (EVF).”
Page 3-65, last bullet, paragraph 2, line 1: “The monitor can reversed ...” should be “The monitor can be reversed ...”
Page 3-69, bullet 5, sub-bullet 1, sentence 2: Delete “Resets focus point to the center of the frame,” which is a repeat of the end of the previous sentence.
Page 4-87, bullet 4, line 2: “all the to the sensor” should be “all the way to the sensor.”
Page 4-89, Table 4.1, row 4, column 1: I believe that
“1/200th second” should be “1/2
Page 4-99, paragraph 1, last sentence: There is a reference here to “the egret image above,” but there is no such image. Thus, either the image is missing or this sentence should be revised.
Page 4-101, paragraph 2, last sentence: “The exposure
indicator scale in the control panel and viewfinder indicate ...” should be
“... indicate
Page 4-104, bullet, line 5: “over-ride” should be “override” without a hyphen, just as in the 3rd line of the preceding paragraph.
Page 4-105, bullet 2, line 1: Given that there are so many dials on the camera, I recommend that “The command ring” be changed to “The command ring (on the lens)” just to be clear.
Page 4-105, bullet 2, line 2: Delete the repeated “to use it.”
Page 4-107, bullet 3, line 4: “ISO-Auto active, ...” should be “With ISO-Auto active, ...”
Page 4-110, step 3, line 3: This instruction can be simplified to “... select Number of Shots and use the multi selector left/right buttons or touch screen pressing left to choose the number of shots in the sequence. The choices are: -2, +2, -3, +3. Press the right button to specify +3F, -3F, +2F, -2F, 0F (which turns bracketing off), 3F, 5F, 7F, or 9F shot to bracket sets centered above (+), below (-), or around (no sign) the metered exposure.”
|
|
Exposure Compensation Dial |
Page 4-110, step 3: I would also add a figure similar to that on the right (copied from the Nikon Z fc Reference Manual, page 51) and text such as: “The exposure around which brack–eting occurs can be adjusted by rotating the Exposure Compen–sa–tion Dial.”
Page 4-110, step 3, last line: Delete the closing parenthesis after “ON.”
Page 4-111, gray box, last line: I believe that “each
time you press the shutter release button once” should be “each time you
press and hold the shutter release button.” I assigned
the Bracketing Burst behavior to the front
Page 4-115: The three references to Figure 4.14 on this page
should be to Figure 4.1
Page 4-115: This page states that HDR “cannot be used simultaneously with bracketing features, multiple exposure, or time-lapse photography.” That statement is fine, but there are a rather large number of additional restrictions or consequences of using HDR that I would recommend adding.
Page 4-116, list item #8: Delete “Set your camera to Aperture-priority mode.” [This instruction is in the previous step.]
Page 5-131, next-to-the-last paragraph, line 1: Delete “then.” The sentence begins with “As the camera collects,” so the second action is occuring at the same time. “Then” implies a serial action, not a concurrent one.
Page 5-140, paragraph 2: I don’t think that Fn2 is correct here. Page 3-62 explains that the Z fc only has one Fn button. It notes there that “some lenses feature their own separate Function button, dubbed Fn2.” Thus, Fn2 — if it exists — is on the lens, not the camera. This paragraph is referring to the camera, so I think this should simply be the Fn button, but I’m not sure.
Page 5-145, figure caption: Add a comma after “too” for clarity.
Page 5-148, paragraph 2, sentence 3: “With in this mode, ...” should be “When in this mode, ...”
Page 6-172, bullet 1: With 1/2-stop increments, the sixth
preset speed is 3.
Page 6-176, paragraph 1 under “Self Timer,” sentence 2: This sentence begins, “Activate the timer by accessing the Release Mode setting of the i menu.” I recommend changing “accessing” to “highlighting,” because if you do the normal action of highlighting the setting and pressing OK to access its submenu, the rest of the explanation in this paragraph — specifically the main command and sub-command dials — will work as described.
Page 6-177: I would add a statement under Interval/Time-Lapse Photography that states the auto-bracketing must be OFF (set to 0) for the features described here to be enabled. Otherwise, the required menus will be disabled (grayed out).
Page 6-181: This page provides two good examples of where reminders of where the settings being discussed are found would be very helpful. In the last sentence of item #5, I suggest adding orientation information as follows: “You must have set ISO Sensitivity in the Photo Shooting menu to Auto, ...” In the first bullet under item #7, in the second sentence, I suggest adding “... by activating Auto ISO sensitivity in the ISO Sensitivity Settings of the Photo Shooting Menu, ...” Alternatively, using the graphic scheme suggested at the top of this errata page, I would suggest:
Page 6-184, line 3: Delete “to” in “Time-Lapse movies to allow the Z fc...”
Page 6-188, paragraph 1: I think that the reference to Figure
6.12 should be 6.1
Pages 6-198 through 6-203: The figure references and captions on these pages are seriously messed up.
Page 7-224, paragraph 1 under “Using the FTZ adapter”: There is no error here. I just want to point out that the FTX II is available in 2024 and that its price is as quoted, that is, about $250. Thus, the statement on page 7-225 about the FTX II being “rumored” is now obsolete.
Page 7-225, note under bullet 1: As of this writing on March 24, 2024, the “rumored” Nikon FTZ II adapter is available. My AF-S DX Nikkor 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens focuses automatically with this adapter.
Page 7-233, bullet 4, line 2: “electronic flash
are generally” should be “electronic flash
Page 7-236, bullet 1: This paragraph first says
“
Page 7-238, paragraph 2: The first two sentences in this paragraph are essentially a repeat of those on in paragraph 3 on page 7-237.
Page 8-245, paragraph 2 under “Flourescent Light/LEDs,” line 4: There is a reference here: “as in the figure” but there is no related figure.
Page 8-252, paragraph 2, line 1: The first word, “On,” should be “One.”
Page 8-257, paragraph 4, line 10: “to” is missing in the phrase “...locks the shutter speed to the speed you specify...”
Page 8-259, paragraph 2, line 3: “briefer” should be “more brief.” (The word “briefer” has a completely different meaning from “more brief.”)
Page 8-261, bullet 1: I suggest adding a statement that i-TTL
mode, which is shown as
Page 8-262, paragraph 1, line 1: “Fn1” should be “Fn.” (Remember that the Z fc has only one Fn button.)
Page 9-280, bullet 1, line 4: In the phrase “...the space between NZ and 50 in the folder name,” “50” should be “FC.”
Page 9-283, paragraph 2, line 4: Delete “in order” in “worth the trouble in order to see the largest possible review image...”
Page 9-284, bullet 3: “If you like” should be
“If you
Page 9-285, paragraph 3, line 2: Delete “Select to” in the list of playback options. The second option is “Select for upload to smart device.”
Page 9-291, “Rename” bullet, line 5: The example scheme, “NIKZ FC,” seems to be incorrect because it breaks the rule that only five characters are allowed in a folder name.
Page 9-295, “16:9” bullet: The “(24 x
16)” following “16:9” should be “(24 x 1
Page 9-303, paragraph 2, line 5: “Fn1” should be “Fn.” (The Z fc has only one Fn button.)
Page 9-304, paragraph 1, sentences 2 and 3: Just to make this a little clearer, I suggest repeating the directional hints on the previous page to further identify the axes. I would write: “The horizontal (left-right) amber-blue axis...” and “The vertical (up-down) green-magenta axis...” Such hints are provided when talking about color balancing on page 11-397.
Page 9-305, first numbered paragraph 2, line 4: “the” should be “that” so that the sentence reads: “...labeled thumbnail images that help you remember...”
Page 9-306, paragraph 1, line 2: Again, “Fn1” should be “Fn.”
Page 9-321, paragraph 1 under “Active D-Lighting,” line 9: I think that the first word on this line, “and” should be “because.”
Page 9-326, paragraph 2, line 4: Delete “help” so that the sentence reads: “...diffraction kicks in and can actually help reduce apparent sharpness...” (Reducing sharpness due to diffraction doesn’t seem to me to “help” anything.)
Page 9-329, paragraph 2, line 2: Again, “Fn1” should be “Fn.”
Page 9-331, paragraph 1, line 1: Delete the first sentence: “This is the first entry on the next page of the Photo Shooting menu (see Figure 9-29).” This sentence appears to be a copy-and-paste from the previous paragraph. “Focus mode” (listed on the previous page) is the first entry on the next page of the Photo Shooting menu, not “AF-Area mode.”
Page 9-331, suggested addition under Vibration Reduction: I
think that it would be wise to add a note in this section stating that the Vibration
Reduction option may not appear in the Photo Shooting menu, depending on the lens
mounted on the camera. With my
Page 9-346: The book is missing a discussion of the Timecode settings. See pages 222 and 340-341 of the Nikon Z fc Reference Guide.
Page 10-347, paragraph 1 under “Custom Settings Menu Layout”, line 3: “Movie” should be “Video.”
Page 10-348, paragraph 1, last line: “assign movie mode controls” should be “assign video mode controls.”
Page 10-349, last line of Table 10.1: Note that “a12: Manual focus rignt in AF mode” does not appear with lenses that do not support this functionality.
Page 10-352, Table 10.6: An additional option, “f7: Power zoom (PZ) button options,” was introduced by “C” firmware version 1.40. See page 624 of the Nikon Z fc Reference Guide.
Page 10-353, Table 10.7: As above, an additional option, “g5: Power zoom (PZ) button options,” was introduced by “C” firmware version 1.40. Thus, option “g5: Highlight display” is now g6: Highlight display.
|
|
Location of the Help Button |
Page 10-361, throughout: The discussion of “b1: Easy
Exposure Compensation” repeatedly refers to “the Exposure
Compensation button.” The Z fc has no such button. The
text on this page matches the text in the camera’s help function (pictured at
the right), but that is wrong, too. There is no mention of this button in the
Nikon Z fc Reference Guide. Thus, one can simply ignore that reference
in the text. Below is the explanation of “easy exposure
compensation” that appears on pages
Page 10-363: The book is missing a discussion of the “b4: Auto Mode Exposure Compensation” setting. See page 355 of the Nikon Z fc Reference Guide.
Page 10-367, paragraph 1 under “d2 Maximum Shots per Burst”, line 2: The maximum “number of consecutive shotes that can be taken in one burst” is 100, not 200.
Page 10-370, gray box: There is no error here, but I recommend the free ExifTool by Paul Harvey available at exiftool.org.
Page 10-371, sentence 3 under “d8 Framing Grid Display”: I do not understand why the book states that “the intersections of these lines do not follow the Rule of Thirds convention.” This is of course true for the 4x4 array, but the 3x3 array seems to me to follow the Rule of Thirds convention precisely. [Image credits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIKYB2G2b9s and https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/rule-of-thirds-for-designers.]
| 
| |
| 3x3 Menu Selection | Rule of Thirds Image |
Page 10-371, sentence 1 under “d9 Focus Peaking”: The text says that “the final page of the Shooting Display menu” is “not shown in a figure.” I believe that it is shown in Figure 10.5 on page 10-366.
Page 10-371, sentence 3 under “d10 View All in Continuous Mode”: The text says that “I ususally leave it set to On, because I don’t really care to see all my continuous shots as they are captured.” Unless I understand the author’s preference, I think that “On” should be “Off” here. When this option is set to Off, you do not see the pictures as you are shooting. When it’s set to On, you do.
Page 10-372, paragraph 2 under “e1 Flash Sync Speed,” lines 2-3: “I’ll describe” should be “I described” because Chapter 9 is a previous chapter.
Page 10-374, bullet 2 under “e3 Exposure Compensation for Flash,” line 1: As noted previously, there is no “EV button.” The exposure compensation dial can be rotated at any time.
Page 10-374, paragraph 1 under “e5 Auto Bracketing (Mode M),” line 2: Replace both instances of “[md]” with a space.
Page 10-375, bullet 1, line 7: Replace “[md]” with a space.
Page 10-379, under “f2 Custom Controls (Shooting)”: I would add a note here that “Lens control ring” only appears if one’s lens supports customization.
Page 10-383, bullet 4, line 6: “you press the shutter
release” should be “you press and hold the shutter
release.” See my comments above related to the text in the gray box on
page
Page 10-391: “g5” is now “g6” due to the addition of the “g5: Power Zoom (PZ) button options” introduces by “C” firmware version 1.40. See the excerpt above from page 624 of the Nikon Z fc Reference Guide that follows my comments on page 10-352.
Page 10-391: Figure 10.13 is missing. Here is the relevant figure on page 390 of the Nikon Z fc Reference Guide.
| 
| |
| Pattern 1 | Pattern 2 |
Page 12-430: There is no explanation of the “Timecode” item shown in the Video Shooting menu in Figure 12.1 on page 12-431. See my comments on page 9-346 above.
Page 12-432, bullets 1 & 2 under item 3: As noted previously, there is no “EV button.” The exposure compensation dial can be rotated at any time.
Page 12-432, bullet 3 under item 3: Delete the leading space before “Manual.”
Page 12-432, item 3: Here I would remind the reader that “the Fn2 button” — if it exists — is on the lens, not the camera.
Page 12-435, bullet 1, line 3: There is another reference to the non-existent EV button here.
Page 12-437, bullet 5: I don’t think that there has been any discussion to this point about how to add an index. Thus, the statements here seem to come out of the blue.
Page 12-440, paragraph 1, line 3: I recommend reminding the reader of what PDAF stands for (Phase Detection Autofocus), and referencing the discussion of this topic in Chapter 6.