Moon Too Bright in Z6 FIXED!!!

Brian

Brian

Well-Known Member
Ok, this may seem kind of odd. I got a Z6 for Christmas and when I look through the viewfinder at the moon, it's completely blown out and has a hard time focusing. When it does focus, the photo is just fine, but it's just a white blob in the viewfinder and the screen. In my D850, what you see is what you get. So I'm a little perplexed. I thought the whole idea behind a mirrorless was the same concept. What you see is what you get.

I'm probably missing something. But I can't figure it out. I've got the display turned all the way down, but it doesn't seem to help.

Any ideas?
 
JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
How interesting. So when you do take a photo of the moon it is exposed properly despite being blown out while you are viewing it? I both the EVF and the back display?

On the DSLR end, if I recall you have to press the OK button to get the display to display at the Exposure settings. Maybe it's the same with the mirrorless?

@TimMc has a Z7 I think, maybe he knows
 
Brian

Brian

Well-Known Member
JimFox said:
How interesting. So when you do take a photo of the moon it is exposed properly despite being blown out while you are viewing it? I both the EVF and the back display?

On the DSLR end, if I recall you have to press the OK button to get the display to display at the Exposure settings. Maybe it's the same with the mirrorless?

@TimMc has a Z7 I think, maybe he knows
Click to expand...

That was my first thought as well. Nothing changes with the OK button. I just tried it again and no matter what shutter speed I select, it's a white blob. Even at 8000 and a low ISO. So the view finder is not adjusting to the settings....
 
Brian

Brian

Well-Known Member
Maybe this will help someone in the future. The "SET PICTURE CONTROL" was set to AUTO. By switching to SD (STANDARD), that seems to have fixed my issue. I figured I was doing something wrong as usual. So hopefully if someone gets a new Nikon mirrorless, this thread will help.
 
T

TimMc

Supporting Member
Brian--check menu setting D8. If it is set to "off" the exposure settings will not be reflected in live view.

Beyond that I hit times when live view stops changing with exposure adjustment, typically with very long exposures. At that point I ignore it and go old school. Take an exposure , chimp , and adjust.

BTW, the only way I have successfully shot the moon was totally manual. Manual focus, no vibration reduction and a 10 second delay on the shutter. I set the fstop, shutter and iso manually and typically curse that I can't see any controls on the back of the camera :)

I leave my monitor brightness to 0 and my viewfinder brightness to auto. That tends to reflect well what I see on my computer in lightroom.
 
Last edited:
Brian

Brian

Well-Known Member
TimMc said:
Brian--check menu setting D8. If it is set to "off" the exposure settings will not be reflected in live view.

Beyond that I hit times when live view stops changing with exposure adjustment, typically with very long exposures. At that point I ignore it and go old school. Take an exposure , chimp , and adjust.

BTW, the only way I have successfully shot the moon was totally manual. Manual focus, no vibration reduction and a 10 second delay on the shutter. I set the fstop, shutter and iso manually and typically curse that I can't see any controls on the back of the camera :)

I leave my monitor brightness to 0 and my viewfinder brightness to auto. That tends to reflect well what I see on my computer in lightroom.
Click to expand...

Thanks!!! D8 on the z6 is FILE NUMBER SEQUENCE. So I have a feeling it may be different in the 6 vs the 7. Are you referring to APPLY SETTINGS TO LIVE VIEW? I have that turned on. I do believe it was the SET PICTURE CONTROL. Changing it to SD seems to have fixed it. At least in manual mode. Not so much in S mode. Which is kind of annoying. But I'll keep working on it. Thanks again. I appreciate it.
 
Brian

Brian

Well-Known Member
When I initially point the Z at the moon, it is really overexposed on the view finder. Then it calms down after a second or two. I never had that problem with a DSLR. It's just kind of annoying. I'm still trying to decide if I like the Z6 or not. It does seem really good for astro stuff. My favorite astro guy on Youtube says nothing but great things about it. So I am going to hold my judgement till Milky Way season. But I have to admit, the D850 is still my "go-to" camera when I reach for a camera.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom