My books on the Nikon Z cameras have a full list of error messages and things that are commonly overlooked, but I thought it useful to put some of those that are generic on the Web site. This page deals with those that are camera-related. You'll find a similar article in the lens section for lens-related problems.
- You don't see anything on the Rear LCD, or the automatic viewfinder/LCD change isn't happening. The eye detector mechanism in the eyepiece is dirty or you've accidentally set Viewfinder only with the Monitor Mode button.
- Interval timer shooting or Time-lapse is stuttering. Your interval is probably less than the shutter speed and/or image processing time (e.g. Long exposure NR is On). Note that the long shutter speeds from about 4 seconds to 30 seconds are actually longer than the stated number (30 seconds is close to 32 seconds).
- Camera won't let you set raw. You have pre-release capture or another JPEG-only function such as HDR (overlay) or pre-release capture active.
- Images aren't full frame (on a full frame camera). You have Image area set to DX or are using a pre-release capture setting that forces a crop. Make sure that you set DX crop alert to On (this is not the default!) and pay attention to the upper right corner of the display while photographing.
- Your images aren't numbered sequentially and/or your folder numbers are incrementing. You probably put a card into the camera that has been used by another camera. Nikon is following DCF rules here and picking up the "last image/folder" information from the card. Folder numbers also increment when the file number reaches 9999 or more than 5000 images are in the folder.
- You see DEMO on playback. You don't have a card in the camera. You need to change the Slot empty release lock setting to Release locked. Also, you're not paying attention to the frames remaining counter (-E-) or the no card icon that should appear.
- Camera is taking random photos of nothing. On a Z9 or a body with an MB battery grip, the vertical release lock is not engaged and you're accidentally touching the vertical shutter release. On other Z cameras, you probably have Touch controls enabled and have set Touch shutter/touch AF.
- Your customized settings aren't what you thought they should be. On a Z8 or Z9 the very first thing to look at is what banks you're in. On the Mode dial cameras, move the dial to one of the PASM positions and then back to U1, U2, or U3. Generally, my advice for all Z users is to carry a card around with your settings on it. When you get into an unknown state and you don't know why, and it starts taking too much time to figure out what's going on: (1) SETUP > Reset all settings; followed by (2) SETUP > Save/load menu settings > Load menu settings from that card I told you to carry.
- Your exposure is varying all the time. One of two things: (1) you've enabled bracketing; or (2) you're assigned Aperture or Exposure compensation to the lens control ring and are accidentally touching that ring and resetting your aperture.
Lenses
- You can't set Mechanical shutter. Some lenses don't allow this. Use Auto instead, which will manage the switch between shutter types for you.
- Camera not focusing on near subjects. Do you have the lens set to Full Range or a limited range?
- Camera not focusing. Do you have the switch on the lens set to M (manual focus)?
- Lens doesn't seem to work correctly. You might have accidentally pressed the Lens Release button and slightly twisted the lens. You'll know for sure when the lens falls off the camera ;~).
