YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Our resident Nikon expert Matthew Richards answers your questions and solves your problems. If you have a Nikon-related question, email it to mail@nphotomag.com
Last month you wrote Q about the differences between electronic and mechanical shutter modes. I tried this but the mechanical shutter mode option is greyed out in my Z 50. What’s the problem?
In Nikon Z-system cameras, there A are Custom Settings options to select, Auto, Mechanical and Electronic first-curtain shutter modes. At least, that’s the case most of the time. Different rules apply when using some of Nikon’s VR (optical Vibration Reduction) lenses. With some of them, including the popular Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR and Z DX 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 VR, the Mechanical shutter option is greyed out in the menu, so you can’t select it. The same applies to full-frame Z-system cameras and some FX format VR lenses.
The best plan is to stick with the Auto option.
This normally uses the Electronic firstcurtain shutter mode, which minimizes the risk of the shutter-shock interacting with VR, and automatically switches to fully mechanical mode at shutter speeds faster than 1/2000 sec.
I’ve taken an arguably Q backward step as I am printing most of my digital photos to put in albums. Can you recommend a good A4 photo printer that’s cheap to run?
Many people buy relatively cheap, A non-genuine ink cartridges to reduce running costs, but I wouldn’t recommend this. It can degrade photo print quality and reduce the longevity of prints, before they start to fade. For high-volume photo printing while watching your budget, I recommend the Canon PIXMA G650.
One of Canon’s ‘MegaTank’ printers, it features ink tanks that are refillable with relatively cheap bottles, and the refilling process is very quick, easy and mess-free. The G650’s six dye-based inks enable a wide gamut (or colour space) and terrific photo quality, at a fraction of the cost of using a cartridge-based printer. You can expect around 3800 10x15cm colour prints from a set of ink bottles, a complete set of genuine replacements costs £70/$90.
I use Adobe Q Photoshop Elements 2022 but it won’t open or process the Raw files from my new Z 8, and I can’t find an update for the software. Is there a solution?
It’s long been a bugbear of A Photoshop Elements and most other image editing programs that are sold as full retail packages. When a new version is released each year, the company stops supplying update
