5 New Features I’d Like to See from Nikon

It’s not even a quarter of a century since Nikon launched the FM3a. At the time, Nikon was already producing feature-packed models such as the F5 and F100. Nevertheless, I’m going to use the former manual classic FM3a as a springboard for my futuristic visions. There are two reasons for this. The personal one is that I entered the Nikon waters with the FM3a. But more importantly, this camera had just two basic functions: shutter speed and ISO.

The only other small features this camera had were auto shutter speed, automatically set ISO from the film cartridge, exposure compensation, a self-timer, a depth-of-field preview lever, a frame counter and, of course, levers to rewind the film. And that was it.

Now, try to squeeze the features of today’s digital cameras into one sentence. It would be a sentence long enough to fill a book, and it would take a champion freediver’s breath away to read it. But as they say, the appetite grows with the food, so I asked myself a question. If I had the chance, what features would I add to an already great camera like the Nikon Z9?

I put this question to myself and to my dear colleague Jason, with whom I let my imagination run wild. Well, here’s the result of our visionary musings.

1. Smart manual

A great way to keep control of the vertices of the exposure triangle is to shoot in manual mode with Auto ISO. This gives you full control over the ‘creative’ variables of aperture and shutter speed. The technical part of the triangle, the ISO, is under the camera’s control.

Manual with Auto ISO does have one catch, however. Let’s say you’re shooting wildlife in a forest. You have an aperture of f/2.8 and a shutter speed of 1/400. The camera assigns ISO 400 to these values. As long as the animal stays in the shadows, everything will be fine.

But even on a dark forest floor, a ray of sunshine will occasionally strike, and that can be a problem because a dramatic increase in light cannot always be compensated for by lowering the ISO, with its minimum somewhere around 100. In such cases, unless you manually reduce the shutter speed, the result will be an overexposed image.

And yet a little tweak, which I call Smart Manual (or Foolproof Manual), would do the trick. In cases where Auto ISO cannot lower the ISO further, the camera would compensate by changing the shutter speed to maintain the correct exposure. And, it would automatically return to the set value when the lighting conditions return to the ISO limits.

2. Pre-Release in Raw

Pre-Release is a potentially very useful feature whenever the reaction times of our slow neural systems fail. Imagine, for example, a toucan in a nest hole. For endless minutes, it just peeks out of its cavity while you wait for it to slip out and spread its wings.

Your finger presses the shutter every time the toucan barely moves, but it does not fly. After a few such attempts, your attention wanes and you miss the actual flight. The typical result is that you end up with a card full of the same photos of the toucan peering out of the hole.

The pre-release function allows you to rewind time by up to one precious second by temporarily storing images in the camera’s buffer. These images are only recorded to the card when the shutter is fully pressed. Since April 2022, when the Nikon Z9 got this feature in firmware version 2.0, we have basically been able to photograph the past. That sounds great, but…the “but” is so big that I never use this feature on my Z9: it is restricted to JPEG output.

Yet, other manufacturers by now have it in Raw. Both Sony and Canon have it in their top-of-the-line models. It is even present on Canon’s EOS R6 Mark II, although in this model, the result is stored in an inconvenient single file from which you have to extract the desired Raw image in compatible software, typically Canon Digital Photo Professional.

Of course, smaller sensor cameras were the first to get a pre-release feature with Raw. Both the OM System (Pro Capture) and Fujifilm (Pre-Shot) have it. Fuji’s speed machine, the X-H2s, with its 26.1MP APS-C sensor, can shoot up to 40 Raw images per second in Pre-Shot. Even the high-resolution Fujifilm X-H2, with its 40.2MP sensor, can shoot at 13 fps from the entire sensor area. Now 13 fps may not seem like much, but consider that virtually the same speed was achieved by the 20.8MP Nikon D5 when shooting continuously with an electronic shutter.

3. Digital ND filter

This is another wonderful feature that probably doesn’t need an introduction for users of OM System cameras. Their Live ND filter feature can simulate a range of ND filter densities from ND2 (1EV) to ND64 (6EV). I say “simulate” because the camera uses a composite of multiple exposures to achieve the ND filter effect. However, the end result is a single Raw file that can be processed as if it had been shot with a real filter.

ND filters are most often used when we need to capture or emphasize movement. Typical examples are running water, clouds moving across the sky or leaves blowing in the wind. However, good quality filters are expensive and there can also be problems with different thread diameters. Not to mention that some telephoto lenses require either very large filter diameters (e.g. 95mm for Nikon Z 180-600mm) or special drop-in filters in the case of expensive exotics.

Real filters also do not have as much convenience and speed. When shooting landscapes, speed may not be a critical factor, but the same cannot be said for wildlife. The ability to activate an ND filter with a single button press would be a fantastic feature. Water birds such as ducks, dippers and herons look very nice surrounded by motion-blurred water. Not to mention, the digital ND filter won’t fall into the water when you’re trying to screw it on quickly.

4. Automatic Focus Stacking

Nikon has a Focus-Shift function that allows you to take photos with a depth of field so great that they can’t be taken in the standard way, such as by stopping down. The principle is that the camera takes a series of photos of the same scene, each with a slightly shifted plane of focus. Then, these have to be merged into a single image in Photoshop or a dedicated stacking application such as Helicon Focus.

But the whole process is quite complex and involves a number of settings in the camera’s menu. With Nikon, you first have to focus on the closest point you want in focus, correct the plane of focus slightly towards the camera, adjust the number of frames, the focus step width between frames, the time interval between shots and a few other things, and then finish the process by pressing Start and OK. It takes another three seconds before the actual recording starts. Do you also find this a bit tedious? Let’s leave aside the need for post-production, which adds even more time to the overall process.

I would love it if the focus stacking function could be assigned to a function button, like a Record button. With focus stacking enabled, all you would have to do is focus on the closest (or possibly the last) point you want in focus, press the shutter button, and the camera would do the rest. Based on the focal length of the lens and the shortest plane of focus, it would calculate the number of frames needed and the focus step width, and start a fast sequence (at least 10 fps). This would make it possible to capture even moving subjects.

It would be great if the camera could also merge the resulting images straight into a JPEG or even a Raw file. Again, not a revolutionary idea, as the OM System can merge up to 15 images directly in-camera. This may not be enough for very small subjects, but it is more than enough for landscapes with a large depth of field.

5. Customizable Focus Limiter

A focus limiter is typically a feature associated with telephoto or macro lenses. With these, there is usually an option to limit the range of focusing via a switch on the lens. On the Nikon Z 180-600mm, for example, you can choose between the full range or 6m to infinity. In some situations, however, it would be useful if the AF range could be defined more precisely.

One such scenario is when using the Auto-capture function. Limiting the AF range would make the AF work more accurately and also reduce the number of false triggers.

In this mode, you would have a clear idea of where the subject should be, so it would not be a problem to determine the exact distance with a small tolerance. This is also the case when photographing hummingbirds on a flower, woodpeckers and toucans near a nest hole, birds on a branch, etc. With this feature, your camera would never focus on a distant background or some object too far away from the intended subject.

How would you work with a customizable focus-limiter (CFL)? You would first focus on the spot where you expect action. Then you would activate the CFL by long-pressing the Memory set button or another programmable button. The Fn button on the lens and the Command dial could be used to set the distance range within which the AF should be sensitive to the subject. Pressing the Memory set button again would deactivate the CFL and return the AF range to the default values set on the lens.

Conclusion

You have just read five features that Jason and I would like to see in a future Nikon camera. As you can see, we’re not being immodest! Essentially, most of the features I’ve mentioned would require only minor changes to the camera’s firmware. The limit may be processing power in some cases, but not for all suggestions. If any of these features were to appear in a future Nikon camera, or even better, in a firmware update, that would be fantastic.

To you, our readers and active photographers, I have a few questions. What new feature would you like to see in your future camera? Would you be willing to pay for new features for your existing camera, as is the case with major updates to many software products (such as photo editors)? I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments section, and…I also hope someone at Nikon is listening.