About the Z6/Z7 Guide

My policy on ebooks has to been to do error correction for free in periodic light updates, and to charge a small update fee for major "edition" changes (and to update for free any purchase made within 30 days of the edition changeover). 

Unfortunately, the Z6 and Z7 book got caught in a bit of pickle. I generally don't do a new edition of a book this quickly, but Nikon's firmware updates and the fact that there were additional things I wanted to put into the first edition but didn't have time for are now ready. 

Thus, sometime soon (see below) I'll be putting out the 2nd Edition of the Complete Guide to the Nikon Z6 and Z7. Current owners of the 1st Edition will get an email from my automated server sometime during the month with an offer allowing them to update for US$5. (Please be checking your spam/junk folder in June, as some email systems seem to not like automated emails, no matter the source.) Those that purchased the book in May will get a free update, also via an automated email link.

One of the reasons that I've had to make a 2nd Edition so quickly is that so many details from the new firmware impact so much of the book, therefore I've simply made a complete and total pass on all 1000+ pages. That enabled me to also go through and change/enhance a number of other items. If you're wondering what that entails, here's an abbreviated list:

  • Changed a recommendation about best way to change Shooting Method.
  • Added Prioritize viewfinder.
  • Added some additional comments about banding.
  • Added a section on autofocus for video.
  • Added a tip about getting DOF preview quickly.
  • Added a note about setting sensitivity in focus peaking section to clarify Nikon’s clumsy wording.
  • Added a section on transferring images to an iPad Pro.
  • Added a section on transferring images to a computer via Wi-Fi.
  • Added section on shooting tethered.
  • Added current flash GN table to Manual flash section.
  • Added more information about the GOP encoding used in Nikon’s compression.
  • Updated current lens and known future lens road map information.
  • Clarified when Focus peaking is actually shown.
  • Added information about the Service Advisory to fix sensor VR on some models.
  • Clarified SU-800 incompatibility.
  • Added Custom Setting #A13 (for three-ring lenses).
  • Added Settings Summary table at end of book.
  • And, of course, added all changes necessary due to the Firmware 2.0 updates.

That's all in addition to a full reading pass through the document trying to remove any remaining unclear information, make some of my suggestions more clear, correcting the few mistakes that I found still in the last revision, and getting a few minor formatting issues corrected to my current standards. 

I'm not trying to make money off Edition updates, but I do have to recover some of my sunk time and download costs in order to keep doing them, thus the modest update charge. The problem I see is that if the next firmware update could be as extensive as the last, plus if I continue to learn more about the Z cameras in use, we may be having a Third Edition in early fall. 

One comment that usually comes up is this: why don't I just do this as a small addendum? 

First of all, it wouldn't be small. I'm currently nearing 50 completely new pages, and it may trickle higher than that. But the real problem with doing an addendum is that the changes often impacts multiple sections of the book. I don't like—and you shouldn't like—having one big document that says one thing, and a short document you have to remember to check to see if it says something different. 

When I said that I've touched the entire document in doing this new Edition, I mean it. Small wording and formatting changes abound, and I've tried to reconcile Nikon's firmware changes into every section of the book they impact. I've clarified language pretty much anywhere that someone sent me an email about indicating they didn't quite understand what I wrote.

I expect to put out the new Edition in June.

Looking for gear-specific information? Check out our other Web sites:
DSLRS: dslrbodies.com | general: bythom.com| Z System: zsystemuser.com | film SLR: filmbodies.com

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