Lupe, if the OP has an M1 (or better) Macintosh running Mac OS 14 then his hardware and operating system should be more than adequate to run NX Studio. And, version 1.6.1 is the latest version for Mac.

I honestly don't know what the problem could be since I rarely use NX Studio. We do, however, have some Mac users who do use NX Studio extensively. Hopefully, one of them will chime in with a solution.

--Ron

You downloaded the firmware update for the Z7 camera, not the Z7II.

--Ron

You say you want a fixed/prime lens. So, you don't want a zoom lens or variable focus lens? That right?

If that's the case, I would suggest the current Nikkor 50mm AF-S ƒ/1.8G. You can usually find this lens for around $200US new, and often for less than that. It's a perfect fit for your D750. With this lens you'll be able to use all of your camera's features including full or program Auto exposure.

--Ron

The D600 had a problem with spots on images taken with them due to oil or dust in the mirror box. Nikon had a service advisory issued for this camera that supposedly fixed the problem. Nikon would check these cameras and replace the shutter mechanism free of charge if a problem was found. Sadly, the service advisory expired in January of 2020. 

It would probably be a good idea for you to check your camera carefully (while you can still return it) to make sure that it doesn't exhibit this problem. Not all D600's were affected and many of the ones that did were either repaired or replaced by Nikon.

The D610 camera was a direct replacement for the D600 that incorporated the updated shutter mechanism.  

--Ron

Welcome to the forums, Kenneth.

--Ron

We changed a few weeks ago... but I forgot to change my cameras, so thanks for the bump, Peter.

--Ron

How was the camera 'interrupted' during the firmware update? According to Nikon, if the camera is operated, turned off or loses battery power during a firmware update it could be bricked. If that's the case you would need to contact a Nikon service center.

--Ron

Two things I would try. First I would do a camera reset and see if that helps. If the camera reset doesn't clear the problem up, I would try another card. Be sure that you use a high quality card and format the card in camera. If it shows up on the second card, I would contact Nikon.

--Ron

There's a blog post up now. https://www.nikonfor...nochromes-sooc/

I have an old blog post about using the Adobe channel mixers for monochrome conversions here. https://www.nikonfor...s-in-lightroom/

Thanks, I'll check'em out! Appreciate the help.

--Ron

Edit:I've printed out your presets and will be giving them a try. Thanks again!

That’s a nice set of lenses, even if I prefer the older D version of the 85 as it renders subjects at portrait distances, both on DX and FX, a little softer. It will be fun getting to know the Z 85/1.8… Have I written anything about my settings for a more Tri-X/HP-5 like rendering for jpg-s SOOC?

It's a nice set for the D7000, and probably any DX camera. The 20mm serves as a close relative to my all time favorite wide angle focal length, the 28mm. The 35mm, of course, is my "normal" lens and one of the sharpest lenses I own. A real pleasure to use. The 85mm is actually a better fit on DX than it is on FX. I've shot some really good images with it on DX where it comes close to the classic 135mm focal length. The bokeh is probably not as good as your older "D" version or the current ƒ/1.4 version, but it's pretty nice. If it had rounded aperture blades it was be perfect.

If you've written about your Tri-X/HP-5 recipe, I've probably missed it. I always presumed that you did all your cooking in Silver EX Pro.

It's been a long time since I used any of my cameras as a dedicated monochrome device. I'm having to relearn some things that I had previously learned and forgotten over the years. Of course, since I'm shooting exclusively in RAW with no jpeg image at all, I'll either have to set up a recipe in ACR or use Nikon NX Studio with my in camera's picture control setting... something I've never done before.

--Ron

I've recently setup my D7000 to shoot RAW only with a monochrome picture control. The three lenses I'll be using are the Nikkor AF-S 20mm ƒ/1.8G, the Nikkor AF-S 35mm ƒ/1.8G FX and the Nikkor AF-S 85mm ƒ/1.8G.

--Ron

Be sure you have a solar filter on your lens... and adjust your exposures to compensate.

--Ron

Welcome to the forums, Mark. I too am envious of both your motor home and your gear.

As far as shooting eclipses... well, there are many ways of doing it. You already have a solar filter which is the main thing. I'm sure you know that you should never point your digital camera at an intense light source such as the sun for any length of time without adequate filtration. You can ruin the sensor very easily. The only other thing I can think of is a tripod. You didn't mention one in your post above... perhaps you did in the other post. In any case, you're going to need one for shooting with the long lens. You might want to bracket exposures but chances are, the sun will be nearly washed out in any case, and the moon will be totally black. You have both zone 10 and zone 0 in the same photo, which is really hard to balance. So, shooting it like you would a silhouette will at least get you and image... provided you're using a steady support.  

Another idea, which I've used with some success, is to shoot eclipse shadows on the ground around plants and trees. The light filtering through foliage serves to act as a camera obscura ... that is, a sort of pinhole camera, that projects the eclipse image onto the ground or sidewalk, etc. underneath. The images can be quite beautiful because you'll probably see dozens of small eclipse images rather than just the one you'll see with your long lens. You can also use shorter lenses (with proper filtration) to photograph reflections of the eclipse off of different objects... cars, the windshield of your motor home, etc. There are other ways of photographing eclipses but my old brain is starting to form a block... so, I'll just finish by saying, use your imagination, and have fun! As always, the trip is it's own reward. Enjoy the ride.

--Ron

Did you check the Nikon NX Tether manual? From what I gather by glancing through it, your cameras are not supported by the software. Only Z cameras and the D6 and D780 DSLR's are supported according to Nikon.

If you absolutely need tethering, you might consider a third party source. Adobe Lightroom supports tethering, for example. If you decide to go this route, be sure that your cameras are supported before subscribing to Lightroom.... although, I'm pretty sure they are.

If you don't wish to use Adobe software, there are probably other programs that support tethering as well.

--Ron

I love those old lenses... And an F3/AF!! My goodness!

--Ron

I regularly use my FX lenses on both my DX and FX cameras and the indicated ƒ numbers are always the same.

--Ron

The D610 is definitely not an action camera, but it has a good sensor and outputs fairly clean images. However, it's starting to show it's age, so I've been hemming and hawing about replacing it. If only Nikon would knock a few hundred more dollars off the D850(yeah, right!), I might be tempted to stay with DSLR's. Otherwise, it's mirrorless and a whole nother ballgame.

But Peter's right about the grip. It makes a world of difference in how these cameras handle. I was initially pretty excited about the D780 until I learned that it wouldn't take a grip. That kind of popped the balloon for me.

But if you can live without the grip, or if they're not your thing to start with, then the D780 is a really nice upgrade. It's amazing how it seems to fly under everyone's radar because it does tick a lot of boxes in the 'nice to have' column.

--Ron 

B&H is still listing it as around $2200US. And that's with a US$100 discount.

The camera itself has received some good reviews. It apparently still takes all F mount lenses from AI forward. But It doesn't take a grip which turned some people (myself included) off. It seems to be a pretty nice, if expensive, camera tho. Who's selling it for that price?

--Ron

Okay, you guys got me cold. I had no idea that Nikon had ditched the 5 year USA warranty. I apologize for the error. 

--Ron

I try to never drain my batteries all the way down to zero. When they get down to half way or maybe a bit below, I put them in the charger. Since I work so infrequently these days, I usually check them the day before I'm going to be working and, if they're the least bit questionable, I charge them.  I also have an AA adapter for my grip that can serve as a backup ... provided I remember to pack plenty of (charged) AA batteries.

I've seen batteries that showed that they were nearly worn out magically return to nearly new status. Sometimes it takes a few charges to accomplish this and sometimes the batteries never recover. But once they start acting funky, I make plans to replace them.

But no, I wouldn't drain them all the way.

--Ron

Thanks for the info Ron. Rather than start a new topic for this I will ask in this one as it is about the software. For now I will hold off on the monthly subscription, I may realize the need if things change. I tested on my D850 with Bracketing , it was set for 3 exposure with extream on both sides. I was reading the Nikon Software will not do Braketing from my understaning. So I question when you say the Lightroom 5 is so old . Would it be too old to work with Bracketing pictures?

 

Thanks

Michael

I believe Lightroom 5 would probably struggle just to import NEF files created by newer cameras... most certainly Nikon Z camera NEF's. Adobe has a page somewhere in their web system that lists all of the Lightroom (ACR) versions and which camera files those versions support. I've seen it but, I stupidly did not bookmark the URL, so I'll have to look for it. But, I'm pretty sure that your D850 is way too new for Lightroom 5 to support.

--Ron

Edit: I found the page!! You would need Lightroom 6.1 at a minimum.

At one time all Nikon lenses designated for sale in the United States were marked with a US before or after the serial number. That has not been the case for some time. As Peter noted, if you get the extra warranty paperwork (the yellow 4 additional year warranty registration slip) and the serial numbers match, you have a US market lens. If you bought the lens used it's difficult to tell. The lens could be either US market or Gray Market. I'm not sure if there's a publicly accessible database of US market serial numbers. Somehow, I doubt it.

Edit: by the way... when purchasing Nikon lenses, you need to be sure to specify whether you want US market lenses or not. In many cases the prices are the same or nearly the same for both gray market and US market lenses. However, the US market lenses still come with an additional warranty which makes it worth the effort to make sure you get US market lenses. 

--Ron

The Nikon compatibility chart only shows recent, mostly Z series cameras. The D5600 is not listed, nor are any other Nikon DSLR cameras.

--Ron

According to this post on Nikon Rumors the two batteries are interchangeable. However, you may need to update your camera(s) firmware to support the EN-EL14a.

--Ron

Your shots look nice. Very nice color.

Sunset color is often variable depending on the amount of dust in the atmosphere. Down at my latitude sunsets can be pretty bland unless there are storm clouds on the horizon. At your latitude they're probably more colorful in general.

--Ron