Approaching The Scene 285: Nikon’s New Pixel Shift Imaging: How to Capture & Edit + IQ Analysis
(LINKS BELOW): Nikon has added pixel shift shooting to the new ZF body. We can now use pixel shift to increase image quality, high ISO noise performance and even pixel density from 24 to 96 megapixels. I’ve been really enjoying exploring this new capability. In this video, I’ll show how to capture pixel shift images while explaining the difference between 4, 8, 16 and 32 image capture modes. Next, I’ll show how to assemble the pixel shift files in Nikon NX Studio and import them into Lightroom as .nefx raw files. Finally, we’ll analyze the studio results along with some field examples I’ve shot.
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LINKED TABLE OF CONTENTS:
00:00 Intro to ATS 285
01:53 How to capture pixel shift images
04:50 Pixel shift options explained (4 vs 8, 16 or 32 images)
12:54 Assembling pixel shift captures in Nikon NX Studio
17:30 Importing pixel shift images in Lightroom Classic
23:00 Examining pixel shift quality
27:20 Real world example images
Fractional pixel shifts were used in the Hubble Space Telescope project while taking the images in the so-called Hubble Deep Fields. I‘m proud of having „invented“ this technique for Hubble. I‘m eager to see it implemented on my brandnew Nikon Z8.
Very cool! I think the way they've implemented it relies on the new 8-stop IBIS system they've debuted in the ZF. They might be able to do it with the older system in the prior Z cameras, but I would not bet on it.
@@HudsonHenryPhoto Just tried it with the Z8, works amazing.
Thank you very much for carrying out extensive testing, documenting it and reporting it in detail. We sincerely appreciate your efforts, openness to information sharing, and patient and detailed guidance. Lastly, thank you very much for providing additional context in your video (Approaching The Scene 296).
Great video Hudson - I have just done the firmware update for my Z8 and is excited to test all new features like pixel shift.
Same here!
The scotland and Seattle shots really demonstrate that you're getting more detail rather than just more resolution. I'm going to be interested in using this to photograph medium format slides and negatives.
Hudson love your channel , you explain things so clearly, Nikon just dropped firmware for the Z8 today!!!! Ive been excited checking every couple of days. Just got home from 2 week on maui.
This is the best explanation of pixel-shift shooting with the Nikon camera. Thank you. I just updated my Z8 and this was very helpful. Thank you.
When I first saw this, I was not that interested, since I don’t have a ZF. But, now the latest update to the Z8 has me paying attention. 180 MP is insane.
Thank Hudson, thank you for all your Nikon guide / tutorials!
Thank you Hudson, great tutorial!
Informative as always.
Great informative video! I have the Zf as well and been meaning to try pixel shift shooting of the moon on my tracking mount.
Thanks for this! I love the Zf and recently returned from a trip to Puerto Rico…such a great travel camera. However, I just purchased a refurb’d Z8 from Nikon and it is a wonderful beast! While I love the look of the Zf and its low-light capabilities, I wrestling with what camera makes more sense keeping, as I’m a semi-pro, coming from a Z7II (w/Z5 as backup). The Z8 is bigger and more utilitarian looking, but it seems to be the Swiss Army knife all of us Nikon lovers have been waiting for in mirrorless. Such a good problem to have with all the great stuff Nikon is offering!
Ha, yeah. I LOVE using my ZF, but you won't see me drop my Z9 off any time soon. It's what I'm taking to Baja for windsports and birds next week.
@@HudsonHenryPhoto I will probably just send my trusty Z5 into the sunset and keep both the Zf and Z8. Best of both worlds, really! Enjoy Baja!
@@AbbeyRoadDuluth I traded my Z6II for a ZF, it is so much more capable in so many ways. Much better backup for my Z9 and Z8.
Super informative. Thank you!
Great to see Nikon pushing out for their customers. Great vid, thanks.
Thanks for the free tutorial, I am going to check it with the city. The sensor is amazing by itself in high ISO, as you say.
Cool. Yes, I remember when I took the first night frames with the Z6 years ago (same exact sensor) being just blown away. 20,000 ISO is where I set the Auto ISO limit. Nuts.
I am so happy they added this to the Z8. I hope the Z7ii and Z6ii XSpeed sensors can handle this new feature. Would be awesome for the first and 2nd gen Z6/7s have this feature.
what a great intro to pixel shooting. I hope tha it will become possible on Z8/z9. Thanks Hudson
I would bet against that. I think they designed the new crazy amazing IBIS system showcased in the ZF with it in mind.
I have it on my Hasselblads - its nothing to get excited about ..🦘
@@roybixby6135 all the brands implement it differently. To assume one brand's version applies to all is a bit presumptive. I was skeptical based on my experience with other brands and my lack of faith in NX studio but the Nikon implementation was quite a pleasant surprise.
thanks hudson nice explain … even i understand
I used pixel shift and got the most detailed pictures of the moon. I was amazed with the detail that I got and how easy it is to edit the pictures in post processing
Hey Hudson, do have plans to do a tutorial on setting the Zf up for BIF? I'm curious how you would go about programming the buttons, since there are so few of them.
Thanks for this demonstration! It might be the video compression but I noticed some vertical banding in the PS shots not visible on the original 24mp shot ? Do you see that on your monitor ?
Great video. Thanks for going through pixel shift. A cool quick comparison would be comparing a pixel shift image to the same basic nef up-res’d in a program like Gigapixel.
Not sure of the utility of that... You could do the same to the pixel shift image too. Apple to orange otherwise to my mind. ;)
Thanks Hudson for a once again very informative video, I’m a Z9 user and hoping that the FW2.0 for the Z8 comes to the Z9 hopefully with few additions 🙏
I'm in that boat too. I would think that's guaranteed, but we'll see how long the wait is. ;-)
@@HudsonHenryPhoto it would be a great valentine’s present to all of the Z9 user’s, with love from Nikon!
Thanks for the information. Looks like Nikon just surpassed Sony in the Pixel Shift category. 1) Nikon has more options for shifting, 2) evidently there is meta data for the application to pick out which shots go with which combined images. 3) I believe the shots are taken faster on the Nikon.
Still far behind panasonic and olympus. Both do internal processing, in RAW, HANDHELD, with motion compensation. Panasonic do a better job at motion compensation vs olympus.
Hudson, super info. What are your thoughts with using this with Astro Photography? would there be too much movement if you to use this taking images of nebulas for example?
Way to much movement. It'll be great for starscape foregrounds to blend with tracker shots though.
Thanks for an informative video. Near the beginning, you mention an Anker battery pack. Have you shared the details of this anywhere? I didn’t see it in the gear list for this video. Thanks!
It's on my links page with all the gear I reccomend: www.hudsonhenry.com/atslinks, but here is a direct link. Love this for all the Nikon bodies: amzn.to/49CCTTu
@@HudsonHenryPhotoThanks so much for the quick reply. I have that exact battery, but had always assumed that I need a "dummy" battery and a battery with the proper voltage output. The USB option is much friendlier, assuming I can figure PD and USB-C standards. Thanks again! :)
as usual great video what is the ZFC will get the Pixel shift option what about Z8 and 9??
I don't think any cameras without the new updated 8 stop IBIS system on the ZF will get it. I think they designed it into that system.
Wondering how it would do in a astrophotography image? There you would have to use a longer exposure. Wish Nikon had placed a wired remote port in the Zf.
Great video, liked how you presented it. Do think this process would benefit Milky Way photography?
No, way too much movement. Stand by for another buddy comparing this to Lightroom Classic's super resolution...
@@HudsonHenryPhoto what if you were to us a star tracker?
LOVE my Zf and so Happy you did this video since I had no clue re Pixel Shift ... ? What's your thoughts on using Pixel Shift for Astro ie using it like a stacking process . As long as you maintain a shutter speed less than the movement of the stars would it work ????
It will work for foregrounds the way I do star photography. I prefer to shoot the foreground in the last bit of blue hour light and then shoot the stars on a tracker at 800 ISO. I would not use it for stars, no. Too much motion given the needed exposure times. You can see my technique in the intro and materials in this course: www.hudsonhenry.com/milkyway
@@HudsonHenryPhoto thanks 🙏 Love the tripod I got from you and appreciate all the tips ….getting my Z f astromodified so will see how it goes ! Best Art
Hey Hudson, love your videos. Recently i purchased the Zf and I'm finding it better than my Z6ii. Tried pixel shift today withe the latest versions of NX Studio and LR Classic. Took the photos ok, processed in NX Studio ok but importing them into LR i get a failure with a message in the picture, this file is damaged or unsupported. Tried Adobe help and i find it not very helpful, wondering if you have any suggestions for me? Gregg Webster, Australia
My only guess is that you might be using LR and not LR Classic. I honestly believe the only reason there is such a push to LR over LR Classic is to lock in cloud data subscriptions. Using local files feels bolted on and there is a huge lack fo features like the enhance panel that is still glaringly in LR Classic's favor alongside much more advanced organizing features. LR Classic supports the NEFX files out of the Zf perfectly for me on both Mac and PC.
Great video! Thanks! Would it be possible to shoot the moon with the pixel shift or the movement of the moon, although slow, will mess everything up? cheers
It's not good with motion. I'd say unless you have a very fast shutter, you'd be better off using LIghtroom Classic's super resolution.
Thanks for the video. Have you seen the latest 2 videos from Russ and Loz’s KZhead? They both had major issues with their Z8 / Z lens, and Nikon support has been poor. I was wondering what your experience has been with Nikon support and if you have any tips for them.
Never heard of those guys. I've had fabulous experience with Nikon repairs and never an issue at all with a body or lens I didn't drop. I've owned just about all of them.
@@HudsonHenryPhoto Very glad to hear that. So far, I’ve had no issues with my Nikon either. They are based in the UK so maybe that’s where the difference in support is coming from - or they just got unlucky. Thanks for the reply.
Hi, How do you get this colorcoding next the quantity of images in your library (at 27:21)?
On any selected image in the library the keyboard numbers 6-9 give you most of the colors. Purple requires you to right click and select Purple from the Color Submenu right by rating. I use blue for panoramas, green for timelapse yellow for HDR, etc...
Not about the images but the colors in the right column next the folders
Okay I found it!
I am thinking of using this with the upcoming solar eclipse. Pros and cons? I'm also thinking that bracketing may be the best option. Thanks in advance.
Check out kzhead.info/sun/kr2tZZdogH6Ki4E/bejne.html and kzhead.info/sun/kr2tZZdogH6Ki4E/bejne.html
Any chance they'll bring this to the Z8/Z9? Or do you think the IBIS hardware in those cameras isn't capable of the kind of precision needed for this?
I think the insane new 8 stop IBIS system in the ZF is integral.
Capture One just released support for Nikon NEFX pixel shift files.
Adobe seemed to have it day one. It's cool stuff. Great news for C1 fans too.
I tried it on my Z8 for Hi res moon shots but it didnt work. The end result was blurry so i am assuming it wont work for astro
absolutely not. Best used with ROCK SOLID support, faster shutter speeds and Zero motion. I've a video dropping today that might interest you a lot though... ;-)
Is it possible to process pixel shifting captures in Photoshop? Thank you!
Nope
I hope they bring this to the Z8 in a firmware update. I use it for scanning film and having pixel shift can be a real help on larger formats for a nice clean scan.
I would bet against that. I think they designed the new crazy amazing IBIS system showcased in the ZF with it in mind.
Firmware 2.0 for z8 just released…and it has pixel shift!
Yep! I was dead wrong. And very happy to see it. Auto capture too. 0 for 2 and very happy to see Nikon do both! Other brands could take notes.
Can I shoot in manual with pixel shift, or AF has to be on?
You can shoot in manual.
@@HudsonHenryPhoto ty
Anyone else have an issue with NX Studio and not loading, or loading incredibly slow, on a Windows 11 machine? I even updated to 1.6 and still the issue persists. Just wondering.
How does you guess how much of the image will be lost? would be handy of the monitor indicated where a final result will be so that you can be sure your composition is correct.
None of the image is lost. Not sure what you mean. None of the image is lost. It results exactly how it looks on the LCD
@@HudsonHenryPhoto I just did it and the final image when merged was a little zoomed in like it was a crop of the original.
So I worked it out. I did mine with a Z8 and once merged in NX Studio then taken into Lightroom classic what happens is lightroom classic renders the image at the original standard file size hence cropping. Lightroom can handle those merged files if captured on a Z9 but not yet from a Z8. Same file name but something different and not yet working properly unless exported from NX Studio as a .tiff instead of a .nefx
Hmmm, not my experience at all on the ZF. Not at all. I'll test the 8 next week.
I feel like us Z8 shooters are being left in the dust!!! Any hope for PS in a future firmware update?
I doubt it. I think it's likely linked to the insane new IBIS in the ZF which exceeds anything Nikon has put out before. That stabilization hardware is likely designed with this high level pixel shift in mind.
I have a Z8 and a Fuji GFX100S medium format which has pixel shift. I wouldn't worry about what you're missing. It's clever but really I don't think anyone needs it. On the Fuji I end up with a single photo that's 1.5Gb (that's not a typo, Gigabytes) in size. And sure I can see crazy detail. I mean I took a test photo of a vase of flowers and could see individual dust particles on the leaves...but it's unusable if there is just about any movement in frame. It takes ages to take and process and ultimately the Z8 is so outstanding as a camera I don't think it needs it. Personal opinion, others are available of course. I'm not worried the Z8 doesn't have this. It has everything it needs to be the best camera I've ever picked up.
And bird detection like on the Z9, lots of people will love that!
And now 3 weeks later the Z8 has pixel shift ... ta da!
@@dominiclester3232 Just updated mine and noted that too. I might compare it to the GFX pixel shift but I expect it'll still be a bit of a specialist thing I'll rarely use! I'll eat my words if it's a game changer though!
Are you sure about the pixel-shift process there each pixel gets different colors? that would mean the RGGB bayer matrix filters are not directly attached to the camera sensor. Effectively making it a monochromatic sensor with a floating RGGB bayer matrix filter. Is this really how they made it?
I wonder then if it would make it easier now to convert Nikon cameras to monochromatic... hmmm...
No the sensor moves under the filter using the more advanced new IBIS system in the ZF. Filter stays put while sensor moves underneath is what I've read.
ahh, interesting Can't wait for some first mono conversions, or even Nikon releasing a mono camera like Leica maybe?@@HudsonHenryPhoto
Do you think Z8 and Z9 will get PS?
No, I think the mechanics of the insane new IBIS in the ZF were designed with it in mind.
@@HudsonHenryPhoto and probably the pixel size being smaller on Z8/Z9 will make it harder to do this precise movement of sensor.
Mine should be here tomorrow. You passed over the USB on this thing...what could it do?
I've got other videos reviewing and showing how to set up the Zf which cover the camera more comprehensively. This video's sole focus is pixel shift. Just search my channel for ZF.
I would just like to see Nikon treat NX Studio a little more seriously. It's slow, crashes occasionally and on the spare side feature and function wise. Maybe having to accommodate features like pixel shift will force them to dedicate a little more attention to it.
I wouldn't count on it. Across the board, camera companies don't make the best editing software. Not in thier realm of expertise sadly... I'm just relieved the pixel shift only requires me to spend seconds in NX studio. It's the first thing it's had that keeps me from uninstalling it the very day I try a new version of it.
Actually Pixel shifting photos combining operation would have been better in the camera.
I disagree strongly. Every time Nikon combines images in camera they give us a much lower quality jpeg (multiple exposure, hdr, etc). The way this is integrated, we get a raw result and all the base files are preserved to harness future advancements in the pixel shift processing software. Also, like focus shift shooting, combining all these raw images with this level of analysis takes a lot of processing horsepower. Much better suited to a fast computer with a ton of RAM. Even my Mac Studio Ultra with 128GB chews on 32 frame captures for 45 seconds or so. No, they did it the practical, intelligent way.
I totally get it. Thank you so much for the detailed explanations.@@HudsonHenryPhoto
Pixel shift is great when you can get it shaper than a standard frame. with a steady enough tripod Its good for everything except wildlife, events, sports, wedding, landscape, family, street or macro ... 🦘