Hi Eric:

1. Sure.

2. Sure. Here's how I do it on my Z7. I assume the Z6 is the same.

There are two menu items to change. First, go to the Custom Setting Menu (red pencil icon) and scroll down to AF activation. Select AF-ON only. This disables autofocus from the shutter button. I also recommend that you move to the right of AF-ON only, and make sure Out-of-focus release is Enabled. It drives me nuts when the shutter won't fire because it thinks I'm not focused where I want to be. But hey, that's me.

Oddly, the AF activation menu item now reads OFF. Don't let that scare you, that's referring to the AF activation on the shutter release button. You want that OFF.

Second, I recommend you make sure your Focus mode (on the Photo Shooting menu, green camera icon) is set to AF-C. You have to scroll down a ways to find this one. Having this set means that when you press and hold the AF-ON button, the focus system is active as long as you hold the button. When you release the button, the focus locks. So you have the advantages of both AF-C and AF-S on a single button.

~ Russ

Around 80 jpgs were on the Sundisk memory card of my Canon Powershot. For unknown reason, pix didn't show on camera---but on my PC, all of them showed up (whew!) Canon tech suggested I copy pix from memory card to separate directory on PC, then format the memory card (inside camera), which I did. The result? I can copy the pix back to camera, but the camera still doesn't read pictures.(When I took a picture, it could be seen). Canon said that once the jpg has been on the PC, it can't be seen any more! Thus three questions: a) Is there any tweaking I can do with the Canon to resolve this? b) Are any software programs around so I can see pix on my camera? c) Last resort. Are there any camera brands which don't have this propriety tenacity, so I can copy pix from PC to camera? (f.y.il, yes, I locked and opened Sundisk. PC is Windows 7.) Thanks and apologies for long message.

This morning I purchased this program and used it on only one image as I had other commitments. This particular image I liked except for the noise so which better one to experiment with. I was amazed on two counts, first in how fast it was and secondly in the amazing job it did. My Topaz AI Sharpen is extremely slow but this program was like lightening. Now this is only one image I experimented with so time will tell as I move forward. Also Topaz recommends using Denoise as the first step in your image processing. Enlarge these and see the stunning difference. Now isn't this strange???? The one with the Denoise applied looks purple on my screen until it is downloaded. Let me know if it looks purple on your screen.

I am new to low-key portrait photography and my 2 1/2 -year-old granddaughter who lives on the other side of the country will be visiting in a couple of months. So far I have only photographed adults and I'm wondering if this starkly dramatic technique might be incongruous for a child's portrait. Has anyone taken low-key portraits of children that you like and might be willing to share with suggestions for lighting, poses and camera settings?

Thank you in advance for any recommendations.
Bruce

Hey, all, I am a newbie on this forum -- been enjoying the digest for a while. My question is whether I am the only one who has persistent focus issues with long 'big glass' (in my case 500mm f4, Nikon, but I have a friend who complained of the same kind of issue with his Canon 500mm f4). The problem is that if the subject (usually an animal) is around 1/10th of the frame, the single-point autofocus yields a frustrating fraction of images focused on the background behind the animal. Often this renders the image useless. This is especially the case when the background is more contrasty or complex than the subject (e.g., mammals against grass, ducks against water). It happens no matter how careful I try to be with the placement of the focus point (avoiding, if possible, having ANY part of the indicated square fall outside the main subject). It is usually NOT a problem if the background is less complex than the subject (e.g., flying birds against the sky). The problem is not a fine-adjustment issue, as the focus is perfect when the subject is considerably larger (like 1/4 of the image). I have tried to use the 'face detect' feature (although the Nikon version does not serve particularly well for animals) to encourage focus on the head, to no obvious benefit. It has occurred on at least five different models of Nikon DSLR (D3s, D4, D5, D500, D850). Can any of you explain what aspect of the autofocus system causes this behavior? Is there anything to be done about it other than checking the shot and retaking it if possible? Many thanks for your input!

A few nights ago I decided to copy a full 4TB external drive that is 99% full onto a 5TB drive to archive the content. The 4 had something like 3.64 TB of content (the remainder I guess was the operating system info). It was going to take something like 28 hours to download. With about 78,000 files left (out of around 198,600 files), there was a power outage of about two seconds. It killed the download. I tried to start it again but was informed there wasn't enough space on the 5TB drive to download the content of the 4TB! I then brought the files of the 4TB up and highlighted about 1/4th of them and pulled them over to the 5. I did this with each 1/4 of the drive. When it informed me there was already a file by that name on the 5 drive and asked me if it should duplicate the file or replace it, I selected replace and checked the box to do this for the next xx number of files. While this did add some additional files to the 5, it still is short of the 198,600 files I started with. Without checking file for file for that many files, the only other thing I can think to do is erase all content on the 5 and start over. Any other suggestions?

In the USA, tipping to service people, like waiters & waitresses, is customary. Your country may vary. My wife and I typically go to a restaurant once or twice a week (even in the age of CORONA). We typically tip 15% or maybe a bit more if the food/service is excellent.

What we've found is a sort of SCAM at many of the restaurants we patronize. The SUBTOTAL is the price of food and drink, and that's what the tip should be based upon. The government tacks on its pound of flesh in the form of 8 1/2% tax in our county. But what the restaurants are doing is adding the SUBTOTAL and the Tax, then using their math to calculate the tip on that. I don't begrudge the government for adding tax, but to pay a tip on that tax is just unconscionable.

In the example, the left side restaurant does their math "for your convenience." My, how convenient is that! For the restaurant on the right side you pay before you sit down, with a screen where you push a button for 15% or 18% or 20% or No Tip. When you push the button for 15% as I did, guess what...they base that tip calculation on Subtotal plus Tax, all unbeknownst to the patron. Not too cool!

So, going forward I will pay now with cash and with the appropriate tip added.