Nikon Z8 Manual Focus Subject Tracking

The July 1, 2025 Nikon Z8 firmware upgrade to version 3.0 has a very nice feature addition for manual focus. This feature works for both AF lenses using manual focus and totally-manual focus lenses with no ‘smarts’. It really helps you nail focus by letting you zoom in exactly where you want it to.

Eye detection using manual focus

The feature called “MF subject detection area”, in the “Photo Shooting” menu, is half of this new focus-assist option. It lets you choose between 3 area types, “All”, “Wide(L)”, and “Wide(S)”, in addition to the default “Off”.

If your subject is outside of the selected “detection area”, you of course won’t get any subject detection.

Subject detection area in manual focus

3 subject detection area choices

The other half of this new feature is the “AF/MF subject detection options”, which is right above the “MF subject detection area” option. It used to only work for auto-focus mode, and has the same options for subjects that it previously had.

Manual-focus subject detect now available

Select the same subject types that auto-focus has

To actually take advantage of the new subject detection area feature, you also need to use the display zooming feature. When you zoom, it automatically zooms with the detected subject centered in the zoom. Speaking of the display zoom, the new 3.0 firmware now allows you to zoom all the way to 400%, instead of the previous maximum of 200%.

I have assigned the “Fn2” function button to have “Zoom on/off” via the “Custom Controls (shooting)” menu. This allows me to toggle the zoom feature on and off with the press of a button, where I’m already centered on the detected subject (usually the near eye of a person or animal).

Get ready to assign a button for zooming

Selecting the “Fn2” button for zooming

Select Zoom on/off toggle for the Fn2 button

Select the zoom magnification, up to 400%

The display looks a bit different, depending upon using a fully manual “dumb” lens or a “smart” lens that you want to manually focus. In either case, subject detection still works as long as you are looking at a suitable subject.

A “dumb” manual-focus lens programmed for birds

Note in the shot above that the subject detection found the eye. I used focus-peaking to get a rough idea of where to focus. By the way, when I switched from “bird” to “auto” subject detection, the camera would no longer automatically detect the eye.

The subject-detection box is white with this “dumb” lens.

Press the “Fn2” button to zoom in

By pressing the assigned “Fn2” button, the viewfinder zoomed in, centered on the 'subject-detect box' over the eye, which was automatically placed by the subject detection. I could now work on adjusting manual focus with a lot more confidence.

After adjusting focus, I just press the “Fn2” button again to see the whole frame. This ability to toggle between a magnified and full view of the frame is really golden, especially when it zooms in exactly where the subject detection box is presently located.

A “smart” auto-focus lens using the manual-focus ring

When switching to a smart lens (the Nikkor 28-400 Z lens), the display shows the little grey box where the subject’s eye was detected. The red square shows where I had placed the focus point (which is ignored during manual focus). When I press the “Fn2” button to zoom, it centers the display on the grey box and not the red focus point.

The magnified view zooms in exactly where I want

I still need to have the “Focus peaking display” active, via the “Custom Settings Menu”. I almost always use the “low” sensitivity, which has the value “1”. This is also the “accurate” sensitivity, versus being somewhere in the vicinity of “in focus” with the “high sensitivity” setting.

Focus peaking disappears when you activate the zoom feature, but at least it will allow you to quickly get to the “pretty close” focus zone.

Unfortunately, the focus point still never turns color from red to green when you manually achieve focus on the subject under the focus point, which is why focus-peaking should always be active.

Summary

The new subject-detection feature is invaluable for critical manual focus. I wish that there was an “in-focus” indicator that was tied to the subject-detect grey/white box as well, but I’m just being a bit ungrateful.

Thank you, Nikon, for this new Version 3.0 firmware feature that you didn't have to give us.