"I thought this new Nikon Z50 II button was stupid but I was proved wrong!"

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What use is the Nikon Z50 II's Picture Control button to a photographer who always shoots Raw?

Nikon Z50 II with Picture Control button circled with "This button is stupid!" text
(Image credit: Nikon / Digital Camera World)

When Nikon launched its new Z50 II camera, the first thing highlighted at the press briefing was that it had a new button not seen on any other camera previously. That button is the Picture Control button, designed to give quick access to the ‘looks’ that are applied to images when processed in-camera. Press the button, scroll the rear dial, and the desired effects are cycled through and applied instantly to your image as you look through the viewfinder or peer at the rear screen.

While Picture Controls have been a staple on Nikon bodies since the early days of digital, on other Nikons this requires delving into a menu system to choose between Picture Controls. Nikon has provided the shortcut on the Z50 II to provide convenience to the Gen Z photographers it is targeting.

The Picture Control button is designed to apply different looks to images super-quickly, but it doesn't work on Raw files (Image credit: Future)

That’s all well and good if you only ever shoot JPEGs, but like many – ahem – serious photographers, I always shoot Raw, preferring to have the editing latitude that only a NEF file can provide. In which case the the Picture Control button is completely redundant. While it may change the look of the image in-camera, as soon as you load the Raw file into Photoshop’s Adobe Camera Raw editor (or the Raw processing software of your choice) then all the edits will be lost and you’ll have to create the look from scratch.

So I thought the Picture Control button was a gimmick, pure and simple, and a complete waste of space. That’s until I actually got my hands on a Nikon Z50 II to review it.

Thankfully, it's a doddle to reassign the Picture Control button to something you'll find much more useful, such as a depth of field preview (Image credit: Future)

You see, the Picture Control button, like many controls on Nikon cameras, doesn’t have to be set to the function it was originally intended for. It can be customized to take on all manner of other functions that are way more useful to your own personal style of shooting.

You simply hop into the Custom Settings menu, select f2 Custom Controls, navigate to the Picture Control button and then you have oodles of options to choose from. As the Z50 II doesn't have a dedicated AF-ON button, it can be set for back-button focusing, for example. Other useful options are to quickly change the AF Area mode, cycle through metering modes, or reveal/hide the focus peaking overlay if you like to focus manually.

And of course if you are a JPEG-shooting influencer, then by all means leave it as it is!

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Adam Waring
Adam Waring
News Editor

Prior to joining digitalcameraworld.com as News Editor, Adam was the editor of N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine for seven years, and as such is one of Digital Camera World's leading experts when it comes to all things Nikon-related.

Whether it’s reviews and hands-on tests of the latest Nikon cameras and lenses, sharing his skills using filters, tripods, lighting, L brackets and other photography equipment, or trading tips and techniques on shooting landscapes, wildlife and almost any genre of photography, Adam is always on hand to provide his insights.

Prior to his tenure on N-Photo, Adam was also a veteran of publications such as PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, so his wealth of photographic knowledge isn’t solely limited to the Big N.