Stuff happens.
You send your camera in for repair and it comes back reset to factory defaults. You mess around in the menus, things get out of hand, and you can’t get back to the way things were. You get a second identical body and want a quick way to get your settings from one camera to another.
Well, if you’re using a mid-range or pro-level Nikon body (sorry, this doesn’t work for the D3xxx and D5xxx series), then you’re in luck. You can save and backup your camera settings and easily get things back to normal when “stuff” happens – or when you want to copy the settings to another identical body.
Check out the video for everything you need to know – from backing up to saving the data somewhere safe – it’s all covered.
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Please note that in addition to the items mentioned in the video, the user settings (U1 and U2) are also not saved with this procedure (no other way to do it either, as far as I know).
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Tried to save settings in separated BIN files within the different modes “ASM”, “U1” and “U2”. Noticed that, in Notepad++, the binary file content is slightly different from one file to another. Not sure if the camera saves the settings of the current used mode or not? I would have to reset my camera settings in order to install those different files, but I am hesitating to do that…
I wish I knew for sure. I think (and could be wrong) that is does not save the user settings, only the menu settings. Again, not 100% sure though.
When I use the save/load option on my Nikon D810 to save settings … will it also save each of my custom A, B, C settings as well?
My Z6 is having a very expensive repair (new PCB and shutter) after fragments of a broken XQD card jammed in the slot. (Don’t let anyone ever tell you that these cards are infallible)., The repair will cost $800+ Ouch! Had a similar experience with a brand new D850 two years ago….. My question: before I sent Z6 away, I made a backup file of all my preferences. Since then, Nikon has upgraded the firmware to 3.12, which will be on my body when it comes back. Will my NCSET002.bin file – made under firmware 3.10 – still load properly?… Read more »
Honestly, I don’t know for sure, never ran across that one. I would think it would work though – and if it were a problem, I don’t think the camera would allow you to do it. However, I would recommend asking Nikon just to be safe.
Great Information Steve , I have never done this but I sure am. thank you
Hi Steve. What are the best settings for a Nikon D3500. Thanks
Hi Steve, Do you have a list of personal settings that you use on your camera. I have a D810 & D610 and not sure which settings are best.
Thank you Steve for sharing your precious knowledge; I saved all my settings on my D500 (most of them where issued from your past recommandations); the only thing to do after that was to reset my 300mm PF AF fine tuning value.
Just a thought … With your preferred settings in place, save them to the card as you describe. After a day’s shooting, with many possible changes to these settings, do the following: Off-loading your images, and make necessary back-ups. Then, before re-formatting the card, restore your camera settings from the card. Format the card, and immediately save the setting back to the card.
Of course , a backup copy of the settings on a computer will be valuable if you forget the steps!
Done! So easy, so usefull. Many thanks for all the sharings. Have a great day.
Thanks, Steve- Great Video. I had been doing this for my D850 and it’s saved me a couple of times already. I’m considering purchasing a D5 or D6 in the near future and the one thing that is keeping me from buying the dual XQD model is this situation. XQD cards are already pricey and you can’t get a small/cheap card for this. I currently use a 1G SD card to keep my D850 firmware and settings with me at all times. Can you comment on this or offer a possible solution to units with dual XQD cards? Thanks
You can save the .BIN file to your computer if you like – 4.20 on the video goes over it. That way, you’re not tying up an XQD card 🙂
Steve…I really enjoy your videos and this was no different. Thank you from an avid amateur! I shoot with a Nikon D7500. I was wondering if you would ever consider giving some hints on which settings we should adjust and which to leave alone. There are so many possible settings but I have to think some should stay at factory levels and some might be better to be set in a way that helps most of us in most situations. Any chance of that? Thx!
I may down the road – I did it with the D850 in fact. The thing is though, all the settings are adjustable for a reason. For some people and situations, the defaults are best for any given setting – for others, they need an adjustment to make the camera do what they need. No perfect one-size-fits-all answer for that one 🙂
Understand that. Thanks for the reply.
thanks Steve. Great Information
As always, great useful information well presented and on point. Does it matter if you save your camera settings to you primary or secondary card slot? I noticed that in your recent video, “HOW TO UPDATE NIKON FIRMWARE” you mentioned that the firmware upgrade should be made in the primary card slot. On my D850s, I would rather use my old inexpensive small SD cards for the camera setting backups than my more valuable XQD cards. Thanks again for the video and the wonderful Costa Rican Workshop.
Hi Robert!
Yup, you can save it to the SD card – just eject the XQD card and it will save to the second card slot instead.
Excellent. Thank you.
can you save the u1 u2 settings as well? would you set the camera to u1 and save settings and then put that file into a folder for u1 and go to u2 etc…..?
Sadly, I don’t believe so.
Thats too bad… Ive had to redo these settings a couple times due to my D750 camera going back to Nikon.
Hi Steve, I am unsure if the settings for U1-2-3 are saved on the D750 but that is for surer the case on the Z6/7.
@Mark: again, unsure for your D750 but the U1-2-3 settings are stored in that very same saved file along with all other settings.
Forget my earlier post, I was wrong 😉
This is why I thought if you were to set the camera to the U1 setting and went to save the camera settings U1 U2 MSAP individually, it might work. I haven’t tried that yet to see… to chicken I think 🙂
Thanks Steve! Great info.
Genius! Thanks a million, Steve!