First Setup
What should you change on a brand-new Nikon Z5 II before your first shoot — cards, files and the U1–U3 modes?
Format both cards in the camera
Formatting builds the folder structure the camera expects and clears a card that has lived in other devices. Both slots take SD cards — SD, SDHC and SDXC, with UHS-I and UHS-II both supported — so one card type covers the whole camera. The Format screen asks which slot; run it once for each. Nikon's approved-card guidance: UHS Speed Class 3 or better for video, and Video Speed Class 90 (V90) for N-RAW video recording.
Make the second card a backup
Set Role played by card in Slot 2 to Backup: every picture is recorded to both cards at once, so a failed card is an inconvenience, not a lost shoot. The factory setting, Overflow, only touches the second card when the first one fills — one copy of everything until then. Split options (RAW Slot 1 – JPEG Slot 2, and HEIF variants under HLG tone mode) divide formats across the slots; they are workflow tools, not protection. Videos play by a different rule: their card is chosen in the Video Recording Menu under Destination.
The honest file
The working quality setting is RAW + JPEG fine — the JPEG to share, the RAW as the negative. The decision is RAW recording. At FX Large the sensor writes 6048 × 4032 pixels (24.5 megapixels) per frame, and the three compressions run in descending order by file size: Lossless compression, High efficiency ★, High efficiency. In Nikon's own words, High efficiency ★ produces pictures that compare favorably in quality to those produced by lossless compression — in a smaller file.
U1: a setup with a dial position
The mode dial offers AUTO, P, S, A, M and three user positions: U1, U2, U3. Save user settings stores a complete working configuration — shooting menu, custom settings, exposure and focus — to a position; rotating the dial to it recalls the setup exactly as saved. Reset user settings clears a position from the same menu. Alongside sits Save/load menu settings, which writes the whole menu configuration to a memory card for restoring or moving to another body. On firmware 1.20, [Save focus position] can also be set to [On saving user settings], so each U mode restores its own focus position.
Steady at the focus point
Vibration reduction to Normal for everyday, static subjects — Sport is the mode for panning and subjects moving rapidly and unpredictably. Link VR to focus point, set to ON, optimizes vibration reduction to reduce blur at the current focus point rather than the center of the frame; its effects cannot be previewed in the display, and it falls back to the center during video recording and when Auto-area AF shows multiple focus points.
Do the steps now, in order, then run Save user settings to U1 so the dial holds your setup. Turn to M and back to U1 to feel the recall. Finish by pointing Video Recording Menu → Destination at the card you intend for video.