Perhaps not the most exciting bird, but this was the first group of gulls I've come across since acquiring the Z6, so I thought I'd throw it into AF-C and Auto Area AF to see if this body could track well. I realize that gulls aren't exactly fast, but the Z6 had no trouble tracking them, and I got a high rate of acceptable shots in several bursts. I wish I had a longer lens on at the time (this was captured with the 24-70 f4 kit zoom). I'm looking forward to trying this again with a longer lens... This shot is a fairly tight crop of an image captured in Dx Mode...
dhamments wrote:
Perhaps not the most exciting bird, but this was the first group of gulls I've come across since acquiring the Z6, so I thought I'd throw it into AF-C and Auto Area AF to see if this body could track well. I realize that gulls aren't exactly fast, but the Z6 had no trouble tracking them, and I got a high rate of acceptable shots in several bursts. I wish I had a longer lens on at the time (this was captured with the 24-70 f4 kit zoom). I'm looking forward to trying this again with a longer lens... This shot is a fairly tight crop of an image captured in Dx Mode...
Lance B wrote:
Well done, David. Great shot of a BIF with a Z6!
Welcome to the Z club!
Thanks Lance... while it's definitely not a birding lens, the 24-70 f4S is the sharpest kit zoom in my bag. Also, I'm loving the files coming off this sensor and I've noticed that my long lenses, like the Nikon 200-500 are even sharper on the mirrorless body than either my D800 or D750. I'll have to sell some gear to continue down the native Z S lens path! On a personal note, I'm so sorry to see your lovely NSW having to cope with the smoke and fire damage! Keep safe my friend!
dhamments wrote:
Thanks Lance... while it's definitely not a birding lens, the 24-70 f4S is the sharpest kit zoom in my bag. Also, I'm loving the files coming off this sensor and I've noticed that my long lenses, like the Nikon 200-500 are even sharper on the mirrorless body than either my D800 or D750. I'll have to sell some gear to continue down the native Z S lens path! On a personal note, I'm so sorry to see your lovely NSW having to cope with the smoke and fire damage! Keep safe my friend!
Cheers and good light,
David
The 24-70 f4S is an amazing lens, especially considering it is a "kit" lens. This would be a lens everyone would pay to upgrade to!! I think the thing with the Z cameras is that the IBIS is so good and the AF fine tune non-issue that the F mount lenses really shine. It's not that you can't get great sharpness from the DSLR + F mount lens, just that it happens more often with the Z cams due to lack of variability of the AF that a DSLR can sometimes have.
Thank you for your kind thoughts on our fires here. Yes, we've had some pretty bad fires here but it's not really any worse than previous times when we get them, just that they get more press/internet time now and more people live in/near the bush - lots of retirees etc doing a tree change, those that can't afford the high price of city living and those that look for the "alternate" lifestyle. It was this bad in 1993/1994, which I saw first hand right near me and remember it as being very similar conditions to now - very dry, very hot and fires *all* round Sydney in every national park and anywhere there was bush. Interestingly, 1968 fires were also as bad as was the 1939 fires (the hottest year on record in Oz) so they seem to have a 26 year interval/cycle.
I've never seen it before, but we had some sort feeding frenzy at the spillway of a local lake earlier this week. It last for two days and there were so many Cormorants, Gulls, & Egrets with a few Blue Heron & Pelicans sprinkled in - all going nutz over a massive school of shad. It was quite a sight to see. I want by this morning & things were back to normal - basically dead.
It was really an opportunity to observe some interesting behaviors. I'd never have thought I would feel sorry for cormorants, but after a couple hours I did. The Gulls would often circle and wait to see a Cormorant pop up with fish & then dive-bomb the Cormorant.
It was somewhat surreal. The action was NONSTOP. I found myself thinking "I need to workout" because I was getting tired by prolonged, near constant shooting. !
Took the Z6 & 58mm f/1.4 to the Holiday Lights at Brookgreen Gardens. Fun evening shooting, but if I'm being honest the LoCA is annoying and I'd hoped this would be a situation where it would have excelled. Still had fun and got some shots, lots to go through still. A few of the non-family shots...
Picked up a Z7 few weeks ago, bit surprised not as small as I was hoping it would be. Would have been great if it was similar in size to my Olympus OM-D E-M1 II. Also, it's difficult to take a selfie without a fully articulating screen. I was able to get one of myself at the beach, but would of course been so much easier with the articulating screen.
All below taken with the 24-70 f/2.8 S series lens.
Mike
McDermott wrote:
Picked up a Z7 few weeks ago, bit surprised not as small as I was hoping it would be. Would have been great if it was similar in size to my Olympus OM-D E-M1 II. Also, it's difficult to take a selfie without a fully articulating screen. I was able to get one of myself at the beach, but would of course been so much easier with the articulating screen.
All below taken with the 24-70 f/2.8 S series lens.
Mike
And the Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 S is way too heavy for a selfie stick!
McDermott wrote:
Picked up a Z7 few weeks ago, bit surprised not as small as I was hoping it would be. Would have been great if it was similar in size to my Olympus OM-D E-M1 II.
!
