I took photo of this scene many many times with D850, Z7, Z7 ii among other cameras. I think Z9 is holding its own pretty well and I am able to pull up shadow area and control hilight just as well as any of the other cameras. At the moment, I think being a stacked sensor, it does not seem to have any penalty in comparison to Z7 ii or D850 in term of DR for my normal use so far.
p.4 #5 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
Hey Rick,
D500, D850, Z6II, Z7II, & Z50.
I can’t wait to try it on the Z9. Sadly, we were “fogged in” this morning so no nice morning light today.
Regards,
Phil
rick2906 wrote:
What other body did you use the 600mm with?? d850, d5, d6 I would like to hear about focus acquisition with the z9 vs a dslr you use with the 600mm . Thank you and have fun!!
p.4 #6 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
Lance B wrote:
I have been under the weather with a cold so, I haven't gone out anywhere and thus trying to test things from home. Luckily, a couple of King Parrots came by for a feed and our resident family of Magpies are are also here, 2 parents and 4 fledglings.
The 100-400 so far is proving to be stupid sharp and with superb overall IQ, the bokeh is excellent. As I said before, the AF is fast and sure footed.
Male King Parrot. I love these birds. They are so gentle and timid and beautiful as well. They generally keep in pairs or a pair and fledglings.
p.4 #10 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
I had trouble finding what I was looking at in that picture.
Maybe I’ll just point the Z9 in the thicket next time I’m out there and let it find the bird for me.
p.4 #16 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
Not really fair you get a Z9 mid summer and us “Northerners” are in the midsts of the death and decay of early winter!
Lance B wrote:
Thank you very much for your kind comment, Robert!
At this time of year, summer, they are feeding on the flowering native bushes and trees we have in our front yard. Our upstairs windows look out at the top parts of the flowering Gum tree and flowering Bottlebrush that they love to feed on at this time of year. So, I get a great vantage point,
The AF performance is very fast, at least as fast as the D850. I feel as though I was back using the D850 in a way simply due to the fast AF and surefootedness of it's ability. It never felt as though it was struggling to find focus, unless I did something wrong, of course. This is really like a ML version of a D850 but much better.
I have been quite impressed with the Z9 and it's AF abilities so far but I am still learning how to use the AF and it is quite configurable. There is a lot to learn and remember what and how you can do it. What I learnt was that you can set up one of the group modes like say AF Area S, AF Area L, AF Area 3D or Subject Tracking AF, but in conjuction with that, you can also set it to look at Subject Detection like Animal, people or auto etc. So, you may set the AF Area Mode to 3D but also set up Subject Detection for just Animal Detect. So it will choose one or the other depending on what it detects, if it can't do one it will do the other. I had it set to 3D tracking and Animal Detect and it locked onto the birds head and then eye no problem. If it couldn't detect the animal - body/head/eye - it would then go to 3D tracking. This would apply to the other AF Area Modes as well. You could set it to say Wide Area L and also use Animal Detect as long as the bird/animal was in or near the Wide Area L square it locks onto the animal/bird eye.
p.4 #18 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
Today, I tried to find the otters to photograph. I’m learning that they use breathing holes, just like seals do in the winter.
I always bring the D850’s right angle finder with me. Today, I screwed it in, to get a lower perspective.
I am also learning that when the otter surfaces in the hole in the ice, it lays on the ice for a long enough time, to regain its normal breathing.
Try as I may, I always have trouble finding the subject through the right angle finder. And even though I had a longer than usual time to find that resting otter, it slid back under the ice, an instant after I found it in the viewfinder.
I use the RAF all summer in my loon work. Now, I am looking forward to finally being able to say bye-bye to it. I want the Z9’s flippable rear screen.
The Z9 will be a camera with faster AF aquisition and stickiness, that also has a large sensor and that exciting rear screen, Oh, and it is silent too!
And today I also learned that having the imitation shutter sound will be a necessity for me. That is because, I sometimes mistakenly press and temporarily hold, one of the shutter release buttons and burn off a series of wasted frames.
Without the shutter noise, couldn’t the photographer fill the memory card in one long burst? It’s not likely but possible.
I was reading the Z9 manual on that feature. We can adjust the volume *and* pitch of the shutter sound.
p.4 #19 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
bs kite wrote:
Today, I tried to find the otters to photograph. I’m learning that they use breathing holes, just like seals do in the winter.
I always bring the D850’s right angle finder with me. Today, I screwed it in, to get a lower perspective.
I am also learning that when the otter surfaces in the hole in the ice, it lays on the ice for a long enough time, to regain its normal breathing.
Try as I may, I always have trouble finding the subject through the right angle finder. And even though I had a longer than usual time to find that resting otter, it slid back under the ice, an instant after I found it in the viewfinder.
I use the RAF all summer in my loon work. Now, I am looking forward to finally being able to say bye-bye to it. I want the Z9’s flippable rear screen.
The Z9 will be a camera with faster AF aquisition and stickiness, that also has a large sensor and that exciting rear screen, Oh, and it is silent too!
And today I also learned that having the imitation shutter sound will be a necessity for me. That is because, I sometimes mistakenly press and temporarily hold, one of the shutter release buttons and burn off a series of wasted frames.
Without the shutter noise, couldn’t the photographer fill the memory card in one long burst? It’s not likely but possible.
I was reading the Z9 manual on that feature. We can adjust the volume *and* pitch of the shutter sound.
You can limit number of photos taken in one burst to 200 or less as well so no need to worry if you put your camera in a bag and did not turn off the camera and shutter button is accidentally pressed continuously. Fast AF action via flippy screen is a lot of fun. Z7 ii was not too bad as long as the subject is not too challenging. I have the volume set to the lowest level which is very nice. D6 shutter is way too loud and I saw birds spooked by its shutter sound on several occasions.
I would like to hear about focus acquisition with the z9 vs a dslr you use with the 600mm . Thank you and have fun!! 
!!!!!!
