p.53 #7 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
Hi everyone. Need some help. I currently own a Sigma 500 F4 sports and a Nikkor 500 PF. Whilst I see that the PF is performing better on the Z9, from what I see here, I believe that the 500/600 E FL are performing better. I am one of those that I never really liked the PF to be honest (weight aside). I find it producing fairly flat images, I don't like the BG rendering etc.
As to afford the Z9, I need to sell one of the two glasses. Presuming that my F4 will perform in par with the E FL (from what I see in other fora) I am inclined to get rid of the PF and stay with my Sigma 500 F4 (until 200-600 is released and save more money). I don't trek, so weight is not an issue for me. What's you opinion?
p.53 #10 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
Z9 insane AF! This is why after the 1st 2-3weeks of having the Z9, I sold all 3 of my D500's. This is a Northern Shoveler flying away from me. The AF never lost focus even when the eye was blocked by the wing. This is the entire sequence. SOOC, no denoise, no sharpening, no exposure corrections and no color corrections. Just between 90 and 100% crops and export top jpeg. The only image missed was the 5th image and not sure if that was me based on this shot at 1/500. I posted the whole sequence to show that even when blocked it held focus.
Shot Z9+500PF at 1/500 f5.6 and Auto ISO560-900 3D+animal tracking and HE* 20fps FW 1.11
p.53 #12 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
Interesting take on usefulness of 11mp jpeg at 120FPS. It wasn't all THAT long ago that 12mp was considered high resolution. Add to that today's AI super res modes.
The key thing for me is that the important pixels are fully exposed to the RHS of the histogram with no blown pixels. Given that, a lot can be done with those pixels even if they do only have 8 colour bits per channel.
p.53 #18 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
Stunning action images y’all!
I’m on a six week shoot in the Southwest with my Z9 and hope it’s ok to interrupt every now and then with a landscape :-) I am not a night sky shooter but did enjoy trying the Z9 on a twilight shot in Zion a couple days ago. Since it was early in the night I was able to keep ISO at 500, and the lingering sky to the west (right) gave a glow to the canyon ridges to contrast with the starry blue sky. I did not add any saturation or vibrance, in fact I subtracted 10 points of saturation! I did add needed contrast and whites which popped the colors quite nicely. I continue to be extremely pleased with the malleability of the Z9 RAW files at ISO 64 and 500 [the dual gain ISO] where I am set 99% of the time.
