p.72 #2 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
After a rocky (sandy actually!) start, I am starting to get dialed into the Z9. I love it! It is so good to have a unibody again, the thing feels indestructible and so good in-hand. Especially in portrait orientation, so much fun to shoot. Makes me want to shoot again! And the video, wow. I can see it taking me 5 years to learn to use the extent of the video capabilities. And it is so good to be able to use it as a self contained unit, albeit at a high cost in card storage! The Z9/24-120 combo is a complete powerhouse.
Took it out to the west coast of Auckland, NZ last weekend where Australasian Gannets and some Terns nest. The Gannet season is pretty much over with nearly all chicks fledged and pairs having migrated west again. But a few stragglers were still about. Using nearly 30 year old glass (600/4 AFS and 300/4 AFS) which the Z9 breathes new life into. These old lenses are plenty sharp and the 600/4 has very fast AF. But they do not have modern coatings so very quickly lose contrast as they are angled towards the light. This does increase AF challenges but makes for very attractive rendering IMHO. But good grief that 600/4 handles like a pig!, 6kg, most of which feels like is in the front element. Have the 800pf on order but goodness only knows when that will turn up in this part of the world.
Anyway, a few initial images, mixture of handheld and monopod with 300 and 600 AFS lenses, some with a 1.4II teleconverter IIRC:
p.72 #3 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
NIKKOR Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S, 400mm, F5.6, 1/500, ISO180 baby fox by eric laquerre, sur Flickr
NIKKOR Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S, 400mm, F5.6, 1/500, ISO200 baby fox by eric laquerre, sur Flickr
NIKKOR Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S Z TC-2.0x, 800mm, F11,1/200,ISO640 _DSC4085 by eric laquerre, sur Flickr
p.72 #8 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
I just came back from a 5 day trip to Oregon. It was nice to be finally able to cross the border.
I was wondering how the Z9 will work for a 'roadtrip' camera (since everyone seems to be making its size/weight a big deal). Packed 14-30/24-70/70-200/500 in F-stop Tilopa and to be honest - I had absolutely zero issues.
I'm still selecting the photos but here's a small sample of what I posted so far (not just birds).
p.72 #9 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
I'll definitely want to go back to eastern (more arid) portion of Colombia Gorge to photograph birds. Spent just one afternoon and one morning in Deschutes River State Rec Area.
p.72 #10 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
Just got my Z 105mm macro, been craving the wide-open shallow depth look for local wildflowers, the pair here are Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica). Handheld using a 20fps burst to help with the breeze moving things about, made it easy in processing to select the best frame. The shape of a background leaf gave the look of vignetting.
p.72 #12 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
I know using power banks to charge batteries was already discussed but another good way when you're driving is to get one of the car chargers with power delivery. I got this Anker - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0843SCLYH. The battery would charge in camera while driving to another destination (might be a good solution if you're driving a lot on a trip and don't want to bother with power banks).
p.72 #16 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
I ordered my Z9 in early Feb and received it in early April. I've had about a month to adapt to it (from my old D850). I've had Nikon cameras going back to the F100.
The Z9 is the best camera I've ever owned, hands down. The ML auto focus works incredibly well. It's fast and accurate for fast moving subjects. With the 2.0 firmware upgrade the pre-capture feature is a game changer for wildlife photography.
One of the big advantages that I didn't appreciate of mirrorless over DSLRs is that the viewfinder shows true exposure and depth of field. No more taking a shot, checking in playback, then adjusting - you can do it all thru the viewfinder while composing.
People have commented that the Z9 makes their old lenses sharper. I agree and I guess that's due to the auto focus system that lens focus fine-tuning is no longer necessary (although the Z9 still has the feature). Can anyone can comment on this?
Battery life is great; I've taken thousands of shots without having to recharge. The F mount adapter works great.
My usual post-processing steps have generally been reduced to just cropping. JPEG straight out of the camera is really really good.
My recommendation is if you can afford it, buy it now. If you can't afford it, sell something, and buy it now. Great camera.
p.72 #18 · Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion*
Last bunch from Oregon. Z9 takes anything I throw at it in stride (I guess I'm not a super demanding user). I was mainly using 70-200 / 500 on this trip (with some shots using 24-70 2.8). More (with full exif info) in this album on flickr: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzNpU4
These look great. Just wondering, how much of a crop is the swallow and is this image part of a sequence? If so what was the rest of the sequence like, this one sure looks sharp?
