So far, I am very pleased with the Z9 for my sports photography business.
My only complaint is I would have preferred Nikon using the exact same body as the D6...weight, control layout and size but I am getting used to it.
However...the AF and frame rate put the Z9 in a different territory for shooting low-light action.
Those extra frames and eye focus create more editing but I will take that since I get many more options such as ball just leaving the fingers, puck still on the stick and hand not over the face.
The eye focus is quite remarkable during fast action.
I have only been able to cover indoor sports at higher ISO's but spring is just around the corner and there will be tons of baseball, softball, tennis and track through summer.
I look forward to many bright, sunny days and I will be shooting @ISO 64 outdoor action just like in my Kodachrome days.
Lee, I have had mine now two weeks and I agree that this camera is a 12 string guitar, and I've been playing 6 string a long time. This image below was captured during some testing at a game, as one of 155 images taken at the 120FPS mode of a layup. Only 2 frames of 155 were not in focus!!! This is an awful lit gym, ISO 9000 1/1600 @f2.8 but shows promise, these look better lit, than in real life.
Curious to know if you would share what is your current workflow is ... are you shooting just JPG now? Are you using in camera HighISO NR or not.
There's a little banding, but honestly you have to be looking for it, and more importantly the main subject in each photograph looks good. Maybe my calibrated 4k monitor with 100% sRGB coverage is helping me find the banding compared to other members. So yeah, you have to try hard.
Not sure about #5 if you are talking about the red line marker on the floor that appears to be going across the toe of the left shoe. That just looks like the shadow of the toe on the left shoe just happens to be in line with the red line as the white soles on either side of the toe don't show any red in them.
I am not sure what that is on the last one, could be a reflection off of something. I thought banding was only in the horizontal and not vertical and much more obvious than this.
Ok, I see what you are talking about at the top of #5, and yes I did almost go blind trying to find it. I don't know what to call that, maybe bad bokeh.
Ludvig83 wrote:
Sure. The only images I can confidently say that have banding without knowing the venue are #5 and the last picture from the first post.
Look at the thin red stripe at the top for #5. You might go blind trying to see it. The last picture on the upper left with the gray paint.
I think those lines are actually tiles. There seems to be vertical as well as horizontal lines involved at exactly 90 degree to the horizontal lines thus seem to be tiles on the wall. The last shot in the first set aren't horizontal anyway as they are at a slight angle to the sensor's horizon. This further adds credence to my belief it can't be banding as that would have you be exactly parallel to the sensor.
Further, the shot immediately previous to the last shot in the first set shows that the wall looks to have tiles on it as do some of the other shots.
I'm viewing on a 4k screen with 100% RGB and is callibrated.
There's no banding in the photos posted by Lee because there's no LED advertisement bands in those venues. Either way - you really need to focus on the background and not on the subject of the photos to notice that.
Coming from the D6, the Z9 is many steps forward...none back.
It was good timing when the Z9 arrived since I had to cover events at the 2 places I have dreaded for the past 15 years: the local bowling alley and the gymnastics academy.
Both are lit with ancient fluorescent bulbs...many of which you can see needed replacement years ago so the exposures and white balance would vary from frame to frame.
Add to that, even the D6 had an extremely difficult time focusing in either venue due to the lack of light.
The Z9 performed better than any camera I have ever used at these facilities so every other indoor or night arena, gym or field is a piece of cake from now on.
Also...my current crop of F Mount lenses focus more accurately on the Z9 than they ever did with the D6 but I attribute this to the unreal eye focus on the Z9.
The 30 frames per second bursts in the highest jpeg settings give you those extra choices and in the pictures I submitted you see the hockey puck still on the stick, the ball just leaving the fingers on some of the basketball shots plus shots with defenders in the frame where their hands are not covering the face of the player with ball.
Having the availability of those extra frames, sets the Z9 apart from any other camera.
On the shots that I posted, there are tiles, bricks, blocks and stands present in the backgrounds but no LED sign boards or advertisements in the frame.
I, my clients, associates and editors view the main subjects and are in complete awe of what the Z9 delivers at indoor facilities in this area given the challenging lighting and backgrounds available.
I will say that Nikon has hit the ball out of the park for those of us who rely on our cameras to make a living shooting sports.
lukemeup wrote:
There's no banding in the photos posted by Lee because there's no LED advertisement bands in those venues. Either way - you really need to focus on the background and not on the subject of the photos to notice that.
Hmm. I've seen quite a few evening sports or event shots where the players were covered in banding. That was due to the LED boards bright and close enough to significantly contribute to the lighting on the player. So I'd rather hesitate to declare this problem as limited to backgrounds. Of course you can have banding with a mechanical shutter, too.
When I scrolled down viewing your captures, the only thing that was coming to my mind was how well each capture looked. These are a great set of shots!
I was flabbergasted by the banding comment, as I didn't see any. As the old adage goes, some can't see the forest for the trees.
Anyway, I wanted to give you a on these. Well done!
When I scrolled down viewing your captures, the only thing that was coming to my mind was how well each capture looked. These are a great set of shots!
I was flabbergasted by the banding comment, as I didn't see any. As the old adage goes, some can't see the forest for the trees.
Anyway, I wanted to give you a on these. Well done!
Thanks...the Z9 is a great camera and works as advertised...the rest is up to each photographer.
on these. Well done!