p.58 #1 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
groob wrote:
All that seems very understandable. I imagine that using the 800mm for something other than birds would be a little difficult. I seem to remember that you’ve always wanted the 180-400mm from Nikon. They’ve come down on the used market to about the same price as the 800mm. Just curious, but would you ever sell/trade the 800mm for rhe 180-400mm? If not, is it because you’d find the adapter too annoying to deal with?
If you were to ask me this question 4 days ago, I think I would have traded my 800PF for a 180-400 w/ converter. I love what that lens has to offer and I think that it would work nicely for the way I like to shoot. I say 4 days ago (or so) because I just bought the Z 100-400mm lens.
I've settled on a 2 kit / 2 bag approach.
Bag #1: Wildlife Focus and Road Trips leaving from my home - Mindshift 36L Pack : 2 Bodies (Z9 and Z6II), 800PF, 100-400Z, 24-120 f4
Bag #2: Landscape Focus or Plane Travel - F-Stop Tilopa : 2 Bodies (Z9 and Z7II) 400mm f4.5, 100-400Z, 24-120 f4... need to buy 17-28mm f2.8 and ZTC1.4x converter
I think that this is how I have to now think about my gear.
p.58 #2 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
OwlsEyes wrote:
If you were to ask me this question 4 days ago, I think I would have traded my 800PF for a 180-400 w/ converter. I love what that lens has to offer and I think that it would work nicely for the way I like to shoot. I say 4 days ago (or so) because I just bought the Z 100-400mm lens.
I've settled on a 2 kit / 2 bag approach.
Bag #1: Wildlife Focus and Road Trips leaving from my home - Mindshift 36L Pack : 2 Bodies (Z9 and Z6II), 800PF, 100-400Z, 24-120 f4
Bag #2: Landscape Focus or Plane Travel - F-Stop Tilopa : 2 Bodies (Z9 and Z7II) 400mm f4.5, 100-400Z, 24-120 f4... need to buy 17-28mm f2.8 and ZTC1.4x converter
I think that this is how I have to now think about my gear.
Got you. Makes perfect sense. The 100-400 seems to be a great lens—and a heck of a lot more affordable than the 180-400 (but, surely, you could find a way to fit the 800mm in your travel bag!).
p.58 #3 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
A couple more from my recent trip. I was on toddler time, so I'll take what I can get in the limited time. Tanager, bunting and magpie are my firsts (we don't have magpies in the coastal BC).
p.58 #6 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
Helmeted hornbill, 800PF+ TCx2 and almost DX cropped.
One of the rarest hornbill overhere, very skittish and chance of getting close is incredibly rare.
@1600mm, f13, 1/640, iso 900, handheld. Result with TCx2 for ID shot is not too bad, I think.
PS I updated firmware to 1.1 before this trip and I was surprised. Almost all of my bif shot were very soft.
Much much worse than what I got with this lens in the past. Even hornbill and some eagles that were
not fast flyer with shutterspeed around 1/1000-1/1250 which in the past would give me tack sharp pictures except for the
tip of the wing that would have slight motion blur (the way I like it), this time > 90% of the pictures are not usable at all
. I have not seen anybody mentioned this so I am not sure if this is problem with new firmware or may be
I damage the lens during transportation ( I hand carried the lens with Z9 attached in Nikon's bag).
Stationary object seems fine so far.
p.58 #7 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
Three from the canoe yesterday evening.
My buddy and put the canoe in the water at 6:15 PM and shot a small island rookery until about 8:30. I've shot at this location since 2012 and have seen some major changes since that time. From about 2012-2016 it was filled with great blues. Following that year I started seeing more great egrets. By about 2020 the egret and heron populations were equal and the cormorant populations was growing. This you we had about 5 cormorant nests for every egret/great blue nest.
The trees that serve as nests are dying. I suspect that this is due to prolonged high water that has flooded the island. In addition, I think the phosphorus in the bird feces are probably damaging the root system.
I had a good shoot and ended up with some nice cormorants, herons, and egrets... While it was a challenge to handhold the 800PF and Z9 for those two hours, the speed of the camera, focus accuracy, VR, and lens quality allowed me to make the most of two hours... 2300 pictures later, I have a lot of editing to do
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens800mmf/7.11/2000s400 ISO+0.3 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens800mmf/7.11/2000s400 ISO+0.3 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens800mmf/8.01/2000s560 ISO+0.3 EV
p.58 #8 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
OwlsEyes wrote:
Three from the canoe yesterday evening.
My buddy and put the canoe in the water at 6:15 PM and shot a small island rookery until about 8:30. I've shot at this location since 2012 and have seen some major changes since that time. From about 2012-2016 it was filled with great blues. Following that year I started seeing more great egrets. By about 2020 the egret and heron populations were equal and the cormorant populations was growing. This you we had about 5 cormorant nests for every egret/great blue nest.
The trees that serve as nests are dying. I suspect that this is due to prolonged high water that has flooded the island. In addition, I think the phosphorus in the bird feces are probably damaging the root system.
I had a good shoot and ended up with some nice cormorants, herons, and egrets... While it was a challenge to handhold the 800PF and Z9 for those two hours, the speed of the camera, focus accuracy, VR, and lens quality allowed me to make the most of two hours... 2300 pictures later, I have a lot of editing to do
Helmeted hornbill, 800PF+ TCx2 and almost DX cropped.
One of the rarest hornbill overhere, very skittish and chance of getting close is incredibly rare.
@1600mm, f13, 1/640, iso 900, handheld. Result with TCx2 for ID shot is not too bad, I think.
PS I updated firmware to 1.1 before this trip and I was surprised. Almost all of my bif shot were very soft.
Much much worse than what I got with this lens in the past. Even hornbill and some eagles that were
not fast flyer with shutterspeed around 1/1000-1/1250 which in the past would give me tack sharp pictures except for the
tip of the wing that would have slight motion blur (the way I like it), this time > 90% of the pictures are not usable at all
. I have not seen anybody mentioned this so I am not sure if this is problem with new firmware or may be
I damage the lens during transportation ( I hand carried the lens with Z9 attached in Nikon's bag).
Stationary object seems fine so far. ...Show more →
Now that is a unique looking bird, well spotted and shot.
p.58 #14 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
Finally got the opportunity to take the 800mm PF lens out this morning
I found a number of images with the eye being slightly out-of-focus, similar to what I've been experiencing with the Fujifilm X-H2S. I don't recall having these issues when using the Z 100-400mm or 500PF with 1.4tc. It could be due to me updating the Z 9 firmware yesterday. Not sure.
Anyway a few happy snaps from a local garden this morning
p.58 #17 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
1) I am a bit chuffed. I was lucky enough to see a Brown Marsupial Mouse (Antechinus), only my second time seeing one. These are not rodents but marsupials like Kangaroos, Wallabies and Koalas etc. They are not necessarily rare but are very, very uncommon to see and are only found in a narrow strip of coastline on the east coast on NSW.
p.58 #18 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
Lance B wrote:
1) I am a bit chuffed. I was lucky enough to see a Brown Marsupial Mouse (Antechinus), only my second time seeing one. These are not rodents but marsupials like Kangaroos, Wallabies and Koalas etc. They are not necessarily rare but are very, very uncommen to see and are only found in a norrow strip of coastline on the east coast on NSW.
p.58 #19 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
My current project... not sure how long it will last, but the albino doe is back. I began shooting her 2 years ago, and she appears on the edge of forest between a small lake and me. The shooting is always between 6:00AM and 7:00AM when there is no light. Sunrise is in my face, so I am shooting in backlight when the sun peaks above the horizon.
These are from my first of 3 days... hope to shoot a few more of her this weekend and will share more as I process them.
bruce
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens800mmf/8.01/640s3200 ISO+0.3 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens800mmf/8.01/800s3200 ISO0.0 EV
p.58 #20 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
I was shooting helmeted hornbill with TCx2 as it was perching on top of a very tall tree from a boat. Suddenly it flew across the water over our boat unexpected so this is my bif shot with 1600mm
No cropping. Most shots I did not get the whole bird in the frame but I got a couple.
1600mm, f13, 1/1000, iso 640.
Looking back, I should have faster shutterspeed for this focal lenght but at the time, I was just surprised and all I could do was pointed the camera at the bird.
Tanager, bunting and magpie are my firsts (we don't have magpies in the coastal BC). 
