You're just killing it with the 400 f4.5. I absolutely love the upward flight of the pileated... that shot blows my mind.
I am curious... how much cropping are you doing on these. There is no way I could get close enough to a pileated with my 800mm lens to get that tight of a frame!
Sometimes I look at some of your flight shots and I think it's time to sell the lot and move on to a new hobby
bruce
OwlsEyes wrote:
You're just killing it with the 400 f4.5. I absolutely love the upward flight of the pileated... that shot blows my mind.
I am curious... how much cropping are you doing on these. There is no way I could get close enough to a pileated with my 800mm lens to get that tight of a frame!
Sometimes I look at some of your flight shots and I think it's time to sell the lot and move on to a new hobby
bruce
Thanks Bruce. The Pileated is cropped a lot. Final pixels of the presented image are only 2813 x 1877. So only 5.28MP left over from the 45MP. But in our area you can get fairly close to them. This one was flying out over a valley as I was standing on the cliff side waiting for kestrels.
More great stuff, Geoff. Excellent control of difficult whites on the buffleheads (and on the swallows given the combination of darks and whites). How'd you find the performance of the Z9 on larger birds? Still a tick below the A1? Any of the swallow frustrations dissipate?
groob wrote:
More great stuff, Geoff. Excellent control of difficult whites on the buffleheads (and on the swallows given the combination of darks and whites). How'd you find the performance of the Z9 on larger birds? Still a tick below the A1? Any of the swallow frustrations dissipate?
Z9 on the ducks is on par with A1. They both nail everything without any issues. Sure you get some DOF missed critical head/eye focus but you don't really get AF wandering off the subject with either camera for this type of subject.
Swallow shooting is getting easier each time I go out. But I now understand, and therefore I'm working within, the limits of the Z9 AF system when it comes to the small in frame focus and background focus. I think my results have shown the Z9 is totally capable of shooting swallows.
Still, if someone from the future told me that within the next hour something amazing is going to happen and I will have a split second to react and get the contest winning shot, I'd have the A1 in my hand. The AF is just more confident grabbing the subject regardless of size in frame and background complexity so I can just trust it a bit more.
My ideal camera system based on what is out there right now would be A1 internals and button customization placed into a Canon R3 body and mounting Nikon Z lenses onto it (Z400, 800PF, 400TC, 600TC).
My ideal camera system based on what is out there right now would be A1 internals and button customization placed into a Canon R3 body and mounting Nikon Z lenses onto it (Z400, 800PF, 400TC, 600TC).
There it is , regardless of brand loyalty some truth on the forums. There is no perfect camera , well said.
You guys are killing it with these BIF images with this lens! I enjoy shooting wildlife but I’ve mostly stuck with slow moving subjects. I‘d like to give BIF a shot, but I’m definitely going to need a gear upgrade to make that feasible.
This 400mm f4.5 is one of two lenses that is really tempting me into the Nikon Z system (the other being the 24-120mm). I appreciate the pro-level sharpness, contrast, and subject isolation, with a price tag that’s just about within reach for a hobbyist like myself.
I have already the 500pf and I would like to know if for catching birds in fly, taking into account the difference in focal length between the 2 lenses, there is a difference in responsiveness and in the accuracy of the AF?
arbitrage wrote:
Z9 on the ducks is on par with A1. They both nail everything without any issues. Sure you get some DOF missed critical head/eye focus but you don't really get AF wandering off the subject with either camera for this type of subject.
Swallow shooting is getting easier each time I go out. But I now understand, and therefore I'm working within, the limits of the Z9 AF system when it comes to the small in frame focus and background focus. I think my results have shown the Z9 is totally capable of shooting swallows.
Hey Geoff, what Z9 AF Area mode are you finding works the best to keep focus on the bird and not losing it to the background?
