p.2 #1 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
Ol woof2025's first post ever on the site is that his Nikon wont perform to his focusing satisfaction and hes going to Sony. How is this not a troll post?
p.2 #2 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
1bwana1 wrote:
Seriously, why should all that B.S. workflow be needed just to get an AF system to track the pupil of a human eye in good light? … The photographer just needs to focus on things that make an image special, like moment and composition.
In broad principle I agree with you. Gear should “just work” and “get out of the way” of our creative process.
That said, your post is a bit of internet hyperbole. It took me maybe 3 minutes to type my reply and detail my workflow. It might take you as much time or considerably less to set your camera up as I suggest, and with modest attention, get near your 100% accuracy (which let’s be honest is unrealistic and, in your words, BS). I’ve taken thousands of great - or at the very least, sharp where I want ‘em - photos with generations past AF, and the tech in a Z8 is astoundingly good in comparison.
Sony, and other manufacturers, don’t offer a panacea, they don’t miraculously unburden you from paying attention, or participating actively in crossing a minimum threshold of learning and operation, if you want to consider yourself competent and create good work. And to the contrary, I have anecdotal stories of Sony’s miracle AF doing absurd and frustrating things that Nikon or Canon seem to breeze through. So, experiences differ, and to be frank I don’t aspire to turn my photography into the equivalent of stewarding a driverless car.
Bottom line, shoot what works for you, get out and make good photos. What works is going to be different for different people.
p.2 #3 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
1bwana1 wrote:
That doesn't quite match with what other Nikon shooters are saying even in this very thread. But if it works that way for you then I agree it is dead simple, and pretty much equivalent to how the other systems work. None of them require a menu dive to switch between modes either.
People do seem to be using a more complex workflow than I do, but I cannot understand why. AA works for basically every situation, but when it doesn't, just program 3D/single point/wide to the BBF and a Fn button. All situations are manageable at that point, including backlit ones.
p.2 #4 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
Which lenses were you using?
From my personal experience and reading forums - it seems that fast lenses 1.2-1.8 work best, while f/4 and slower are more likely to miss focus with this camera.
I agree with the others here - you should probably get an A7r5 and be done with it (since you are loving your fx30.)
woof2025 wrote:
I'm a fashion photographer, I shoot lots of frames, lots of subjects moving quite quickly. Currently using a D850 which I quite like but that face detect AF really draws me to the mirrorless options. I ordered a Z8 and after my first testing I'm finding the eye detect to be slightly off, often getting the end of the nose instead of the iris. My FX30 that I use for video always nails focus, all the time, every time. Is this a known issue with the Z8, the reviews haven't mentioned it..
p.2 #5 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
cmm1398 wrote:
Ol woof2025's first post ever on the site is that his Nikon wont perform to his focusing satisfaction and hes going to Sony. How is this not a troll post?
This is unfortunately a very real possibility. If that were the case it could either be an individual initiative or an organized one.
The growing success of Nikon has some Sony users extremely worried it seems. And I do understand they concern. The limited rate of progress of the flagship a1II does clearly open the door for an undisputed lead by Nikon with the Z9II when it ships later this year. Nikon’s momentum makes this extremely likely.
Btw people shooting both video and stills will know that apparent success in video in terms of sharpness doesn’t correlate well with perfect focus in stills. Video is a lot less demanding and the streaming nature provides much more data points to the focusing system.
p.2 #6 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
bernardl wrote:
This is unfortunately a very real possibility. If that were the case it could either be an individual initiative or an organized one.
The growing success of Nikon has some Sony users extremely worried it seems. And I do understand they concern. The limited rate of progress of the flagship a1II does clearly open the door for an undisputed lead by Nikon with the Z9II when it ships later this year. Nikon’s momentum makes this extremely likely.
Btw people shooting both video and stills will know that apparent success in video in terms of sharpness doesn’t correlate well with perfect focus in stills. Video is a lot less demanding and the streaming nature provides much more data points to the focusing system.
If he is a troll that would be both disturbing and saddening. It never crossed my mind. Many people here on FM sincerely addressed his post. I among them. I would not like being used in such a manner.
However, I have never heard a whisper of any organized effort to do something like that. I very much doubt that will turn out to be the case. If it is trolling, it is a individual with issues. But at this time I see no evidence of that.
I agree with Bernard that the A1II was not a strong releasee. Al least as far as new features are concerned. I will not be upgrading. Maybe by A1III time. Still I doubt many Sony users are feeling threatened by Nikon. Latest market share data (BNC) shows Sony gaining meaningfully, Canon falling, and Nikon essentially flat picking up 1% which is probably within the margin of error. This may be why Sony put out such a meager upgrade with the A1II. They see no serious threat to their technical leadership at this time. Evidence this by the fact that even the most ardent Nikon fans still benchmark Nikon against the aged A1(II). A camera that was clearly ahead at release setting the new standards.
p.2 #7 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
RoamingScott wrote:
The vast majority of Nikon shooters on this board with Z cams, posting about their own experiences, have no problem getting iris focus keepers for the vast majority of their shots.
I suspect a certain someone that has no Z experience that insists on posting here wouldn't have any issues himself, either. He's content to just run his mouth out of pocket continuously about things he doesn't understand for his own enjoyment.
You mean like you posting in the Leica forums, or every other forum for that matter?
p.2 #8 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
I'm sure there are tons of people would love to get to the Nikon system. I'm one of them but it is known, even on this forum, that the Nikon has a problem with the eye AF. There was a thread, about 6 month ago about this problem, the post has 1 billion pages. It is a problem, and Nikon still did not fix it.
Latest FW for Z9 was about Video.... I'm sure 90% of people on this forum are retirees, they are taking pictures of the their dogs or the hamming birds from a balcony, and ones a year they got to the Canyon lands and take pictures of the arch, you all know which one... And then they making post how happy they are with the system ... and they "never" miss a shot... and so on...
p.2 #9 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
tester_V wrote:
I'm sure there are tons of people would love to get to the Nikon system. I'm one of them but it is known, even on this forum, that the Nikon has a problem with the eye AF. There was a thread, about 6 month ago about this problem, the post has 1 billion pages. It is a problem, and Nikon still did not fix it.
Latest FW for Z9 was about Video.... I'm sure 90% of people on this forum are retirees, they are taking pictures of the their dogs or the hamming birds from a balcony, and ones a year they got to the Canyon lands and take pictures of the arch, you all know which one... And then they making post how happy they are with the system ... and they "never" miss a shot... and so on......Show more →
And yet as I have said there are a lot of very good photographers creating World Class portraits with Nikon mirrorless cameras including the Z8/9. I see them regularly. They are fluent with the camera, and how to get the best out of it. Many of these are hobbyists and not professionals. My point of view in this thread is not that the camera is incapable, but that I find in some use cases the workflow to be unnecessarily busy and awkward.
AS just one example spend some time looking at Joe McNally's work with Nikon mirrorless cameras.
p.2 #10 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
1bwana1 wrote:
If he is a troll that would be both disturbing and saddening. It never crossed my mind. Many people here on FM sincerely addressed his post. I among them. I would not like being used in such a manner.
However, I have never heard a whisper of any organized effort to do something like that. I very much doubt that will turn out to be the case. If it is trolling, it is a individual with issues. But at this time I see no evidence of that.
I agree with Bernard that the A1II was not a strong releasee. Al least as far as new features are concerned. I will not be upgrading. Maybe by A1III time. Still I doubt many Sony users are feeling threatened by Nikon. Latest market share data (BNC) shows Sony gaining meaningfully, Canon falling, and Nikon essentially flat picking up 1% which is probably within the margin of error. This may be why Sony put out such a meager upgrade with the A1II. They see no serious threat to their technical leadership at this time. Evidence this by the fact that even the most ardent Nikon fans still benchmark Nikon against the aged A1(II). A camera that was clearly ahead at release setting the new standards....Show more →
Yep totally agree. It’s just sus (this is a word my 17yo uses) that his first (and only post to date) is this little hand grenade thrown in the middle of the room.
p.2 #11 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
tester_V wrote:
I'm sure there are tons of people would love to get to the Nikon system. I'm one of them but it is known, even on this forum, that the Nikon has a problem with the eye AF. There was a thread, about 6 month ago about this problem, the post has 1 billion pages. It is a problem, and Nikon still did not fix it.
Latest FW for Z9 was about Video.... I'm sure 90% of people on this forum are retirees, they are taking pictures of the their dogs or the hamming birds from a balcony, and ones a year they got to the Canyon lands and take pictures of the arch, you all know which one... And then they making post how happy they are with the system ... and they "never" miss a shot... and so on......Show more →
The think is that such reports are frequent with other brands also.
It depends on a variety of factors. Lens, aperture, focusing mode, burst speed, light level, color of the eyes and face topology,...
I personally do portrait among other things, both in the studio and in the wild, and use my Z8/Z9 in parallel with the Fuji GFX-100II. I used to shoot Sony with the a9III + 35f1.4/50f1.2 GM but ended up selling it.
I did experience my fair share of issues with the a9III, it is far from being the ideal focusing camera it is sometimes hyped to be. It is very good, but far from perfect. So are the Z8/Z9.
So I am frankly a bit puzzled to see Nikon singled out here.
p.2 #12 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
1bwana1 wrote:
If he is a troll that would be both disturbing and saddening. It never crossed my mind. Many people here on FM sincerely addressed his post. I among them. I would not like being used in such a manner.
However, I have never heard a whisper of any organized effort to do something like that. I very much doubt that will turn out to be the case. If it is trolling, it is a individual with issues. But at this time I see no evidence of that.
I agree with Bernard that the A1II was not a strong releasee. Al least as far as new features are concerned. I will not be upgrading. Maybe by A1III time. Still I doubt many Sony users are feeling threatened by Nikon. Latest market share data (BNC) shows Sony gaining meaningfully, Canon falling, and Nikon essentially flat picking up 1% which is probably within the margin of error. This may be why Sony put out such a meager upgrade with the A1II. They see no serious threat to their technical leadership at this time. Evidence this by the fact that even the most ardent Nikon fans still benchmark Nikon against the aged A1(II). A camera that was clearly ahead at release setting the new standards....Show more →
Who benefits most from driving more engagement on this web site
Why aren't there proper controls in place to verify users are legitimate
No benefit in doing that is there, just cost !
As for the meagre A1ii upgrade - between the A1ii and the A9iii they are the only two flagships that have pre-focus that works properly. The R5ii and R1 appear to be a disaster as far as pre-capture goes - now it seems they won't keep the subject in focus if it moves suddenly toward the camera while using pre-capture - it even says to expect that in the Canon manuals - but it's cleverly hidden in a drop down !! May as well have had jpeg pre-capture.
I will stick with Sony - don't want to find out I have been sold no astroturf!
p.2 #13 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
More than likely a troll or someone who didn’t take the time to learn the equipment. The first couple of days with my Z8 were frustrating because of the AF, but after learning how to use the various AF modes, I love the flexibility of the camera.
p.2 #14 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
I think some of the members here are vastly over sensitive about their cameras.
To liken this question to a hand grenade…Come on now.
You have the obvious options of not responding; acknowledging that people have had these issues with this camera before; offering help…etc.
I think such a question only turns into a “grenade” if the existing members react inappropriately.
cmm1398 wrote:
Yep totally agree. It’s just sus (this is a word my 17yo uses) that his first (and only post to date) is this little hand grenade thrown in the middle of the room.
p.2 #15 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
I shoot the D850 at the moment and have done for a long time. It's a fair amount of work focusing and adjusting focus points on it. When I go to video and pick my FX30 up I just point the thing at a person and their eye is perfectly in focus, basically all the time. Having to do tricks like the handoff that I keep hearing about seems like as much work as the D850 which totally negates any reason to change to the Z system. Anyhow, I've got a Sony A7RV on its way, I'll let you know how I get on with this.
p.2 #16 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
cmm1398 wrote:
Ol woof2025's first post ever on the site is that his Nikon wont perform to his focusing satisfaction and hes going to Sony. How is this not a troll post?
I don't even understand what kind of troll this could be, non of us are involved in designing these cameras, me saying the Z8 isn't focusing well for me shouldn't affect you in any way. Do you derive some sort of your identity from what kind of camera you own? I've shot Nikon for about 10 years if that makes any difference? Isn't the purpose of a forum just people discussing what works for them and what doesn't?
p.2 #17 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
cmm1398 wrote:
Yep totally agree. It’s just sus (this is a word my 17yo uses) that his first (and only post to date) is this little hand grenade thrown in the middle of the room.
Wow, I had no idea that a slight focus issue would be seen as a hand grenade? You guys are really sensitive!
p.2 #18 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
I picked up Z8 after being with Sony for almost 5 years, I used A7C, A7IV, A7RV (My Fav), FX3, ZV-E1.
Z8 feels much much faster in everything, this camera has no lag in any operation, this thing is like a racing car. I may never use a non stacked sensor camera again, also for my big hands Z8 fits like a glove.
I get tack sharp eye focus, be it humans, animals or birds even with my E mount adapted glass. Somehow my Samyang 135 works better adapted.
Sony is super reliable and served me so well, but I just prefer Z8 now.
p.2 #19 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
woof2025 wrote:
I shoot the D850 at the moment and have done for a long time. It's a fair amount of work focusing and adjusting focus points on it. When I go to video and pick my FX30 up I just point the thing at a person and their eye is perfectly in focus, basically all the time. Having to do tricks like the handoff that I keep hearing about seems like as much work as the D850 which totally negates any reason to change to the Z system. Anyhow, I've got a Sony A7RV on its way, I'll let you know how I get on with this. ...Show more →
Good luck with your new camera. I hope it brings you many years of great photography.
p.2 #20 · After testing Z8 and having focus issues I may go to the Sony A7RV
woof2025 wrote:
Wow, I had no idea that a slight focus issue would be seen as a hand grenade? You guys are really sensitive!
The Nikon forums have a certain reputation to uphold...
There you go Nikon guys, you have mistakenly maligned, accused, and labled, a sincere new member of FM who was just looking to discuss his experiences in order to make a decision. No one is out to get Nikon, there is no "conspiracy of frighten Sony people", no Russian collusion, and the laptop is real.
Seriously guys, get over the PTSD. The days when Nikon trailed badly in mirrorless technology are behind us. Nikon is fully competitive in this regard these days. Like all camera brands Nikon has it's own personality, performance quirks, and design esthetics. Discussing these this is a good thing, and should not be viewed as an attack on you or your brand.
Amazingly even after all of this I am confident that some (bet we could name them in advance) will continue to question woof2025'ss sincerity, or somehow try to assign him blame. It runs deep here sometimes.
