Z9 ! : Official thread for Z9 images and discussion
this is me wrote: bs kite wrote: this is me wrote: bs kite wrote:
Who has tried photographing butterflies in flight?
Are they just too fast to hold in the frame? But how about from a distance?
Is the Z9's AF quick enough to acquire and hold one of the larger species .... say a Monarch or Swallowtail in flight?
Would you post some images?
Thanks
Robert
Challenge accepted.
Good for you!
Let's see what you can do with the Z9 on butterflies.
No rush.
Thanks!
--
Afterthought: It's going to be awhile before they even show. In my butterfly garden I do not see Monarchs and Swallowtails until July.
I finally had some time to visit the butterfly place. butterfly in flight was nothing less than frustrating. First, a butterfly flight pattern is very weird and doesn't seem to have a destination whatsoever. I used auto detect and it's was a mess, maybe if you have just one butterfly, it's okay. But there was a lot of them flying and the camera doesn't really know what to do. The eye AF if hopeless. It detects the false eye patten on the butterfly wings instead(nature did what it intended to do here).
I think if you're really into butterfly in flight, you can and will get the shot. However, the place was effing hot and humid and I wasn't in the mood for it.
Here are some shots I got from the place. Using single point AF because any subject detection AF will likely get the wings in focus instead.
Keep in mind these are shot with MC 105f2.8S(apparently with VR). In hindsight, maybe I should've close down the aperture a bit but I have a habit of using wide open for my portraiture shoots. Oh well.
I bumped into your post here, from the bottom to top; I opened the thread at Michael Fullana's images of their new rescue pup running.
As I scrolled upward through the butterfly images, I uttered the words "a butterfly house", meaning that this posting is of a bunch of butterflies taken inside a butterfly aviary.
The images are outstanding, albeit static. I think you picked the right focal too, and the backgrounds are super.
You posted *an eloquent description* of the frustration of trying to find and hold a flying butterfly in the viewfinder, long enough to capture a suitable image.
I greatly appreciate your candor. And yes, those places are humid. Back in the late 80's I frequented a place called Butterfly World in Lauderdale. All the images I got had black backgrounds from flash, because in those days, it was Kodachrome 25 or 64 or Fujichrome/Velvia.
What is that new feature of the Z9 that allows the photographer to begin shooting before the action starts? I forget what they call it.
Anyway, not sure if it is the same thing we already do. With the D850's relatively slow 9fps, I watch the animal (birds and insects are animals) very closely and try so hard to anticipate when it is going to launch, and I begin to burst *before* I think it is going to launch. The problem with the D850 is that (depending on how close I am to the little bird at my bird feeder), I almost always just get 1.5 images ... an image of it launching with the next frame being the tip of its tale feather . They are that fast. And you are right, butteries are more difficult because the butterfly gives no indication at all on when it is going to launch. And as you also said, nor do we have any idea where it is going.
The faster FPS is a great advantage the Z9 has over this D850 or D500 in this situation of shooting flying butterflies (or attempting to ).
I have a butterfly garden that I've put a lot or work into (especially this season, more than others, excepting the first season).
The only technique I can think of is the one I have been using. The improvement I can make is to not get too close (for deeper DOF), and start bursting when everything looks good and just keep shooting until it flies or the buffer runs down.
Thank you
Robert
afterthought: I removed a sentence that said "It cannot be done." It's a good challenge for those interested.
I recall a guy years ago who used electronic tripper to freeze insects in flight. Stephen Dalton I think.
Z9 ! : Official thread for Z9 images and discussion
this is me wrote: bs kite wrote: this is me wrote: bs kite wrote:
Who has tried photographing butterflies in flight?
Are they just too fast to hold in the frame? But how about from a distance?
Is the Z9's AF quick enough to acquire and hold one of the larger species .... say a Monarch or Swallowtail in flight?
Would you post some images?
Thanks
Robert
Challenge accepted.
Good for you!
Let's see what you can do with the Z9 on butterflies.
No rush.
Thanks!
--
Afterthought: It's going to be awhile before they even show. In my butterfly garden I do not see Monarchs and Swallowtails until July.
I finally had some time to visit the butterfly place. butterfly in flight was nothing less than frustrating. First, a butterfly flight pattern is very weird and doesn't seem to have a destination whatsoever. I used auto detect and it's was a mess, maybe if you have just one butterfly, it's okay. But there was a lot of them flying and the camera doesn't really know what to do. The eye AF if hopeless. It detects the false eye patten on the butterfly wings instead(nature did what it intended to do here).
I think if you're really into butterfly in flight, you can and will get the shot. However, the place was effing hot and humid and I wasn't in the mood for it.
Here are some shots I got from the place. Using single point AF because any subject detection AF will likely get the wings in focus instead.
Keep in mind these are shot with MC 105f2.8S(apparently with VR). In hindsight, maybe I should've close down the aperture a bit but I have a habit of using wide open for my portraiture shoots. Oh well.
I bumped into your post here, from the bottom to top; I opened the thread at Michael Fullana's images of their new rescue pup running.
As I scrolled upward through the butterfly images, I uttered the words "a butterfly house", meaning that this posting is of a bunch of butterflies taken inside a butterfly aviary.
The images are outstanding, albeit static. I think you picked the right focal too, and the backgrounds are super.
You posted *an eloquent description* of the frustration of trying to find and hold a flying butterfly in the viewfinder, long enough to capture a suitable image.
I greatly appreciate your candor. And yes, those places are humid. Back in the late 80's I frequented a place called Butterfly World in Lauderdale. All the images I got had black backgrounds from flash, because in those days, it was Kodachrome 25 or 64 or Fujichrome/Velvia.
What is that new feature of the Z9 that allows the photographer to begin shooting before the action starts? I forget what they call it.
Anyway, not sure if it is the same thing we already do. With the D850's relatively slow 9fps, I watch the animal (birds and insects are animals) very closely and try so hard to anticipate when it is going to launch, and I begin to burst *before* I think it is going to launch. The problem with the D850 is that (depending on how close I am to the little bird at my bird feeder), I almost always just get 1.5 images ... an image of it launching with the next frame being the tip of its tale feather . They are that fast. And you are right, butteries are more difficult because the butterfly gives no indication at all on when it is going to launch. And as you also said, nor do we have any idea where it is going.
The faster FPS is a great advantage the Z9 has over this D850 or D500 in this situation of shooting flying butterflies (or attempting to ).
I have a butterfly garden that I've put a lot or work into (especially this season, more than others, excepting the first season).
The only technique I can think of is the one I have been using. The improvement I can make is to not get too close (for deeper DOF), and start bursting when everything looks good and just keep shooting until it flies or the buffer runs down.
Thank you
Robert
afterthought: I removed a sentence that said "It cannot be done." It's a good challenge for those interested.
I recall a guy years ago who used electronic tripper to freeze insects in flight. Stephen Dalton I think.
Z9 ! : Official thread for Z9 images and discussion
this is me wrote: bs kite wrote: this is me wrote: bs kite wrote:
Who has tried photographing butterflies in flight?
Are they just too fast to hold in the frame? But how about from a distance?
Is the Z9's AF quick enough to acquire and hold one of the larger species .... say a Monarch or Swallowtail in flight?
Would you post some images?
Thanks
Robert
Challenge accepted.
Good for you!
Let's see what you can do with the Z9 on butterflies.
No rush.
Thanks!
--
Afterthought: It's going to be awhile before they even show. In my butterfly garden I do not see Monarchs and Swallowtails until July.
I finally had some time to visit the butterfly place. butterfly in flight was nothing less than frustrating. First, a butterfly flight pattern is very weird and doesn't seem to have a destination whatsoever. I used auto detect and it's was a mess, maybe if you have just one butterfly, it's okay. But there was a lot of them flying and the camera doesn't really know what to do. The eye AF if hopeless. It detects the false eye patten on the butterfly wings instead(nature did what it intended to do here).
I think if you're really into butterfly in flight, you can and will get the shot. However, the place was effing hot and humid and I wasn't in the mood for it.
Here are some shots I got from the place. Using single point AF because any subject detection AF will likely get the wings in focus instead.
Keep in mind these are shot with MC 105f2.8S(apparently with VR). In hindsight, maybe I should've close down the aperture a bit but I have a habit of using wide open for my portraiture shoots. Oh well.
I bumped into your post here, from the bottom to top; I opened the thread at Michael Fullana's images of their new rescue pup running.
As I scrolled upward through the butterfly images, I uttered the words "a butterfly house", meaning that this posting is of a bunch of butterflies taken inside a butterfly aviary.
The images are outstanding, albeit static. I think you picked the right focal too, and the backgrounds are super.
You posted *an eloquent description* of the frustration of trying to find and hold a flying butterfly in the viewfinder, long enough to capture a suitable image.
I greatly appreciate your candor. And yes, those places are humid. Back in the late 80's I frequented a place called Butterfly World in Lauderdale. All the images I got had black backgrounds from flash, because in those days, it was Kodachrome 25 or 64 or Fujichrome/Velvia.
What is that new feature of the Z9 that allows the photographer to begin shooting before the action starts? I forget what they call it.
Anyway, not sure if it is the same thing we already do. With the D850's relatively slow 9fps, I watch the animal (birds and insects are animals) very closely and try so hard to anticipate when it is going to launch, and I begin to burst *before* I think it is going to launch. The problem with the D850 is that (depending on how close I am to the little bird at my bird feeder), I almost always just get 1.5 images ... an image of it launching with the next frame being the tip of its tale feather . They are that fast. And you are right, butteries are more difficult because the butterfly gives no indication at all on when it is going to launch. And as you also said, nor do we have any idea where it is going.
The faster FPS is a great advantage the Z9 has over this D850 or D500 in this situation of shooting flying butterflies (or attempting to ).
I have a butterfly garden that I've put a lot or work into (especially this season, more than others, excepting the first season).
The only technique I can think of is the one I have been using. The improvement I can make is to not get too close (for deeper DOF), and start bursting when everything looks good and just keep shooting until it flies or the buffer runs down.
Z9 ! : Official thread for Z9 images and discussion
this is me wrote: bs kite wrote: this is me wrote: bs kite wrote:
Who has tried photographing butterflies in flight?
Are they just too fast to hold in the frame? But how about from a distance?
Is the Z9's AF quick enough to acquire and hold one of the larger species .... say a Monarch or Swallowtail in flight?
Would you post some images?
Thanks
Robert
Challenge accepted.
Good for you!
Let's see what you can do with the Z9 on butterflies.
No rush.
Thanks!
--
Afterthought: It's going to be awhile before they even show. In my butterfly garden I do not see Monarchs and Swallowtails until July.
I finally had some time to visit the butterfly place. butterfly in flight was nothing less than frustrating. First, a butterfly flight pattern is very weird and doesn't seem to have a destination whatsoever. I used auto detect and it's was a mess, maybe if you have just one butterfly, it's okay. But there was a lot of them flying and the camera doesn't really know what to do. The eye AF if hopeless. It detects the false eye patten on the butterfly wings instead(nature did what it intended to do here).
I think if you're really into butterfly in flight, you can and will get the shot. However, the place was effing hot and humid and I wasn't in the mood for it.
Here are some shots I got from the place. Using single point AF because any subject detection AF will likely get the wings in focus instead.
Keep in mind these are shot with MC 105f2.8S(apparently with VR). In hindsight, maybe I should've close down the aperture a bit but I have a habit of using wide open for my portraiture shoots. Oh well.
I bumped into your post here, from the bottom to top; I opened the thread at Michael Fullana's images of their new rescue pup running.
As I scrolled upward through the butterfly images, I uttered the words "a butterfly house", meaning that this posting is of a bunch of butterflies taken inside a butterfly aviary.
The images are outstanding, albeit static. I think you picked the right focal too, and the backgrounds are super.
You posted *an eloquent description* of the frustration of trying to find and hold a flying butterfly in the viewfinder, long enough to capture a suitable image. It cannot be done. .
I greatly appreciate your candor. And yes, those places are humid. Back in the late 80's I frequented a place called Butterfly World in Lauderdale. All the images I got had black backgrounds from flash, because in those days, it was Kodachrome 25 or 64 or Fujichrome/Velvia.
What is that new feature of the Z9 that allows the photographer to begin shooting before the action starts? I forget what they call it.
Anyway, not sure if it is the same thing we already do. With the D850's relatively slow 9fps, I watch the animal (birds and insects are animals) very closely and try so hard to anticipate when it is going to launch, and I begin to burst *before* I think it is going to launch. The problem with the D850 is that (depending on how close I am to the little bird at my bird feeder), I almost always just get 1.5 images ... an image of it launching with the next frame being the tip of its tale feather . They are that fast. And you are right, butteries are more difficult because the butterfly gives no indication at all on when it is going to launch. And as you also said, nor do we have any idea where it is going.
The faster FPS is a great advantage the Z9 has over this D850 or D500 in this situation of shooting flying butterflies (or attempting to ).
I have a butterfly garden that I've put a lot or work into (especially this season, more than others, excepting the first season).
The only technique I can think of is the one I have been using. The improvement I can make is to not get too close (for deeper DOF), and start bursting when everything looks good and just keep shooting until it flies or the buffer runs down.
Thank you
Robert
Jun 11, 2022 at 11:00 AM
Previous versions of bs kite's message #15965270 « Z9 and Z8 ! : A thread for Z9/Z8 images and *discussion* »
. They are that fast. And you are right, butteries are more difficult because the butterfly gives no indication at all on when it is going to launch. And as you also said, nor do we have any idea where it is going. 