There are lots of Woodpeckers, Eagles, and Osprey in my area. I use SD exclusively and I have never had a problem with those types of birds on a Z8/Z9 in any scenario I've encountered. They are larger and slower than so many other types of birds I think they are on the easier side for the AF. There are lots of examples in the photo threads on these forums from a variety of users if you're looking for a very specific type of photo. I am often shooting near dusk at F9 through a TC at the limit of acceptable ISO (for me), and the SD works as expected. The idea that SD is so taxing that it should be turned off is a bit silly That isn't to say you'll never find a scenario where closest-priority AF works slightly better (SD-off) but I haven't run into any personally. In my experience, SD works great even on erratic Swallows and that is much more taxing on the AF than something much larger with a predictable trajectory. Hard to say what is going on in your case without more info, but the situations you describe are objectively not difficult for the Z8/Z9 SD. If you have found something that works better for you personally though, then there is nothing wrong with sticking to it - that's why we have options!
As I've illustrated in other threads, the challenge with the Z8 for BIF has been largely limited to Osprey and Eagle strikes. The photos you provided, are ones I can and do capture easily. It's bizarre to track a bird soaring, through the dive, and a couple of frames before the strike the AF just simply wanders off target only to regain it several frames later. And for this to happen repeatedly with the bird large and centered in the frame is simply head scratching. I'm not here to debate whether this occurs as I've posted multiple sequences (some with as many as 100+ frames) demonstrating this strange behavior.
Given that I have to travel to shoot those subjects, the best that I can do is to experiment with challenging scenarios locally and trust that these will translate into further success with the Osprey/Eagle strikes. Using SD to track waterfowl taking off and landing or other large slow birds such as Spoonbills, GBH, Egrets, etc., and some faster birds like Hawks, Kestrels, etc. are not problematic and I can easily achieve 92-95% success rates. As I mentioned, when I tested shooting a quick passerine in flight - a red headed woodpecker - subject detect failed and could not keep up with the subject as it flew back and forth. Turning off SD yielded amazing accuracy. As an aside, I routinely turn off SD for swallows and KF's and have achieved much better results in those settings as well.
There are lots of Woodpeckers, Eagles, and Osprey in my area. I use SD exclusively and I have never had a problem with those types of birds on a Z8/Z9 in any scenario I've encountered. They are larger and slower than so many other types of birds I think they are on the easier side for the AF. There are lots of examples in the photo threads on these forums from a variety of users if you're looking for a very specific type of photo. I am often shooting near dusk at F9 through a TC at the limit of acceptable ISO (for me), and the SD works as expected. The idea that SD is so taxing that it should be turned off is a bit silly That isn't to say you'll never find a scenario where closest-priority AF works slightly better (SD-off) but I haven't run into any personally. In my experience, SD works great even on erratic Swallows and that is much more taxing on the AF than something much larger with a predictable trajectory. Hard to say what is going on in your case without more info, but the situations you describe are objectively not difficult for the Z8/Z9 SD. If you have found something that works better for you personally though, then there is nothing wrong with sticking to it - that's why we have options!
As I've illustrated in other threads, the challenge with the Z8 for BIF has been largely limited to Osprey and Eagle strikes. The photos you provided, are ones I can and do capture easily. It's bizarre to track a bird soaring, through the dive, and a couple of frames before the strike the AF just simply wanders off target only to regain it several frames later. And for this to happen repeatedly with the bird large and centered in the frame is simply head scratching. I'm not here to debate whether this occurs as I've posted multiple sequences (some with as many as 100+ frames) demonstrating this strange behavior.
Given that I have to travel to shoot those subjects, the best that I can do is to experiment with challenging scenarios locally and trust that these will translate into further success with the Osprey/Eagle strikes. Using SD to track waterfowl taking off and landing or other large slow birds such as Spoonbills, GBH, Egrets, etc., and some faster birds like Hawks, Kestrels, etc. are not problematic and I can easily achieve 92-95% success rates. As I mentioned, when I tested shooting a quick passerine in flight - a red headed woodpecker - subject detect failed and could not keep up with the subject as it flew back and forth. Turning off SD yielded amazing accuracy. As an aside, I routinely turn off SD for swallows and KF's and have achieved much better results in those settings as well.
Nov 19, 2024 at 08:35 PM
Previous versions of armd's message #16689153 « Is Nikon AF (Z9/8) really that much worse? »
That isn't to say you'll never find a scenario where closest-priority AF works slightly better (SD-off) but I haven't run into any personally. In my experience, SD works great even on erratic Swallows and that is much more taxing on the AF than something much larger with a predictable trajectory. Hard to say what is going on in your case without more info, but the situations you describe are objectively not difficult for the Z8/Z9 SD. If you have found something that works better for you personally though, then there is nothing wrong with sticking to it - that's why we have options!
