A1 or Z9

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Need help with eye focus for a1. I assigned AEL for eyeAF and when I place the AF area on the bird eye and press AEL , many times the focus lock on the eye does not happen. Is there anything I am doing wrong.
 
There is an even easier way than custom recall dial which is called custom recall “hold”. You can assign a full set of settings into a single button.
When I am doing “mixed shooting” my ael button is actually a custom recall hold which switches to small spot AF, 1/640 shutter speed and drops to 5fps for perched birds. When I get back to AF on, I instantly revert back to 1/3200 and 20fps with tracking zone. It’s like 2 cameras in one with just one button.

The best video on it is Mark Smith’s video for the A9 settings. That’s where I learnt about it.

Now if I do mostly bif then my AEL button is set differently. Those two configurations are stored in dial mode 1 and 2.
Thx I will try it out.This is indeed a great forum created by Steve.
I am glad did remember to renew my suporting member subscription recently :D
 
Need help with eye focus for a1. I assigned AEL for eyeAF and when I place the AF area on the bird eye and press AEL , many times the focus lock on the eye does not happen. Is there anything I am doing wrong.

i would recommend to leave eye AF on at all times. You can have a button set to turn it off in case you get a false recognition but this is so rare that I use eye AF and subject recognition as my default. The camera picks body, face or eye based on what it recognizes and switches seamlessly without your intervention. Also, at times the viewfinder shows that the camera recognized a bird face and yet the focus is spot on the eye - so I think the camera errs on the side of only showing a hard lock on the eye as opposed to “very close” Which shows as “face”.
 
Have been using the A1 with 200-600 and one con here is the smallest AF area is bigger than Nikon D5 making it difficult to focus on warblers and simillar birds in busy surroundings like shrubs, trees etc.

That’s where you need to “unlearn” a few things. You can’t shoot the A1 that way very well. Per my other post, keep eye AF and subject recognition on at all times. Then use the small flexible spot as a way to tell the camera roughly where to look for a subject / eye and trust the camera to find the eye in that small area (it does extremely reliably). The camera will look beyond the spot, but it will start there.
Those cameras need to be shot with a different mindset - it takes a bit of adjustment But once you let go of needing to control everything exactly and trust the camera with more of the decisions, your keeper rate will skyrocket.
 
Thx for the invaluable advice.It is really going to make my BIF shooting easy
This is how I have my a1’s set up. Mode 1 is for birds non flying: bird eye af on, flexible spot medium tracking, shutter speed 1/640, aperture f4, auto iso. Mode 2 is birds flying. I have the same settings as mode 1 but my shutter speed is at 1/3200 and af mode is zone tracking burd eye af. Mode 3 is animals. Animal eye af, tracking flexible spot medium, 1/1000, f4, auto iso. This allows me to quickly switch from one mode to the other and I than can use custom buttons or front and back dials to make adjustments as needed.
 
This is how I have my a1’s set up. Mode 1 is for birds non flying: bird eye af on, flexible spot medium tracking, shutter speed 1/640, aperture f4, auto iso. Mode 2 is birds flying. I have the same settings as mode 1 but my shutter speed is at 1/3200 and af mode is zone tracking burd eye af. Mode 3 is animals. Animal eye af, tracking flexible spot medium, 1/1000, f4, auto iso. This allows me to quickly switch from one mode to the other and I than can use custom buttons or front and back dials to make adjustments as needed.
Thx for the valuable advice.Sounds good. I will give them a try & test it out asap
 
That’s where you need to “unlearn” a few things. You can’t shoot the A1 that way very well. Per my other post, keep eye AF and subject recognition on at all times. Then use the small flexible spot as a way to tell the camera roughly where to look for a subject / eye and trust the camera to find the eye in that small area (it does extremely reliably). The camera will look beyond the spot, but it will start there.
Those cameras need to be shot with a different mindset - it takes a bit of adjustment But once you let go of needing to control everything exactly and trust the camera with more of the decisions, your keeper rate will skyrocket.
Thanks for the advice. Will try. Since I only shoot birds subject recognition is set to birds. I can use AFon to keep eye AF on at all times.
 
If I had to decide today…I would be hard pressed to pick one. I don’t like the Sony menu system and am used to Nikon’s…but most of that is familiarity I reckon and if I was a Sony guy I would love it and hate Nikon’s. OTOH…I am so not interested in a body with a built in grip…I don’t shoot much portrait orientation and the size and weight is more than I’m interested in.

What I want…is a non grip body with as much of the Z9 stuff as I can get. The 20/30/120 FPS is nice…but I would happily settle for 15/25/60 if that’s what it takes due to the smaller body size…I would mostly be shooting in max MP RAW anyway, the faster frame rates don’t matter much or me. Whether it’s a Z8, Z7III or whatever is fine…and while 45MP is nice…mid 30s is really good enough for me. And for my needs/wants…a crop sensor body would be just as good as well for the weight improvement over my Z7II…which I would be keeping anyway.
If I was forced to choose…I would go with the Z9…I think…on the menu and glass owned issue.

And…I want the ability to put AF modes on a button so I can easily switch to single point with a press and then another press to get back to where it was before…although a button and rotate the dial would be good enough if I can limit the selections on the dial without limiting selecting them in the i menu.
 
I too could have went with either body. In June I had the opportunity from a Sony A1 user while photographing Bald Eagles to look through the viewfinder, track Eagles in flight and do a 20 shot burst from his A1. I was very much in awe with what the Sony A1 has to offer for Raptor Photography. Meanwhile that day I walked away with a number of nice Photos of Eagles in flight with my D850 / 500 PF but that opportunity to handle the A1 really got me to thinking about switching brands. Since 2006 with my first Nikon DSLR purchase and 6 bodies since I decided to stay with Nikon. Today I completed the NPS Member priority shipping form with my purchase number thru a Nikon Dealer. Will the Z9 meet my Raptor / BIF satisfaction, that’s to be determined and owning the Z7ii in part has prepared me for the Z9’s menu system.
Come next June when I’m standing nearby the photographers that paid for Mark Smith’s Eagle Photography workshop in Washington State I’m sure there will be a few Z9 users in his group that will readily share some thoughts about the Z9 pros and cons.
 
Good photography is easy to buy. Buy the latest and greatest camera and lenses with all out automation, buy some solid software with AI in it's name and buy some tickets to the workshops of famous photographers. Unless you are completely brain-dead, you will come out of it with good photography.

It won't be good value for money photography and it won't be standout photography but it will be good photography.

The trouble is when you want to make great photos. Then you need to work extra hard to stand out from all the good photos that people can take with their wallets ;).
 
Good photography is easy to buy. Buy the latest and greatest camera and lenses with all out automation, buy some solid software with AI in it's name and buy some tickets to the workshops of famous photographers. Unless you are completely brain-dead, you will come out of it with good photography.

It won't be good value for money photography and it won't be standout photography but it will be good photography.

The trouble is when you want to make great photos. Then you need to work extra hard to stand out from all the good photos that people can take with their wallets ;).


I like the way you have answered the point, really, thank you.......

What you have said is true and its the modern day way of unskilled shooters being able to do what a true artistc pro photographer used to be able to do, thanks to technology skill sets are becoming far less needed.............or becomming some what obsolete...........

Photography manufactures have advanced with the technology enough to have the gear in novice hands deliver stunning technical results..........that's their future market......

So yes you can buy can good technical documentary photography, but if you don't have the eye, the imagination, the ability to use light and subjects to evoke emotion or a connection for the viewer, you end up mostly being a technical document er or recorder with no real skill sets....the use of a high tech camera, and use creative software coupled with plagiarizing variants makes one usually more a graphic designer............and that has it place and seems the future in many ways for a lot of people.

So take away all the tech gear and software, give some one a D2h D3X D300 and a kit lens or 150-500 Sigma .......and see where they end up with BIF action shots in a variety of conditions would be a fun example LOL
I mean do driver less cars make one a good driver LOL

Interesting fun subject........i am not always right........
 
Good photography is easy to buy. Buy the latest and greatest camera and lenses with all out automation, buy some solid software with AI in it's name and buy some tickets to the workshops of famous photographers. Unless you are completely brain-dead, you will come out of it with good photography.

It won't be good value for money photography and it won't be standout photography but it will be good photography.

The trouble is when you want to make great photos. Then you need to work extra hard to stand out from all the good photos that people can take with their wallets ;).


In addition...........

Do driver less cars make you a better drive, no they just make you a passenger..........LOL

Do these fully auto cameras make you a better photographer, with the super fast frame rates and focus tracking.......are you closer to being a video graph-er or just a recorder document-er, then using your computer processing and editing skills to graphically create the image you want, is that art or creative photography or graphic design.........interesting cross roads.......i could be off with the fairy's ...........or may be not.........

Only an opinion as allways
 
Here’s the thing when saying a camera does or does not make someone a better photographer. Gear makes a good photographer better it does not make a bad photographer better in most cases. If you don’t understand composition, exposure, depth of field and aren’t willing to capture your subjects in their best such as not wanting to get on the ground to be eye level than no camera is going to fix that. If it’s the better af helps you gain more keepers and makes up for lack of skill than it does make you better. Better is subjective, better could still mean you produce crap.

I had to laugh a few weeks ago while out shooting birds a guy came up to look at my big white lens and introduce himself. He apparently visits this location daily and it was my first visit. He invited me to join his Facebook group on this location so I did. He continued to describe himself as an advanced amateur and pointed towards some others and mentioned they weren’t. I smiled and continued on with my day. After viewing members post 99% of it I wouldn’t share including his as they really need to read Steve’s books. Comparing my photography to theirs I look like a pro, comparing my stuff to some of Steve’s and I look like a newbie lol. So ones skill level matters first and than gear. Gear can only do so much.
 
Here’s the thing when saying a camera does or does not make someone a better photographer. Gear makes a good photographer better it does not make a bad photographer better in most cases. If you don’t understand composition, exposure, depth of field and aren’t willing to capture your subjects in their best such as not wanting to get on the ground to be eye level than no camera is going to fix that. If it’s the better af helps you gain more keepers and makes up for lack of skill than it does make you better. Better is subjective, better could still mean you produce crap.

I had to laugh a few weeks ago while out shooting birds a guy came up to look at my big white lens and introduce himself. He apparently visits this location daily and it was my first visit. He invited me to join his Facebook group on this location so I did. He continued to describe himself as an advanced amateur and pointed towards some others and mentioned they weren’t. I smiled and continued on with my day. After viewing members post 99% of it I wouldn’t share including his as they really need to read Steve’s books. Comparing my photography to theirs I look like a pro, comparing my stuff to some of Steve’s and I look like a newbie lol. So ones skill level matters first and than gear. Gear can only do so much.

I like it.....

For top pros the camera represents around 10% of the result, for beginners the camera dose most of the work........

In motor cross we found a C grader/beginner relies on the motor bike 90% an A Grader rely,s on the bike 10%.............

My girl friend a non photographer was given for a moment an A1 with 100-400.....in full tracking mode from my mate on the beach, she asked him am i holding it right and where is the button i push, my Sony mate showed her how to hold it and push the shutter.........she took gulls and pelicans flying some people all on the beach, she didn't even review the images, she gave the camera back saying thank you, but that's boring, she picked up her surfboard and said i am for a few waves.........the images she took unbeknownst were brilliant just needed cropping etc but awesome........that night i told her about her great technical shots, she said i don't know what you guys see in it all........

Interesting what technology is doing for the consumer...........
 
Nikon Z9 is DPReviews PRODUCT OF THE YEAR winner.

Also, Nikon Z9 is runner up for HIGH-END camera (winner Sony A1) but (mainly) for following reason: "the Z9 is shaping up to be one of – if not the - best high-end ILCs we've ever seen. It's only the fact of its DSLR-like size and weight which just prevent it from taking the top award. "

 
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Here’s the thing when saying a camera does or does not make someone a better photographer. Gear makes a good photographer better it does not make a bad photographer better in most cases. If you don’t understand composition, exposure, depth of field and aren’t willing to capture your subjects in their best such as not wanting to get on the ground to be eye level than no camera is going to fix that. If it’s the better af helps you gain more keepers and makes up for lack of skill than it does make you better. Better is subjective, better could still mean you produce crap.

I had to laugh a few weeks ago while out shooting birds a guy came up to look at my big white lens and introduce himself. He apparently visits this location daily and it was my first visit. He invited me to join his Facebook group on this location so I did. He continued to describe himself as an advanced amateur and pointed towards some others and mentioned they weren’t. I smiled and continued on with my day. After viewing members post 99% of it I wouldn’t share including his as they really need to read Steve’s books. Comparing my photography to theirs I look like a pro, comparing my stuff to some of Steve’s and I look like a newbie lol. So ones skill level matters first and than gear. Gear can only do so much.

In the world of bird photography there are really two crowds - they are often confounded because we all take pictures of birds but really, the goal is quite different.
The first group is above all else loving birds, and their pictures document (often beautifully) an encounter, a species, a behavior - for that group, the documentation of nature is paramount even if at times the technique is left behind. To be honest, an R5 with that crazy 800 f:11 lens is a dream come true for that endeavor - results can be awesome but the reach achieved for the $ is second to none.

The second group loves nature and being in nature as much, but the goal is to create the most beautiful picture of an event as possible. I am in that group, and I may have thousands of images that document interesting moments (to me) but they'll rarely get posted because the light isn't right, a stick is in the wrong place, focus isn't tack sharp etc... ( i do post some of those here because there are real bird experts that can help with identification when Merlin fails me or to illustrate a point about equipment but most of them are only seen by me)

One pursuit is not more noble or more valuable than the other, it's all about what gives us the greatest joy and some folks excel at both and those I admire greatly.
 
Best wildlife photographers I know are well planted in both crowds... they love and know a lot about their subjects and this allows them to create those shots that move people and make them go "uuuh and aaaaah".

And that's what i mean you cant just buy good photography, you have to learn that with practice practice practice and with that comes knowledge and the aahaa
 
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