pfinfante
Member
Who here (aside from Steve P.) is using a Nikon Z7 for their wildlife photography? I recenlty moved from the Z6 to Z7.
Nikon Z7
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DrBob
Member
I tried wildlife photography with my Z7. Fine for animals that don't move too fast, but I found that the delay in the focus caused me to miss more bird-in-flight shots. I switched back to my D850.
Although I do use the Z for wildlife, it's still not anywhere close to my primary camera. Mostly, it's still the D850, D6 (was the D5) and more recently, the Sony a9ii. The Z7 does well, but as Bob says, it's better for animals that don't move too fast. I personally use the Z7 and 500PF when I need a light, easy to carry rig (or when in my kayak).
I actually went the other way and went from a Z7 to a Z6. Like was previously stated the Z cameras are good for subjects that aren't fast moving. For mammals and big birds it's fine. For faster subjects I have my D5 but if hiking it's nice to have the smaller body. The Z6 handles high iso slightly better than the Z7 which as you know is quite common in wildlife photography.
pfinfante
Member
The other reason I went for the Z7 is that without the anti-aliasing low-pass filter I figured I'd gain on sharpness. I know that Steve P. is using a Z7 with what looks like outstanding results.
Z6 and 500pf is ok too
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I have used my Z7 for wildlife when I was weight limited and had brought the Z7 for landscapes, etc. However, when I can take my D850 or D500 I prefer them. The Z7 is not impossible for wildlife, but I feel it does not AF as well as the D’s.
The Z7 is a great camera and I'm not trying to sway you away from it. For my needs the Z6 works well, your usage may be different than mine.
I tend to use my D850 more than my Z7 for wildlife, mostly because the AF is better on the D850. However, depending on the critter, having that electronic shutter on the Z7 is a big bonus sometimes. There's numerous times where I only get one shot off on the D850 and then the animal is gone. I'm really looking forward to a mirrorless from Nikon where the AF rivals that which is in the D850.
pfinfante
Member
Hopefully an upcoming firmware upgrade. Some things have been getting better with each.
SMF85
New member
The Z7 uses a hybrid PDAF/CDAF focusing mechanism - its more accurate than the PDAF solution of the D850 [but faster than the CDAF of live view] at the expense of AF speed. You could increase PDAF speed in mirrorless by increasing the size & count of cells but it's at the expense of resolution (PDAF cells take up space that could otherwise go to imaging cells).
cohenfive
Active member
I have a z6 currently, had a z7. I also have a d850 and d500. When I shoot wildlife the z6 stays in the bag. It just doesn't perform well enough. Yes for static subjects it is ok, but wildlife isn't always static, and then the keeper rate drops to unacceptable levels.
pfinfante
Member
Why did you dump the Z7 for a Z6 ?
cohenfive
Active member
Two reasons...first, I didn't want to have that much invested in nikon mirrorless given the performance issues, so I downgraded. I already had a high resolution body in the d850 and wanted the better video of the z6. So I switched. I really like the z bodies, good iq in the right conditions and great for video. But nikon needs to get in the game in terms of performance particularly on af, or they will continue to bleed customers. It isn't going to be a firmware upgrade, it has to be a new body with faster processing and a different af module imo.
I've used the Z6 and 300 pf but as others have said once things start moving.... I am loving mirrorless enough though that I'm going to pick up a Z7 (waiting for the 7s) and going to make it my primary portrait and landscape camera. The S mount lenses are amazing in my experience.