Z9 photo thread

[arbitrage]

The kingfisher sequence is brilliant considering the dull light & the size of the bird. I had difficulty in getting the pied kingfisher in focus in dull light when in flight. Its dull white & black feathers were nearly identical to the cloudy grey sky. I tried to acquire the focus in mid-flight. I couldn't see the perch it was sitting on...

What AF mode did you use? AF sensitivity?

I think I was in Wide-Area L and then switched into Auto as it flew. Or I was just in Auto the entire time. I was in Erratic and "5" for Tracking. AF-C release priority. 20FPS. VR Sport on the 500PF.
I was lucky as I could stand next to the bridge and then I could see a pedestrian starting to cross which will bring him within foot of the KF. The KF ignores cars on this small bridge but will fly if a person walks it. So I was able to really prepare for the flight as it was guaranteed to happen within a small window as the guy walked towards the KF and myself. Whether I was in W-A L or Auto, I know I had the BEAF active on the KF as it was perched and then the camera tracked from there as it dove and flew.

 

[sid_19911991]

I think I was in Wide-Area L and then switched into Auto as it flew. Or I was just in Auto the entire time. I was in Erratic and "5" for Tracking. AF-C release priority. 20FPS. VR Sport on the 500PF.
I was lucky as I could stand next to the bridge and then I could see a pedestrian starting to cross which will bring him within foot of the KF. The KF ignores cars on this small bridge but will fly if a person walks it. So I was able to really prepare for the flight as it was guaranteed to happen within a small window as the guy walked towards the KF and myself. Whether I was in W-A L or Auto, I know I had the BEAF active on the KF as it was perched and then the camera tracked from there as it dove and flew.

It is nice that sticky-5 setting could keep up. In my limited use so far, for fast moving birds 1 or 2 setting works better...

 

[sid_19911991]

1/2000 f5.6 0.7 EV ISO 900 Z9 + 500 pf

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[Nextlife1]

I think I was in Wide-Area L and then switched into Auto as it flew. Or I was just in Auto the entire time. I was in Erratic and "5" for Tracking. AF-C release priority. 20FPS. VR Sport on the 500PF.
I was lucky as I could stand next to the bridge and then I could see a pedestrian starting to cross which will bring him within foot of the KF. The KF ignores cars on this small bridge but will fly if a person walks it. So I was able to really prepare for the flight as it was guaranteed to happen within a small window as the guy walked towards the KF and myself. Whether I was in W-A L or Auto, I know I had the BEAF active on the KF as it was perched and then the camera tracked from there as it dove and flew.

I struggle with this discussion of Tracking Lock-on setting for shots like this, where the KF flies completely unobstructed for its entire flight. My understanding has always been (and as Steve Perry recently reinforced in a discussion on the Z9) that this setting only determines how long the camera will stay locked on if an object comes between the subject and the camera. Years ago (I can’t remember with which of my Nikon DSLRs) I experimented extensively for this setting and eventually decided for my uses a setting of 1 was the best; at high settings like 5 the camera was too slow to recover focus if it lost it. So I have always shot at a setting of 1 and this is where I have set my Z9. So my question for you guys who have been playing with this setting is this—are you really sure that in unobstructed shooting it affects how well the focus holds the subject once identified, or secondly how likely it initially picks the subject versus a busy background? That second one really makes no sense to me, especially in initial acquisition, given my understanding of this setting. Thanks!

 

[ninog]

I struggle with this discussion of Tracking Lock-on setting for shots like this, where the KF flies completely unobstructed for its entire flight. My understanding has always been (and as Steve Perry recently reinforced in a discussion on the Z9) that this setting only determines how long the camera will stay locked on if an object comes between the subject and the camera. Years ago (I can’t remember with which of my Nikon DSLRs) I experimented extensively for this setting and eventually decided for my uses a setting of 1 was the best; at high settings like 5 the camera was too slow to recover focus if it lost it. So I have always shot at a setting of 1 and this is where I have set my Z9. So my question for you guys who have been playing with this setting is this—are you really sure that in unobstructed shooting it affects how well the focus holds the subject once identified, or secondly how likely it initially picks the subject versus a busy background? That second one really makes no sense to me, especially in initial acquisition, given my understanding of this setting. Thanks!

I was wondering the same thing... I'll be attentive to the answers.

 

[Darwin]

Approached this heron near the shore on this windy 20* afternoon. I did not anticipate getting this close. I had intentions of getting a pan shot with a 1/60 shutter speed but it didn't mind me. Maybe it was too cold to care lol. Love the dynamic range when you get to shoot at ISO64!

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[arbitrage]

What I did find out today in relation to the 1-5 setting is that if you use Wide-Area (S or L) and it finds a subject/head/eye it will track it over the entire frame until the sensitivity "timer" runs out and then it tries to refocus within the initial Wide Area. However if the bird was large in the frame and I aimed the Wide-Area at the head, it finds the eye, I recompose so that the Wide-Area is now over the body of the bird then the system continues to track the eye indefinitely. I guess because the Wide-Area is still over the "subject".

I have not had a chance to experiment with 1-5 for fast BIF. I was using 5 because it is similar to 1 on my Sony and I've always found that leaving the Sony on the most "sticky" setting was best. 1-5 really shouldn't be affecting the speed in which it keeps up with a bird it is actively tracking if we take the wording and Nikon's explanations at their word. But I will certainly try to test this next weekend when I'm supposed to have sunny conditions and see if I can notice it tracking better at 1 vs 5.

 

[Nextlife1]

What I did find out today in relation to the 1-5 setting is that if you use Wide-Area (S or L) and it finds a subject/head/eye it will track it over the entire frame until the sensitivity "timer" runs out and then it tries to refocus within the initial Wide Area. However if the bird was large in the frame and I aimed the Wide-Area at the head, it finds the eye, I recompose so that the Wide-Area is now over the body of the bird then the system continues to track the eye indefinitely. I guess because the Wide-Area is still over the "subject".

I have not had a chance to experiment with 1-5 for fast BIF. I was using 5 because it is similar to 1 on my Sony and I've always found that leaving the Sony on the most "sticky" setting was best. 1-5 really shouldn't be affecting the speed in which it keeps up with a bird it is actively tracking if we take the wording and Nikon's explanations at their word. But I will certainly try to test this next weekend when I'm supposed to have sunny conditions and see if I can notice it tracking better at 1 vs 5.

Thanks for the update. Do you think the length of the “sensitivity timer” varies by setting 1-5 if no obstruction to focus occurs?

 

[arbitrage]

Thanks for the update. Do you think the length of the “sensitivity timer” varies by setting 1-5 if no obstruction to focus occurs?

I'm not sure. When I was testing I started eye tracking on a perched pigeon, then moved the Wide-Area Small away from the bird. Then you would see the Wide Area S try to focus again and the eye detect would stop. The length of time it took before it tried to focus in the new area was directly related to the setting 1 through 5.

I'm not sure how it behaves if it is actively tracking an eye and then an OOF stick is placed in front of the subject. My guess is it will just ignore the stick as MILCs aren't great at seeing near, OOF objects anyways.

 

[Nextlife1]

I'm not sure. When I was testing I started eye tracking on a perched pigeon, then moved the Wide-Area Small away from the bird. Then you would see the Wide Area S try to focus again and the eye detect would stop. The length of time it took before it tried to focus in the new area was directly related to the setting 1 through 5.

I'm not sure how it behaves if it is actively tracking an eye and then an OOF stick is placed in front of the subject. My guess is it will just ignore the stick as MILCs aren't great at seeing near, OOF objects anyways.

Very interesting observation. Reading the language in the Z9 Reference Manual the description of Focus Tracking with Lock-on is identical to that of Nikon DSLR manuals and only deals with blocked shot AF response. Your observations suggest that despite what is written that with mirrorless Nikon cameras it also determines how long the camera waits to attempt refocusing if the focus point is no longer in the focus area box (Wide-Large and Wide-Small). Begs the question what else it affects that they don’t describe…….

 

[Darwin]

A lone Snowgoose this morning among a hundred Canadian geese.

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[Nextlife1]

What I did find out today in relation to the 1-5 setting is that if you use Wide-Area (S or L) and it finds a subject/head/eye it will track it over the entire frame until the sensitivity "timer" runs out and then it tries to refocus within the initial Wide Area. However if the bird was large in the frame and I aimed the Wide-Area at the head, it finds the eye, I recompose so that the Wide-Area is now over the body of the bird then the system continues to track the eye indefinitely. I guess because the Wide-Area is still over the "subject".

Tested this myself this morning and you are absolutely right--at a setting of 5 it definitely waits longer once the focus point is outside the box before it tries to refocus. I still wonder about any effect on initial focus aquisition--it's not apparent to me that there is any for perched/stationary subjects. Would be more interested in any possible effect on BIF.

I have not had a chance to experiment with 1-5 for fast BIF. I was using 5 because it is similar to 1 on my Sony and I've always found that leaving the Sony on the most "sticky" setting was best. 1-5 really shouldn't be affecting the speed in which it keeps up with a bird it is actively tracking if we take the wording and Nikon's explanations at their word. But I will certainly try to test this next weekend when I'm supposed to have sunny conditions and see if I can notice it tracking better at 1 vs 5.

I'm not sure I would take "Nikon's explanations at their word" since they say absolutely nothing about the lock-on behavior described by you above!

 

[DGettisNC]

Ruby Crowned Kinglet
Z9 + 500PF @ 1/400sec * f5.6 * iso450
Of course, after a full week of sunny skies last week, we get to the weekend where the forecast was rain/wintry mix/snow plus strong winds all day Saturday and Sunday (when I can actually get out and shoot)...so I didnt see much of anything other than 4 bald eagles from 400yds away that didnt move for over an hour, a few Kinglets and a couple of Red Headed Woodpeckers.

Had some branches partially obstructing the view on this Kinglet.

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[DGettisNC]

And since nothing else was going on, I figured I'd try out some tracking on some distant/small birds in flight. Nothing great here as these were around iso2200 and cropped to about 7% of the original image. I believe I was using 3D tracking here. Only real thing I can take from it is I am glad to see it stuck to the bird at the very top-left edge of the frame.

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[thelordofthelight]

This is interesting and i will keep this in mind when I go out the next time. What I thought was, if part of the subject is within the big wide area box, then the smaller box that tracks the eye would extend anywhere outside the wide area box, even when the eye or head is totally outside the bigger wide area box. In case the entire subject goes outside the bigger wide area box, then the smaller box would just momentarily look around for a second or so and if we manage to bring the subject or part of the subject back within the bigger box then the smaller box continues to track the eyes/head but if it doesn't see a part of the subject then it lets go of the focus.

What I did find out today in relation to the 1-5 setting is that if you use Wide-Area (S or L) and it finds a subject/head/eye it will track it over the entire frame until the sensitivity "timer" runs out and then it tries to refocus within the initial Wide Area. However if the bird was large in the frame and I aimed the Wide-Area at the head, it finds the eye, I recompose so that the Wide-Area is now over the body of the bird then the system continues to track the eye indefinitely. I guess because the Wide-Area is still over the "subject".

I have not had a chance to experiment with 1-5 for fast BIF. I was using 5 because it is similar to 1 on my Sony and I've always found that leaving the Sony on the most "sticky" setting was best. 1-5 really shouldn't be affecting the speed in which it keeps up with a bird it is actively tracking if we take the wording and Nikon's explanations at their word. But I will certainly try to test this next weekend when I'm supposed to have sunny conditions and see if I can notice it tracking better at 1 vs 5.

 

[arbitrage]

This is interesting and i will keep this in mind when I go out the next time. What I thought was, if part of the subject is within the big wide area box, then the smaller box that tracks the eye would extend anywhere outside the wide area box, even when the eye or head is totally outside the bigger wide area box. In case the entire subject goes outside the bigger wide area box, then the smaller box would just momentarily look around for a second or so and if we manage to bring the subject or part of the subject back within the bigger box then the smaller box continues to track the eyes/head but if it doesn't see a part of the subject then it lets go of the focus.

Yes, if you keep the subject in the Wide-Area box or get it back into the box then it should keep the smaller head/eye box tracking. The setting of 1-5 determines how long you have to do that.

 

[arbitrage]

From Sunday...all with 500PF....fairly high ISO....if you want the EXIF click through to Flickr....


January 16, 2022-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
January 16, 2022-3.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
January 16, 2022.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
January 16, 2022.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
January 16, 2022-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
January 16, 2022-3.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
January 15, 2022-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr

 

[Nimi]

From Sunday...all with 500PF....fairly high ISO....if you want the EXIF click through to Flickr....


January 16, 2022-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
January 16, 2022-3.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
January 16, 2022.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
January 16, 2022.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
January 16, 2022-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
January 16, 2022-3.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
January 15, 2022-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr

Can't. Wait. For. My. Z9.

 

[gdecamp]

From Sunday...all with 500PF....fairly high ISO....if you want the EXIF click through to Flickr....
January 15, 2022-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr

Very nice!!

 

[abc123brian]

A few shots from this morning with the Z9 + 500mm PF. Weather was a little breezy and cold.

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[Lance B]

Nothing overly special, just trying out various subjects to see how the AF works.

These two Silvereyes showed up just below the platform I was standing on to get the Pelican shots (later in the post). I was impressed with the AF as the Z9 picked then straight up, admittedly, their eyes are well defined!

Z9 + 500 f5.6 PF.

Pelicans. I was in a very elevated spot and these Pelicans were riding the updraughts and thought they made for a good shot.

Z9 + 500 f5.6 PF

A Peregrine Falcon came by but never really close.

Z9 + 500 f5.6 pF

The ubiquitous Gull shot.

 

[sid_19911991]

And since nothing else was going on, I figured I'd try out some tracking on some distant/small birds in flight. Nothing great here as these were around iso2200 and cropped to about 7% of the original image. I believe I was using 3D tracking here. Only real thing I can take from it is I am glad to see it stuck to the bird at the very top-left edge of the frame.
View attachment 30810View attachment 30811

View attachment 30808View attachment 30809

In my limited use of the Z9 so far, I feel the AF mostly struggles irrespective of the 4 focus modes (auto, large, wide, 3D) & sensitivity settings for distant birds when its colour greatly resembles the background or surrounding.

I mean to say the camera struggles to acquire the initial focus under the follow circumstances.

1) Bird colours resembles surroundings/background. (Pied Kingfisher, River Terns against a dull or white background/sky)

2) The bird is less than 30% of size of the frame even with "DX mode" on a 500 pf. (Meaning it is about 150 feet away or more)

3) When the background appears limitless or any obstacles is 1000s of metres away.

In such situations I find the Z9 to be extremely jumpy. The focus motor keeps racking up & down as if it has got epilepsy. But once it picks up it latches on to the bird well. I often find myself having to turn the focus ring to drive some sense into it.

However I have never had such issues if the background is a concrete wall or a row of trees or foliage within 200-300 feet. Z9 does a good job in acquiring focus on the birds...it is as if a limitless horizon confuses the Z9 more than anything!


So have you encountered anything like this folks?

 

[thelordofthelight]

I have been shooting some non-BIF for the last 2-3 days in the tropical forest. These are some really tiny flycatchers and kingfishers about the size of hummingbirds, perhaps a tad bigger. The flycatchers are so dull in color, with dark eyes and are quite hard to distinguish from the surroundings. With the kingfisher it wasn't a surprise at all as the bird is so colorful but with the dull flycatchers, the eye af worked so well even from quite a distance. I was using 3d tracking mostly and it was snappy and will be my go to mode for static/ walking/slow moving birds. There were times when the camera could nail the birds' eyes even before I could see it on the EVF!
Of course, there were 2 issues i noticed, 1. when the bird is in extreme clutter and is tiny in the frame, the camera needs some assistance so I used single point AF and then 3d to recompose but these are anyways going to be images that I'd never even mind photographing if not to test the AF.
2. Times when the camera just doesn't AF no matter what AF mode one tries. I know folks use manual focus to help the camera but what works for me is, i try to identify a contrasty object that's almost in the same plane of focus, like a tree bark or branch, then acquire the initial focus and then move to the bird and it works fairly well. This is a common problem on all mirrorless cameras AFAIK.

 

[sid_19911991]

Every time I come across blackbucks, I am reminded of the magnificence of Yakul in Princess Mononoke!
I think at the 20-22nd mark, one can notice its right pupil moving & gazing at the camera while walking parallel to the shooter...
Do watch it in 4k if you do!

 

[simo]

Nothing overly special, just trying out various subjects to see how the AF works.

These two Silvereyes showed up just below the platform I was standing on to get the Pelican shots (later in the post). I was impressed with the AF as the Z9 picked then straight up, admittedly, their eyes are well defined!

Z9 + 500 f5.6 PF.

Pelicans. I was in a very elevated spot and these Pelicans were riding the updraughts and thought they made for a good shot.

Z9 + 500 f5.6 PF

A Peregrine Falcon came by but never really close.

Z9 + 500 f5.6 pF

The ubiquitous Gull shot.

great shots Lance... A peregrine came out from nowhere?? love it! Especially because you share it among common birds like "yeah...a peregrine" lol.