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EricBowles

EricBowles

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I just finished a week at Jekyll Island on the Georgia Coast. It's a favorite location for photography but the primary purpose was a vacation with my wife. Of course, we both had cameras and photo gear. Weather conditions were not ideal, so I only got in two sessions of wildlife photography. But the last session was quite productive. I only used the Nikon Z7ii and 800mm PF. The location has lots of birds - oystercatchers, gulls, terns, pelicans, skimmers, sanderlings, and turnstones. When the wind and light are right and coming from the same direction, it's a very productive location. My objective was to test the combination for birds in flight.

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NorthernFocus said:
Looks like pretty good results. How was tracking BIF coming toward you with the z7?
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Focus was very quick with Wide Small and Wide Large. No problem picking up subject after subject and following them. I was not using 3D tracking - just staying on the subject.

The toughest subject is a backlit bird or the birds in shadow. With good light and contrast, it was quite reliable.
 
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Steve said:
Great set. I've heard of Jekyll Island but never I've been there - maybe I'll have to give it a try. Looks fun!
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It's a good stop on a trip to Florida. The island is state owned with 67% undeveloped by law. I was shooting at the southern tip of the island - a location that requires a 1 mile walk each way. But it's usually very productive. Let me know if you want to give it a try. I'll send you the details.
 
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EricBowles said:
It's a good stop on a trip to Florida. The island is state owned with 67% undeveloped by law. I was shooting at the southern tip of the island - a location that requires a 1 mile walk each way. But it's usually very productive. Let me know if you want to give it a try. I'll send you the details.
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Thanks - I'll send you a PM next time I'm traveling through the area. :)
 
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Great shots Eric. I went to Jekyll Island a few times as a teenager, long before I knew anything about photography. Just down for a few day trips :).
 
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Great series Eric. When I go on vacation with my wife, she wants me to leave the camera back home/at the motel and have more time together. Don't blame her. When we are home we tend to spend a lot of time on our personal activity (photography for me, chamber music for Jane)
 
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RichF said:
Great series Eric. When I go on vacation with my wife, she wants me to leave the camera back home/at the motel and have more time together. Don't blame her. When we are home we tend to spend a lot of time on our personal activity (photography for me, chamber music for Jane)
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I try to strike a balance. Normally it's going out early for sunrise and being back by 8:30 or 9:00. In this case due to weather I only went out early 4 days out of 8 - and she came with me two of those days. My wife is a pretty good photographer and is a backup shooter for me on events if needed.
 
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EricBowles said:
I try to strike a balance. Normally it's going out early for sunrise and being back by 8:30 or 9:00. In this case due to weather I only went out early 4 days out of 8 - and she came with me two of those days. My wife is a pretty good photographer and is a backup shooter for me on events if needed.
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My wife has a great eye and is very creative but lacks in technical knowledge (mostly because it does not interest here). A few days ago I went to viola master class with her and while it struck me as the perfect academic lecture. If I knew what was presented I would have been impressed, but I did not understand more than 2-3%. Of course I don't play a string instrument so I was a large disadvantage
 
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There were probably 1000+ birds at this location for the first 90 minutes at sunrise. I was the only person there for the entire time. Of course, it is remote, and involves a 0.7 to 1 mile walk to get to the best shooting area. I base the decision to visit this area on the sun angle, wind direction, and tides. The ideal is the sun and wind coming from the same direction for an hour or two after sunrise and before sunset. And it's best on the rising tide where the tide moves the birds toward the camera. These are normal ideas for shorebirds in general but certainly apply here. I've been in this location over a week and had every early morning session with sun and wind from opposite directions - leading to all backlit bird photography.
 
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Looks great, Eric. I'm still shooting the D850 but every day or so I see an ad for Z7ii's on sale and think maybe I should switch. Everyone talks so negatively about it that I am hesitant... I did rent one when they first came out and didn't find the tracking THAT bad, just not that much better than the D850 at that point... But there have been firmware updates since then that seem like it helps. I mainly shoot large mammals and suspect it would do fine on those. Almost $6K for a Z9 is pretty expensive for my budget, and waiting for Nikons "next offering" is an endless pit, lol... Your post has me thinking about a Z7ii again! Thanks for sharing your success.
 
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Chad Huff said:
Looks great, Eric. I'm still shooting the D850 but every day or so I see an ad for Z7ii's on sale and think maybe I should switch. Everyone talks so negatively about it that I am hesitant... I did rent one when they first came out and didn't find the tracking THAT bad, just not that much better than the D850 at that point... But there have been firmware updates since then that seem like it helps. I mainly shoot large mammals and suspect it would do fine on those. Almost $6K for a Z9 is pretty expensive for my budget, and waiting for Nikons "next offering" is an endless pit, lol... Your post has me thinking about a Z7ii again! Thanks for sharing your success.
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I had the D850 and sold it. Part of my thought process was the simplicity of using Z cameras only. But the other part was the improved focus accuracy with the Z cameras. It's a bit of a balance - the Z is better for static subjects, exposures, and more enjoyable to shoot. The Z cameras require a bit more understanding of the settings and options if you are not getting the results you want. The D850 is a terrific camera, but for me the situations where it had any advantage were few and far between, but I have been using Nikon DSLR cameras since the release of the D70 so it was quite intuitive.

One thing with the Z cameras - you can't assume a setting used on your D850 will work or be the most effective on a Z camera. For example, I probably used 2-3 (Group, Dynamic, and Single) AF area modes 95% of the time with my D850, but with the Z cameras, no one mode represents more than 25% of my images (Wide Large, Wide Small, Area, Single, Pinpoint - with Animals and People selections for Wide and Area - plus adjustments to AF Lock-On).
 
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EricBowles said:
I had the D850 and sold it. Part of my thought process was the simplicity of using Z cameras only. But the other part was the improved focus accuracy with the Z cameras. It's a bit of a balance - the Z is better for static subjects, exposures, and more enjoyable to shoot. The Z cameras require a bit more understanding of the settings and options if you are not getting the results you want. The D850 is a terrific camera, but for me the situations where it had any advantage were few and far between, but I have been using Nikon DSLR cameras since the release of the D70 so it was quite intuitive.

One thing with the Z cameras - you can't assume a setting used on your D850 will work or be the most effective on a Z camera. For example, I probably used 2-3 (Group, Dynamic, and Single) AF area modes 95% of the time with my D850, but with the Z cameras, no one mode represents more than 25% of my images (Wide Large, Wide Small, Area, Single, Pinpoint - with Animals and People selections for Wide and Area - plus adjustments to AF Lock-On).
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Thanks for the input, Eric. I rented the Z7ii when it first came out and it is a very nice camera... What is your experience with the various firmware updates? Did those add significantly to the original version re tracking??? Anything else?... As I said, I am mainly interested in large mammals, but do enjoy waterfowl photography and raptors quite a bit as well... To be honest, for years I said the Ruby Crowned Kinglet was my "nemesis bird" and I made the best images I ever had the week I had that Z7ii rented... they're a small and difficult subject to track and the Z7ii did well (enough) I guess... lol this is one of the shots I rather liked:


It would be my luck that if I bought a Z7ii right now, they'd release the Z7iii in January, lol

EDIT... Weird... The exif is showing that image was with a D500... I dont think I owned a D500 at this point, but maybe I am just getting very O.L.D.

Ruby Crowned Kinglet.jpg
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