Best second nikon body and lens for wildlife photography

[wotan1]

I recently git a second body and it has changed the way I shoot.

I shoot with a Z9 and my second body was another Z9. I set them up the same way so they are interchangeable so they work the same way and I don't have to think about knowing two different systems.

What changed with me is I now go on a shoot holding two lenses. I carry the camera/lens on Holdfast dual straps. That way I can quickly shift between lenses as needed. I really like shooting that way. With both on straps I can effectively hand hold both because I only pick up the camera when I am ready to shoot.

in short two bodies for me means being able to move quickly and easily between lenses.

If I choose to use a tripod for the longer lens I can still carry a shorter lens on a string. That way if something appears too close for the long lens I can just pick up the shorter camera and shoot.

I love the combination of the 400mm f4.5 and the 800mnm pf for longer stuff. Where things are closer by I will go 70-200mm f2.8 and the 400.mm.

 

[Hooligans Imagery]

The Nikon 70-180mm f/2.8 is almost half the weight of the 70-200mm f/2.8 (795g versus 1360 g) and not that much heavier than the 24-120 f/4). Often when we were on safari in Africa, we would be out as the sun went down, so a faster lens was useful though I rarely shot at focal lengths less than 200mm.

Yeah our guides were busting to the sundowner at that hour. No stopping for the photographers until the gin was poured.

 

[ricardo00]

Yeah our guides were busting to the sundowner at that hour. No stopping for the photographers until the gin was poured.

Yep our first trip to Africa was like that. Subsequent trips to Africa we were sure to find photographic trips where the most important thing at sundown was to find animals to photographic as the sun was going down.