D850 or mirrorless?

[StefanSC]

I think the biggest problem with Fuji and wildlife is the lack of lenses... they really do need a strong telephoto at a good price, like Nikon has with the 400mm f4.5 and OMDS with the 300mm f4 to make that X-H2s shine... otherwise you are stuck with slow-ish zooms with ho-hum performance...

Maybe if Sigma will bring that 500m f5.6 in Fuji X mount it will give them the edge ... until then m43rds is the better choice for wildlife in the crop sensor realm.

 

[dabhand16]

I think the biggest problem with Fuji and wildlife is the lack of lenses... they really do need a strong telephoto at a good price, like Nikon has with the 400mm f4.5 and OMDS with the 300mm f4 to make that X-H2s shine... otherwise you are stuck with slow-ish zooms with ho-hum performance...

Maybe if Sigma will bring that 500m f5.6 in Fuji X mount it will give them the edge ... until then m43rds is the better choice for wildlife in the crop sensor realm.

They have a 100-400 and a 150-600 in the Fuji range and not seen many people criticizing them, but they are variable aperture lenses and pretty inexpensive at 1550 GBP for the long one and 1300 for the 100-400. You do mention that third party might be able to plug the gap, but see my last reply. My Fringer adaptor will allow a Nikkor 500mm PF work on the Fujis - or any other F mount lens with a focus motor for that matter, so it could replace a D500 and use existing lenses.

 

[PhotoLover]

They have a 100-400 and a 150-600 in the Fuji range, but they are variable aperture lenses, and you do mention that third party might be able to plug the gap, but see my last reply. My Fringer adaptor will allow a Nikkor 500mm PF work on the Fujis - or any other F mount lens with a focus motor for that matter, so it could replace a D500 and use existing lenses.

Interesting. How well does AF work with the 500 pf on a Fuji with the adapter? Obviously it works great on Nikon dSLRs and mirrorless. And on the Nikons, the 500 pf is "okay" AF speed with a 1.4 teleconverter in good light, giving you a lot of reach. The D500 (or D7500) with a 500 pf is a really good wildlife setup.

I was considering what camera family to buy into back in 2017 or so, and I ruled out Fuji because of relative lack of wildlife lenses. In addition to the Nikon lenses, Tamron, Sigma etc had good choices for the D7500 I wound up buying. The Fuji does seem like a nice camera.

 

[dabhand16]

Interesting. How well does AF work with the 500 pf on a Fuji with the adapter? Obviously it works great on Nikon dSLRs and mirrorless. And on the Nikons, the 500 pf is "okay" AF speed with a 1.4 teleconverter in good light, giving you a lot of reach. The D500 (or D7500) with a 500 pf is a really good wildlife setup.

I was considering what camera family to buy into back in 2017 or so, and I ruled out Fuji because of relative lack of wildlife lenses. In addition to the Nikon lenses, Tamron, Sigma etc had good choices for the D7500 I wound up buying. The Fuji does seem like a nice camera.

I don't have a 500 PF (yet) but I was just saying that Nikon (or any F mount lenses with AF motors) lenses can work on the Fuji system. So a D500 user who want to upgrade with no DX Nikon camera upgrade on the horizon and has lenses that they are using with the D500 already could use an XH-2s or any X mount camera with existing lenses.

I'm not a wildlife photographer. I flit from genre to genre as the fancy takes me and while that can include wildlife, I'm not a hardcore WL photographer. The F mount lenses lenses I have tried on my Fuji XT-2 when I had it were the AF-S 300mm f4 and AF-S 80-200 mf2.8 both with a 1.4x and 1.7x TC. I've use the 80-200 + 1.4x TC for sport.

My XT-4s have also seen the AF-S 300mm f4 and AF-S 80-200 mf2.8 both with a 1.4x and 1.7x TC and my Sigma 150-600 Sport with and without a Sigma 1.4x TC, a Sigma 105mm F2.8 macro, my old 18-70 kit lens from my D70s that I like the focal range for family videos. I have no doubt that my other Nikon lenses will also work OK on the Fujis.

Obviously anyone thinking about doing this needs to do the due diligence, but they work OK for my use.

 

[PhotoLover]

I don't have a 500 PF (yet) but I was just saying that Nikon (or any F mount lenses with AF motors) lenses can work on the Fuji system. So a D500 user who want to upgrade with no DX Nikon camera upgrade on the horizon and has lenses that they are using with the D500 already could use an XH-2s or any X mount camera with existing lenses.

I'm not a wildlife photographer. I flit from genre to genre as the fancy takes me and while that can include wildlife, I'm not a hardcore WL photographer. The F mount lenses lenses I have tried on my Fuji XT-2 when I had it were the AF-S 300mm f4 and AF-S 80-200 mf2.8 both with a 1.4x and 1.7x TC. I've use the 80-200 + 1.4x TC for sport.

My XT-4s have also seen the AF-S 300mm f4 and AF-S 80-200 mf2.8 both with a 1.4x and 1.7x TC and my Sigma 150-600 Sport with and without a Sigma 1.4x TC, a Sigma 105mm F2.8 macro, my old 18-70 kit lens from my D70s that I like the focal range for family videos. I have no doubt that my other Nikon lenses will also work OK on the Fujis.

Obviously anyone thinking about doing this needs to do the due diligence, but they work OK for my use.

Oh sure, the intended usage is critical.

That said, I don't know what I'd do with a 500 pf if not shooting wildlife. The great things about that lens are its weight (easy to hike around with it all day), its sharpness and the fast accurate AF. The fact that it retains IQ even with the 1.4 teleconverter is a nice bonus (does the combo work with the adapter?), but again, if not shooting far away things ... doesn't matter.

How fast was AF with the 300 f4 on the XT-2?

Someone with a D500 is probably doing at least some wildlife shooting (otherwise they had comparable choices at less money) so unless the Nikon -> Fuji F mount adapter is seamless, I wouldn't think a Nikon D500 user would be interested in "upgrading" to Fuji. And even if the adapter was good, there are just so many lens choices for Nikon, both Nikon and 3rd party. Then again, if the adapter really worked like magic .... though I'd still be tempted to save for a Z8 ... but that is a lot more money.

 

[dabhand16]

How fast was AF with the 300 f4 on the XT-2?

That was a while back now, but I don't recall any issues for what I was doing.

 

[Morado]

If you are aiming to have reach at around ~400mm, you could look at the 300mm PF with a TC 1.4x, which together with the D850 should weigh around 1.7 Kg. If you have an aversion to TCs, then you try to find a D500 and pair it with that lens. You would have the benefit of the exact same button layout as the D850 and an almost identical form factor. The downside of course would be that you'd have less MPs. Weight would be essentially the same as the D850.

If you are looking for more reach, then the 500mm PF is brilliant. But you would be back at 2.5 Kg, except that the lens would not be as front-heavy as the 80-400mm and is a superior lens for birding.

I know Fuji shooters that are happy with how recent Nikon lenses (e.g. the 300mm and 500mm PFs) work on their X-H2S.

As others have mentioned, m43 could be an option. I am looking at it for my wife (she delegates nerding duties to me), but the Fuji is tempting because of just sharing Nikon glass.

As others have noted, maybe a monopod could be helpful, regardless of whether you stay with your current kit, make adjustments to it, or move in a new direction.

 

[PhotoLover]

If you are aiming to have reach at around ~400mm, you could look at the 300mm PF with a TC 1.4x, which together with the D850 should weigh around 1.7 Kg. If you have an aversion to TCs, then you try to find a D500 and pair it with that lens. You would have the benefit of the exact same button layout as the D850 and an almost identical form factor. The downside of course would be that you'd have less MPs. Weight would be essentially the same as the D850.

If you are looking for more reach, then the 500mm PF is brilliant. But you would be back at 2.5 Kg, except that the lens would not be as front-heavy as the 80-400mm and is a superior lens for birding.

I know Fuji shooters that are happy with how recent Nikon lenses (e.g. the 300mm and 500mm PFs) work on their X-H2S.

As others have mentioned, m43 could be an option. I am looking at it for my wife (she delegates nerding duties to me), but the Fuji is tempting because of just sharing Nikon glass.

As others have noted, maybe a monopod could be helpful, regardless of whether you stay with your current kit, make adjustments to it, or move in a new direction.

I'm truly fascinated by this:

know Fuji shooters that are happy with how recent Nikon lenses (e.g. the 300mm and 500mm PFs) work on their X-H2S

Are these shooters really using the Nikon lenses for demanding applications like BIFs, especially smaller ones? I'm not doubting the assertion about the AF, but I am quite surprised that the various pieces work as well (?) as those lenses on Nikon cameras.

 

[Morado]

I'm truly fascinated by this:



Are these shooters really using the Nikon lenses for demanding applications like BIFs, especially smaller ones? I'm not doubting the assertion about the AF, but I am quite surprised that the various pieces work as well (?) as those lenses on Nikon cameras.

I have not asked about keeper/missed rates, but I have not heard people complaining about high rates of missed shots.

Besides large BIF, I've seen photos of starlings, manakins, rubies, sparrows. A friend told me that he got some useful tips on how to optimize settings at Fred Miranda's site.

 

[Nimi]

I'm truly fascinated by this:



Are these shooters really using the Nikon lenses for demanding applications like BIFs, especially smaller ones? I'm not doubting the assertion about the AF, but I am quite surprised that the various pieces work as well (?) as those lenses on Nikon cameras.

I moved out of Fuji a couple years back, last body being the XT4. The AF wasn't good enough for what I shoot (automotive, surfing). However, they had one very impressive white lens made for sports, the 200/2 which came with a 1.4x TC. I never aimed it at birds, and I have no idea how it performs on the new cameras, but might be worth looking at. Overall, I loved the Fuji and some of the images it produced were among my most successful ones (it was backup for a D4 and a D5).

 

[Craig Yuill]

I moved out of Fuji a couple years back, last body being the XT4. The AF wasn't good enough for what I shoot (automotive, surfing). However, they had one very impressive white lens made for sports, the 200/2 which came with a 1.4x TC. I never aimed it at birds, and I have no idea how it performs on the new cameras, but might be worth looking at. Overall, I loved the Fuji and some of the images it produced were among my most successful ones (it was backup for a D4 and a D5).

I think I saw someone shooting photos with one of those lenses at an airshow last Summer. Photographers there had the usual Canon, Nikon, and Sony gear. But there was this Fujifilm shooter, and even someone with a Pentax. It was nice to see an eclectic mix of gear being used.

 

[ScubaChuck]

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I finally made my choice and am very happy. It cost a little more than I wanted but that’s life. Canon R6 MKii and Canon 100-500mm
Here’s a couple of day one shots. I can hand hold and not shake too much. But, its getting better.

 

[MrFotoFool]

Going off the thread title (D850 or mirrorless), there is a similar thread you may want to look at: https://bcgforums.com/threads/need-help-deciding-between-two-cameras-d850-z8.33809/#post-380615