santiago
Active member
FIVE (A1, 400mm f2.8):
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
Improvement in keeper rate with the Sony a1 vs Nikon D850 for these BIF conditions?
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santiago
Active member
That's it... make your choices (if you wish)
arbitrage
Well-known member
I'm going either 2 or 5. That is a combination of the light and the bird angled less away from us.
I would crop it a little on the right so the bird isn't in the center and then choose #1.
faunagraphy
Active member
Personally I like 1. the most - the plumage detail and the softer light on the foliage ... but to be more objective, I think that 5. the best choice for hanging on a wall. The grouse is making eye contact, the light is gorgeous and there's some negative space for the grouse to fly into. Also follows the Rule of Thirds, more or less. I like 2. as well but the grouse isn't making eye contact and the red crest is overexposed.
Doug Herr
Well-known member
For myself a 20 MP camera in 2022 is not interesting no matter what brand, price, weight or AF capabilities. It's why in 2017 I skipped the a9 and later the a9II. Likewise a 4/3-format camera, it does not meet my needs.
Every camera is a compromise and for myself the a1 hits the performance/weight/MP/format/lens lineup/AF sweet spot and with everything else it has going for it I'm willing to accept the price. YMMV.
Every camera is a compromise and for myself the a1 hits the performance/weight/MP/format/lens lineup/AF sweet spot and with everything else it has going for it I'm willing to accept the price. YMMV.
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DaveR
Active member
To be brutally honest I wouldn't consider any of them to hang on a wall. They're all nice shots but for me they lack that touch of magic to make it to a wall. But for what it's worth the first shot is the one I like the most. The background is good and the bird stands out well and the wing position is nice. I would probably want to process it a little to give it a bit more pop and maybe add a vignette though.
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thelordofthelight
Well-known member
@santiago , Have been following this post and wanting to respond for sometime now but I was travelling a lot last month. Sorry for the lengthy post but I hope this helps you.
I have been photographing diving Indian Paradise Flycatchers in the last month or so. These are winter migrants from The Himalayas and I was extremely lucky this season to find a small pond in a local forest where these birds migrated. I had some amazing opportunities to photograph action shots and most importantly test the AF systems (of different brands) and pushing the AF modes to their limits.
The situation is very similar to what you explained in your original post. Tiny and skittish bird sitting inside the bushes, dives into the water and the dives are not consistent every time. At times they just dive in straight whereas during other times they just keep dodging before they dive. This location was so crowded this season as all the photographers wanted to get a shot of the diving bird just before it hit the surface water and get that perfect action shot with reflection.
Challenges:
The first time I visited this location with my Z9 and 500 F4E with FTZ, I came back with about 700+ blurry images. This was right after I purchased the Z9 and hadn't figured out which AF Area mode to use and I only tried Auto area and 3D tracking with bird eye AF turned on. I kept visiting this location almost every day and I learned a lot about the AF modes with every visit. Also, I had lots of opportunities to talk to other photographers and try other cameras (Sony A1, Nikon D6, Canon R5 etc.).
I was initially so disappointed with the way the Z9 tracked but quickly figured that the best approach with the Z9 was to turn off subject detection, get rid of auto/3D modes and use Wide Area L (without tracking this behaved almost similar to Group Area AF on the Nikon DSLRS, only better because the Wide-L box is slightly larger than the group-AF area box). Ultimately, I realized that the action was too fast for any AF system regardless of the brands. After few visits I got used to the bird behavior, I could track/ pan with the action much better and get some nice shots and it only kept improving with every visit.
In the interim I was thinking if Nikon offered a much larger Wide area box, that'd make it even easier but that's when I happened to talk to another photographer who was using an A1 with 400 GM and he was facing the exact same problem. He told me Wide area L didn't work for him and the best AF mode for him was the Zone AF. After a lot of similar interaction many of us photographers agreed that the best approach regardless of the brand is to not use auto AF modes, turn off any form of tracking/ bird eye AF etc. Use the smallest AF box possible (of course single point AF or wide-S etc. are ruled out as it is near impossible to keep the AF box as the bird dives). With wider AF boxes, the camera has to scan a wider area and can easily get distracted with busy backgrounds.
Long story short, when it comes to such extreme action at close quarters, no brand is good enough (yet). Below were my experiences/ learnings in the last couple of months:
Having said that, there were instances when shooting larger water birds/ steady or more predictable action and the A1 performed better than the Z9 with subject tracking. For me personally, this isn't a deal breaker as I have some work arounds for this and there are other subjective reasons I prefer Nikon system. So if you are considering mirrorless for extreme action, more than the AF it is the blackout free shooting experience that's going to help you a lot, just my 2 cents.
Cheers!
Here are some of my favorite images from this season (shot on different days).
GBZ_4462 by Ganesh Balakrishnan, on Flickr
GBZ_2073 by Ganesh Balakrishnan, on Flickr
GBZ_5406 by Ganesh Balakrishnan, on Flickr
GBZ_6880 by Ganesh Balakrishnan, on Flickr
I have been photographing diving Indian Paradise Flycatchers in the last month or so. These are winter migrants from The Himalayas and I was extremely lucky this season to find a small pond in a local forest where these birds migrated. I had some amazing opportunities to photograph action shots and most importantly test the AF systems (of different brands) and pushing the AF modes to their limits.
The situation is very similar to what you explained in your original post. Tiny and skittish bird sitting inside the bushes, dives into the water and the dives are not consistent every time. At times they just dive in straight whereas during other times they just keep dodging before they dive. This location was so crowded this season as all the photographers wanted to get a shot of the diving bird just before it hit the surface water and get that perfect action shot with reflection.
Challenges:
- We had overcast lighting most of the time which means low light, mid to high ISOs
- As you can see from the below video link that I shot from my mobile phone, the bird is way too fast and unpredictable when it dives. The whole action from dive to hitting the surface water to back to the branch happens in less than a second in real time; quite a challenge to follow even for the naked eyes!
- The bird is hardly visible when it is perched inside the bushes and even when it is partly visible, acquiring the initial focus and then tracking it as it dives is impossible as the focus tracking box just gives up the moment the bird dives. When it dives, it has to cross a series of background clutters like grass, basically all vertical lines that can easily fool any AF system.
- Ultimately when it is about to hit the surface water, there is the next challenge - water ripples, reflections etc. that will make the AF hunt or even when it locks, we faced some serious front/ back focus issues.
The first time I visited this location with my Z9 and 500 F4E with FTZ, I came back with about 700+ blurry images. This was right after I purchased the Z9 and hadn't figured out which AF Area mode to use and I only tried Auto area and 3D tracking with bird eye AF turned on. I kept visiting this location almost every day and I learned a lot about the AF modes with every visit. Also, I had lots of opportunities to talk to other photographers and try other cameras (Sony A1, Nikon D6, Canon R5 etc.).
I was initially so disappointed with the way the Z9 tracked but quickly figured that the best approach with the Z9 was to turn off subject detection, get rid of auto/3D modes and use Wide Area L (without tracking this behaved almost similar to Group Area AF on the Nikon DSLRS, only better because the Wide-L box is slightly larger than the group-AF area box). Ultimately, I realized that the action was too fast for any AF system regardless of the brands. After few visits I got used to the bird behavior, I could track/ pan with the action much better and get some nice shots and it only kept improving with every visit.
In the interim I was thinking if Nikon offered a much larger Wide area box, that'd make it even easier but that's when I happened to talk to another photographer who was using an A1 with 400 GM and he was facing the exact same problem. He told me Wide area L didn't work for him and the best AF mode for him was the Zone AF. After a lot of similar interaction many of us photographers agreed that the best approach regardless of the brand is to not use auto AF modes, turn off any form of tracking/ bird eye AF etc. Use the smallest AF box possible (of course single point AF or wide-S etc. are ruled out as it is near impossible to keep the AF box as the bird dives). With wider AF boxes, the camera has to scan a wider area and can easily get distracted with busy backgrounds.
Long story short, when it comes to such extreme action at close quarters, no brand is good enough (yet). Below were my experiences/ learnings in the last couple of months:
- It is all numbers game; just keep visiting the location regularly, shoot more and if we did our job well enough (like panning, shooting angles, analyzing the images after every shoot and learning what not to do etc.), we will be rewarded with some great images. The hit rate I'm talking about is less than 5% if I'd have to be optimistic.
- What amazed me was that although the majority of the photographers were using the latest and greatest mirrorless offerings with all bells and whistles, the DSLR users (D850/500, D5/6, 1DX series) were also getting very good shots.
- Where the mirrorless cameras had a significant advantage over the DSLRs was with the black out free shooting experience offering a seamless EVF feed that made it relatively easy to track and pan the action compared to the DSLRs with blackouts. AF modes, subject tracking, eye AF etc., were almost irrelevant in this scenario.
Having said that, there were instances when shooting larger water birds/ steady or more predictable action and the A1 performed better than the Z9 with subject tracking. For me personally, this isn't a deal breaker as I have some work arounds for this and there are other subjective reasons I prefer Nikon system. So if you are considering mirrorless for extreme action, more than the AF it is the blackout free shooting experience that's going to help you a lot, just my 2 cents.
Cheers!
Here are some of my favorite images from this season (shot on different days).
GBZ_4462 by Ganesh Balakrishnan, on FlickrGBZ_2073 by Ganesh Balakrishnan, on FlickrGBZ_5406 by Ganesh Balakrishnan, on FlickrGBZ_6880 by Ganesh Balakrishnan, on Flickr
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Doug Herr
Well-known member
This is not a technique I would endorse. Many would consider it harassment.
ChrisM
Well-known member
Believe it or not, the price was the least of my considerations when getting a Sony A1 (only recently). Taking away the incentive to "upgrade" again in 1-2 years time was much more important. After trying Olympus, Canon Nikon and Sony with various models, I found that a pixel density of 21-24mp on an aps-c crop works best for me, also in conjunction with my favorite focal length for wildlife birding: 600mm, with the full FF sensor area to fall back on when things get too close.
The Sony A1 fits perfectly with that, and I looked at what reasons I could have to feel the upgrade bug in future:
-EVF, the big one. I loved good optical viewfinders, and the Sony EVF's (I had A7r, A7rII A7rIVa) looked like little tv screens to me, and especially when panning or following a subject the viewfinder image was far from smooth. The A1 viewfinder at frame rate setting "high" has the smooth feel to it, and I tend to forget I am looking through an EVF. Also it is very big and very clear, so the optics seem first class as well.
-AF, the other big one. I had the Z7 for a while, and at first it seemed ok. but soon I returned to the D500 and sold it. The scan rate of the A1 sensor is fast enough to give the AF a solid foundation with 200 AF calculations per second, and so no need to upgrade later on, although I hope that Sony will actually bring a firmware update to improve/enhance eye af for birds, befor they move up to the A1 II.
-silent electronic shutter, also tied to the scan rate. No need to upgrade later on.
-responsiveness. It is instantaneous with the A1, no need for improvement later on.
-customization. Great! No need for improvement.
-Image quality. You actually have to really like the images a camera produces to want to use it for many years to come. The stacked sensor compromises on IQ are overcome with the A1 it seems.
-versatility. I almost jumped for the Nikon Z9 as I was using the D500+500PF for the past two years, and the 800PF was on the roadmap. I am glad I chose Sony. The A1 can be the only camera you need, also for casual shooting, travel, city walks etc. No need to have multiple bodies.
Adding all these things up, I actually feel the A1 will save me a lot of money over the coming years, that I would have otherwise spent on "upgrading".
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They are some awesome shots! Well done! Patience and persistence usually pay off@santiago , Have been following this post and wanting to respond for sometime now but I was travelling a lot last month. Sorry for the lengthy post but I hope this helps you.
I have been photographing diving Indian Paradise Flycatchers in the last month or so. These are winter migrants from The Himalayas and I was extremely lucky this season to find a small pond in a local forest where these birds migrated. I had some amazing opportunities to photograph action shots and most importantly test the AF systems (of different brands) and pushing the AF modes to their limits.
The situation is very similar to what you explained in your original post. Tiny and skittish bird sitting inside the bushes, dives into the water and the dives are not consistent every time. At times they just dive in straight whereas during other times they just keep dodging before they dive. This location was so crowded this season as all the photographers wanted to get a shot of the diving bird just before it hit the surface water and get that perfect action shot with reflection.
Challenges:
- We had overcast lighting most of the time which means low light, mid to high ISOs
- As you can see from the below video link that I shot from my mobile phone, the bird is way too fast and unpredictable when it dives. The whole action from dive to hitting the surface water to back to the branch happens in less than a second in real time; quite a challenge to follow even for the naked eyes!
- The bird is hardly visible when it is perched inside the bushes and even when it is partly visible, acquiring the initial focus and then tracking it as it dives is impossible as the focus tracking box just gives up the moment the bird dives. When it dives, it has to cross a series of background clutters like grass, basically all vertical lines that can easily fool any AF system.
- Ultimately when it is about to hit the surface water, there is the next challenge - water ripples, reflections etc. that will make the AF hunt or even when it locks, we faced some serious front/ back focus issues.
The first time I visited this location with my Z9 and 500 F4E with FTZ, I came back with about 700+ blurry images. This was right after I purchased the Z9 and hadn't figured out which AF Area mode to use and I only tried Auto area and 3D tracking with bird eye AF turned on. I kept visiting this location almost every day and I learned a lot about the AF modes with every visit. Also, I had lots of opportunities to talk to other photographers and try other cameras (Sony A1, Nikon D6, Canon R5 etc.).
I was initially so disappointed with the way the Z9 tracked but quickly figured that the best approach with the Z9 was to turn off subject detection, get rid of auto/3D modes and use Wide Area L (without tracking this behaved almost similar to Group Area AF on the Nikon DSLRS, only better because the Wide-L box is slightly larger than the group-AF area box). Ultimately, I realized that the action was too fast for any AF system regardless of the brands. After few visits I got used to the bird behavior, I could track/ pan with the action much better and get some nice shots and it only kept improving with every visit.
In the interim I was thinking if Nikon offered a much larger Wide area box, that'd make it even easier but that's when I happened to talk to another photographer who was using an A1 with 400 GM and he was facing the exact same problem. He told me Wide area L didn't work for him and the best AF mode for him was the Zone AF. After a lot of similar interaction many of us photographers agreed that the best approach regardless of the brand is to not use auto AF modes, turn off any form of tracking/ bird eye AF etc. Use the smallest AF box possible (of course single point AF or wide-S etc. are ruled out as it is near impossible to keep the AF box as the bird dives). With wider AF boxes, the camera has to scan a wider area and can easily get distracted with busy backgrounds.
Long story short, when it comes to such extreme action at close quarters, no brand is good enough (yet). Below were my experiences/ learnings in the last couple of months:
- It is all numbers game; just keep visiting the location regularly, shoot more and if we did our job well enough (like panning, shooting angles, analyzing the images after every shoot and learning what not to do etc.), we will be rewarded with some great images. The hit rate I'm talking about is less than 5% if I'd have to be optimistic.
- What amazed me was that although the majority of the photographers were using the latest and greatest mirrorless offerings with all bells and whistles, the DSLR users (D850/500, D5/6, 1DX series) were also getting very good shots.
- Where the mirrorless cameras had a significant advantage over the DSLRs was with the black out free shooting experience offering a seamless EVF feed that made it relatively easy to track and pan the action compared to the DSLRs with blackouts. AF modes, subject tracking, eye AF etc., were almost irrelevant in this scenario.
Having said that, there were instances when shooting larger water birds/ steady or more predictable action and the A1 performed better than the Z9 with subject tracking. For me personally, this isn't a deal breaker as I have some work arounds for this and there are other subjective reasons I prefer Nikon system. So if you are considering mirrorless for extreme action, more than the AF it is the blackout free shooting experience that's going to help you a lot, just my 2 cents.
Cheers!
Here are some of my favorite images from this season (shot on different days).
abc123brian
Well-known member
Did Sony make a firmware change that increased the AF calculations or are you confusing this number with something else. I noticed it is the second time it was posted at 200 AF calculations per second.
arbitrage
Well-known member
No update....I think it is just an honest mistake on Chris' part. AF calculations are 120/s. EVF refresh up to 240Hz (although I don't use that mode).
ChrisM
Well-known member
My mistake, I fell prey to sloppiness with numbers and the figure two stuck in my mind, in the sense of double the unit of 1/60 or actually divided by two, twice as fast (which is the A9(II) AF calculation figure). It is very fast though, and I feel it is of more importance and value than the ability to use tracking modes or bird eye af, which are great and very usefull, but the continuous very fast re-calculation of the AF transforms my shooting experience with moving subjects compared to e.g. the A7RIVa, and also to the Nikon D500 that I used over the past two years.
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santiago
Active member
I would respectfully disagree, these birds are very used to being "driven" as it is called so I would not find any problem with it. The issue is that you get a very different framing with the bird flying towards you, but might be interesting if you manage to get it at an angle... easier said than done though!
Doug Herr
Well-known member
"they're used to it" has been used in the past to justify many things that are no longer considered acceptable.
Here's a link to Audubon's guide to ethical bird photography:
Audubon’s Guide to Ethical Bird Photography and Videography
Showing a sincere respect for birds and the places they need to thrive must come before getting that perfect photo or footage. Here’s how to capture bird photos and videos responsibly.
"Never advance on birds with the intention of making them fly, whether they are lone birds or flocks of birds. This disrupts natural processes such as resting, foraging, or hunting, and causes them to expend energy unnecessarily."
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santiago
Active member
I have been studying this bird, just this one, for fifteen years. There are many things that bother them and this is just not one of them. I am sure it is true for other birds in other habitats in other circumstances (i.e. being pursued by many photographers). It just does not apply in this case."they're used to it" has been used in the past to justify many things that are no longer considered acceptable.
Here's a link to Audubon's guide to ethical bird photography:
Audubon’s Guide to Ethical Bird Photography and Videography
Showing a sincere respect for birds and the places they need to thrive must come before getting that perfect photo or footage. Here’s how to capture bird photos and videos responsibly.www.audubon.org
"Never advance on birds with the intention of making them fly, whether they are lone birds or flocks of birds. This disrupts natural processes such as resting, foraging, or hunting, and causes them to expend energy unnecessarily."
santiago
Active member
Well, first of all, thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience so thoughtfully. I think you raise such interesting points... in particular, that when the AF@santiago , Have been following this post and wanting to respond for sometime now but I was travelling a lot last month. Sorry for the lengthy post but I hope this helps you.
I have been photographing diving Indian Paradise Flycatchers in the last month or so. These are winter migrants from The Himalayas and I was extremely lucky this season to find a small pond in a local forest where these birds migrated. I had some amazing opportunities to photograph action shots and most importantly test the AF systems (of different brands) and pushing the AF modes to their limits.
The situation is very similar to what you explained in your original post. Tiny and skittish bird sitting inside the bushes, dives into the water and the dives are not consistent every time. At times they just dive in straight whereas during other times they just keep dodging before they dive. This location was so crowded this season as all the photographers wanted to get a shot of the diving bird just before it hit the surface water and get that perfect action shot with reflection.
Challenges:
- We had overcast lighting most of the time which means low light, mid to high ISOs
- As you can see from the below video link that I shot from my mobile phone, the bird is way too fast and unpredictable when it dives. The whole action from dive to hitting the surface water to back to the branch happens in less than a second in real time; quite a challenge to follow even for the naked eyes!
- The bird is hardly visible when it is perched inside the bushes and even when it is partly visible, acquiring the initial focus and then tracking it as it dives is impossible as the focus tracking box just gives up the moment the bird dives. When it dives, it has to cross a series of background clutters like grass, basically all vertical lines that can easily fool any AF system.
- Ultimately when it is about to hit the surface water, there is the next challenge - water ripples, reflections etc. that will make the AF hunt or even when it locks, we faced some serious front/ back focus issues.
The first time I visited this location with my Z9 and 500 F4E with FTZ, I came back with about 700+ blurry images. This was right after I purchased the Z9 and hadn't figured out which AF Area mode to use and I only tried Auto area and 3D tracking with bird eye AF turned on. I kept visiting this location almost every day and I learned a lot about the AF modes with every visit. Also, I had lots of opportunities to talk to other photographers and try other cameras (Sony A1, Nikon D6, Canon R5 etc.).
I was initially so disappointed with the way the Z9 tracked but quickly figured that the best approach with the Z9 was to turn off subject detection, get rid of auto/3D modes and use Wide Area L (without tracking this behaved almost similar to Group Area AF on the Nikon DSLRS, only better because the Wide-L box is slightly larger than the group-AF area box). Ultimately, I realized that the action was too fast for any AF system regardless of the brands. After few visits I got used to the bird behavior, I could track/ pan with the action much better and get some nice shots and it only kept improving with every visit.
In the interim I was thinking if Nikon offered a much larger Wide area box, that'd make it even easier but that's when I happened to talk to another photographer who was using an A1 with 400 GM and he was facing the exact same problem. He told me Wide area L didn't work for him and the best AF mode for him was the Zone AF. After a lot of similar interaction many of us photographers agreed that the best approach regardless of the brand is to not use auto AF modes, turn off any form of tracking/ bird eye AF etc. Use the smallest AF box possible (of course single point AF or wide-S etc. are ruled out as it is near impossible to keep the AF box as the bird dives). With wider AF boxes, the camera has to scan a wider area and can easily get distracted with busy backgrounds.
Long story short, when it comes to such extreme action at close quarters, no brand is good enough (yet). Below were my experiences/ learnings in the last couple of months:
- It is all numbers game; just keep visiting the location regularly, shoot more and if we did our job well enough (like panning, shooting angles, analyzing the images after every shoot and learning what not to do etc.), we will be rewarded with some great images. The hit rate I'm talking about is less than 5% if I'd have to be optimistic.
- What amazed me was that although the majority of the photographers were using the latest and greatest mirrorless offerings with all bells and whistles, the DSLR users (D850/500, D5/6, 1DX series) were also getting very good shots.
- Where the mirrorless cameras had a significant advantage over the DSLRs was with the black out free shooting experience offering a seamless EVF feed that made it relatively easy to track and pan the action compared to the DSLRs with blackouts. AF modes, subject tracking, eye AF etc., were almost irrelevant in this scenario.
Having said that, there were instances when shooting larger water birds/ steady or more predictable action and the A1 performed better than the Z9 with subject tracking. For me personally, this isn't a deal breaker as I have some work arounds for this and there are other subjective reasons I prefer Nikon system. So if you are considering mirrorless for extreme action, more than the AF it is the blackout free shooting experience that's going to help you a lot, just my 2 cents.
Cheers!
Here are some of my favorite images from this season (shot on different days).
situation is too demanding you need to rely on your technique, knowing your subject's behavior... in addition to modern technology which does help of course. In Nikon DSLRs Group AF works reasonably well, but as you mention the AF area is small and it is difficult to keep it on an erratic target. As suggested by arbitrage, I want to experiment more with Auto Area AF and the 500mm PF, see if that works better (although the lens is perhaps on the slow side for something like this?).
Secondly, and most importantly, your discipline and hard work handsomely paid off: those images are simply stunning. Congratulations!
Doug Herr
Well-known member
It does cause them to expend energy unnessesarily. This is undeniable. It also exposes the grouse to predation from any falcon overhead. Also, photographers being who they are, they will not be content with the wrong wing position, wrong background or missed focus and will flush the bird repeatedly to get the perfect photo for maximum 'likes' on social media. I've seen it happen, two photographers flushing birds towards each other in turn so they both can get the perfect photo then proudly posting the results.
If it truly does not affect the survivability a healthy individual of this one particular species in optimal habitat flushed only once, say so in your advice to photographers or it will be extrapolated to mean any bird, anywhere flushed at will.
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santiago
Active member
santiago
Active member
I should add that Doug’s concern is a very valid one and you always have to be incredibly careful and know the species and the habitat well
I agree....rather surprised someone actually recommended this. Birds have a hard enough time without photogs adding to their troubles.
fcotterill
Well-known member
Another article on Ethics in Wildlife Photography - among many. And the overarching Society
www.naturalart.ca
conservationphotographers.org
Natural Art Images: Voice: Commentaries
www.naturalart.ca
International League of Conservation Photographers
A global community of conservation photographers and filmmakers working to share conservation stories and solutions through ethical visual storytelling
conservationphotographers.org
fcotterill
Well-known member
This is one of the most informative threads - thank you to all for contributions and sharing insights and experiences. Like the erratic subjects, understanding and taming the evolving technology has analogous challenges. And the context to the impressive images from a couple of continents are as essential as the text.
Overall since mid-2020, this forum has accumulated a wealth of invaluable information, which is becoming harder to mine (and even to rediscover!). On a personal level bookmarks do help, but there's so much preceding current discussions. For example a great deal of invaluable information about customizing the Z9 AF is already distinctly scattered [1 example and another]; and now there's a very useful discussion through the middle pages of this thread about optimizing the Z9 AF. This has universal applications, besides BIF - including running, leaping mammals etc.
I try and think up useful tags if starting a thread, and also may update the title, later, if its content expands/identifies an important insight(s).
Overall since mid-2020, this forum has accumulated a wealth of invaluable information, which is becoming harder to mine (and even to rediscover!). On a personal level bookmarks do help, but there's so much preceding current discussions. For example a great deal of invaluable information about customizing the Z9 AF is already distinctly scattered [1 example and another]; and now there's a very useful discussion through the middle pages of this thread about optimizing the Z9 AF. This has universal applications, besides BIF - including running, leaping mammals etc.
I try and think up useful tags if starting a thread, and also may update the title, later, if its content expands/identifies an important insight(s).
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DaveR
Active member
It's not something I would consider doing myself for the reason you give. But as this whole thread has been about how to focus on grouse that are being flushed by walking through their habitat I'm surprised it has taken 7 pages to question the OP's methods. I was just suggesting a different way of doing what he was already doing. Quite happy to withdraw my suggestion.