Nikon Z9 + 4.1 Firmware: The New King Of Birding?

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Steve

Steve

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Is there a new king for subject detection with birds?

Over the last few weeks, I've been putting the Z9 with firmware 4.1 to the test - and I've been doing it alongside the Sony a1.

In this video, we'll talk about how the Z9 (firmware 4.1) compares to the a1 when it comes to bird detection - and which camera has the edge. In addition, we'll discuss if Bird mode works well enough with mammals that you can forget Animal mode altogether. As a bonus, I'll even show you how to set your camera to toggle between Animal and Bird mode!

And, of course, I'll pass on lots of advice along the way!

This one is jam-packed! Check it out!

 
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I'm watching on 2x speed. But after watching the seagull example around the 7min mark I just had to jump on here and give you a tip on preventing (or at least decreasing) that type of behaviour in Sony Wide or Zone....turn off real-time tracking....go back to the good old days of non-tracking Wide and Zone (with Face/eye detect active).

I've tested this a lot and if you use Wide with tracking on it is always getting confused by water like in the gull example. With tracking off it is much better. Maybe not as good as the Z9? I'm not sure having not used 4.1 myself. But it makes a huge difference.

I only use Tracking AF for my "perched bird" custom button where I start off from an Expand Flex Spot or Small Flex Spot and can therefore direct the AF to start properly.

For all other birds and BIF I never have tracking on as it IMHO sucks.

Okay....now I'm going back to finish the video!!
 
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arbitrage said:
I'm watching on 2x speed. But after watching the seagull example around the 7min mark I just had to jump on here and give you a tip on preventing (or at least decreasing) that type of behaviour in Sony Wide or Zone....turn off real-time tracking....go back to the good old days of non-tracking Wide and Zone (with Face/eye detect active).

I've tested this a lot and if you use Wide with tracking on it is always getting confused by water like in the gull example. With tracking off it is much better. Maybe not as good as the Z9? I'm not sure having not used 4.1 myself. But it makes a huge difference.

I only use Tracking AF for my "perched bird" custom button where I start off from an Expand Flex Spot or Small Flex Spot and can therefore direct the AF to start properly.

For all other birds and BIF I never have tracking on as it IMHO sucks.

Okay....now I'm going back to finish the video!!
Click to expand...
I was hoping there would be more BIF , tbh this is only the area I found the A1 is worse with fw1.31-32 compared to fw1.20 . For perched slower moving I use zone tracking half shutter press and register area AF hold flex spot S (no track) to AF-ON , it gives me best hit rate . If the Z9 with latest firmware is better than A1 with fw1.32 for BIF I'm tempted to get the Z9 180-600 and 600mm PF. I'd mainly use the 600mm pf but a zoom is always useful.
I think im going to have to rent one when 600mm PF is available
 
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Fantastic video Steve, and as others have observed, I am waiting for the new firmware updates to be applied to the Z8. Arbitrage is spot on with respect to using wide, tracking on the A1, I simply didn't use it for BIF against water or busy backgrounds for the reasons mentioned. Otherwise, it was great for land mammals, perched birds, etc. As much as I have become a fan of Nikon (again - having started with their equipment in the '80's), it is attributable more to the lenses than the bodies themselves. Ironically, I switched to Canon in the late '80's when they introduced autofocusing USM lenses. Bodies come and go, though it has always been and will always be, the glass, the glass, the glass! Canon and Sony don't compare for this application.
 
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arbitrage said:
I'm watching on 2x speed. But after watching the seagull example around the 7min mark I just had to jump on here and give you a tip on preventing (or at least decreasing) that type of behaviour in Sony Wide or Zone....turn off real-time tracking....go back to the good old days of non-tracking Wide and Zone (with Face/eye detect active).

I've tested this a lot and if you use Wide with tracking on it is always getting confused by water like in the gull example. With tracking off it is much better. Maybe not as good as the Z9? I'm not sure having not used 4.1 myself. But it makes a huge difference.

I only use Tracking AF for my "perched bird" custom button where I start off from an Expand Flex Spot or Small Flex Spot and can therefore direct the AF to start properly.

For all other birds and BIF I never have tracking on as it IMHO sucks.

Okay....now I'm going back to finish the video!!
Click to expand...
Ahh, good to know. We tired multiple methods (and I think that may have been one of them), but didn't' record it all. However, I don't think I tried it without tracking in that particular example. Something else to try :)
 
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LTK said:
I was hoping there would be more BIF , tbh this is only the area I found the A1 is worse with fw1.31-32 compared to fw1.20 . For perched slower moving I use zone tracking half shutter press and register area AF hold flex spot S (no track) to AF-ON , it gives me best hit rate . If the Z9 with latest firmware is better than A1 with fw1.32 for BIF I'm tempted to get the Z9 180-600 and 600mm PF. I'd mainly use the 600mm pf but a zoom is always useful.
I think im going to have to rent one when 600mm PF is available
Click to expand...
As I mentioned in the video, just not a lot of BIF opportunities where I live. The other issue though is that every BIF is different. It's incredibly tough to tell the difference between two cameras that are really close.
 
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Nikon really needs to add multiple Recall Shooting Function sets. I know many were using their one and only just to switch subject detect on/off....now that would have to go in order to use it to do the animal/bird switch.

P.S.A.: Nikon....for Z9II you need more custom buttons, a 3rd dial and at least three Recall Shooting Function sets. Then and only then will your camera be on the same level of control and customization as Sony and Canon.
 
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Steve said:
As I mentioned in the video, just not a lot of BIF opportunities where I live. The other issue though is that every BIF is different. It's incredibly tough to tell the difference between two cameras that are really close.
Click to expand...
Thanks Steve , well close is good enough , soon as those 600mm PF become more available in the UK looks like I'll be switching . TBH I'm glad I held off the 600mm f4 GM , I had the money saved but since the A1 FW1.30+ updates it just put me off committing
 
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Nice work Steve.
Reinforces what I've found out, and it reinforces my desire to have the Z8 updated for birds. :)
It would be nice if Nikon would give us a choice to swap between SD modes without using the RSF function. The usefulness of using RSF to swap SD modes faded considerably for me when you pointed out how it jumps out of the RSF function for various setting changes. I'll keep RSF (Hold) set to turn SD off.
 
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Fantastic job on this one Steve, thanks for the comprehensive review. Yeah looking forward to getting the Z8 update to match the Z9 now! Heading for Florida mid February and hope it's updated by then! 🤞
 
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Another great video @Steve . It's nice to see that Nikon finally has the subject detection dialed in. Only took them a couple of years...

When I had the A1 I tested it shooting over water and that was certainly one area that it struggled. Seemed to do better the larger the bird was in the frame.

Regarding the animal vs bird detection, one thing I noticed early on and have been convinced of since day one is that animal detection seems to recognize fur. I've commented on this in previous discussions in the forum. Now after seeing this I'm more convinced than before. If they removed that from the algorithm for bird detection that could explain the difference. Sure seem plausible with your examples in the video.
 
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Cameron T said:
I was surprised the Sony got tripped up by water. I do enough shooting of shorebirds (and herons, etc) that I'm glad nikon doesn't have the same issue there.

Good video Steve, thanks for putting all this together
Click to expand...
It didn't happen every time, but it happened enough that we wanted to show it. (Man, it's tough getting the birds to cooperate while you switch cameras and reattach the ATOMOS!)
 
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Steve said:
Thanks- and me too. I think the Z8 + 600PF is going to be my go-to hiking combo but I want that Bird SD on tap!
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Thanks @Steve for another very useful video. After watching your 600PF review I decided to keep my copy rather than return it and buy the 400 F4.5 instead. I went with my Z8 and 600PF for its first walk today during a gap between the rain showers. I found the weight ideal on a long walk and the combo fitted in my shoulder bag that I had purchased for my 500PF.

I am also waiting for the bird detect to be ported to the Z8 :) .

Regarding recall shooting function do you think swapping between animal and bird is the best choice for the limited quantity of one for the recall shooting function? I currently have recall shooting function set to switch subject detect on or off.
 
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Ad Astra said:
Thanks @Steve for another very useful video. After watching your 600PF review I decided to keep my copy rather than return it and buy the 400 F4.5 instead. I went with my Z8 and 600PF for its first walk today during a gap between the rain showers. I found the weight ideal on a long walk and the combo fitted in my shoulder bag that I had purchased for my 500PF.

I am also waiting for the bird detect to be ported to the Z8 :) .

Regarding recall shooting function do you think swapping between animal and bird is the best choice for the limited quantity of one for the recall shooting function? I currently have recall shooting function set to switch subject detect on or off.
Click to expand...
I'm stuck TBH.

There are times it's critical to be able to shut it off but there are also times I want to swap. I might go so far as to use two different Custom Settings banks and try to pick the appropriate one as needed (you could use a photo shooting bank too I suppose - one with SD on Birds and one with SD Off). If there ever was a time for Nikon to give us an option for shutting off SD with a push of a button, it's now.

Right now, this moment, I'm thinking about maybe changing my Fn2 button to Single Point AF and using it when I want an AF area with SD. My biggest problem with SD in the past has been for BIF work - sometimes I needed to quickly shut it off if it was getting stuck. However - so far - the new firmware is better at tracking the bird than I am, so maybe my original reason doesn't exist anymore and I can just turn it on and of using the "I" menu. Again, this is VERY subject to change!!

As a side note, I think that's one of the biggest challenges I found with the Z9 – it's always getting firmware updates, and as new features are added it causes me to completely rethink my previous configurations.
 
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BarkingBeansCoffee said:
FWIW - a reasonable fast way to switch, as an alternative to giving up your RSFH is to use FN4 to call up the first item in MyMenu.
Easy to use your left hand to call up choices - you see them in the viewfinder - right hand to scroll and hit ok.

Yea its sort of 3 button pushes- well is three button pushes- but it can be adapted muscle memory.
Click to expand...
(y)
That's how I have had mine setup since day 1 and I'll continue to use that method and keep the RSF function to turn SD on/off (which I have assigned to the lens LFn button).
It's really not all that slow....
 
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I have been using Nikon digital cameras since the D1h was released and to get better autofocus I needed to buy a new camera. I got better hardware and the firmware engineered for that hardware. The Z9 is revolutionary in terms of the attitude of Nikon in that its engineers continue to refine the autofocus with firmware improvements alone.

I purchased my first Z9 in January of 2022 and over time the autofocus system has been improved significantly with firmware updates from Nikon. This ongoing refinement if commendable and it saves the user from having to buy a new camera to get this improved performance. I never saw this with the Nikon DSLR cameras over a period of 20 years.

Thank you Steve for your guides and videos which are extremely helpful and save others a great deal of time trying to learn the capabilities and limitations of the new cameras and their firmware upgrades.
 
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