Nikon z9 vs Z8…. Not what I expected…

[John Navitsky]

I would be curious to hear from folks whether they shut off SD for owls, eagle strikes, etc.

not birds, but i did an event recently with dogs indoors with really bad light (worse than normal indoor dog sports). i ended up feeling like sd was on net working against me and turned it off for most of the time.

THAT SAID, it is basically impossible to _really_ know. we need controlled situations to really know, and the problem is these things only really manifest when situations get complex enough that they are difficult to simulate in a controlled environment.

dunno

ETA: normally, i never turn of subject detection, so

 

[Calson]

I doubt the autofocus motors can work as fast with a EN-EL15 battery for power as compared to the EN-EL18 battery. With my D850 cameras I would often use the battery grip so I could use EN-EL18 batteries to maximize fps and also autofocus performance. The motors themselves are different and with the D5 the target acquisition of a fast approaching bird was much faster than with my D850 using the same EN-EL18 battery.

I chose Nikon's Z9 camera in large part to get the larger battery which is not available with Sony or Canon cameras.

 

[Garfield]

After shooting with a Z9 for 1.5 years and getting a Z8 and using them side by side for a month and ultimately opting to just keep the Z8 - I noticed no difference in performance whatsoever. The only difference for me was less weight to carry around + worse battery life (but not as bad as some paint it). Tradeoffs. YMMW.

This.
I loved the handing ergos of the Z9 but not the weight and the size is a drawback when shooting from the car so I sold it off after I got the Z8. For me, smaller and lighter is always a plus whether on a tripod or handholding and having to carry around an extra battery is a non-issue, though I don't shoot professionally.

 

[EricBowles]

I turn off subject detection a lot. If a subject is relatively close and not picking up the target perfectly, I know I can use something like Dynamic Small and have a 90-95% keeper rate. I was in Cades Cove earlier this week photographing more wildlife than normal, and probably had subject detection turned off 30% of the time. Subjects were deer at close range (WideSmall was picking up grasses occasionally), bears (too dark for the eye detection to work well), elk (photographing a doe and youngster grooming each other and the wrong eye was picked up), and wild turkeys (occasionally picking up the back or side rather than the eye).

If you are prepared when subject detection does not work, it's very easy to switch modes and get the shots you need.