macwalter
Active member
I would say to not use fre-focus and definitely not manual focus. Use bird I detection and set the lens to reaquire the area you are trying to get whether leaving,returning to the branch or hitting the water. Realize you will never be fast enough reflexively to get the bird as it leaves the perch so long bursts would be you best option. Try to setup with a minimum of background clutter and be patient. The z8 is an excellent camera for fast BIF and as was mentioned go practice things like diving terns and other subjects that require a similar panning style. Also the 200-500 is not the quickest lens. Don’t be afraid to crop a bit more than usual so you can get back a bit for more DOF. Good luck.