Z9 artefact issue

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Richard Guijt

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Coming back from an rip to Africa with the Nikon Z9 I noticed a lot of my zebra photos with the Z9, with different lenses (Z- and F-mount) have moire like artefacts in them. This can be seen on different parts of the animals. (screenshots of un-edited photos - Left LR Camera neutral, Right Nikon NX)
I have never experienced this with any off my other camera's like the D5 and D850.

See screenshots, these have been shot on Z9 with Z70-200 @70mm F8 iso 64

Anyone noticed similar "issues"?

@Steve did you come across something like this during your Africa shoots with the Z9?

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That's interesting because high megapixel cameras don't usually suffer moire much. But something is clearly there that doesn't belong. Could it be CA? I always have trouble identifying. How does it react when you use the tools in lightroom?
 
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First I have seen of this, and you mentioned a lot of your images suffered it - not seen it on any of my images. Makes a person want to run to the zoo for zebra photos.
 
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Have not seen this on my photos of Zebras in South Africa earlier this year. Never really had this issue with any other photo with the Z9 either.

What lenses did you use?
 
I've read that the z9 does not have an AA filter, so It could be moire. Does NX Studio have a "remove moire" button? Also you could experiment with a different raw converter. While similar, they each have their own method of demosaicing.
 
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bleirer said:
I've read that the z9 does not have an AA filter, so It could be moire. Does NX Studio have a "remove moire" button? Also you could experiment with a different raw converter. While similar, they each have their own method of demosaicing.
Click to expand...
See it in both Nikon and and Lr.
Have tried different computers Macstudio and iMac with different monitors.

Issue can be seen in all these circumstances
 
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Were these photos initially very dark when taken? The Z9, in my experience, can have a lot of color noise when shots are dark. I just spent three weeks in Africa, took a lot of Zebra shots, and no problem, all turned out great. I used auto-ISO, which the camera seems to respond well to.
 
I guess I'm landing on moire after thinking about it a bit. This article details how to attack it in Photoshop, ranging from a simple slider to more complicated procedures using a hsl adjustment layer. Nothing too complicated, just a recipe to follow step by step.

photographylife.com

What is Moiré and How it Can Ruin Your Photos

Moiré can ruin your photos by adding wavy patterns to them. It occurs when an image is captured with a high-resolution camera that has no low-pass filter.
photographylife.com photographylife.com
 
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Looking a little further into the simpler lightroom/acr method, it now would be under the masking tool. You would use the brush to select the problem area then use the moire and/or defringe sliders to adjust it. good luck.
 
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bleirer said:
Looking a little further into the simpler lightroom/acr method, it now would be under the masking tool. You would use the brush to select the problem area then use the moire and/or defringe sliders to adjust it. good luck.
Click to expand...
Seems to be able to get rid of the issue with the moire sliders and the brush.

Have not seen this issue reported before, so wondering if this is an issue I have with lens / z9 combo or is a z9 issue in general
 
Richard Guijt said:
Seems to be able to get rid of the issue with the moire sliders and the brush.

Have not seen this issue reported before, so wondering if this is an issue I have with lens / z9 combo or is a z9 issue in general
Click to expand...

If it is moire it is not a lens issue. Reading the article I think the AA filters are avoided on many high megapixel cameras to improve sharpness, because the filter is another layer over the sensor, and because it is a result of the interaction of the pattern in the scene with the pattern on the sensor array it doesn't happen often at high resolutions. Canon still uses the AA filter but I think Nikon and Sony don't. If you see it in the field apparently you can change shooting distance or tilt the sensor to another angle.
 
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The only times I have had Moire in my images was when I photographed a guy with a striped tie and another fellow with a pin stripe shirt and a bride with an intricate lace veil. Zebras would qualify and the smaller the aperture the more chance of Moire according to Nikon. Nikon warned against photographing with small apertures with the then new D800e that did not have an AA filter, but I never experienced this in my own photos.

With a subject where Moire could be a problem it helps to vary the focal length being used or change the camera to subject distance and to use a larger aperture. Unless one is photographing macro subjects or landscapes, a large aperture is still going to provide sufficient depth of field.
 
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