mike_halliwell

https://www.nikon.com/company/news/2024/0327_imaging_01.html Ultimate single walkaround lens ?

😞 Nothing to do with the fact you can't get a lens cheaper than Nikon Official Price. Can't you get grey imports? Blame the EU not the UK. Here maybe? https://grandyscamera.com/products/nikon-z-400mm-f-2-8-tc-vr-s-lens?variant=42065245896843&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&utm_campaign=gs-2022-11-25&utm_source=google&utm_medium=smart_campaign&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw5ImwBhBtEiwAFHDZx3_r2j2Cy3O2nL-ULjL0vhBxIG0UyZEUNiqPfz7wilV56Cu7amdqTxoCWSMQAvD_BwE

https://www.cotswoldcameras.co.uk/NIKKOR-Z-400mm-f-2-8-TC-VR-S-Lens-1 10K

Available grey here now for under 10k pounds...! If you say it fast enough, it almost sounds reasonable.. 😉

Yup, that's why the weighing up, rather than decided to.. 😂 If the Z400mm 4.5 (don't have) and the F500mm PF (do have) focussed a bit closer, i'd use them as a more walkaround nat. hist. lens, where'as the Z100-400mm does focus pretty close, but gets a bit slow at the long end. Oddly, the Z400mm 2.8 TC focusses the closest at 1:4, but short of selling EVERYTHING but my Z9, it's a lot of money! and of course becomes the 560mm f4 with the TC. ... and it's a kilo lighter than my 400mm 2.8 FL, which is handholdable for short stints. In hindsight (bad idea!) the Z800mm PF + Z600mm PF roughly equals the best grey price for the Z400mm 2.8 at about 10k.

I'm currently weighting up ditching the 500mm PF and getting the Z600mm PF. My D850 is getting very little, ie, no outdoor action, but I'll keep it for studio use, it still takes a very nice picture. I've a fair number of longer F mount lenses to trade in to soften the pocket pain 😂

Yup, too true. But it does work as a AF mode toggle. Spot, Custom Square and Auto. Although I got very confused the other day with my F 400mm 2.8 FL. The LFn kept resetting the focus; Doh, it's set to Focus Memory and not AF Mode. Must fix that soon!

Many of the Nikon promo images show handheld use of the Z800mm. I fact the Nikon UK promo page ONLY shows handheld use by a female photographer. There was some 'issue' about her holding technique I remember.

I tried EC on the Function Ring, but do get a bit messed up with Nikon's ring 'order' and the ability to reach lefthandedly. My Z8 and 800mm PF has AF acquisition problems when the target is well OOF and needs a MF nudge, again with the left hand. ...and then there's access to the Ln function buttons, which I've got set to cycle AF mode. For a lens designed for handholding, that's a lot of shifting for the left hand with a pretty weighty lens

Maybe.... 😉

Hummm, some of those example shots with settings are all over the place. The Gannet shot @ 1/3200th.. why, it's a static portrait? Spot on. Subject motion blur has killed more shots than anything else, usually when I've underestimated the bird's speed 🙁

Interesting reading on the photography life review. https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-z-85mm-f1-8-s/2 This becomes relevant for the new 'wide-open' focusing option One thing to keep in mind is that the lens has a pronounced focus shift issue that can be easily seen when stopping down at all apertures from f/1.8 to f/5.6. To avoid focus shift completely, make sure to stop the lens down to the desired aperture before focusing. That’s what I had to do in order to properly measure the sharpness of the lens. Quite a difference 2 stops down makes. I'd intend to use this lens wide open.

They are currently the same price of about 500 UK pounds (no pound sign on US keyboard!) used v new. Anyone got any views? Obviously 1.4 v 1.8 but...IQ?

Z8 + Z100-400mm @ 400mm. ISO 280 f8 1/640. Honey Bee on Willow.

I was meaning using the Histogram at taking time, not processing time. 😉 Deliberate underexposure is severely reducing the info you are capturing in-camera. As long as the peak (s) remain between the 'ends', you never lose data. That's where you can drag the middle pointer to get the best midtone info. This is what happens when you use the full DR of your original posted JPEG pic, never mind the actual scene, bit overprocessed but you get the idea.

Humm, if that's the 'correct' histogram at ISO 1000 on the Z8, you're leaving about 4 stops of dynamic range on the table. You should have about 11 EVs of DR at ISO 1000 Love the composite shot. Awesome !

Nikon Z8 + 800mm PF + Z1.4TC. 1050mm. ISO 2200 1/500 f9 @56m. Cormorant.

I'm guessing there has to be a hardware reason there's no PixelShift for the Z9? ......and why isn't Bird mode available for AutoCapture in either the Z8 or Z9? It's a very obvious use for nestbox or frequent perch shooting, although I do like the timer addition.

PS. Main reason for a new FTZ is I'd hate to see the re-bent and re-straightened aperture lever shear off and go into the camera body cavity and either trash the shutter and/or IBIS. You might even jam the knackered FTZ to the body permanently! Fixing that would be many, many times the cost of a new FTZ. 😉

Fix your lens stop-screw and go and buy a new/second hand FTZ II. 😉 Which 300mm lens and Z body are you using?

Gotta hope there's no focus shift with this new addition...!

Airplanes have been added to Subject Detection Types for Auto-Capture, but still no Birds, like the Z8.

Page 11 of Firmware 5.0 Notes..with new High ISO Noise reduction is, err, interestingly non-descriptive! Noise is now 'different'....🤣

Interesting no Pixel Shift? Snapbridge WiFi looks kinda interesting.

Eclipse Junkie ? 🤣 I caught the 1999 Total in NW France with a Nikon FM2, a Sigma 600mm f8 CAT lens and some AstroSolar film. Got some OK results. Must fish them out of the archive and scan them properly. As you say, the exposure for when any amount of the sun's disc is visible should be pretty fixed and wouldn't vary enough to merit bracketing. But totality is indeed a different kettle-of-fish. However 4.1/2 mins is a long time AND the WYSIWYG EVF is priceless along with the Histogram function. Do you have a solar tracker? I have a vague memory of 1mm on the sensor (film!) for every 100mm of lens, is that about right? I remember it being hectic too....I used a rubber band to keep the Solar Film in place and it pinged off mid exposure😱 However, the film didn't move 👍 I'd be interested just how far out the coronal filaments go, so I can see why you're after increasing exposures in this way. I guess it's 'enough' when the histo 'molehill' leaves the LHS of the scale? Black is no-longer black. HDR stack maybe?