3 New camera and lens

[Dale D]

Just returned from 3 weeks in Kenya and am now sitting down to edit thousands of videos and images. No drones were allowed. I purchased and practiced with a new Nikon Z8 mirrorless camera with the new Nikkor 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 lens. ISO set at auto ISO, This is the kind of image I can now get with my new gear! We came upon this Tawny Eagle sitting on a tree top. After getting some images with the bird still perched, my guide made a big hand clapping sound to make the bird fly. I pressed the shutter , activating the shutter 20 frames per second RAW using the Nikkor 180-600 mm lens at 600 mm. I ran off about 20 shots and I selected this one to edit. I have many more with the eagle in flight. Once you lock in the focus on the eagle’s eye, the camera and sensor will track and auto focus (AF-C or continuous auto focus on the eye). Edited in Adobe Photoshop and Topaz denoise. Click on image to enlarge.

Dale
Miami

 

[tca]

Dale...Great Shot!..I don't know if you remember me...as we have talked on here a number of times...
I just got the Z8 last week (I have had the Z9) for about 6 months and really like it but it is a little big.When I
the Z9 the nikon z180-600 hadn't been realeased so I got the Sony 200-600 and the mega adapter....is works GREAT...Fast focus...very sharp.Any tips on the Z8 ?




.

 

[tca]

Just returned from 3 weeks in Kenya and am now sitting down to edit thousands of videos and images. No drones were allowed. I purchased and practiced with a new Nikon Z8 mirrorless camera with the new Nikkor 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 lens. ISO set at auto ISO, This is the kind of image I can now get with my new gear! We came upon this Tawny Eagle sitting on a tree top. After getting some images with the bird still perched, my guide made a big hand clapping sound to make the bird fly. I pressed the shutter , activating the shutter 20 frames per second RAW using the Nikkor 180-600 mm lens at 600 mm. I ran off about 20 shots and I selected this one to edit. I have many more with the eagle in flight. Once you lock in the focus on the eagle’s eye, the camera and sensor will track and auto focus (AF-C or continuous auto focus on the eye). Edited in Adobe Photoshop and Topaz denoise. Click on image to enlarge.

Dale
MiamiView attachment 169649

Just returned from 3 weeks in Kenya and am now sitting down to edit thousands of videos and images. No drones were allowed. I purchased and practiced with a new Nikon Z8 mirrorless camera with the new Nikkor 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 lens. ISO set at auto ISO, This is the kind of image I can now get with my new gear! We came upon this Tawny Eagle sitting on a tree top. After getting some images with the bird still perched, my guide made a big hand clapping sound to make the bird fly. I pressed the shutter , activating the shutter 20 frames per second RAW using the Nikkor 180-600 mm lens at 600 mm. I ran off about 20 shots and I selected this one to edit. I have many more with the eagle in flight. Once you lock in the focus on the eagle’s eye, the camera and sensor will track and auto focus (AF-C or continuous auto focus on the eye). Edited in Adobe Photoshop and Topaz denoise. Click on image to enlarge.

Dale
MiamiView attachment 169649

Dale here are my first shots with my Z8 and 200-600 Sony

 

[hansenn]

****, that's a pretty expensive camera.
but i see some white spot around the bird's left wing tip. Did you select the air and darken it?
btw, do your pics sell well on smugmug? you have a great port there.

 

[Dale D]

Dale...Great Shot!..I don't know if you remember me...as we have talked on here a number of times...
I just got the Z8 last week (I have had the Z9) for about 6 months and really like it but it is a little big.When I
the Z9 the nikon z180-600 hadn't been realeased so I got the Sony 200-600 and the mega adapter....is works GREAT...Fast focus...very sharp.Any tips on the Z8 ?




.

Hi John;
Thanks for writing to me. I am now in the midst of editing over 95 GB of materials from our most recent safari (the 14th!). We spent the entire time in Kenya, 7 days in Angama Lodge, overlooking the Mara from the high escarpment, and 8 days at Bushtops,both in the Maasai Mara. I had plenty of opportunities to practice with my new Z8 and I am in love with it. I think the best tips I can give you are that the way I shot, I rarely missed! I set the shutter at 20 FPS and the ISO on auto ISO. I followed the You Tube instructors in setting the back button for focus and the camera on Auto focus Continuous (AutoC). I am depending heavily now on Topaz Denoise during the editing and am editing with Adobe Photoshop and making heavy use of the Masking tool to isolate the sky, subjects, foregrounds for individual local editing.
I was able to purchase the Nikkor 180-600mm lens just before the trip, by calling them daily and begging, and then applied for and got a professional photographer membership which put me on the preferred customer list. Love the lens.

Your three bird shots are a great example. They are fine but have no details in the feathers. They have a high dynamic range, and that leaves the dark areas without details. If you use masking tools, you can bring out the feather details in the the back of the parrot and the back and wings of the eagle. I took the opportunity to try todo a little example on your images using masking tools to bring out details in the feathers. See below.

Dale
Miami

 

[Dale D]

****, that's a pretty expensive camera.
but i see some white spot around the bird's left wing tip. Did you select the air and darken it?
btw, do your pics sell well on smugmug? you have a great port there.

I am not sure you are asking me (Dale) or the original poster, but if it's me, yes the Z8 was over 4K and I don't regret it.

 

[hansenn]

I am not sure you are asking me (Dale) or the original poster, but if it's me, yes the Z8 was over 4K and I don't regret it.

eeeuhhh, that eagle is your pic, right?
and the smugmug link is also yours?

 

[Dale D]

eeeuhhh, that eagle is your pic, right?
and the smugmug link is also yours?

For sure- 100%

 

[akdrone]

Dale here are my first shots with my Z8 and 200-600 Sony

super sharp...what a lens...what a photographer! A good lens is crap without a good photographer so well done on making good use of that glass!

 

[Dale D]

super sharp...what a lens...what a photographer! A good lens is crap without a good photographer so well done on making good use of that glass!

I did not find the images attached. As long as I am here, am attaching another shot with Z8+ 600mm lens. Tawny eagle- Maasai Mara,Kenya. and eagle in flight
Dale

 

[akdrone]

I've never had a lens that could do that. Not sure I have the skill but nice to see you have both. great catch...

 

[Dale D]

I've never had a lens that could do that. Not sure I have the skill but nice to see you have both. great catch...

I do not mean to hijack this post but thank you for your words.

Dale

 

[Dale D]

I do not mean to hijack this post but thank you for your words.

Dale

I've been editing Africa all day- I came across this image of an eagle in flight- just the perfect example of rapid shutter and continuous autofocus of the Nikon Z8, Nikkor 180-600m f/5.6-6.3 lens, a@600mm, with auto Iso. f 1/160th second, ISO 320 ,F/10.
double click to enlarge.
Filmed in Masai Mara National Park, Kenya.

Dale
Miami

 

[Chrislaf]

That Z8 definitely looks like a nice camera and combined with the new 180-600 it would be an awesome combination for nature photography. I'll have to wait for awhile as I just upgraded to the Mavic 3 Pro from the Mavic 3 so I'll have to stick with my current DSLRs and lenses for now.

Just yesterday I was coming back home from Ottawa and going through Algonquin Provincial Park, one of our largest here in Ontario, Canada and saw this guy on the side of the road. Shot on a Nikon D750, Nikon 28-300 lens, @2500 ISO, 300mm, 1/20th, f/6.3, straight out of the camera - no editing. It was a cool, cloudy overcast day at sunset with the light quickly fading. I did do some drone photography long before I entered the park but this guy really illustrates why I still love my D750.

Chris

View attachment D750-2601.jpg

 

[Dale D]

That Z8 definitely looks like a nice camera and combined with the new 180-600 it would be an awesome combination for nature photography. I'll have to wait for awhile as I just upgraded to the Mavic 3 Pro from the Mavic 3 so I'll have to stick with my current DSLRs and lenses for now.

Just yesterday I was coming back home from Ottawa and going through Algonquin Provincial Park, one of our largest here in Ontario, Canada and saw this guy on the side of the road. Shot on a Nikon D750, Nikon 28-300 lens, @2500 ISO, 300mm, 1/20th, f/6.3, straight out of the camera - no editing. It was a cool, cloudy overcast day at sunset with the light quickly fading. I did do some drone photography long before I entered the park but this guy really illustrates why I still love my D750.

Chris

View attachment 169733

Chris:

The moose image is a definite keeper. Would have been nicer to shoot it from a low angle but I understand the circumstance that demanded shooting from the car.

Of course you know I had two (2) Nikon D750's and two (2) 28-300mm lenses up until a few months ago. For years I would use one of the D750's+lens for shooting while I was waiting for the timelapses to shoot with the other D750+lens. When I got the Z8 I sold off one of the cameras and one of the lenses. I still have an extra Hoya 77mm ProND 8 (.9) 3 stop filter (I had two) for the timelapses. I am going to list it on e-bay when I get time. The remaining D750 is a camera and the lens I will never sell. I took it and used it on the Kenya safari that I have just returned from as a backup for the Z8.

Here is a screen shot of my iMAC showing the ability of the high frame rate. These images are taken at 20 FPS RAW! The Z8 will go all of the way to 60 FPS as JPG. (e.g.: from 21-60 frames per second the images switch to jpg. ).

All of these images were taken at 20 frames per second, on auto iso, shutter preferred.

For stopping motion (bird in flight, animal motion) it is truly amazing.

I will be at this desk editing Africa and then Canadian Rockies (August2023) for the next year !

Dale
Miami

 

[Chrislaf]

Chris:

The moose image is a definite keeper. Would have been nicer to shoot it from a low angle but I understand the circumstance that demanded shooting from the car.

Of course you know I had two (2) Nikon D750's and two (2) 28-300mm lenses up until a few months ago. For years I would use one of the D750's+lens for shooting while I was waiting for the timelapses to shoot with the other D750+lens. When I got the Z8 I sold off one of the cameras and one of the lenses. I still have an extra Hoya 77mm ProND 8 (.9) 3 stop filter (I had two) for the timelapses. I am going to list it on e-bay when I get time. The remaining D750 is a camera and the lens I will never sell. I took it and used it on the Kenya safari that I have just returned from as a backup for the Z8.

Here is a screen shot of my iMAC showing the ability of the high frame rate. These images are taken at 20 FPS RAW! The Z8 will go all of the way to 60 FPS as JPG. (e.g.: from 21-60 frames per second the images switch to jpg. ).

All of these images were taken at 20 frames per second, on auto iso, shutter preferred.

For stopping motion (bird in flight, animal motion) it is truly amazing.

I will be at this desk editing Africa and then Canadian Rockies (August2023) for the next year !

Dale
Miami
View attachment 169734

View attachment 169735

Hi Dale,
The moose shot wasn't shot from my vehicle. I got out, but the area where the moose was, was swampy and I wasn't dressed for the conditions. It was cold (3ºC) and windy. Also, the moose was fairly close to the highway and I would have had to go down the bank to the area where the moose was which would have been a stupid and dangerous thing to do as they have been known to charge and with antlers like that I would not have had a chance. I did manage to shoot almost 140 shots from different locations along the highway and of different positions of the moose before I got too cold and it got too dark out.

When I eventually go mirrorless, the Z8 will definitely be a camera that I will consider but for now I will stick with the D750.

Chris

 

[Dale D]

Hi Dale,
The moose shot wasn't shot from my vehicle. I got out, but the area where the moose was, was swampy and I wasn't dressed for the conditions. It was cold (3ºC) and windy. Also, the moose was fairly close to the highway and I would have had to go down the bank to the area where the moose was which would have been a stupid and dangerous thing to do as they have been known to charge and with antlers like that I would not have had a chance. I did manage to shoot almost 140 shots from different locations along the highway and of different positions of the moose before I got too cold and it got too dark out.

When I eventually go mirrorless, the Z8 will definitely be a camera that I will consider but for now I will stick with the D750.

Chris

Great talking photography with you tonight. Off to bed -Miami time .When considering Z8 there are a nice bunch of You Tubes by Steve Perry and Jan Wegner to help.

Dale