Dieter Schaefer

It's springtime in Maine

Same here with the Z9 and both the 800PF and the 500PF. Indeed. Nonetheless, I like the options though. Haven't tried that yet, might be a better use than the "recall focus position" I currently have programmed for it and not even used once so far.

I suppose that's why Nikon implemented Easy Exposure Compensation. I tried it and just couldn't get used to it though. That's indeed a scenario where this selection works. With birds in flight though the shutter speeds needs to stay fast - more readily achieved when it's already locked in. That's 12 clicks on the command dial. I usually get 8 steps in one go - so that'll get me down to 1/500s in this scenario. I only have to remember to turn in the right direction 😜

Not in my copy of the guide. It only states the equipment used, and for the shooting conditions the shutter speed, aperture and (unnecessarily) the focal length (again). The settings on the following page (29) are suggested but it doesn't state that they were applied for the image shown. When I started out with bird photography using a D200, I used S mode as there wasn't an option to set a minimum shutter speed for A mode in the AutoISO menu. I believe that came with the D300 - and I tried it but it was cumbersome since for birds in flight I had to set it for a minimum of 1/1000s - which then precluded me from setting a longer value for a perched bird. I eventually settled for M mode with AutoISO on most of the time. It gives me total freedom to choose shutter speed and aperture as the situation demands (aperture is fully open only about 99% of the time for me). AutoISO takes care of the exposure and I compensate with the exposure compensation as needed (set to the control ring of the 800PF). That way I don't have to get into a menu to change the minimum shutter speed (when using A mode) and/or set ISO values manually. I can also very quickly turn AutoISO off in situations were it isn't needed or even detrimental to what I am trying to accomplish. Also, as suggested in the guide, I don't have the Fn2 button to "waste" on playback; there are more important functions to take care of first. If anything, the Z9 still has too few of those programmable keys. It took me years to arrive at the solution that works best for me. I don't claim that it's the only one or even the best one for anyone else. Have made that experience with other birds - they can be some very rapid movement when one least expects it. I also often have no choice but to use a fast shutter speed on a perched bird - I just don't want to miss the shot should it take off. Because there's no chance to change the shutter speed when that happens. Certainly, and with M mode/AutoISO I am ready for it because I control the shutter speed - not the camera. Photographing prop planes with slow shutter speeds (1/60 - 1/320) to get prop blur is good training to improve one's panning skills.

And rightfully so - I'd not have a lot of my shots if I had limited the ISO to 2000; mine's set to 20000. I rather have a noisy image than a blurry one. I also 100% disagree with using "A" mode for birds in flight; it's the worst option one can pick as you need to be in control of the shutter speed, not the camera. M mode is where it's at, either with AUTO ISO on or off. At f/5.6 (500PF) or f/6.3 (800PF) (which is f/8 and f/9, respectively, with the 1.4x TC) and a minimum of 1/2000s shutter speed one very quickly would run against the ISO 2000 limit in anything but the best lighting conditions. I have my doubts that their example image of a bird in flight (taken with the 600PF at f/6.3, 1/3200s was taken at an ISO below 2000.

This is the additional weekly image thread for the Nature Forum. While images posted to this thread should still be nature in theme, it may contain a small amount of human-made objects and therefore less restricted than the Monday in Nature threads. Please see this discussion for more details: Alternative weekly thread in Nature forum Each participant please post no more than just one image per weekly thread. Many members will appreciate any information you are willing or able to provide regarding location, shooting process, exposure settings, equipment, and information on the subject(s), including scientific and/or common names. Osprey Balancing Act

This is the additional weekly image thread for the Nature Forum. While images posted to this thread should still be nature in theme, it may contain a small amount of human-made objects and therefore less restricted than the Monday in Nature threads. Please see this discussion for more details: Alternative weekly thread in Nature forum Each participant please post no more than just one image per weekly thread. Many members will appreciate any information you are willing or able to provide regarding location, shooting process, exposure settings, equipment, and information on the subject(s), including scientific and/or common names. Osprey

Nikon Z9, 800PF

Didn't Nikon get sued by RED for patent infringement - and the case got settled because Nikon argued that the patent should never have been granted in the first place?

This is the additional weekly image thread for the Nature Forum. While images posted to this thread should still be nature in theme, it may contain a small amount of human-made objects and therefore less restricted than the Monday in Nature threads. Please see this discussion for more details: Alternative weekly thread in Nature forum Each participant please post no more than just one image per weekly thread. Many members will appreciate any information you are willing or able to provide regarding location, shooting process, exposure settings, equipment, and information on the subject(s), including scientific and/or common names. Osprey

This is the additional weekly image thread for the Nature Forum. While images posted to this thread should still be nature in theme, it may contain a small amount of human-made objects and therefore less restricted than the Monday in Nature threads. Please see this discussion for more details: Alternative weekly thread in Nature forum Each participant please post no more than just one image per weekly thread. Many members will appreciate any information you are willing or able to provide regarding location, shooting process, exposure settings, equipment, and information on the subject(s), including scientific and/or common names. Osprey

Z9, 800PF Food delivery

Basic Guidelines: In the strictest sense, nature photography should not include "hand of man elements". Please refrain from images with buildings or human made structures like roads, fences, walls. Pets are not permitted. Captive subjects in zoos, arboretums, or aquariums are permitted, but must be declared, and must focus on the subject, not the captivity. Images with obvious human made elements will likely be deleted from the thread, with an explanation to the photographer. Guidelines are based on PSA rules governing Nature photography which also cover the Nature Forum. Keep your image at/under 1000 pixels on the long axis for in-line viewing. Note that this includes photos hosted off-site at Flicker, Photobucket, your own site, etc. Each member please post no more than just one image to this weekly thread per week. If the information is available, many members appreciate information on your approach to making the image and the names, both common and scientific, of the subject(s). However, while encouraged, these are not required as a component of your contributions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Osprey Palaver

This is the additional weekly image thread for the Nature Forum. While images posted to this thread should still be nature in theme, it may contain a small amount of human-made objects and therefore less restricted than the Monday in Nature threads. Please see this discussion for more details: Alternative weekly thread in Nature forum Each participant please post no more than just one image per weekly thread. Many members will appreciate any information you are willing or able to provide regarding location, shooting process, exposure settings, equipment, and information on the subject(s), including scientific and/or common names. Ospreys

There's a two-week-old thread in the flickr help forum about images not showing at a different site - acknowledged by staff and allegedly fixed now (though there are still complaints of ongoing issues). As usual with flickr, there's no real information flowing from staff about the issues and the reasons behind them. IIRC, then the PN software update "broke" the way flickr images were shared here on PN: the options flickr provides aren't working anymore and one shares by simply pasting the image's URL into a PN thread.

This is the additional weekly image thread for the Nature Forum. While images posted to this thread should still be nature in theme, it may contain a small amount of human-made objects and therefore less restricted than the Monday in Nature threads. Please see this discussion for more details: Alternative weekly thread in Nature forum Each participant please post no more than just one image per weekly thread. Many members will appreciate any information you are willing or able to provide regarding location, shooting process, exposure settings, equipment, and information on the subject(s), including scientific and/or common names. Osprey

This is the additional weekly image thread for the Nature Forum. While images posted to this thread should still be nature in theme, it may contain a small amount of human-made objects and therefore less restricted than the Monday in Nature threads. Please see this discussion for more details: Alternative weekly thread in Nature forum Each participant please post no more than just one image per weekly thread. Many members will appreciate any information you are willing or able to provide regarding location, shooting process, exposure settings, equipment, and information on the subject(s), including scientific and/or common names. Barn Swallow (from last August)

Z9, 800PF, 1.4xTC

This is the additional weekly image thread for the Nature Forum. While images posted to this thread should still be nature in theme, it may contain a small amount of human-made objects and therefore less restricted than the Monday in Nature threads. Please see this discussion for more details: Alternative weekly thread in Nature forum Each participant please post no more than just one image per weekly thread. Many members will appreciate any information you are willing or able to provide regarding location, shooting process, exposure settings, equipment, and information on the subject(s), including scientific and/or common names.

Z9, 800PF, 1.4xTC