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Photo of the Day - March 2021
- Thread starter tizeye
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Thank you....this was taken with my kit lens since he (or she) was quite a ways away.....but I did change my signature to reflect the new purchase.Birds in flight the most difficult to capture, so well done.
By the way, you forgot to mention the new camera
Cheers
Hugh
Oh, yes. Its not mine. I have been testing it out on and off the past couple of weeks when my buddy stops by. If I decide I wish to upgrade my D3300, I think the D7500 is a good choice. Its either that or spend more for the D500 which is much more $$$$$. Trying to find one local to rent. And then again, is the Z50 the way to go?...and get the adaptor for my lenses.I meant the D7500 I picked up in the EXIF details for that photo
Cheers
Hugh
Oh, Molly, did you upgrade to the Z7 II? I would think that with the kind of shooting you like to do that a camera with higher resolution and more detail would be right up your alley.....Apparently there're not a lot of huge, significant changes between the Z6 and Z6 II or the Z7 and Z7 II but they're enough to make an upgrade worth the user's time and money. Several people on NikonCafe have gone with either upgrading their Z6 to the Z6 II or moved into getting a Z7 II as their primary camera now with their original Z6 serving as the backup.
Getting back on topic and answering the question in general, I would highly recommend going with a mirrorless camera at this point in time rather than a DSLR. Mirrorless is the way of the future and does have a number of advantages over a DSLR.
It reminds me of the NYC subway stations, specially the steel columns.
See... long ago in my teenage years I am walking on the left side of the columns "toward the camera," and I notice this beautiful young lady as she passes me by in the opposite direction. All of the sudden the right side of my forehead above the eye hits a column, and I hear "a loud bell sound" (big bang), and see lots of blue stars. It was so loud that the girl turns around and looks at me with great surprise, but good for me doesn't laugh. I walked away in pain, but what hurts the most was my ego. I was so embarrassed!
? I told my wife this story, and she started laughing, but I too can laugh about it since I am not longer young.
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Canon 5D IV - Canon EF 85mm f/1.4 L IS USM (@f/1.4)
Pentax K-S2, 1:4-5.6, 50-200mm Kit
Over the weekend I experimented at a local park with nesting great white egrets. While I routinely use a painters pole for elevated real estate shots, I has a relatively light weight 16-35mm on it. Took the pole to the park, but with the weight of a 70-200 mounted was a bit whippy when extended, so backed up a little to keep the subject in the frame and cropped. Loved the eye-level perspective. Shutter lag on the electronic triggering was a whole different challenge, and zoomed with feet as that was one camera adjustment not possible electronically.
Boat-1-191208.jpg by Charles Martorelli, on Flickr
Here is Bertha, one of my sister in law's cats.
Camera from an LG41 Android phone. Focal length 3.49 mm, F number f/2.2, Exposure time 1/10.
Camera from an LG41 Android phone. Focal length 3.49 mm, F number f/2.2, Exposure time 1/10.
This photo is an example of just how good cameras have become. While not exactly a spectacular photo, this mockingbird is bobbing in a swaying spruce tree while I have up to 50MPH gusts at my back. This was taken handheld at 400mm (800mm FF eq), even using digital zoom to focus, so it was probably something like 1600mm in my viewfinder. AFC, 5-axis IBIS, and OIS help get the focus, and there's enough DR in the sensor to pull the bird out of the shadows.
Fantastic shot.
I agree. The cameras today are beasts (in the best possible way, that is)
Just got me a Canon R5 (have the R6 & 5D IV) to higher the pixel count a bit. And the IBIS in these mirrorless cameras in conjunction with the IS offered in some lenses are absolutely miraculous.
I actually got the Z6ii. I prefer the smaller file sizes and value ISO performance over megapixels. My previous camera to my Z6 was the 36mp D800 and I have zero desire to have more megapixels than that. I was originally worried about dropping down to 24mp of the Z6, but it was actually really delightful. The largest I have ever printed with any camera is 24x36, and I've done that from my first camera, the Canon 30D, which was 8mp. 24mp is like the perfect size for me in terms of resolution as I am fairly careful with composition in camera and only ever need to straighten a little bit (okay, maybe a lot sometimes ?).
My primary goal wasn't an upgrade per se but rather just a second body. For all of last year I would have been happy with a second Z6 and to work with identical bodies. In fact, if the button layout would have been different on the ii I would have gotten a second Z6. I worked with a D700 and D800 in tandem for a while and it was a pain because the ISO and WB buttons were swapped and I never could remember which camera I was using, so neither were ever intuitive.
But at this point I figured I might as well go for the second iteration. Right now my primary work is all manual focus so the new focusing system isn't a big selling point for me. And honestly with AF I shoot single point AF-C and track manually by actually moving my camera with the subject old school style. But, soon enough my kids will be back in sports and we have a dog now that we didn't have when I got the original Z6, so having some of those updated tracking systems should benefit me over time.
I am just really happy to have two bodies again. I will likely dedicate one to being a full Z mount and the other as a full F mount by just keeping the adapter connected, but right now I'm mostly using the ii, just because I can. I've only had it a few weeks as my husband told me I could get one for my birthday, but then I had to wait to find one. I stalked District Camera's website and the Friday after my birthday one came into stock at the Arlington store, so I ran down there to pick it up. ?
It is the NYC subway system . It's the mezzanine level at the W. 4th St. station . I have occasion to pass through there every month or so , and I've always found it sorta creepy . ( the mezzanine. area , not the subway ) It's almost always empty save for folks passing between the upstairs platform and the lower . It's also much longer than in the picture. One of these days , I'll take some time and get the whole length .
Very cool, Molly! Congratulations on the new Z6 II! I hear you on the having two bodies with similar button/dial placements, etc. I definitely prefer that, too -- one reason why I don't shoot two different systems because I know I'd have a difficult time! I like being able to pick up a camera and have everything ready to go, my fingers knowing where to go, muscle memory and such, rather than having to rethink everything, especially when in a situation out in the field somewhere with two cameras complementing each other. Also it is useful having the same batteries and memory cards as well, for quick swapping in-and-out as needed.
Like you, I tend to track manually rather than using the tracking system available in the camera -- it's just the way I learned lo these many, many moons ago and it's still more comfortable to me. Acquire focus, keep following, panning along with the subject......
I love the greater detail available with the higher resolution in my A7R IV and while at first the larger file sizes were rather daunting -- I shoot in uncompressed RAW -- I have the capacity to handle that both in the computer and in external drives, so it's not a big issue for me. I do tend to crop, not so much due to poor composition skills on my part but rather more to often shooting subjects which are live and moving and unpredictable, so that while I may be focusing on one particular bird, for example, another may suddenly come into the frame as I'm shooting and rather than have half a duck or goose in there detracting from my primary subject I simply crop out the offender. I do have to be mindful of the ISO situation, though, as, yes, that can get higher than is really desirable, especially in poor light conditions. All part of the challenge!
Like you, I tend to track manually rather than using the tracking system available in the camera -- it's just the way I learned lo these many, many moons ago and it's still more comfortable to me. Acquire focus, keep following, panning along with the subject......
I love the greater detail available with the higher resolution in my A7R IV and while at first the larger file sizes were rather daunting -- I shoot in uncompressed RAW -- I have the capacity to handle that both in the computer and in external drives, so it's not a big issue for me. I do tend to crop, not so much due to poor composition skills on my part but rather more to often shooting subjects which are live and moving and unpredictable, so that while I may be focusing on one particular bird, for example, another may suddenly come into the frame as I'm shooting and rather than have half a duck or goose in there detracting from my primary subject I simply crop out the offender. I do have to be mindful of the ISO situation, though, as, yes, that can get higher than is really desirable, especially in poor light conditions. All part of the challenge!
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Getting really up close and personal with a daffodil:
An older shot from before something dug up and ate most of our tulips...
Cheers
Hugh
Cheers
Hugh
What I am not keen about with the Z50 is the so-so battery life and it is so small my hands overpower it. ( I checked out one at BestBuy) I can get a used D7500 for about $500 less than the Z50 2-lens kit and I don't need to pay another $250 for the Z adaptor. I also like that the controls of the D7500 are pretty similar to the D3300. I think the D500 is a very good camera but overkill for my needs. Also, I believe the Z50 will be replaced in 2021. So right now I lean towards a used D7500 as a nice step up from the D3300 with more controls, better ISO, better build and weather proofing. (Im not a pro so the one SD card slot is not an issue for me.)