Nikon Z9/Z8 Autofocus for Birds in Flight - How I configure my camera for funky action shots!
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- Опубликовано: 22 июл 2024
- Here's how I set up my Nikon Z9 autofocus for birds in flight photography! These settings will also work on the Z8.
Not got a Z9/Z8? Check out my previous videos for the AF setup on:
- Fujifilm X-H2S: • My Autofocus settings ...
- OM System OM-1: • OM-1 Autofocus Tips...... and • OM-1 Quick Tips: Wildl...
I'll have a more generic, any camera, guide to how I practice birds in flight photography out soon-ish!
Buy the Nikon Z9 from:
- Adorama (USA): adorama.rfvk.net/zNXYDO
- WEX Photo Video (UK): tidd.ly/3rMFWrN
00:00 - Intro
00:37 - Example Photos
01:05 - Photo Shooting Menu
01:17 - Focus Mode
01:24 - AF-area Mode
02:10 - AF subject detection options
02:16 - Vibration reduction
02:28 - Custom Settings Menu
02:40 - AF-C priority selection
03:29 - Focus tracking with lock-on
05:01 - AF activation
05:36 - Customising AF mode on AF-On
06:22 - Outro
Thanks very much for this! Big thumbs up.
Robert.... I'm new Z8 user and have been going crazy trying to figure this out while watching other videos that can't seem to provide a simple and to the point explanation. THANK YOU for a such a well produced and clear set of recommendations.
I hope they work out for you! 😀 Lemme know if you find any different settings that work better for you - I’m always interested in possible improvements
Your photos are absolutely outstanding! Thank you for sharing your opinion and observations. Wishing you all the best!
Thanks for the clear explanation, I'll try these setting on the field ASAP
Thanks so much -- i will try these settings -- I have been struggling with the Z8 but no other Nikon bodies
fantastic video.
I’m looking forward to your impressions of the new Z9 firmware 4.10 with AF improvements specifically for tacking birds.
Haha yeah poor timing on my part, but I do have the new firmware installed now and I’ll be testing it out to see how it compares!
Nice video and advice, very different in some way of the others video and ebook that I've see and read.
Have you a video about general setting and for still photo with Z8\Z9? Thank you
Thanks! I haven't got a more general setup video yet, but I will hopefully get around to making one fairly soon 😀
Thanks Robert, I'm a Z8 newbie and have been looking at numerous RUclips review on settings. I really like your suggestion to not use back button focus for basic birds in flight to simplify shooting. I've tried some of your suggested settings in the park with swallows with back button focus enabled (as I've sued that for the past number of years) and have had some success- but will try the Shutter/AF-ON option for birds in flight. Thank you
Ooh always nice to see someone else attempting shots of swallows - easily the best way of filling a memory card 🙈I'd be curious to know how you get on and any tweaks you make to the setup!
@@robert_may Hi Robert, I did attempt shots of swallows and in addition to Shutter/AF-ON option I set the camera to Shutter priority 1/5000 of a sec at least. I got some great shots with these settings and also got great shots of a swallow attacking an Australian black shouldered kite up high (500mm). Very pleased with the results!
@@paulverma9770 Ooh awesome! Yeah agreed on the shutter speed - I tend to be around that speed for swallows too, especially as panning reliably with them is extremely difficult compared to other birds 😅
Really enjoy your videos! Those are great tips, and I will certainly experiment with them. I have been using Animal 3D with decent success. I have had the focus tracking set at 4 and Erratic, but am sometimes frustrated with the slow response when the camera loses focus on something racing toward me, like my puppy.
Does limiting the AF area keep 3D from looking outside the square?
Cheers!
Ooh great question - I completely forgot to mention this in the video. So if you have 3D tracking on AF-On and an area on the shutter half-press, it behaves differently depending on which button you press first. If you half press the shutter and hold it, then press AF-On, the 3D tracking will start from what it picks up inside the area (but it can then move outside of it). If you press and hold AF-On first then the area mode never engages when you then press the shutter.
Something I need to experiment with is whether I can change the blocked shot setting whilst also triggering 3D tracking and AF-On, as I usually find it works better when stickier 🤔
So far I've kept the tracking lock on in the middle, but I'll give 2 a shot, when in a situation where BIF is the most likely subject.
My 180-600 arrived on Friday, yesterday I took it out for the first time and, out of nowhere, there was a white-tailed eagle flying towards me, in an area in Germany where you normally can't find them. The Z8 nailed every single shot, my old X-H2 would've messed up at least half of them.
While the subject detection of the Z8/Z9 is pretty far behind that of Fuji, the actual AF performance is miles ahead. I think with the X-H2s it may be better, but with long lenses on the 40 MP X-H2, the camera struggled even with keeping static birds in focus, the Z8 gets it every time. That's going to save me a lot of storage space, not having to take 50 shots of everything, praying that one is perfectly sharp. 😅
Ooh exciting to see a wild eagle like that!
Yeah agreed - the Z8/Z9 are a bit slow to pick up a subject but once they have it they track it really well, even towards the camera. I found the OM-1 was great at birds in flight but bad at birds in bushes, the X-H2S not quite as good at birds in flight but much better at birds in bushes, and the Z9 seems to be a combination of the two and is good at both. Though I do have to swap the sensitivity between those two scenarios.
The X-H2S seems to have improved a bit since I briefly owned it - my dad's finding it pretty reliable now. It is much faster at AF than the X-H2, I presume because the sensor is stacked and there's a lot more data to play with.
And yeah I thankfully take fewer photos to get a good shot with the Z9 than the previous two cameras, though I have to admit I now take just as many photos because I'm getting so many good ones that I get a bit obsessive about it 😅
Do you have a setup of using pre-capture and can one combine 3-D tracking? I currently use small or large focus box or a long wide C1 for flight path tacking. I will have to try your steady settings and the AF focus button options to have two. I use AF-B, and Single at the moment.
I actually haven’t used pre-capture at all yet, as I found that with the near-unlimited buffer I was getting similar shots just by pre-emptively starting shooting. There is a rumour that pre-capture will be getting RAW support soon, which would be exciting.
Pretty sure you can combine pre-capture and 3D tracking. I’ll go test that out soon as I should really try it out 😅
Thank you. What are the best settings for photographing football?
I don't shoot many sports but I would think similar settings should work, although I'd probably change the "Focus Tracking with Lock-On" to a higher number, as you'll likely want it to track the person you've focused on rather than get distracted by others running in front of them.
@@robert_may Do you recommend that I do the same settings?
Do you use speed priority aperture priority or program priority
For birds in flight, I use either Manual or Shutter Priority. I have auto-ISO enabled in both 😀 I’d say most of the time I’m using Manual just because the settings don’t change much outside of ISO.