Nikon is really doing excellent job with Z-mount lenses, not just s-lenses, non-s are fantastic too. I can't wait for 100-400s, it should be a home run from Nikon. Thanks for a great review!
Hi Mathieu, just subscribed and enjoyed your review! Excellent presentation and first class! Waiting for my 70-200 s lens currently and will be ordering the x1.4 tele. How is the autofocus for birds in flight with the z7 and this lens vs the d500? Take care and best of luck with your channel! Rick in Phoenix, AZ USA 😀
Thank you. I tried the D500 two years ago with the 200-500mm 5.6. The keeper rate was very similar (and can't remember the score but probably around 85%). I remember that using the 3D Tracking focus made all the difference, whereas it doesn't perform as well on the Z cameras.
Not sure, I've tried to get my hands on a copy on multiple occasions but never had the chance (not available to rent with the lenses I wanted, or no review samples available). When there is so much out there to test and so little support from the brands, I have to be selective unfortunately.
Very nice work. Shooting a full frame in DX mode - I would not do that ever in my use cases, but you could test the difference between FX and post crop versus DX shots for the following. Your raw processing software may use a separate edge algorithm to deBayerize along the edges of the raw data - if the raw file does not have additional rows and columns of data (that you if-then could not use as user). The - academic - thing here is, would your raw processor give different edge results either way? If you shoot FX and crop later, your raw file will have a [...] load of rows and columns of photosite (*) data. Which raw processor did you use? It seems you have access to Z 7 as well. I have seen random color processing noise in some of my shots that is absent in Nikon Capture NX-D, absent in Capture One (that does not formally support my lenses) and absent in Lightroom 10 = Camera Raw 13 when I adapt older F-FX lenses to my '7. So it pops up in LR 10 in images taken with the Z 7 with Z/S lenses. Very annoying. Oh, adapted lenses. It's funny to think that any or all Nikon Z lens was always tested on a Z camera. There is no way to put these lenses on another camera without ending up with macro only. (*) a sensor has photosites, no pixels. Pixels have RGB. Photosites are monochrome, as are their measurement data in raw files.
Great presentation, hands on and practical. Please keep up the BIF comparison, its very useful as its hands on. Surprised with the Z7 over Z6 results. Counterintuitive, do you use BBF for AF or use the shutter for both AF and release? Thanks
Thanks Mathieu. You and other have said there is no apparent loss of sharpness with the 1.4x, did you find this still held true on the higher density Z7 as well?
@@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons impressive indeed. I’ve read somewhere (that I forget), the 2.0x has a loss of sharpness but it will be interesting to see by how much. Thanks for the reply.
First of all another great and really I;formative video! Did I get that right, you used Focus mode when testing the keeper rate. With focus mode alla pics should (in theory) be sharp but you would maybe not get the frame rate you wanted. How do you judge in focus vs out of focus using Focus mode? And do you do any testing using release mode? I believe many BIF photographers prefer release mode so therefore I’m curious about your thinking here.
Yes theoretically Focus Priority should always deliver sharp results, but in reality it is not the case. With birds in flight and many mirrorless cameras, I find Focus Priority to give more in-focus images than Release Priority. But I understand that in some situations photographers prefer to use Release Priority to not miss an important moment, but you have to trust the autofocus to get the shot you want in focus. The Z6 and Z7 have improved a lot, so using Release Priority shouldn't be too bad (but I haven't tested that recently). To judge the images, I divide them in various folders depending on the settings used, then I label them in three different ways: out of focus, slightly soft and 100% focus. I explain this better in my Z50/Z6 video ( ruclips.net/video/4G6vel-hbAg/видео.html ) and on our website: mirrorlesscomparison.com/best/mirrorless-cameras-for-birds-in-flight/
Just a question, i am thinking if it is fair to compare the keeper rate from a camera with 5.5 fps again lets say a camera with 18fps. The camera with the low fps has much more time to calculate the focus. I have the olympus em1ii in mind.
I’ve been asked this question before and it is an excellent point. I’ve been following a simple logic since I started to test cameras for BIF: try all the relevant settings, find the combination that gives me the best performance for each camera and calculate the score accordingly. A few weeks ago somebody pointed out that a camera with higher fps could give more images in focus than a camera with lower fps when photographing the same scene, even if the camera with less fps has a better AF. For example if I shoot a sequence for two seconds with the Z7 and E-M1 II, I’ll have 11 images and 36 images respectively (5.5fps vs 18fps). Based on my score, the Nikon should give me about 9 photos in focus, whereas the Olympus should deliver about 23 photos in focus. So the E-M1 II is the one that gives you a higher chance of capturing the perfect moment. However with the Olympus you also end up with more images out of focus (13). Let’s say the perfect moment is in the midle of my sequence (after 1 second): there is no way to predict if those 13 images, or 10, or 7 will be in the middle of the sequence (where the perfect moment is) or not. Same reasoning with the nikon, but in that case we’re talking about only 2 images that can be in the way. My experience in these past four years is that I’ve come to trust the camera with the better AF more than the one with faster fps. Most of the time, the camera with lower fps is perfectly capable of giving me great shots because the AF is reliable when I needed it the most, whereas with a camera like the E-M1 II, it’s always hit and miss despite the faster fps. You’re right about the Nikon having to make less effort with 5.5fps vs the Olympus with 18fps. So the 5.5fps is not the best example of Nikon’s performance, because it can go up to 9fps (or 12fps for the Z6) but the keeper rate is lower. If you’re interested, I made a second rank based on fps on our article: mirrorlesscomparison.com/best/mirrorless-cameras-for-birds-in-flight/
So: Z7 II + FTZ + Tamron TC 1.4x or 2x + Tamron SP70-200mm F/2.8 G2 ? I have not tested this combo myself, but I can't see a reason why it wouldn't work. Make sure to use the Tamron teleconverters.
Probably the best 70-200mm f/2.8 currently available today. Nice review.
thank you!
Totally agree Best ever Made all Brands
Not any longer with the Sony 70-200mm 2.8 GM Mark II which is the best of the best of the 70-200mm :)
Nice review! Thank you! Zs is an incredible quality over all output system
Nikon is really doing excellent job with Z-mount lenses, not just s-lenses, non-s are fantastic too. I can't wait for 100-400s, it should be a home run from Nikon. Thanks for a great review!
Waiting for z6ii and z7ii review
Fantastic review! Your reviews are well done as always. 👍🏼👍🏼
Thank you!
Great review Mathieu, going out and getting the shots of wild birds can't have been easy. Thank you for all your hard work.
It's a feeding station, so it's easier than taking photos in the wild because there are many of them that come to feed.
Awesome review keep up the good work.
Hi Mathieu, just subscribed and enjoyed your review! Excellent presentation and first class! Waiting for my 70-200 s lens currently and will be ordering the x1.4 tele. How is the autofocus for birds in flight with the z7 and this lens vs the d500? Take care and best of luck with your channel! Rick in Phoenix, AZ USA 😀
Thank you. I tried the D500 two years ago with the 200-500mm 5.6. The keeper rate was very similar (and can't remember the score but probably around 85%). I remember that using the 3D Tracking focus made all the difference, whereas it doesn't perform as well on the Z cameras.
Great review and will you do a review on the Z6 and Z7 mark ii cameras.
Possibly, if I can get my hands on the samples.
@@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons thats something to forward to
Please do
Thanks for the video. When will you be able to test the Nikon Z6II?
Not sure, I've tried to get my hands on a copy on multiple occasions but never had the chance (not available to rent with the lenses I wanted, or no review samples available). When there is so much out there to test and so little support from the brands, I have to be selective unfortunately.
Thank you for the great and clear review
Do a z6ii vs a7iii vs r6 vs s5 video please
Great review & excellent images
Many thanks!
Very nice work.
Shooting a full frame in DX mode - I would not do that ever in my use cases, but you could test the difference between FX and post crop versus DX shots for the following. Your raw processing software may use a separate edge algorithm to deBayerize along the edges of the raw data - if the raw file does not have additional rows and columns of data (that you if-then could not use as user). The - academic - thing here is, would your raw processor give different edge results either way? If you shoot FX and crop later, your raw file will have a [...] load of rows and columns of photosite (*) data.
Which raw processor did you use? It seems you have access to Z 7 as well. I have seen random color processing noise in some of my shots that is absent in Nikon Capture NX-D, absent in Capture One (that does not formally support my lenses) and absent in Lightroom 10 = Camera Raw 13 when I adapt older F-FX lenses to my '7. So it pops up in LR 10 in images taken with the Z 7 with Z/S lenses. Very annoying.
Oh, adapted lenses. It's funny to think that any or all Nikon Z lens was always tested on a Z camera. There is no way to put these lenses on another camera without ending up with macro only.
(*) a sensor has photosites, no pixels. Pixels have RGB. Photosites are monochrome, as are their measurement data in raw files.
I use Lightroom Classic.
The main reason I tried the DX mode was to see if the buffer would increase but it remained more or less the same.
Great presentation, hands on and practical. Please keep up the BIF comparison, its very useful as its hands on. Surprised with the Z7 over Z6 results. Counterintuitive, do you use BBF for AF or use the shutter for both AF and release? Thanks
I use the back button focus.
@@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons Thank you.
Thanks Mathieu. You and other have said there is no apparent loss of sharpness with the 1.4x, did you find this still held true on the higher density Z7 as well?
Yes, I did the sharpness test with the Z7.
@@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons impressive indeed. I’ve read somewhere (that I forget), the 2.0x has a loss of sharpness but it will be interesting to see by how much.
Thanks for the reply.
First of all another great and really I;formative video!
Did I get that right, you used Focus mode when testing the keeper rate. With focus mode alla pics should (in theory) be sharp but you would maybe not get the frame rate you wanted. How do you judge in focus vs out of focus using Focus mode? And do you do any testing using release mode? I believe many BIF photographers prefer release mode so therefore I’m curious about your thinking here.
Yes theoretically Focus Priority should always deliver sharp results, but in reality it is not the case. With birds in flight and many mirrorless cameras, I find Focus Priority to give more in-focus images than Release Priority. But I understand that in some situations photographers prefer to use Release Priority to not miss an important moment, but you have to trust the autofocus to get the shot you want in focus. The Z6 and Z7 have improved a lot, so using Release Priority shouldn't be too bad (but I haven't tested that recently).
To judge the images, I divide them in various folders depending on the settings used, then I label them in three different ways: out of focus, slightly soft and 100% focus. I explain this better in my Z50/Z6 video ( ruclips.net/video/4G6vel-hbAg/видео.html ) and on our website:
mirrorlesscomparison.com/best/mirrorless-cameras-for-birds-in-flight/
Great review, Mathieu. You’ve inspired me to use my Z7Ii more for BIF.
Let me know how it goes!
Thank you. Very nice review. Have you the chance to visit to the F mount FL version?
Yes I have when I tested the Z7 two years ago. I used it during a football game. It gave me a very good impression back then.
i would like to see video footage at following an object like a bird or something
Sorry, don't have the lens with me anymore.
Just a question, i am thinking if it is fair to compare the keeper rate from a camera with 5.5 fps again lets say a camera with 18fps. The camera with the low fps has much more time to calculate the focus. I have the olympus em1ii in mind.
I’ve been asked this question before and it is an excellent point. I’ve been following a simple logic since I started to test cameras for BIF: try all the relevant settings, find the combination that gives me the best performance for each camera and calculate the score accordingly.
A few weeks ago somebody pointed out that a camera with higher fps could give more images in focus than a camera with lower fps when photographing the same scene, even if the camera with less fps has a better AF. For example if I shoot a sequence for two seconds with the Z7 and E-M1 II, I’ll have 11 images and 36 images respectively (5.5fps vs 18fps). Based on my score, the Nikon should give me about 9 photos in focus, whereas the Olympus should deliver about 23 photos in focus. So the E-M1 II is the one that gives you a higher chance of capturing the perfect moment.
However with the Olympus you also end up with more images out of focus (13). Let’s say the perfect moment is in the midle of my sequence (after 1 second): there is no way to predict if those 13 images, or 10, or 7 will be in the middle of the sequence (where the perfect moment is) or not. Same reasoning with the nikon, but in that case we’re talking about only 2 images that can be in the way.
My experience in these past four years is that I’ve come to trust the camera with the better AF more than the one with faster fps. Most of the time, the camera with lower fps is perfectly capable of giving me great shots because the AF is reliable when I needed it the most, whereas with a camera like the E-M1 II, it’s always hit and miss despite the faster fps.
You’re right about the Nikon having to make less effort with 5.5fps vs the Olympus with 18fps. So the 5.5fps is not the best example of Nikon’s performance, because it can go up to 9fps (or 12fps for the Z6) but the keeper rate is lower.
If you’re interested, I made a second rank based on fps on our article:
mirrorlesscomparison.com/best/mirrorless-cameras-for-birds-in-flight/
Hi Mathieu, could you tell me how to engage or disengage the stabilisation of the Lense please?
You have to do it from the camera (VR setting) and it acts on both the lens and camera stabilisation.
@@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons thank you Mathieu for the quick answer :)
Thank you for the review but I'm not finding any CC for some reason?
There isn't the option in the settings for this video, I'm not sure why.
Is this possible? Nikon Z7ii + 1.4x TC + Mount Adapter FTZ + Tamron SP70-200mm F/2.8 G2
Are you talking about the TC for Z-mount?
@@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons The Nikon Z7 ii + FTZ a 1.4 or 2.0 TC and the F-lens: Tamron SP70-200mm F/2.8 G2
So: Z7 II + FTZ + Tamron TC 1.4x or 2x + Tamron SP70-200mm F/2.8 G2 ?
I have not tested this combo myself, but I can't see a reason why it wouldn't work. Make sure to use the Tamron teleconverters.
@@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons Thanks, and respect for Your feedback!
ZED-mount!
Zee and Zed both exist.
👍🙏🏾
👍🏾🙏🏾