I’ve bought a second camera body, used on eBay but why have I bought another camera? Have I gone ‘doolally’?
First of all, I love my main mirrorless camera (Nikon Z7) which suits my main genre of photography of landscapes and seascapes. However, it is not the best when it comes to wildlife, and in particular, birds in flight (BIF).
Everyone desires a camera which can do everything really well. It’s mostly what drives the volume of tech reviews. But to date, there’s been few cameras which achieve that aim.
It’s not been a complete fail with wildlife using my mirrorless camera. I’ve captured some good stuff with it.
The recent club trip to Wells taught me to utilise auto-ISO (thanks Ruth and Maurice) so I could concentrate wholly on shutter speed. The oystercatcher shot below may not have been captured were it not for that tip.
Venturing onto forums online, there are raging debates on the topic of shooting wildlife and BIF on mirrorless cameras. One debate is that folks like me haven’t learnt the skill to take the shots we want with our mirrorless cameras.
I confess that I haven’t RTFM’d thoroughly and there is room to improve. But I’m in no doubt that continuous focus and tracking in particular are not the strength of the Z7.
Sony have certainly led the autofocus/wildlife arena for mirrorless capabilities in this genre, or at least up until recently as Canon and Nikon catch up.
There’s a big enough hint that most mirrorless aren’t top notch for BIF when Nikon released the version II Z range with dual processors and advertised improved focus. And an even bigger hint with the new flagship Z9 with a stacked sensor. It’s this new sensor tech alongside faster processors which are changing the game.
To Nikon’s credit, they have released firmware upgrades for version one cameras and things have improved a bit. However, given that the Z7 was promoted as a D850 replacement, it’s certainly not that in terms of autofocus and tracking of BIF.
The other debate is that the speed and accuracy of autofocus on many of these mirrorless cameras just isn’t comparable to those DSLRs which have had no doubts about such capabilities, and have a track record to prove it.
Digging deeper into this topic, I now understand more about these topics. Basically, lower MP cameras have been able to achieve faster shutter speeds and better auto focus as less information is captured by the sensor, so there’s less work for the camera to process.
Higher MP cameras have to process a hell of a lot of information and struggle to process all that data with so much more detail coming onto the sensor.
With stacked sensor technology, and faster and/multiple processors, such cameras can now have the power and multitasking capabilities to provide the performance and results we all want. For most of us though, we will have to wait a bit longer for such tech to be mainstream and more affordable.
I wanted something with better capabilities for wildlife (especially BIF) so after some research I’ve bought a DSLR, the Nikon D500. It has an excellent reputation and I thought it would be fun to try it out.
I could’ve bought the D850 as an all rounder but I’ve heavily invested in the mirrorless Z system and as mentioned above, very happy with it.
The D500 is an end of life camera now but still in demand and seems to hold decent prices. It’s a 20.9 MP camera with better low light ISO capabilities than my Z7. And being a DX drop sensor, it means my Sigma (‘The Bigma’) FX 150-600mm becomes a 225-900mm zoom!
I’ve got two small doubts as I go into this calculated gamble… one is the lower MP count at 20.9 and the other being my lens collection. The lower MP shouldn’t be an issue as the reach of my Bigma should mean I don’t need to crop heavily. And I do have software options to artificially boost the resolution if needed.
The lens collection I can use on this camera is only one, the Bigma with the 225-900mm equivalent zoom capability so I could be hindered if I’m at a bird reserve in a hide and there’s something good only a few feet away. A situation that is highly unlikely.
I’m not inclined to acquire any F mount glass as I’ve migrated what I had to the new Z mount lens range so buying any F mount lenses would be a backward step. I’ve thought about the 70-200 f/2.8 but it’s not worth it.
Of course, I’d love to acquire the new Nikon Z9 which can do everything but it’s the price of a small car and even if I had the means, I don’t fancy the bulk of the chunky body. Never say never though, and I can’t deny I’ve been tempted to reach for the plastic and borrow the cash.
Many Nikon shooters are waiting to see if there’s a more mid-range version without the built-in grip and bulk. That’s the sensible thing to do. Calm down my gadget lust!
If there’s something new next year, I may trade both my current camera bodies for that but right now, I feel comfortable I’ve got the right combination.
There’s one particular ambition that I have which has mainly driven the purchase of this second camera body. And this year, I will get an opportunity to potentially meet that ambition.
I’m keeping the details of this ambition quiet for now. A future blog post will reveal more, either on the success or otherwise of the ambition, and/or on the experiences with the D500.
Onwards and upwards…