NatureScapes.net Forums

photoman4343 wrote:Nancy, I am glad you got your Z 9. I would appreciate it if you would share your settings for the Z9 for future owners like me. My Z 9 will be my first Nikon mirrorless and think I will need help in getting the basic settings right. Now I am using  D850 and D500.

My vendor told me that he has no ETA for me as a non NPS member. He suggested I join NPS if I meet the requirements. I have another friend--also not in NPS who is being told that non NPS folks will not see a Z 9 until after January.

Joe, I'm a non-NPS person and received my Z9 earlier this week.  I pre-ordered a couple hours after the official announcement posted with my go-to camera store.  When I made the pre-order, I asked where I was in the stack.  They said about 100.  I had no idea if that included NPS and non-NPS folks.  Considering all the rumors, I'm very satisfied I have my camera.  One more thing, my deal also told me they couldn't give me an ETA.  

Tom

Tom Hill wrote:

photoman4343 wrote:Nancy, I am glad you got your Z 9. I would appreciate it if you would share your settings for the Z9 for future owners like me. My Z 9 will be my first Nikon mirrorless and think I will need help in getting the basic settings right. Now I am using  D850 and D500.

My vendor told me that he has no ETA for me as a non NPS member. He suggested I join NPS if I meet the requirements. I have another friend--also not in NPS who is being told that non NPS folks will not see a Z 9 until after January.

Joe, I'm a non-NPS person and received my Z9 earlier this week.  I pre-ordered a couple hours after the official announcement posted with my go-to camera store.  When I made the pre-order, I asked where I was in the stack.  They said about 100.  I had no idea if that included NPS and non-NPS folks.  Considering all the rumors, I'm very satisfied I have my camera.  One more thing, my deal also told me they couldn't give me an ETA.  

Tom

I'm non-NPS as well and I got mine a couple of weeks ago too.

New video review by Jan Wegener:

Review

Joe

Scott Fairbairn wrote:

SantaFeJoe wrote:

Scott Fairbairn wrote:One thing, the 500PF doesn’t balance well with the adapter and Z9, it puts the balance point to close to the camera. I might have to put a longer plate on the lens.

Am I correct in thinking that you are referring to when the rig is mounted on a tripod? It seems that if handholding, it shouldn’t matter that much. Also, which adapter are you using, the original or the new model?

Joe

Yes, when mounted on a tripod. You have to move the rig far forward to balance it. I'm using a Wimberley replacement foot and FTZ II. It does matter for handholding if you're using a black-rapid style shoulder strap to attach it to the tripod foot. The camera end is heavier, so the lens points upwards. I rest my hand on the camera to keep it level.

I use the Kirk Photo replacement foot for my 500 PF lens.  

Three images with the Nikon Z9.  First two were taken with the Nikon 500 f/5.6 PF lens.  The tricolored heron was taken with the Nikon 1.4E III TC attached, iso 800, 1/250, f/8, handheld, 3d AF, animal eye.  The anhinga was taken with 3d AF, animal eye, iso 800, 1/3200, f/6.3.  Got to love that 20 fps. The short-eared owl was taken with the Nikon 500 f/4E, FL, lens with the Nikon 1.4E III TC using WideArea (L) to pan and locate, then 3d, animal eye as it got closer.  I mostly use either the WideArea (L), animal eye or 3d, animal eye.  Still getting use to the different AF modes.  I have Fn1 on my old trusty AF mode, dynamic AF (M), Fn2 I have set to change the different AF modes, Fn3 is set to 6 fps, then I have the AF-On button in back set to WideArea (L).  As I said still a work in progress, but boy is the Z9 fun!!!

Hey Nancy
Which adapter are you using with the 500, old or new version?

Joe

SantaFeJoe wrote:Hey Nancy
Which adapter are you using with the 500, old or new version?

Joe

Joe I am using the version II.

Adobe Camera Raw 14.2 was released this week. It provides no updates to Z9 support - still only preliminary support - no optimized Z9 profile.

Thom’s review:

https://www.zsystemuser.com/z-mount-cam ... eview.html

And his new guidebook:

https://www.zsystemuser.com/z-system-bo ... kon-4.html

Joe

SantaFeJoe wrote:Hey Nancy
Which adapter are you using with the 500, old or new version?

Joe

Both versions of the FTZ are the same with the exception of the II lacking the bulge for the tripod foot.

Scott Fairbairn wrote:

SantaFeJoe wrote:Hey Nancy
Which adapter are you using with the 500, old or new version?

Joe

Both versions of the FTZ are the same with the exception of the II lacking the bulge for the tripod foot.

Yes, I’m aware of that. I was asking to see if she was using the old one because I have read that the old one interferes with using the vertical grip. I was wondering if that was as much of a concern as some say it is.

Joe

SantaFeJoe wrote:

Scott Fairbairn wrote:

SantaFeJoe wrote:Hey Nancy
Which adapter are you using with the 500, old or new version?

Joe

Both versions of the FTZ are the same with the exception of the II lacking the bulge for the tripod foot.

Yes, I’m aware of that. I was asking to see if she was using the old one because I have read that the old one interferes with using the vertical grip. I was wondering if that was as much of a concern as some say it is.

Joe

Ok, I see. I'll try it in the next day or two and let you know my thoughts.

Z9 DxOMark sensor score = 98

https://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Nikon/Z9

https://www.dxomark.com/nikon-z9-sensor-test/

New Firmware Update 2.0 for z9:

New Firmware for z9

Joe

George DeCamp wrote:Z9 DxOMark sensor score = 98

https://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Nikon/Z9

https://www.dxomark.com/nikon-z9-sensor-test/

I DON'T BELIEVE DXO Lab sensor test anymore. They highly support Sony cameras and underrate Nikon and Canon cameras. So far I had Sony a6600, Sony a7III, Sony a7RIII Sony a9II and still have Sony a9 and Sony a7RIV. None of them were and are good performers at high  ISO like over 1250 or so. I heard the same from other photographers. Meanwhile the Canon 1D Mark IV was rated at ISO 1320 and most photographers including me used it at ISO 1600 and 2000, no noise at all. The Nikon D850 is vastly underrated at ISO 2600.
Still if the weather is gloomy I grab my Nikon D850 over my Sony cameras. I believe it holds true to Nikon Z9 rating as well. (underrated)
Time will tell.
Karl.

Karl Egressy wrote:

George DeCamp wrote:Z9 DxOMark sensor score = 98

https://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Nikon/Z9

https://www.dxomark.com/nikon-z9-sensor-test/

I DON'T BELIEVE DXO Lab sensor test anymore. They highly support Sony cameras and underrate Nikon and Canon cameras. So far I had Sony a6600, Sony a7III, Sony a7RIII Sony a9II and still have Sony a9 and Sony a7RIV. None of them were and are good performers at high  ISO like over 1250 or so. I heard the same from other photographers. Meanwhile the Canon 1D Mark IV was rated at ISO 1320 and most photographers including me used it at ISO 1600 and 2000, no noise at all. The Nikon D850 is vastly underrated at ISO 2600.
Still if the weather is gloomy I grab my Nikon D850 over my Sony cameras. I believe it holds true to Nikon Z9 rating as well. (underrated)
Time will tell.
Karl.

You will need to read through the nuances of how they do the testing.  It very much favors higher megapixel cameras.  You are looking at pixel level noise while they evaluate noise for a fixed output size.  The more pixels you have, the more pixel binning you do and therefore the lower noise you have.  That's why they tend to favor Sony cameras.

I am a new Nikon Z9 user and have discovered one thing I would like to change if I could. It is the color of the focus box that appears when I am in Wide AF Small. The red color is hard for me to see as I am partially color blind. The Army said red green and blue grey. Can it be changed to another color, like yellow or white? The interesting thing is that I have no problem seeing the small green box that comes on when subject detection detects the eye.

I have not used the other AF options yet so my question might apply to them too.

Aside from that I just love the Z9.

Joe