Just as an extra note on the CFExpress card: that Angelbird card isn't currently on the official compatibility list for the Z6III (www.nikonproductsupport.com/s/article/Z6III-Memory-card-compatibility?language=en_US). However it's also not on the Z9 compatibility list and I've used it for quite a while without any problems, and Angelbird themselves say it's compatible with the Z9 so 🤷 My primary Z9 card from Delkin also isn't on the list, and from what I can tell the Nikon lists are missing quite a few manufacturers.
That 512GB Angelbird card is provided free (as part of the kit) by Nikon itself with extra battery and charger, in India. I checked that compatibility list and was surprised to see that it is not there and Nikon is providing it WITH Z6 iii in India.
I just picked up the Z6iii in Australia for A$3400 shipped, which is about 1733 pounds at current rate. Was lucky that it just happened to be Nikon day (November 12th). Just waiting for my FtoZ adapter now to actually run it with my old AF-S lenses and to finally get VR on those. Looking at these CFexpress cards and that they basically can make your burst buffer almost infinite is mad. Just ordered the CFexpress card you mentioned and it's indeed a great deal, thanks !
Thanks! It'd be nice if Nikon would someday add RAW support for pre-burst - I think they're the only company that weirdly don't support it now and I've never been able to figure out why 😅
The Z6 III has no sensor shield but a true shutter and they are not intended to get touched because they are very damageable. The slightest touch can destroy them and that's a pretty expensive repair. The Z9's sensor shield is also more intended to protect the sensor from dust entry rather than physically protecting the sensor. The sensor itself has a protective glass layer which is very much more resistant as shutter blades.
I believe that the noise is the ibis kicking in. My Sony A7Iv did the same thing. Can actually hear the ibis knocking around when it’s off-a bit unnerving.
wow Robert... I blinked and you got over 2k subscribers! Congratulations! Thank you for this video. I was interested in trading some gear for this one. It seems to answer all the needs I have for wildlife and events.
Thanks very much! 😄 Yeah it's a really nicely specced camera for me too - covers a lot of things I was looking for. I'm looking forward to shooting more with it over the next few months!
I might have a poke about and see if I can find any settings that change it 🤔 It does stop happening if you enable Silent Mode, so it seems to be something the camera is supposed to do, but what it is I still have no idea 😆
A mini guide on how and when to use the electronic would be interesting. Depending on what type of subjects and subject moments, or camera movements, it is recommended or not recommended. The question of autofocus in H+ compared to reflex cameras scares me a little. Is the lack of precision during the burst at those speeds so drastic?
Ooh yeah it’d be nice to cover something like that in a video. General gist: if there’s obvious vertical lines in the background and you’re panning past them, mechanical shutter is better. For everything else I’d use electronic - the sensor readout on the Z6III isn’t fast enough to not skew verticals when panning (even the Z9’s isn’t), but it is fast enough that you shouldn’t see warpy wings or oddities like that. And yeah the difference when running in the H+ mechanical mode was noticeable to me, but other people might have different experiences. Been a while since I had the X-H2S or OM-1, which would be an interesting comparison as they have faster sensors and still have mechanical shutters 🤔
@@robert_may I thought that z8 and z9 had identical behavior to the mechanical shutter due to the reading speed. In the problems you report during panning, are you referring to the ultra-fast modes which have behaviors similar to video recording? (60fps and above) I think the z6iii is paradoxically faster at reading videos from the data I've seen. However, I really don't like the exposed sensor on such an expensive machine at all. Thanks so much for the advice!
Really good video of this camera. I’ve been thinking about the Z6III, but i know i prefer Z9 as i use a D4 still next to my OM-1. Would you still choose the Z9 over Z8 today?.
Ooh good question. I think if you want a camera that's useful everyday, then the Z8 is a better choice just due to being more compact and portable - the Z9 does limit your choice of bags etc. But if the size doesn't bother you then yeah the Z9 is still a great choice.
Howdy, if you have a minute, would you care to comment on the z63 auto focus versus the om 1 that you used to have, i realise any comments on the om1 would be based from memory etc, but you would have used both the om1 +z63! Was/is one better or different in any ways etc. , I'm looking into the om1ii against the nikon z63 and the canon r6ii. I shoot wildlife, sports mainly surfing, and some landscape. The choice seems to boil down to 24mpx FF vs 20mpx MFT, the MFT has significantly longer reach (eg 600mm mft=1200FF and 600FF=300mft etc) so MFT should be able to fill the frame easier than FF, but FF has the bit of extra cropability, less noise etc. This may be a topic for a future video for you etc exploring the difference in reach for the same focal length in the different systems and does outweigh the negatives of MFT etc, but i would be very interested in hearing your thoughts. Cheers from a subscriber
To clarify the above, the question I suppose is where does the best image quality result from-mft( om1/om1m2) with the ability to fill the frame easier than FF(z63) or harder to fill frame/ subject is smaller in the frame with FF +crop a bit to get same result, if you get my drift. On balance where would the best image quality lie, if that is determinable?
Ooh great question! Sorry it's taken me a few days to reply. Both are really good cameras, and both have their downsides too. For the OM-1, the MkII resolved some of my complaints about the first version; e.g. the buffer size. In terms of how they compare in performance and image quality, here's how I'd separate them: OM-1: Faster sensor and therefore less/no rolling shutter, and faster AF - very good for action. I always found the AF great for birds in flight in particular, but fiddly with birds in bushes etc. You can shoot at very high framerates (like 50 FPS) with the AF keeping up. When underexposed at high ISO the photos show quite a lot of colour shifting/loss, which is hard to repair, but you can largely offset this issue by having access to affordable bright aperture lenses (and the 300mm f/4 is fantastic, for example). Z6III: Better low light support, but more rolling shutter. AF suffers if you shoot at the highest mechanical burst speed, and electronic shutter will show the slower sensor readout in the form of wonky lines when panning etc. Although it is better in low light I wouldn't say it's necessarily much less noisy, however it does largely avoid colour shifting when underexposed; but one thing to note is the sensor has a black level flicker which can result in varying noise colour casts, which might affect the colours. In terms of the resolution difference, getting the subject larger in the frame is nearly always the better option for extra detail in my opinion. I still try to get the subject as large as possible on my Z9 too! The OM-1 is unrivalled for focal length by anything even vaguely close in price. It's a pretty tough choice! I'd probably base my own decision more on which lenses I like for each camera , how they feel to use, and whether I'd need any other types of cameras in the same lens mount etc. It'd certainly be worth trying them out in person if you can! 😀 I hope that helps a bit - always happy to elaborate further if you have other questions!
Thanks for the great tips! One handy option is to use the "S" instead of "M" for birds in flight (and still use Auto-ISO). With that you can still set the shutter speed as desired but you can use the front dial for easy Exposure Compensation (needs to be enabled from custom settings b3). At least in most cases I haven't had a need for changing the aperture, it can stay wide open.
I usually keep it in M just because I find mode switching awkward on Nikon bodies by default (as it's always on the left of the camera) and I often swap the aperture, but yeah shooting in S is just as viable and it's really nice to have the easy aperture compensation option! 😀
it's the lens moving the aperture blades to whatever position they were in before. you can look in the front of the lens and see them move when you turn it on or off.
Yeah it does do that as well, but the aperture blades make more of a "swish" sound when opening and closing and the loud clunk is coming from the body itself. I did also get it to perform the clunk without it changing the aperture too.
Hi Robert, nice overview, thanks. How the autofocus compares to OM-1? I am really torn to switch from Olympus to Nikon, like you did, but I find the Z8/Z9 a bit too large for travel. I really like the Z6III based on what I seen about it, but concerned about rolling shutter and that I would wish a larger sensor, which I often do with the OM-1. What are your thoughts after now using Nikon for a while? I primarily shoot birds. thanks
Ooh great question. Autofocus-wise; I'd say they're about equal for birds in flight, and the Z6III is better in other situations, like birds in bushes. The OM-1 I found was either super twitchy or super lethargic, with nowhere in between. I haven't used the OM-1 II yet though so I'm not sure if that made any improvements in that area, but I remember that being a pain point for me as it got easily distracted by twigs a lot or never moving off the twigs in the first place. Worked fantastically for BIF though. The Z6III does inherit some of the foibles of the Z8/Z9 like eyelash-focusing and sometimes misfocusing on dark birds in certain situations, but overall so far I've been impressed by it. It's effectively the same as the Z9 but very slightly slower, due to slower sensor readout. It's still very quick by comparison to other cameras though. Rolling shutter is really interesting on the Z6III, as it's certainly worse than the OM-1's stacked sensor, but it's really only noticeable with faster panning and the mechanical shutter is an option in those situations. I didn't feel like it was causing me any real trouble personally. Overall I've been very happy with the Z9, despite it being a huge brick 😅 There are a few quirks, but surprisingly few compared to my previous systems. I don't love most of the Z mount zoom lens designs hugely (weird choices like the lack of proper focus rings etc), but the primes are really nice, and that's probably just me. The 180-600 is solid (and the 24-120 has been nice when I've tried it), and there's a bunch of lightweight prime options for birds like the 400mm f/4.5 and 600mm f/6.3 too. The Z6III looks like it's going to be a firm favourite of mine as it takes most of the things I like about the Z9 and chucks them in a compact everyday camera. The size of the Z6III is just right for me and it feels good in the hands - I really like the ergonomics of the Nikon cameras in particular. The OM-1 is a great camera for birds and travel though, so I don't think there's necessarily a wrong decision. If there's a shop or a trade show near you then it could be worth trying out the Z6III first to see how it feels in terms of size and weight etc. Hope that helps! 😀
Thanks, I have really been impressed by some reviews of the Nikon 600 mm f6.3 which is about the same size like the Olympus 300 mm f4, which is also a brilliant lens. Have you ever tried that? Z6iii with that lens looks like a very good travel birding setup. I also have the OM1 m2 and the difference in autofocus is negligible, if any, quite disappointingly. What I really like about the Olympus is the reliability and quality of the lenses, but I am quite disappointed about the direction OM system is moving to…
@@palpacher1968 Ooh yes I used to own the 300mm f/4 and that really is a great piece of glass. And yeah I really liked the lenses available on that system, they were very good. Nikon have been putting out some great glass too at least, albeit bigger, and their telephoto range is by far the most fleshed-out now, which is nice. I have had a go on that 600mm f/6.3 and it's really nice to use, and might be something I look to upgrade to in the future 😀
Great video...just starting to capture Birds in Flight....want a light weight zoom lens for Z6iii to begin my journey. Have a DX 50-250 now....suggestions? Just joined your channel. Jack.
Ooh good question, and thanks for joining! :D In terms of native Z-mount lenses, there's quite a few options with different compromises: Nikon 180-600 or Tamron 150-500 - both just under 2KG, so pretty heavy, but definitely hand-holdable and have the greatest flexibility. Nikon 100-400 or Tamron 50-400 - both under 1.5KG, so lighter options but obviously have less reach. I haven't actually tried either of these! And the final options would instead be the prime lenses, like the Nikon 400mm f/4.5 or the 600mm f/6.3. Certainly less flexible but they're really very lightweight. Also more expensive! I'm less familiar with a lot of the F-mount options, but if price is a consideration then an adapted Sigma 150-600 might be a good option. I personally use the Nikon 180-600 and I'm pretty happy with that.
Hi Robert I have copied your settings for bird in flight photos and I have a small problem. When I use your settings I only have half of the picture on the CFExpress card yet on the SD Card I have the full picture I have tried this with my own settings and no problems full picture on both cards could you give me a clue where it may have gone wrong please note I am a beginner
Oh that’s odd! Do you mean it’s writing corrupted files to the CF card (e.g. they can’t be opened), the pictures are half the size, or you only have half the total number of pictures?
Just received my Z6lll and thankyou! Loved using it in the field today with your settings but problem with editing. Using a powerful 2020 Imac with Sonoma 14.5. The lossless compression RAW files won't display as thumbnails. I used Adobe DNG Converter as a workaround but it was a bit tedious. Any ideas or do we wait for Apple to put out the next OS update? Thanks again, Jeff
Aaah yes this is a pain in the arse! Unfortunately Apple’s Camera RAW continues to not support Nikon’s lossless compressed RAW format, and it’s been going on for years now 😞 I’m not sure why they still don’t support it. Right now the best options are to either use something like Lightroom/PhotoLab etc to browse the files, or shoot in the uncompressed RAW format instead, which works fine in MacOS.
Why minimum shutter speed to auto? For BIF wouldn't a high shutter speed be better? For AF Area I set wide C1 for the BACK button focusing, and 3D tracking on the shutter button. So basically I use the back to "catch" the bird then lock on with shutter button.
Ah that's because I usually shoot in Manual, so the minimum shutter speed isn't used. If you use shutter-priority instead then yeah that makes sense to adjust :)
@@robert_may ah it makes sense. Manual with Auto ISO is the best combination of flexibility and automation. I was tinkering with the settings and actually Auto ISO's Auto Shutter speed has another level of options to tell it to choose faster of slower shutter speeds! (If on Aperture Priority) Thanks for the response tho. Can't wait to try Manual with Auto ISO soon. More power to your channel!
I usually use the half-pressed shutter with area AF for flying birds and then the AF-On button with 3D tracking for more static subjects, like birds in bushes etc. This is useful because if the area AF loses the subject it will often refocus to whatever is closest in the box, which is great for flying birds but annoying when a twig wafts in front of the bird. The 3D tracking mode tends to be stickier even with the same tracking sensitivity options 😀 It's also handy that it defaults to a single AF point when it can't find a subject, as that makes it easier to force the camera to focus on something very far out of focus. I find being able to use both really quickly to work well for basically all situations and I very, very rarely swap out of AF-C on my Nikon cameras because of it. I think I probably shoot in AF-C 99% of the time and for all subjects these days. I actually use the 3D tracking option for focus + reframe instead of swapping to AF-S.
I’ve had a similar issue with a 3 raw files from the Angelbird card. They can be read on Lightroom, but both AfterShoot and Imagen AI cannot process them. In AfterShoot, the preview of the image looks like TV static. While imagen cannot upload the files and produced and error - concerning!
Oh that's good to know! The two shots I had were largely visible but had a band of garbled static across a section of the image. I might get in touch with Angelbird and see if they know of any issues.
I'm not familiar with the Finnish camera stores but yeah that sounds like the standard retail price. There's currently an offer on in the UK/EU that drops it to about €3700, e.g. www.foto-erhardt.com/cameras/full-frame-cameras/nikon-z8-housing-single-piece.html?keywords=nikon%20z8, but it might not be in every country. I'm a bit out-of-date with EU laws (sigh, brexit), so I'm not sure if there are any warranty issues if bought from another EU country, but that might be an option. Otherwise yes, if both cameras are at their RRP, the Z8 is notably more expensive 🙁
@@robert_may that might work yea 😁 Though I ended up trading my Z6 II for the Z6 III couple of weeks ago, and have been loving it so far! I got 1400€ for the old body in exchange, so the 1600€ was a reasonable difference.
Ah it works fine in Lightroom and other RAW processing software on Mac, but Apple's own Camera RAW software which underpins a lot of MacOS doesn't support it properly. It can't preview the files properly in the Finder/Preview/Photos etc, and third-party apps that use Camera RAW (like Darkroom) can't read those files either. As I don't use Lightroom to manage my photos any more it causes me problems, annoyingly 😅
Just as an extra note on the CFExpress card: that Angelbird card isn't currently on the official compatibility list for the Z6III (www.nikonproductsupport.com/s/article/Z6III-Memory-card-compatibility?language=en_US). However it's also not on the Z9 compatibility list and I've used it for quite a while without any problems, and Angelbird themselves say it's compatible with the Z9 so 🤷 My primary Z9 card from Delkin also isn't on the list, and from what I can tell the Nikon lists are missing quite a few manufacturers.
That 512GB Angelbird card is provided free (as part of the kit) by Nikon itself with extra battery and charger, in India. I checked that compatibility list and was surprised to see that it is not there and Nikon is providing it WITH Z6 iii in India.
@@karamveersingh3417 Oh that's really interesting 🤔 Nice thing to have included anyway!
I just picked up the Z6iii in Australia for A$3400 shipped, which is about 1733 pounds at current rate. Was lucky that it just happened to be Nikon day (November 12th). Just waiting for my FtoZ adapter now to actually run it with my old AF-S lenses and to finally get VR on those. Looking at these CFexpress cards and that they basically can make your burst buffer almost infinite is mad. Just ordered the CFexpress card you mentioned and it's indeed a great deal, thanks !
Liked the little tips on your settings and why, things like pre-burst and not using it because of raw, and hotkeying the shutter type
Thanks! It'd be nice if Nikon would someday add RAW support for pre-burst - I think they're the only company that weirdly don't support it now and I've never been able to figure out why 😅
Love this video! I'm waiting to get my Z6iii on backorder, so I'm pre-studying.... thanks for getting me warmed up!
I think you'll really like it! I've been very impressed with it so far, and it feels really satisfying to use 😀
The Z6 III has no sensor shield but a true shutter and they are not intended to get touched because they are very damageable. The slightest touch can destroy them and that's a pretty expensive repair. The Z9's sensor shield is also more intended to protect the sensor from dust entry rather than physically protecting the sensor. The sensor itself has a protective glass layer which is very much more resistant as shutter blades.
I believe that the noise is the ibis kicking in. My Sony A7Iv did the same thing. Can actually hear the ibis knocking around when it’s off-a bit unnerving.
wow Robert... I blinked and you got over 2k subscribers! Congratulations! Thank you for this video. I was interested in trading some gear for this one. It seems to answer all the needs I have for wildlife and events.
Thanks very much! 😄 Yeah it's a really nicely specced camera for me too - covers a lot of things I was looking for. I'm looking forward to shooting more with it over the next few months!
I think the noise is the locking of the new focus point IBIS.. I'd be interested in what Nikon actually say about it.
I might have a poke about and see if I can find any settings that change it 🤔 It does stop happening if you enable Silent Mode, so it seems to be something the camera is supposed to do, but what it is I still have no idea 😆
I love those camera strap loops, thanks Nikon!
A mini guide on how and when to use the electronic would be interesting. Depending on what type of subjects and subject moments, or camera movements, it is recommended or not recommended.
The question of autofocus in H+ compared to reflex cameras scares me a little. Is the lack of precision during the burst at those speeds so drastic?
Ooh yeah it’d be nice to cover something like that in a video. General gist: if there’s obvious vertical lines in the background and you’re panning past them, mechanical shutter is better. For everything else I’d use electronic - the sensor readout on the Z6III isn’t fast enough to not skew verticals when panning (even the Z9’s isn’t), but it is fast enough that you shouldn’t see warpy wings or oddities like that.
And yeah the difference when running in the H+ mechanical mode was noticeable to me, but other people might have different experiences. Been a while since I had the X-H2S or OM-1, which would be an interesting comparison as they have faster sensors and still have mechanical shutters 🤔
@@robert_may I thought that z8 and z9 had identical behavior to the mechanical shutter due to the reading speed. In the problems you report during panning, are you referring to the ultra-fast modes which have behaviors similar to video recording?
(60fps and above)
I think the z6iii is paradoxically faster at reading videos from the data I've seen. However, I really don't like the exposed sensor on such an expensive machine at all.
Thanks so much for the advice!
Thank you for your very good and helpful explanations. It helps.
Really good video of this camera. I’ve been thinking about the Z6III, but i know i prefer Z9 as i use a D4 still next to my OM-1. Would you still choose the Z9 over Z8 today?.
Ooh good question. I think if you want a camera that's useful everyday, then the Z8 is a better choice just due to being more compact and portable - the Z9 does limit your choice of bags etc. But if the size doesn't bother you then yeah the Z9 is still a great choice.
Thank you so much, just got my z6iii and your settings are very helpful ❤
Thank you for doing this. I put your settings into User Settings 1.
Howdy, if you have a minute, would you care to comment on the z63 auto focus versus the om 1 that you used to have, i realise any comments on the om1 would be based from memory etc, but you would have used both the om1 +z63! Was/is one better or different in any ways etc. , I'm looking into the om1ii against the nikon z63 and the canon r6ii. I shoot wildlife, sports mainly surfing, and some landscape. The choice seems to boil down to 24mpx FF vs 20mpx MFT, the MFT has significantly longer reach (eg 600mm mft=1200FF and 600FF=300mft etc) so MFT should be able to fill the frame easier than FF, but FF has the bit of extra cropability, less noise etc. This may be a topic for a future video for you etc exploring the difference in reach for the same focal length in the different systems and does outweigh the negatives of MFT etc, but i would be very interested in hearing your thoughts. Cheers from a subscriber
To clarify the above, the question I suppose is where does the best image quality result from-mft( om1/om1m2) with the ability to fill the frame easier than FF(z63) or harder to fill frame/ subject is smaller in the frame with FF +crop a bit to get same result, if you get my drift. On balance where would the best image quality lie, if that is determinable?
Ooh great question! Sorry it's taken me a few days to reply.
Both are really good cameras, and both have their downsides too. For the OM-1, the MkII resolved some of my complaints about the first version; e.g. the buffer size. In terms of how they compare in performance and image quality, here's how I'd separate them:
OM-1: Faster sensor and therefore less/no rolling shutter, and faster AF - very good for action. I always found the AF great for birds in flight in particular, but fiddly with birds in bushes etc. You can shoot at very high framerates (like 50 FPS) with the AF keeping up. When underexposed at high ISO the photos show quite a lot of colour shifting/loss, which is hard to repair, but you can largely offset this issue by having access to affordable bright aperture lenses (and the 300mm f/4 is fantastic, for example).
Z6III: Better low light support, but more rolling shutter. AF suffers if you shoot at the highest mechanical burst speed, and electronic shutter will show the slower sensor readout in the form of wonky lines when panning etc. Although it is better in low light I wouldn't say it's necessarily much less noisy, however it does largely avoid colour shifting when underexposed; but one thing to note is the sensor has a black level flicker which can result in varying noise colour casts, which might affect the colours.
In terms of the resolution difference, getting the subject larger in the frame is nearly always the better option for extra detail in my opinion. I still try to get the subject as large as possible on my Z9 too! The OM-1 is unrivalled for focal length by anything even vaguely close in price.
It's a pretty tough choice! I'd probably base my own decision more on which lenses I like for each camera , how they feel to use, and whether I'd need any other types of cameras in the same lens mount etc. It'd certainly be worth trying them out in person if you can! 😀
I hope that helps a bit - always happy to elaborate further if you have other questions!
Thanks for the great tips! One handy option is to use the "S" instead of "M" for birds in flight (and still use Auto-ISO). With that you can still set the shutter speed as desired but you can use the front dial for easy Exposure Compensation (needs to be enabled from custom settings b3). At least in most cases I haven't had a need for changing the aperture, it can stay wide open.
I usually keep it in M just because I find mode switching awkward on Nikon bodies by default (as it's always on the left of the camera) and I often swap the aperture, but yeah shooting in S is just as viable and it's really nice to have the easy aperture compensation option! 😀
it's the lens moving the aperture blades to whatever position they were in before. you can look in the front of the lens and see them move when you turn it on or off.
Yeah it does do that as well, but the aperture blades make more of a "swish" sound when opening and closing and the loud clunk is coming from the body itself. I did also get it to perform the clunk without it changing the aperture too.
Hi Robert, nice overview, thanks. How the autofocus compares to OM-1? I am really torn to switch from Olympus to Nikon, like you did, but I find the Z8/Z9 a bit too large for travel. I really like the Z6III based on what I seen about it, but concerned about rolling shutter and that I would wish a larger sensor, which I often do with the OM-1. What are your thoughts after now using Nikon for a while? I primarily shoot birds. thanks
Ooh great question. Autofocus-wise; I'd say they're about equal for birds in flight, and the Z6III is better in other situations, like birds in bushes. The OM-1 I found was either super twitchy or super lethargic, with nowhere in between. I haven't used the OM-1 II yet though so I'm not sure if that made any improvements in that area, but I remember that being a pain point for me as it got easily distracted by twigs a lot or never moving off the twigs in the first place. Worked fantastically for BIF though.
The Z6III does inherit some of the foibles of the Z8/Z9 like eyelash-focusing and sometimes misfocusing on dark birds in certain situations, but overall so far I've been impressed by it. It's effectively the same as the Z9 but very slightly slower, due to slower sensor readout. It's still very quick by comparison to other cameras though.
Rolling shutter is really interesting on the Z6III, as it's certainly worse than the OM-1's stacked sensor, but it's really only noticeable with faster panning and the mechanical shutter is an option in those situations. I didn't feel like it was causing me any real trouble personally.
Overall I've been very happy with the Z9, despite it being a huge brick 😅 There are a few quirks, but surprisingly few compared to my previous systems. I don't love most of the Z mount zoom lens designs hugely (weird choices like the lack of proper focus rings etc), but the primes are really nice, and that's probably just me. The 180-600 is solid (and the 24-120 has been nice when I've tried it), and there's a bunch of lightweight prime options for birds like the 400mm f/4.5 and 600mm f/6.3 too. The Z6III looks like it's going to be a firm favourite of mine as it takes most of the things I like about the Z9 and chucks them in a compact everyday camera. The size of the Z6III is just right for me and it feels good in the hands - I really like the ergonomics of the Nikon cameras in particular.
The OM-1 is a great camera for birds and travel though, so I don't think there's necessarily a wrong decision. If there's a shop or a trade show near you then it could be worth trying out the Z6III first to see how it feels in terms of size and weight etc.
Hope that helps! 😀
Thanks, I have really been impressed by some reviews of the Nikon 600 mm f6.3 which is about the same size like the Olympus 300 mm f4, which is also a brilliant lens. Have you ever tried that? Z6iii with that lens looks like a very good travel birding setup. I also have the OM1 m2 and the difference in autofocus is negligible, if any, quite disappointingly. What I really like about the Olympus is the reliability and quality of the lenses, but I am quite disappointed about the direction OM system is moving to…
@@palpacher1968 Ooh yes I used to own the 300mm f/4 and that really is a great piece of glass. And yeah I really liked the lenses available on that system, they were very good. Nikon have been putting out some great glass too at least, albeit bigger, and their telephoto range is by far the most fleshed-out now, which is nice. I have had a go on that 600mm f/6.3 and it's really nice to use, and might be something I look to upgrade to in the future 😀
Great video...just starting to capture Birds in Flight....want a light weight zoom lens for Z6iii to begin my journey. Have a DX 50-250 now....suggestions? Just joined your channel. Jack.
Ooh good question, and thanks for joining! :D
In terms of native Z-mount lenses, there's quite a few options with different compromises:
Nikon 180-600 or Tamron 150-500 - both just under 2KG, so pretty heavy, but definitely hand-holdable and have the greatest flexibility.
Nikon 100-400 or Tamron 50-400 - both under 1.5KG, so lighter options but obviously have less reach. I haven't actually tried either of these!
And the final options would instead be the prime lenses, like the Nikon 400mm f/4.5 or the 600mm f/6.3. Certainly less flexible but they're really very lightweight. Also more expensive!
I'm less familiar with a lot of the F-mount options, but if price is a consideration then an adapted Sigma 150-600 might be a good option.
I personally use the Nikon 180-600 and I'm pretty happy with that.
Hi Robert
I have copied your settings for bird in flight photos and I have a small problem. When I use your settings I only have half of the picture on the CFExpress card yet on the SD Card I have the full picture I have tried this with my own settings and no problems full picture on both cards could you give me a clue where it may have gone wrong please note I am a beginner
Oh that’s odd! Do you mean it’s writing corrupted files to the CF card (e.g. they can’t be opened), the pictures are half the size, or you only have half the total number of pictures?
Does it lock the image stabilization. Regards the noise?
Not really sure 🤔 Haven't been able to figure it out so far. Hopefully Nikon tell me what's actually happening!
Just received my Z6lll and thankyou! Loved using it in the field today with your settings but problem with editing. Using a powerful 2020 Imac with Sonoma 14.5. The lossless compression RAW files won't display as thumbnails. I used Adobe DNG Converter as a workaround but it was a bit tedious. Any ideas or do we wait for Apple to put out the next OS update? Thanks again, Jeff
Aaah yes this is a pain in the arse! Unfortunately Apple’s Camera RAW continues to not support Nikon’s lossless compressed RAW format, and it’s been going on for years now 😞 I’m not sure why they still don’t support it. Right now the best options are to either use something like Lightroom/PhotoLab etc to browse the files, or shoot in the uncompressed RAW format instead, which works fine in MacOS.
Why minimum shutter speed to auto? For BIF wouldn't a high shutter speed be better?
For AF Area I set wide C1 for the BACK button focusing, and 3D tracking on the shutter button. So basically I use the back to "catch" the bird then lock on with shutter button.
Ah that's because I usually shoot in Manual, so the minimum shutter speed isn't used. If you use shutter-priority instead then yeah that makes sense to adjust :)
@@robert_may ah it makes sense. Manual with Auto ISO is the best combination of flexibility and automation.
I was tinkering with the settings and actually Auto ISO's Auto Shutter speed has another level of options to tell it to choose faster of slower shutter speeds! (If on Aperture Priority)
Thanks for the response tho. Can't wait to try Manual with Auto ISO soon. More power to your channel!
@@secretmanong Yeah! The auto ISO shutter options are actually really interesting, and I've used them a bit more for non-wildlife stuff :D And thanks!
I'm assuming that the half press AF mode is overridden when the back button is pushed for AF mode. Is that correct?
I usually use the half-pressed shutter with area AF for flying birds and then the AF-On button with 3D tracking for more static subjects, like birds in bushes etc. This is useful because if the area AF loses the subject it will often refocus to whatever is closest in the box, which is great for flying birds but annoying when a twig wafts in front of the bird. The 3D tracking mode tends to be stickier even with the same tracking sensitivity options 😀 It's also handy that it defaults to a single AF point when it can't find a subject, as that makes it easier to force the camera to focus on something very far out of focus.
I find being able to use both really quickly to work well for basically all situations and I very, very rarely swap out of AF-C on my Nikon cameras because of it. I think I probably shoot in AF-C 99% of the time and for all subjects these days. I actually use the 3D tracking option for focus + reframe instead of swapping to AF-S.
My z7ii makes a similar noise, turning on and off and when pressing the menu button. Always thought it was the aperture blades in the lens?
That is happening too, but the noise of the blades moving is quite quiet and the louder clunk is coming from the body itself 🤔
Does IT take so much time to turn on as the Nikon z6 II ?
I'd say it starts up basically instantly. I never owned the Z6II though so I'm not sure how it compares 🤔
I’ve had a similar issue with a 3 raw files from the Angelbird card. They can be read on Lightroom, but both AfterShoot and Imagen AI cannot process them. In AfterShoot, the preview of the image looks like TV static. While imagen cannot upload the files and produced and error - concerning!
Oh that's good to know! The two shots I had were largely visible but had a band of garbled static across a section of the image. I might get in touch with Angelbird and see if they know of any issues.
Thanks very helpful.
Here In Finland z6iii cost 2990€ and z8 cost 4300€, its A huge cap the price
I'm not familiar with the Finnish camera stores but yeah that sounds like the standard retail price. There's currently an offer on in the UK/EU that drops it to about €3700, e.g. www.foto-erhardt.com/cameras/full-frame-cameras/nikon-z8-housing-single-piece.html?keywords=nikon%20z8, but it might not be in every country. I'm a bit out-of-date with EU laws (sigh, brexit), so I'm not sure if there are any warranty issues if bought from another EU country, but that might be an option.
Otherwise yes, if both cameras are at their RRP, the Z8 is notably more expensive 🙁
@@robert_may actually that 4300€ for Z8 was the discounted price here in Finland😅. The RRP price for it is 4800€ (!).
@@Buhis Oof that’s steep! Maybe a holiday to somewhere with cheaper prices is in order? 🙈
@@robert_may that might work yea 😁 Though I ended up trading my Z6 II for the Z6 III couple of weeks ago, and have been loving it so far! I got 1400€ for the old body in exchange, so the 1600€ was a reasonable difference.
Thanks!
Are you claiming that one cannot use high effiency * on a mac and in LR?
I use it daily in the second year.......maybe I'm misunderstanding something?
Ah it works fine in Lightroom and other RAW processing software on Mac, but Apple's own Camera RAW software which underpins a lot of MacOS doesn't support it properly. It can't preview the files properly in the Finder/Preview/Photos etc, and third-party apps that use Camera RAW (like Darkroom) can't read those files either. As I don't use Lightroom to manage my photos any more it causes me problems, annoyingly 😅