Okay, we've got mating lions (again). And pairs of mating lions (new). And it seems like everywhere I go I've got plenty to photograph. We're doing a lot less driving to find things, and much more setting up, anticipating, and following things.
So I got a little bored (1000th lion shot, 1001st lion shot...).
That led me to a new game: pairs. And how synchronized can I get them?
In between pursuing this game, I get distracted by a bird, but now I'm trying to make that bird photograph unique in some way:
If you want much more of this, then my upcoming Z9 in Africa talk on Monday will bring it to you.
I'm also a little bored with the focus system. Yes, it works much as described. No it isn't perfect (nor is Sony's). The focus system is good enough that I'm concentrating on different things now.
One thing I haven't mentioned (I think), is what I'm doing with files.
Everything you've seen is (quickly processed) Lossless Compressed NEF images. I'm running those through the current version of Photoshop ACR on a 13" M1 MacBook Pro (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD). While I'm not supposed to talk about image quality on the pre-production camera, I'm going to verify the things I'm about to write on a production camera when I get back [I did].
First off, I've got a Z7 II with me, so I've been processing Z7 II files alongside Z9 files. As you might suspect from the similar pixel counts and Nikon's history with EXPEED, both Z7 II and Z9 files process very similarly through Photoshop. I do see a couple of differences, and they're likely Adobe issues in not getting everything fully calibrated for the Z9 yet.
For instance, the White level is consistently set far too low. Indeed, I've been slowly working out my own "field calibration" for the Z9, and getting happier with the results as I do. Once I have this fully worked out on a shipping Z9 I'll probably add some commentary on the site about that.
Overall, at the ISO values I'm often setting—typically ISO 1600 or 3200 due to lack of direct sun on these cloudy days—I'm finding the results easy to process and much like I expect from my D850 or Z7 II. Since this is a pre-production body, I won't go further than that at the moment, but I can see small hints of minor things that are better, minor things that aren't. Overall, I have no complaints about image quality.
But one thing I keep noticing is that the matrix metering system is much more prone towards emphasizing what it finds under the focus sensor. That's with or without Matrix metering face detection active. Unfortunately, as birds (like the one above) flying through differing light you get varying exposure, which can result in blowing a highlight on the wing out in one frame and not in the next.
More so than before, "shoot the light" is a mantra Z9 users are going to have to learn, otherwise they're going to find that they're doing a lot more post processing to correct exposure and tonal values than they're used to. I started in Aperture-preferred exposure mode with matrix metering, but I'm gravitating towards Manual exposure mode, and I really want a button shortcut to set spot metering temporarily, but the Keepers of the Cheese in Tokyo have unfortunately confiscated that one. Doh!
I've already got a long list of firmware changes I'd like to see (I'll reveal that at the end of the Africa trip), but this one is very high on the list, because nailing exposure is something I don't want to leave to EXPEED7; it gets it wrong too often when left to its automated ways.
Meanwhile, despite always using Lossless Compressed NEF, I'm not having buffer issues. Of course, I'm primarily using a ProGrade Cobalt card in the camera, which helps. I also don't use 20 fps as much as you think. At 10/12 fps, the buffer is essentially endless, even with this largest file size the camera can create. At 15 fps, I sometimes get hiccups on really long sequences. It's only at 20 fps and a long sequence (>4 seconds, sometimes longer) that I even notice the buffer. [I'll be demonstrating buffer/focus interaction in my Monday talk, as in "there is virtually none."]
Wait, I hear a lion calling me...
Back to the photography...
[This blog is being written in breaks between safaris and naps ;~]
