Ripolini wrote:
Don't tell me. Write to Thom Hogan and ProGrade and tell them they write nonsenses. I just quote them.
You quote snippets but don't really seem to follow what they are saying.
Thom Hogan's Z5ii review says
"As long as you're using a UHS-II card in the camera, I'd tend to say that the Z5II is effectively a "don't worry about buffer" camera."
and
"At the settings I was using in Africa (Lossless compression and Continuous H) I never filled the buffer even once, though I tried to half-heartedly a couple of times (e.g. kept photographing long after the moment passed)"
The ProGrade link you shared says pretty much the same thing I did - use v90 for high bitrate video or if needing to clear a buffer faster. Otherwise v60 is fast enough that you won't notice the difference.
Ripolini wrote:
1.5 years ago I paid 82.62 €/each for my two Sandisk Extreme 64 GB SDXC II Pro V90 cards. If they cost twice as much now, after a year and a half, what does that have to do with this thread? Take it up with whoever’s driving up inflation.
In any case, I think it’s absurd to spend thousands of euros or dollars on cameras and lenses and then skimp on a few dozen dollars for a memory card...
Nobody is talking about change in cost over time except you, so I don't know why you're asking what your own comment has to do with the thread?
I'm talking about hundreds of dollars difference between v60 and v90 cards here, money which could go towards something more useful like another lens. A couple of current price examples:
Sony Tough Series 128GB - v60 $200, v90 $500
ProGrade 128GB - v60 $250, v90 $400
Anyway this is a bit off-topic now so lets get back to the Z5ii, it's more interesting than memory cards. I'll post some rally photos in a day or two once I get through culling and processing a few thousand shots from the weekend...
GravelBen wrote:
Just had my first rally weekend with the z5ii, I found it's smaller size a bit of a drawback for such long sessions with my little finger often being off the bottom of the grip and curling under the camera (which wasn't an issue with my old D7200).
So I think I'll add a baseplate or L bracket to deepen the grip for those long days with the camera - the smallrig modular L bracket seems most readily available, is it the best option or any other recommendations?
On the positive side, the car-tracking AF was practically flawless making focus tracking comically easy. Where I used to have to actively track a car with the focus point myself, it took some mental adjustment to just trust the camera to track focus and put my attention onto composition/framing instead. ...Show more →
Well I got the Smallrig L plate, the only other options I could find were Leofoto (which was $20 more and didn't seem to be in stock anywhere) and random aliexpress stuff.
The extra depth on the bottom of the camera certainly improves the handling for me - I can now fit my whole hand on the grip and its much more comfortable.
To be fair, I hadn't found it much of an issue until I was shooting for hours with a 100-400+FTZ.
GravelBen wrote:
Well I got the Smallrig L plate, the only other options I could find were Leofoto (which was $20 more and didn't seem to be in stock anywhere) and random aliexpress stuff.
The extra depth on the bottom of the camera certainly improves the handling for me - I can now fit my whole hand on the grip and its much more comfortable.
To be fair, I hadn't found it much of an issue until I was shooting for hours with a 100-400+FTZ.
IIRC, you've had your Z5ii for only a month or so. If you have already been "shooting for hours with a 100-400+FTZ" you must spend a lot of time behind a camera, or else had at least one really interesting assignment. But that's not the reason for this reply. I'm curious about your use of the FTZ.
I use the FTZ all the time. I bought my Z5ii so I could use my old Nikkor lenses, don't even own a Z lens. I figured that puts me in a tiny minority But I read so much praise about the Z5ii's auto-focus and tracking ability that I may be tempted one day.
jimmuller wrote:
IIRC, you've had your Z5ii for only a month or so. If you have already been "shooting for hours with a 100-400+FTZ" you must spend a lot of time behind a camera, or else had at least one really interesting assignment. But that's not the reason for this reply. I'm curious about your use of the FTZ.
I use the FTZ all the time. I bought my Z5ii so I could use my old Nikkor lenses, don't even own a Z lens. I figured that puts me in a tiny minority But I read so much praise about the Z5ii's auto-focus and tracking ability that I may be tempted one day....Show more →
I've had the Z5ii about 6 months, but only joined the forum about a month ago.
I do a lot of rally (motorsport) photography at certain times of the year, and last weekend was the first rally of the season here (and first since I got the Z5ii) - hence spending a couple of big days behind the camera.
I was using an F-mount Tamron 100-400 with the FTZ as that range is more versatile for fast action at variable distances than the 180-600 (and much lighter!) and I don't have a suitable Z lens in that range yet.
The Tamron actually performed really well on the FTZ, no complaints about sharpness or AF speed/tracking. My biggest issue with that lens for my use is the zoom ring has a really long throw, so I can't really go between 100 and 400 in a single movement. At some stage I'll upgrade, the Nikon Z 100-400 would be nice but the Tamron 50-400 at half the price is a tempting option too.
My favourite motorsport lens on my old D7200 (apsc dslr) was a Sigma 100-300 f4, but it is sadly too old to be compatible with FTZ.
GravelBen wrote:
I do a lot of rally (motorsport) photography at certain times of the year, and last weekend was the first rally of the season here (and first since I got the Z5ii) - hence spending a couple of big days behind the camera.
I was using an F-mount Tamron 100-400 with the FTZ as that range is more versatile for fast action at variable distances than the 180-600 (and much lighter!) and I don't have a suitable Z lens in that range yet.
The Tamron actually performed really well on the FTZ, no complaints about sharpness or AF speed/tracking.
Thanks for the reply. (I must dig up some my old slides from the old days. Somewhere I have some pics of the UOP Shadows at Watkins Glen! Wicked beasts, able to beat the Porsche 917's. The last year SCCA ran the CanAm unlimited.)
So your 100-400 does auto-focus though the FTZ. Nice. My vintage lenses don't have the hardware for it.
From yesterday's walk through Assbet River National Wildlife Refuge
Z5ii w/FTZ, F-mount manual focus 300mm f/4.5, single-shot shutter mode.
Sometimes you get lucky.
Ripolini wrote:
Well done. Could you please share the AF settings of your Z5II? Thanx.
NIKON Z5 II w/MC 105/2.8 S @ f/8, 1/160 s, 100 ISO, VR ON
Thank you.
Camera was set to 3D tracking, human subject and use back button focus. Release mode was set to L and 7 frames a second. I have a small box that I'd just stick on the player I was targeting and then start the focus, then human subject mode would take over on that person. Id' say the hit rate was over 90%. I had a few where the fence was in focus. I could have probably used a bigger box but was trying to make sure the player I wanted was in focus.
GravelBen wrote:
A selection of Z5ii rally photos, with Tamron 100-400 f-mount on FTZ.
...
A few hundred more in an album here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCRpTw
Whooosh! I hope you weren't downwind from all that! Brian Green could have used a bit more opposite lock there.
You can set up the i-Menu for different shooting scenarios. For example Shooting A could be your everyday candid photos where you may want to implement a Portrait Picture Control and Shooting B could be your walk about settings, Picture Control, WB of your choice etc.
Since I use flash in studio a bunch, don't own a Z5II yet I set my C bank for flash so the viewfinder and LCD are not showing exposure effect. If you like BBF and also let other people use your camera, set one bank to set the AF with the shutter button. Lots of options which thankfully can be completely custom set.
shinyobject wrote:
Things I’m getting used to:
These are not cons, just things I’m having to learn about.
- the i menu is a useful way to access many settings, but I’m having trouble filling it up with things that I care about beyond autofocus and metering settings. I’m happy to take suggestions for useful things to put here (my shooting tends to be candid shots of family and events, including some sports sometimes).
JBPhotog wrote:
You can set up the i-Menu for different shooting scenarios. For example Shooting A could be your everyday candid photos where you may want to implement a Portrait Picture Control and Shooting B could be your walk about settings, Picture Control, WB of your choice etc.
I recently setup one of the U entries on the Mode dial with all my usual settings, which are mostly defaults in A mode. That way I can change a setting in A and then go back to my usual values quickly. I have another U mode settings collection in mind but haven't had a use for it yet.
I share my cameras with my 14 year old daughter and always have my banks set across them roughly the same (Nikon Zs and OM1mkii). Slot 1 is for people and walking around a city kind of photos, 2 is for animals (she was in Galapagos and then our dog Winter is a often a subject), 3 is for landscape, 4 if available - not on Nikons unfortunately, is the oh shit action like a whale breaching or sports or you see a fast mover kind of thing.
I set my C bank for flash so the viewfinder and LCD are not showing exposure effect. If you like BBF and also let other people use your camera, set one bank to set the AF with the shutter button. Lots of options which thankfully can be completely custom set.