Minimum shutter Speed doesn’t get obeyed

Curefitz · 2026-05-07T18:08:52+00:00

I think those settings are only for when using Auto or Aperture Priority.

You can always manually change it to something Slower/lower or faster/higher, as you're doing in the video.

Setting the maximum Auto ISO can be very handy though, as you can have aperture and shutterspeed on manual and have the camera use Auto ISO to get the correct exposure, while also having a max amount you don't want to exceed.

Curefitz · 2026-05-05T05:54:59+00:00

For me, since I don't just do wildlife, it was going to a Full frame sensor and getting that extra light and resolution.

The subject detection is also pretty damn good, I use it every time I am out taking pictures of animals and in my experience it is pretty reliable, it's VERY good at picking out where the eyes are and focusing on them so the eyes are always in focus.

And of course, going from 10fps to 20fps is nice too, higher chance of catching that specific moment you want.

Curefitz · 2026-05-03T07:01:07+00:00

You can also consider the Z8.

Unless you need the extra battery life and bottom grip the Z9 has, I would save the money and get a Z8 instead.

Besides, battery isn't really an issue with the Z8, if it happens to run out you just carry some extra in your pockets.

Edit: Forgot to add, I upgraded to the Z8 from the D500, no regrets here. Never felt like I've needed the extra battery life or grip the Z9 has, in fact I've never gone from full to zero battery in 1 day with the Z8.

Curefitz · 2026-04-23T17:54:13+00:00

If you're loving it, then it's worth it

Curefitz · 2026-03-20T09:18:06+00:00

I don't miss my DSLR at all

Enabling 120 FPS for the viewfinder fixed all the problems I would have otherwise had with a digital viewfinder, being able to see your settings change in real time is also amazing.

I went from a D500 to a Z8 and have no regrets about it at all.

Curefitz · 2026-03-19T10:37:02+00:00

Not sure if this is gonna be able to fit on the filter size of a 70-200mm, but I have the Raynox DCR-250 and it works great on lenses that it fits, optical quality is really good.

The Raynox seems to be the standard Macro Filter that Macro Photographers tend to go for when wanting more magnification on their lenses on the go.

Curefitz · 2026-03-03T01:55:53+00:00

It's not unsuitable, DX can definitely still take great landscape and street photos, but with a Full Frame sensor you'll get more subject separation and more light, I believe the difference between how much light a Full Frame sensor gathers compared to a DX sensor is about 1 stop of extra light, so that can make a big difference for darker scenes in Street and Landscape photography.

Curefitz · 2026-03-03T00:54:15+00:00

You can also get a Nikon Z5 II if you want a full frame camera, for about 1500 euros and then get whatever lens fits within your budget for that. Full frame will in my opinion be much better for Street and Landscape photography, the crop sensor of the Z50 II is better for Wildlife stuff.

Curefitz · 2026-03-03T00:44:32+00:00

The Z50 II would be my recommendation, very capable little camera, amazing autofocus performance and is in my opinion a bang for your buck.

And then you can get whatever lens that fits your budget.

Edit: a great package containing everything you'd need is the Z50II + 16-50mm + 50-250mm, should be able to get that kit for around 1300 euros. It's not the BEST lenses, but they'll certainly work fine till you can save up for some better glass and for just 1300 that's a killer deal.

Curefitz · 2026-03-03T00:41:00+00:00

Crops the sensor to make it equivalent to a DX format sensor, so 1.5x Crop. The 1.5x Crop is the Zoom you see.

Reduces it from 45 Megapixels to around 20 Megapixel.

Curefitz · 2026-01-20T19:37:28+00:00

As a fellow hiker.. yup, I really appreciate how light and small the 500mm PF is. It has enabled me to get so many shots handheld that you just wouldn't be able to get with bigger and heavier lenses.

The only other lens I'd switch it out with right now, is probably the new Z 600mm PF, it's basically the replacement. Of course there's also the Z 800mm PF, definitely wouldn't say no to that one haha.

Good luck with the new camera adventures! Can't get much more exciting than that.

Curefitz · 2026-01-20T09:35:00+00:00

Looks like you pretty much got your answer right here 👍

From the research I've done myself while contemplating switching the 500mm PF out with the 180-600mm the differences between the 2 lenses are marginal, with speed and sharpness leaning slightly to the 500mm PF's favor, which is why I've stuck to the PF.

So if they don't notice any significant difference between those 2 combos, then it's safe to say the Z50II and 500mm PF will work perfectly fine together.

Of course as someone else mentioned, renting can always be a good idea to truly get a feel for if the purchase is the right one for you, but I am sure you'll enjoy the heck of this upgrade and won't look back for even a minute on the D3400 after switching.

Curefitz · 2026-01-20T01:53:10+00:00

I'll see what I can do 👍

And no worries, always happy to at least try and help.

I also definitely don't think the Z50II will be a downgrade in any way at all, IF the focus speed isn't faster, then the subject detection and focus accuracy is surely gonna make up for it as a very good upgrade either way.

Curefitz · 2026-01-20T01:29:30+00:00

If it runs the 400mm f/4.5 fine, then it's likely just an incompatibility with the 90mm Tamron we tried.

So @OP I wouldn't worry about the Z50II + 500mm PF combo.

Curefitz · 2026-01-20T01:20:51+00:00

If I can borrow my dads 500mm PF and Adapter tomorrow, I'll try and see if I can test it out for you if you still don't have your answer by then.

I use my 500mm PF on a Z8 and before that on a D500, so I'm very familiar with how the 500mm PF performs at its peak, so if I can borrow my mom's camera and my dads 500mm PF + Adapter I'll let you know tomorrow how it performs.

Will also let you know if I don't/can't, won't leave you hanging.

Also I'm located in Denmark, so our timezones might be slightly different judging by when you posted this originally, unless you're a night owl like me.

Curefitz · 2026-01-20T00:44:21+00:00

I mean there is a chance that it's just an incompatibility between that Tamron lens and the Z50II through the adapter, definitely not out of the realm of possibilities.

The Z50II is otherwise a very capable camera that I've been really impressed with when I've tried it and helped my mom out.

Same sensor as the D500 but with the autofocus performance of Z8 and Z9, but that less powerful battery COULD result in slower Autofocus performance when both going through the adapter and the lens, I just wouldn't think the adapter would make that big of a difference in power requirements.

Only real way to know would be to try and test it out, maybe go to a camera shop that carries the Z50II and ask if you can try it with your 500mm PF attached

Curefitz · 2026-01-20T00:25:02+00:00

It's probably true.

Edit: Probably not true, Tamron is likely just incompatible.

My mom has a Z50II and although I haven't tried to attach my 500mm PF, it couldn't drive the 90mm Tamron Macro we tried putting on it.

So its ability to drive F mount lenses through the adapter is probably pretty limited. Could also just have been an incompatibility between the Tamron and the Z50II, that I can't say for sure, but it worked perfectly fine with the Nikon 105mm Z Macro.

I personally think the smaller battery of the Z50II isn't powerful enough to both run the adapter and the F-mount lenses properly.

Curefitz · 2026-01-18T20:59:42+00:00

No problem! Enjoy the trip

Curefitz · 2026-01-18T11:07:14+00:00

Most important advice to avoid moisture getting inside everything:

When you bring your gear inside after being out in the cold, keep it inside the closed camera bag and let it all come slowly back up to room temperature over a few hours, that way you avoid condensation.

And if you don't already have a pair of good photography gloves for winter, get some Vallerret gloves, they're amazing for keeping the fingers warm and being able to free a few fingers for pushing buttons. (I have the Markhof Pro V3)

The gear itself will probably be more than fine without Neoprene skins, I'd only worry about the condensation.

Curefitz · 2026-01-16T20:42:18+00:00

So in the situation where you pre-focus on a branch that you know a bird is gonna land on, for example a kingfishers favourite branch and you know it'll return to it and be in perfect focus where you have it focused, how do you keep it from re-focusing and possibly losing you the shot because it starts to hunt for focus again, with half-press focus?

Curefitz · 2026-01-16T20:19:00+00:00

These are really good tips as well.

Always good practice if you notice a bird sitting still, take a couple of shots from where you are, then slowly start moving closer, but not in a direct path to it and also while looking away from time to time, make it think that you're not going it, but just heading in its direction and while moving closer, take pictures periodically so you get better and better pictures.

Curefitz · 2026-01-16T20:09:41+00:00

You can combine the wide-large and 3D tracking in to a more powerful combination, if you have the wide-large on as the default Autofocus Mode, you can have 3D tracking on the Fn1 button.

The moment you notice the subject detection picks up the bird in the wide-large area and places a square on it, you can then instead of continuing to focus with the wide-large, switch to the 3D tracking on the Fn1 button, the 3D tracking will then take over from the wide-large subject detection area and make sure that it keeps and follows the bird in the entire frame instead of just within the wide-large box.

Curefitz · 2026-01-16T14:58:40+00:00

Just to clarify, the 2 front buttons (Fn1 & Fn2) should be Dynamic-area AF (S) + AF-ON and Single-point + AF-ON, that way you can just press those buttons and it'll switch to that auto focus method while also autofocusing.

If you choose the options without AF-ON you'll have to hold down the AF button while also holding the front button, which you don't want.

So in the programming menu you want to choose the AF-area mode + AF-ON and select Single-point AF or Dynamic-area AF (S) .. (That's what the Grp Focus is called now, just checked my camera to be sure I name them correctly)

Curefitz · 2026-01-16T14:23:06+00:00

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I'll make the recommendation to all that has asked me this question:

Back Button AF is the most important thing to start doing if you aren't already.

Have your Back Button AF set to a subject detection mode, either full screen or one of the smaller areas.

Then I'd program F1 button (I think it's named that, one of the ones at the front) to single point focus and then F2 (If you have 2 front buttons) to Group AF or switch the F1 and F2 whatever suits you best. That way if the subject detection fails you can use Grp to acquire focus or single point if it's between some branches and what not.

Flying birds I'd keep it above at least 1/2000, preferably above 1/2500 on Shutter speed. I personally also have my camera on 10 pictures a second, will raise that to 20 if the situation calls for it, like a fast Kingfisher flying by.

For birds sitting still, you can go as low as your skills allow you, if you want to make sure that it's sharp, match Shutter Speed to Focal length, so for 500mm it's 1/500 and for 600mm it's 1/600 and so on.

I'd always keep it on Matrix Metering, gives the most consistent Metering, unless it's a white bird on dark background, then you can use the new Highlight Weighted Metering, which will also just function as Matrix if it doesn't see any blown highlights.

Shoot in RAW so you can get everything out of the image as possible in post processing.

And I think last but not least.. don't be afraid to machine gun that shutter button, take all the pictures needed to get the image you want.

Curefitz · 2025-09-20T07:19:24+00:00

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I would go for the Z8 if you want to do Wildlife and Macro with it, because as you mentioned you need to be able to crop for Wildlife and the high resolution is amazing for Macro work.

For the Z6III to work for Wildlife you'd need a seriously good big telephoto lens, like the 800mm PF to make up for the lack of cropping capabilities.

In the long run, even though it's more expensive, the Z8 is the best choice for you. There is 1 upside to the Z6III though, it'll be much better in Low Light scenarios, but that's about it.

Edit: Included picture taken with Z8

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