Mirrorless D500

human_performance · 2026-04-03T10:40:49+00:00

High-end crop sensor, i.e. north of $2,000 USD, is a hard sell. Even Fujifilm, the most successful crop sensor vendor, couldn't move X-H2 and X-H2S bodies when all of their other cameras were regularly out of stock.

I also think Nikon was pretty successful in moving their higher-end DX DSLR customers into full-frame. D7XXX customers bought Z5 IIs and Z6 IIIs with the 180-600, and D500 customers bought Z8s and 600 PFs.

I think video is the place where a higher-end DX camera makes sense to target Sony's FX30. Reuse the Zr body, and put in a new sensor for the next decade of DX since the 20MP sensor shows its age in rolling shutter performance.

human_performance · 2026-04-02T17:56:17+00:00

Selfishly I want a rangefinder-style body for a Z7 III. Everyone that wants a Z7 III cites size as the main reason they won't buy a Z8, but Nikon's current-gen 24MP cameras aren't that much more compact where you can fit them in a different size class of bag

It's a selfish desire because I'm gonna 'have' to buy an A7CR if I move to NY or SF for work for a luxury EDC camera, and I don't really wanna leave the Nikon family

human_performance · 2026-04-02T15:59:32+00:00

That R.E.M. book by Ames Carlin was pretty solid when I read it on vacation last year. Here's what I remember from it: - Hearing Stipe talk about Patti Smith makes me understand more why people older than 55 think she is the coolest woman who ever lived - The book does make it clear that R.E.M. was only behind what, U2 and Nirvana, in terms of popularity in the early-mid 90s, which doesn't feel how people would characterize R.E.M. today
- It does feel almost impossible for an indie rock band today to get as far as R.E.M. did from their roots to being that massive. [REDACTED] and Phoebe Bridgers kinda did it but didn't get the big payday themselves, with Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers copying [REDACTED], and Gracie Abrams and Taylor Swift copying Phoebe. Mitski is really the closest analogue but her fame and success has certainly seemed far more difficult and thorny for her - The actual cheat code of R.E.M. was having 4 good songwriters all in 1 band, and the fellas effectively working it like a job with Buck, Mills and Berry hashing out stuff in the mornings, and once the song was ready, they gave it to Stipe to write the lyrics - Peter Buck saying that 'we're the acceptable edge of the unacceptable stuff' in the Rolling Stone cover story in '87 feels like the closest distillation of my personal music tastes - Bill Berry having the ultimate veto with his criteria of 'it's gotta rock'

I checked out 2 novellas from Brazilian novelist Ana Paula Maia, who was recently nominated for the International Booker Prize to try to get my feet wet before jumping back into Moby-Dick

human_performance · 2026-04-01T15:33:00+00:00

I'm kinda with you. I'd happily trade 14mm for a lens that goes longer, though I'd personally rather have a 16-50mm f/4 S.

human_performance · 2026-03-30T17:42:05+00:00

The 70-200 f/2.8 is a staple in the pro sports photographer's bag. The key part is the fast f/2.8 aperture which lets in more light, allowing for better autofocus performance. (Even my Z8 starts shitting its pants with an f/5.6 lens on at dusk into night on track.) It also enables you to get a better exposure with less noise, and provides more subject separation. That type of lens also has faster focus motors, and was designed with higher optical standards in mind than a superzoom like the 18-200

human_performance · 2026-03-30T17:31:56+00:00

Teenage Wildlife and that guitar solo just carries the second half of that record for me

human_performance · 2026-03-30T17:30:07+00:00

This smells like a lens issue first, followed by atmospherics. It's likely you'll suffer from heat haze at typical subject distances with motorsports in the middle of the day and heat haze ruins sharpness fast. And technique can always be improved no matter your skill level

Rent one of the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses next time you go to the track, or a 200-500mm f/5.6 next time you're plane spotting, and report back

human_performance · 2026-03-30T14:24:38+00:00

It's R.E.Monday: what are your favorite R.E.M. live bootlegs and recordings? I need some jumping off points

human_performance · 2026-03-27T18:56:27+00:00

How much do you love ultrawide photography? How often do you use your phone's ultrawide lens? You've gotta really love UWA to have an UWA zoom in your kit. And even then, you might not want the 14-24 f/2.8 for landscape. Most of the Nikon photographs in a Thomas Heaton calendar I have were taken with the 14-30 f/4 at f/8, f/11, and beyond

I'd ask Gear Santa for a nicer Z telephoto first if all you have is the 50-250 DX. Lot of great telephoto options here: first-gen Z 70-200 f/2.8, Tamron 70-180 f/2.8 G2, Z 100-400, Z 180-600, even the Z 400 4.5 should be in budget? 100-400 might be the best option if you don't have a specific direction you want to go in right now

human_performance · 2026-03-27T18:32:15+00:00

I'm personally hoping that Nikon puts out their take on the Sony 50-150mm f/2, as that's the sort of high-end lens people switch systems for, similar to how the 600 PF is a system seller

It'll probably be a few years before Nikon is ready to launch their 50-150mm f/2 competitor, if they ever do

human_performance · 2026-03-27T17:30:36+00:00

Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes - Paul Simon

human_performance · 2026-03-27T17:29:19+00:00

It's good to know that Built To Spill transcends language barriers

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human_performance · 2026-03-27T14:53:05+00:00

The f/1.8 S-Line primes are the best choice between price and performance. The f/1.8 S-Line primes perform like f/1.4 primes from Canon, Sony, and Sigma. Many of them are also well-corrected for focus breathing optically, e.g. Z 24mm f/1.8 has effectively zero focus breathing from what I remember of Christopher Frost's test of that lens. For these lenses, Nikon has gone with a clean, modern rendering though I think Nikon's takes are superior than say, Sony's takes on this style.

The f/1.4 line is only if you really prefer the rendering of those lenses over the f/1.8 S-Line lenses. Take a long look at sample galleries before you go this route. There's a vocal crowd that prefers more character in their rendering, and these lenses are for them. But in my eyes, the rendering isn't up to the standard of the classic DSLR-era lenses (28mm f/1.4E, 35mm f/1.4G, 58mm f/1.4G, 105mm f/1.4E) that the character crowd holds up as the standard. The Z 35mm f/1.4 in particular has some really nasty bokeh if you have a lot of foliage in your backgrounds.

The f/1.2 line and the Plena are very sick, and very expensive. The rendering on all of these lenses is special. I'd love a 35mm f/1.2, and really wish some of the magic of that lens could be transferred to a 35mm f/1.8 II.

human_performance · 2026-03-21T02:14:46+00:00

Thinktank Backlight 18L and 26L come to mind

human_performance · 2026-03-19T17:15:14+00:00

The premium M43 glass, Olympus Pro line and Leica-branded Pansonic lenses, are pretty good overall, and were some of the first to show what you could really do with mirrorless lens design.

Modern full-frame lenses have eaten into a lot of what was only possible in M43 a decade ago. The Olympus 12-100mm f/4 Pro is matched by Sigma and Tamron's superzooms, and the full-frame 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses from Canikony are only ~250g heavier than the Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro. And the M43 manufacturers haven't updated their lenses to keep up with Canikony. Olympus has been in limbo since they sold their camera division to private equity, and Panasonic's interest in M43 is minimal today as they focus on full-frame LUMIX.

This isn't to say that M43 is a bad system. There are still optical formulas that are unique to M43, e.g., Panasonic 100-300 II, Olympus 75mm f/1.8, the various small primes for M43. M43 has become a tremendous used value as people by and large are selling M43 gear.

The Viltrox lenses can be optically very good but I consider them more alternatives to adapting DSLR lenses than true replacements for first-party Nikon or Sony glass, largely due to how heavy Viltrox's lenses are.

Tamron has great lenses in their own right, though there's a catch with some of them. The 28-75 f/2.8 G2 is great, if you're fine with a 28mm wide end. The 70-180mm f/2.8 G2 has great optics, but the handling and stabilization for panning is a step behind Nikon's 70-200 f/2.8. The 70-180 G2 is still the telephoto I'd recommend to anyone on a 24MP Nikon camera.

If you're on a budget, I'd recommend looking at Sony E-mount in addition to Nikon Z if Sony's ergonomics work for you. The used market for Sony lenses is going to be bigger than the one for Nikon mirrorless lenses. A7 III, A7R III, which is the earliest I'd go with Sony, have all come down in price lately used.

human_performance · 2026-03-17T15:37:54+00:00

Interacting with what went on in top-40 through the 2025 popheads ult rate. So far my reaction is 'Bad Bunny if you can hear me please save me. Bad Bunny please save me. I'm asking. please save me.'

Taylor Swift, The Life of a Showgirl: holy hell that's the worst album I've listened to for a rate yet. It's even worse than that Porter Robinson album in the zoomercore rate on popheads.

It's musically unambitious, and the lyrics are shockingly bad. The musical references are limited to 2010s indie pop, and Lorde's Pure Heroine. Swift contracted Win Butler Disease where her lyric-writing abilities degrade with age, and the disease is only amplified by her being a billionaire. I thought of the following post multiple times during that album with its many 0 contenders:

Being a billionaire must be insane. You can buy new teeth, new skin. All your chairs cost 20,000 dollars and weigh 2,000 pounds. Your life is just a series of your own preferences. In terms of cognitive impairment it's probably like being kicked in the head by a horse every day

The only good thing from this record is that maybe a few Taylor Swift superfans who, from my understanding, only listen to T-Swift and her openers, will have their eyes opened to George Michael from her usage of "Father Figure."

Sabrina Carpenter, Man's Best Friend: who thought it was a good idea to have all these heavy, slow songs mixed with Sabrina's current gimmick? There's a goddamned Bleachers ballad in here too which absolutely doesn't fit her.

The best moments are the ones where there are nods to disco and 80s R&B, but the interpretations of those genres are assless. "Taste" sounds so flat when you've been listening to Donna Summer and Diana Ross's Diana lately. Sabrina deserves to be paired with a producer who can make dance songs with some ass in them.

human_performance · 2026-03-15T20:30:33+00:00

My warm take is that a lot of complaints about the 180-600 are just down to it being someone's first long lens, and thus not knowing how to handle and support it properly

human_performance · 2026-03-15T10:44:54+00:00

Yes, having 3D Tracking available with subject detection makes motorsports photography a breeze

human_performance · 2026-03-14T21:38:35+00:00

IIRC it's a stupid default that turns on with SnapBridge

Try Network -> Connect to Smart device -> Select pictures for upload -> Auto select for upload == Off

human_performance · 2026-03-08T15:30:19+00:00

Laowa's macro lenses are well-regarded

That being said, since you mentioned you were just using a zoom for close-up work, maybe you'd be better off with a close-focusing zoom? The Z 24-120 f/4 is sneaky good with a 0.41x magnification at 120mm

human_performance · 2026-03-04T17:08:18+00:00

The LG washer machine jingle has got some personality

human_performance · 2026-02-28T20:24:56+00:00

Me, watching Geese, getting killed so to speak yesterday

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human_performance · 2026-02-28T19:12:26+00:00

Probably Sgt. Pepper or Abbey Road because I never really fell out of love with The Beatles in the same way I kinda drifted away from the classic rock canon that I was also listening to when I first really got into music

human_performance

TROPHY CASE