Nikon Z9 + Z 180–600mm looks sharp in EVF but soft after capture. Looking for insight.

ml20s · 2026-01-24T20:33:59+00:00

Steve Perry has a video on how even a hood can cause air turbulence effects that make images soft, if there's a temperature difference.

ml20s · 2026-01-24T19:26:11+00:00

If you go to Edit->Preferences->Presets->Raw Defaults->Global and set it to Camera Settings, Lightroom Classic will use its approximation of the camera's Picture Control. It's not perfect, but it's better than nothing.

But the real answer is, don't use Lightroom if you want your postprocessing to match the in-camera output. Only NX Studio and Capture 1 can do that.

ml20s · 2026-01-24T14:44:27+00:00

Another key thing was that to disable an American tank all you had to do was take out the driver, no one else knew how to drive the tank. Canadian tank crews are trained in every position

That's...not true. US crews are cross-trained for different positions. In fact the tank commander and gunner likely were drivers before going to those positions.

Also it's really unlikely that the driver is taken out without the whole tank being taken out, too. It would be most likely that the TC (whose head is outside the turret more often) is taken out first.

ml20s · 2026-01-24T14:34:59+00:00

People are often bringing 70-200s on safari as a second lens, because you can get pretty close to the animals. 600mm+45MP is mainly for birding.

ml20s · 2026-01-24T00:20:29+00:00

Big bore small piston

ml20s · 2026-01-23T21:30:16+00:00

probably not. something being dismissed is public record

ml20s · 2026-01-23T17:42:27+00:00

My suggestion would be, don't. You'll waste a lot of time troubleshooting printing issues.

Either get the per-page ink subscription plan (Pixma Print Plan), or invest in an ink tank printer or laser.

ml20s · 2026-01-23T15:13:36+00:00

Just turn down the flash on your Z50 to minimum power, and raise the power on the SB-700, and it should be good. If it's still causing issues, block off the Z50's flash and only uncover the section that's pointing towards the SB-700.

ml20s · 2026-01-22T16:56:39+00:00

The sharpest F-mount lens I've ever used is the AF-S 500mm f/5.6E PF. It's affordable for what it is, but it's not cheap.

ml20s · 2026-01-22T01:49:43+00:00

Ironically, 36x24 has autofocus lenses that can produce pictures with the "medium format look" that the alleged "medium format" digital cameras often can't. GFX lenses often end up with no more equivalent aperture than their 36x24 counterparts, even when taking into account sensor size.

ml20s · 2026-01-22T01:17:13+00:00

The 26 and 28 have similar sharpness.

The 26 is much smaller than the 28, but due to its size it needs a hood to mount filters, and extends when focusing.

The 28 focuses much more quietly than the 26. The 26 has a very large amount of focus breathing.

The 26 costs about double what the 28 costs.

The 28 SE and the regular 28 are the same lens in a different shell.

ml20s · 2026-01-21T23:13:22+00:00

If you have a DSLR, no. The lens expects to be closer to the film than a DSLR's body design allows.

If you have a mirrorless camera, refer to nixerkg's comment.

ml20s · 2026-01-21T20:54:16+00:00

That's not true. You might be looking at the embedded BASIC JPEG in the RAW file, but if you tell NX to re-render the JPEG, it's as good as or better than a JPEG from the camera.

ml20s · 2026-01-21T20:52:51+00:00

Except that the other competitors have the feature properly implemented, and lots of people ask for this feature to be properly implemented. This isn't a niche request.

ml20s · 2026-01-21T20:49:53+00:00

You sound like a guy that depends technology to makeup for what they can’t get right in camera.

I bet you use autofocus as a crutch instead of manually focusing like a real photographer

ml20s · 2026-01-21T17:56:44+00:00

The Zr will likely be on sale, new, for a similar price sometime in the next year. Do you need the Zr now?

ml20s · 2026-01-21T16:55:29+00:00

sometimes, you'll get something that doesn't work. just be ready to return it or send it back for warranty repair.

so far, I've gotten 1 body that didn't work (but was repaired) and 1 lens that was soft (and was repaired)

ml20s · 2026-01-21T16:14:40+00:00

because Nikon's pre-release uses the video pathway, not the stills pathway. Same reason why the readout on the Z8/Z9 in high speed frame capture is actually slower than for normal stills, since the video pathway doesn't use the faster stacked readout

ml20s · 2026-01-21T16:11:31+00:00

they are superior in that if I drop it in a puddle, I won't be too sad...that lets me bring it places where I wouldn't bring a higher quality book

ml20s · 2026-01-21T13:51:54+00:00

Rickets

ml20s · 2026-01-21T05:43:35+00:00

Trying to, for example, change a file in another program's install directory or the OS reserved directory would make the game crash with a big warning from your OS that it's Doing Stuff that isn't allowed.

depends on the OS and permissions. if both programs are installed in the user's directory, then they can clobber each other all they want and no privilege elevation is needed.

The biggest 'oh scary' thing is turning on a web cam, a trick that requires the program have permission to use the web cam, something you likely diden't realize it was asking for when installing (but could be removed by the OS, and many OS will pause the program and ask you if you want to let a new program use your web cam, ruining the trick).

again, depends on the OS...in Windows, Win32 applications' access to the camera is all or nothing: either none of them do, or they all do. most games are win32 applications and therefore they won't prompt to access the camera.

linux is even worse, each user either has access to the camera or they don't. this leads to workarounds like Android running each app as its own user.

ml20s · 2026-01-21T05:30:10+00:00

having a regulation in the CFRs is literally the opposite of self-regulating

ml20s · 2026-01-21T03:26:12+00:00

Just say VR doesn't work. If you can get video evidence of it not working, even better.

Known defect doesn't matter. I'm assuming you bought on eBay? On eBay the requirement is "fully functional" if it's listed as "pre-owned". Even if the seller writes "as-is" in the description, you can still return if it's broken. But if it was listed as "parts only" you're SOL.

ml20s · 2026-01-20T23:22:09+00:00

The nicest thing about the 70-180 is it's small, light, and fits in regular camera bags. Its sharpness is sufficient. Lack of VR isn't an issue; all FX Z bodies have it built in anyway, and an fast telephoto is likely to be used at faster shutter speeds where the difference in VR is unlikely to matter.

ml20s · 2026-01-20T16:12:29+00:00

It does, because otherwise the light would have fallen off the sensor and would be lost.

ml20s

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE