BIF with Nikon Z8 & 180-600+ 1.4TC (840mm)

[Stany Buyle]

related topic: After three years Canon, back to Nikon. Nikon Z8 made me change my mind.
related topic: Nikon Z100-400+1.4TC for close up photography

Yesterday I had a great opportunity for a perfect BIF session with a relatively nearby chasing marsh harrier. Still, I thought I failed because of my camera setup...
Even though I had the right lens-TC combo(840 mm) and perfect lightning conditions (evening sun in my back), my much too slow shutter speed, 1/320 sec, nearly ruined the party...
While most of the first 449 pictures of this session were unusable due to motion blur, some came out very good...


Here underneath one of the best:
Click on the image to open the 1500px longest side image. (original is 2656x1916px).


Some more @ a faster shutter speed:


Cropped.


Cropped.


Cropped.



Thanks for looking and kindest regards,
Stany

[Stany Buyle]

related topic: After three years Canon, back to Nikon. Nikon Z8 made me change my mind.
related topic: Nikon Z100-400+1.4TC for close up photography

Not in flight, but still with Nikon Z8 & Z180-600+ 1.4TC (840mm). Captured handheld.

Underneath picture was initially a challenge for AF and the metering system because the bird was hidden in the tree, shadow area, and strong backlight.
I had to keep the shutter speed relatively slow to 1/500 sec not to raise the iso too much... (already iso 1100 right now) Compromise is some loss of sharpness because of motion blur.
After that, one more challenge for the potential and latitude of the Z8' NEF file... and I like the result.

The scene:



The crop, resized to 1000px wide:
Click on the image to open the 1000px longest side image. (original is 1898x1824px).


Thanks for looking and kindest regards,
Stany

[Stany Buyle]

The moon with Nikon Z8 & 180-600+ 1.4TC (840mm)

A screenshot to illustrate the size of the moon in the Z8' viewfinder with this combo @ 840mm: