**This week with your Z camera, Jun 7-13 2025**

First up, a couple of small perched birds. Near MFD with 70-180 in an overcast late afternoon. Want to capture small perched birds with a Z5 - go to walkthrough Aviary and get close. And still crop quite a bit.











A couple more from the zoo. Again with 70-180


A Tanzanian Drummer






Audience Participation




Getting close to a blooming protea




Going wide for a mural




Architecture over a lonely bench




My dad had one of these in the 1960s when I was a tot. Ford Galaxie 500 XL.







--
If cameras and lenses can have autofocus then why can't I?

s_grins said:

For a better bokeh, you need fast prime

Click to expand...

Indeed. The sad part was, I had my 50mm f/1.8 S in the bag about 30 yards away but was too lazy to go back and get it! ;-)

I often have the same bad luck

Regards

S.

NikonMan09 said:

This is the first time I saw a serious birding post using the Z50ii and the 180-600 Z lens. Very encouraging results! Nicely done!

Click to expand...

Indeed, and the Pileated Woodpecker is an impressive find and Image. Persistence paid off.

Arnie

I like your vision, autofocus or not. The bird images have nice color and detail. The others are imaginative, and thought provoking.

Cheers,

Arnie

Some holiday snapshots from Greece, taken with Z7 + 24-70/4 and Tamron 70-300mm RXD.



















--
My Website: https://lightsandtones.com
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@lightsandtones

Super impressive group ... I love the vivid colors, they make the images 'pop'.

Arnie

Nikon Z50, Z DX 18-140mm

Lovely scene, nice composition.

Arnie

Z8 with TT Artisan 75mm f/2 wide open







--
Police Officer (Retired)
No plan survives first contact with the enemy.

I have a new lily in the garden that just opened its first bloom today. I shot some with the Z MC 105 that are good, but these with my Plena are even better.







--
Joel
https://jmiller1948.myportfolio.com/portfolio

Z8

arniebook said:

I like your vision, autofocus or not. The bird images have nice color and detail. The others are imaginative, and thought provoking.

Cheers,

Arnie

Click to expand...

Thanks for your thoughts.

The yellow and black birds I find difficult to photograph. Expose for optimally for the yellow and detail gets lost in the black and vice versa. Was trying for a balance. And at the close distance require with my gear only a small portion in focus do to DOF.

The photo with the bench was sort of an experiment. I walk by that bench 50-100 times a year and have never seen anyone sitting on it. I have often looked at a way to photograph it, often stopping for a moment or two on the way by. It was lit up by the angle of the sun that day. I looked at it from a few angles up close then thought maybe I want make it small in the image and push it to an almost insignificant area of the frame where it is dominated by the arches and the tower and cupola, both of which have been photographed probably millions of times from other angles. But it too is usually the center of attention so I wanted it away from the center of the frame. So I went for something different. Sort of a compositional experiment.

As for the car, I wanted to capture it from the perspective of a toddler of about age of 2-3. And b&w since that matches my memories and the old photos I have of that period. That was roughly my age when my father had his car. My father's car was destroyed by a drunk driver when I was 4. It was parked and no one was in it at time.

--
If cameras and lenses can have autofocus then why can't I?

SoCalAngler said:

arniebook said:

I like your vision, autofocus or not. The bird images have nice color and detail. The others are imaginative, and thought provoking.

Cheers,

Arnie

Click to expand...

Thanks for your thoughts.

The yellow and black birds I find difficult to photograph. Expose for optimally for the yellow and detail gets lost in the black and vice versa. Was trying for a balance. And at the close distance require with my gear only a small portion in focus do to DOF.

The photo with the bench was sort of an experiment. I walk by that bench 50-100 times a year and have never seen anyone sitting on it. I have often looked at a way to photograph it, often stopping for a moment or two on the way by. It was lit up by the angle of the sun that day. I looked at it from a few angles up close then thought maybe I want make it small in the image and push it to an almost insignificant area of the frame where it is dominated by the arches and the tower and cupola, both of which have been photographed probably millions of times from other angles. But it too is usually the center of attention so I wanted it away from the center of the frame. So I went for something different. Sort of a compositional experiment.

As for the car, I wanted to capture it from the perspective of a toddler of about age of 2-3. And b&w since that matches my memories and the old photos I have of that period. That was roughly my age when my father had his car. My father's car was destroyed by a drunk driver when I was 4. It was parked and no one was in it at time.

Click to expand...

Thanks for taking the time to compose this insightful narrative.

Arnie

All,

I moved to Brisbane, QLD, Australia, in May, and am roaming around getting to know my new hometown.

There's a part of Brisbane called the South Bank, right along the river that runs through the city. Very popular with the locals, and also with tourists. I found this display down there when I went down the other day specifically to do some long-exposure photography. As noted, it's quite popular, and at first, I wasn't too keen on the two people sitting on the sign. Then I realized it added a human touch and a sense of scale to the size of the sign.

Taken with the Z9 and Tamron 24-70 G2 lens via FTZ adapter and mounted onto a tripod.







Sam

--
Sam B.
D300, D700, D500, and D850; 16-80mm, 85mm f1.8, 24-85mm, 24-120mm; Sigma 10-20 f3.5, 150mm f2.8 Macro, 17-50mm f2.8; Tamron 70-300mm, 70-200mm f2.8 VC; 24-70mm f2.8 VC G2; Gitzo 2531 Mountaineer tripod; RRS BH-55 ball head; Monostat RS-16 Pro monopod; Various odds and ends.
Certified Texas Master Naturalist
WSSA Member #260!
www.flickr.com/photos/sibeardjr
www.txsportsphotography.com
www.doormouse-editions.com

Nice job with this fine image, Sam. The colors, and size of the sign grab attention, and the city as a backdrop sell Brisbane. You took good advantage of the F11 depth of field at 24mm.

Cheers!

Arnie

arniebook said:

Nice job with this fine image, Sam. The colors, and size of the sign grab attention, and the city as a backdrop sell Brisbane. You took good advantage of the F11 depth of field at 24mm.

Cheers!

Arnie

Click to expand...

Arnie,

Thanks for the kind words! Yes, I wanted to be sure all of the sign was sharp, even though with the wide-angle setting, it probably would've been fine. I also wanted to get a longer shutter speed, which also meant closing down the aperture at that time.

Sam

dacrema said:

jtr27 said:

Sincere thanks for the feedback. In truth, no I did not. I try to be open minded about whether color is adding to or detracting from an image, but in this case, I will confess that black and white never occurred to me. Perhaps I will give it a try!

Click to expand...

I do not see the color detracting from the image. It is just struck me that with the simplicity of the image it would translate well in B&W. Not necessarily better or worse, just a different take.

Click to expand...

Dacrema and JTR,

I agree that I think this image would do well in B&W. Not ALL images are good candidates for the treatment, but with the right processing, I think this one would look quite good. If you have Nik Silver Efex, there are some great presets in there, and I bet at least one of them would really serve this image well!

Sam

Photos shared in Canon R Photo Sharing Thread seems sharper and brighter. Do you agree Canon R may be better than Nikon Z?