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ML Z + long lens + gimbal
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<blockquote data-quote="BF Hammer" data-source="post: 800899" data-attributes="member: 48483"><p>I just did this New Years day. Nearly the same hardware too. Heavy-duty tripod with a Sirui K40 ballhead and Wimberly Sidekick gimbal adapter. I have a Z5, FTZ-II, Sigma 150-600mm C lens. I was shooting eagles at a dam spillway.</p><p></p><p>Personally, I am not too proud to use auto-exposure. I had ISO to Auto with 100 as the base. Shutter-priority mode, AF-C, matrix-metering. I think I normally use wide AF area. Is that where the focus point is auto selected from anywhere on the visible screen? That was my mode. It was cloudy with a light fog, so the f-stop hardly ever moved off of the minimum. I had the shutter speed at 1/800 the entire time based on past trips where I tried 1/640 and still had some motion blur in the wings. I also have high-speed continuous shutter release turned on, and on a Z5 that could still be slower than the slow continuous shutter release of your Z6.</p><p></p><p>This is a cellphone pic of my setup that day.</p><p><img src="https://nikonites.com/forum/attachments/gimbal-head-1-1-2023-jpg.386603/" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>I have the axis joints set with very light tension so I can track-pan easily but it holds still when I let go. I just moved the camera wherever an eagle was and tracked it just like I would handheld. Keep moving with the bird as you shoot a burst. Focus will move around a bit so only expect a few of a burst to be focused. I tried with stabilization turned off at first, but with the tracking motion I decided to try the "Active" mode on the stabilization selector of the Sigma lens. That is the mode preferred mode for tracking BIF handheld and moving your body. That seemed to give better results.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://nikonites.com/forum/attachments/2023-01-01_002-jpg.386588/" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><img src="https://nikonites.com/forum/attachments/2023-01-01_006-jpg.386592/" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>But I also captured this shot of 2 geese using basically the same camera setup, but handheld. I had already broken-down the tripod and was about to leave so no choice on the handheld issue. But the sun had started to break through the clouds so that helped drop the ISO and reduce the noise in the shadows a lot. So that kind of shows that the gimbal is not required for BIF, but it certainly makes your arms more happy if you want to work an area for 3 hours or more. For about 40 minutes I was shooting 1-handed with the gimbal as I held my mug of coffee in the left hand.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://nikonites.com/forum/attachments/2023-01-01_011-jpg.386600/" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BF Hammer, post: 800899, member: 48483"] I just did this New Years day. Nearly the same hardware too. Heavy-duty tripod with a Sirui K40 ballhead and Wimberly Sidekick gimbal adapter. I have a Z5, FTZ-II, Sigma 150-600mm C lens. I was shooting eagles at a dam spillway. Personally, I am not too proud to use auto-exposure. I had ISO to Auto with 100 as the base. Shutter-priority mode, AF-C, matrix-metering. I think I normally use wide AF area. Is that where the focus point is auto selected from anywhere on the visible screen? That was my mode. It was cloudy with a light fog, so the f-stop hardly ever moved off of the minimum. I had the shutter speed at 1/800 the entire time based on past trips where I tried 1/640 and still had some motion blur in the wings. I also have high-speed continuous shutter release turned on, and on a Z5 that could still be slower than the slow continuous shutter release of your Z6. This is a cellphone pic of my setup that day. [IMG]https://nikonites.com/forum/attachments/gimbal-head-1-1-2023-jpg.386603/[/IMG] I have the axis joints set with very light tension so I can track-pan easily but it holds still when I let go. I just moved the camera wherever an eagle was and tracked it just like I would handheld. Keep moving with the bird as you shoot a burst. Focus will move around a bit so only expect a few of a burst to be focused. I tried with stabilization turned off at first, but with the tracking motion I decided to try the "Active" mode on the stabilization selector of the Sigma lens. That is the mode preferred mode for tracking BIF handheld and moving your body. That seemed to give better results. [IMG]https://nikonites.com/forum/attachments/2023-01-01_002-jpg.386588/[/IMG] [IMG]https://nikonites.com/forum/attachments/2023-01-01_006-jpg.386592/[/IMG] But I also captured this shot of 2 geese using basically the same camera setup, but handheld. I had already broken-down the tripod and was about to leave so no choice on the handheld issue. But the sun had started to break through the clouds so that helped drop the ISO and reduce the noise in the shadows a lot. So that kind of shows that the gimbal is not required for BIF, but it certainly makes your arms more happy if you want to work an area for 3 hours or more. For about 40 minutes I was shooting 1-handed with the gimbal as I held my mug of coffee in the left hand. [IMG]https://nikonites.com/forum/attachments/2023-01-01_011-jpg.386600/[/IMG] [/QUOTE]
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