Upgrade to Nikon Z6 111 + Nikkor Z180-600V f5.6-6.3 VR lens + Z 1.4 teleconverter ?

[NeilS27]

Hello. I have used for many years for bird photography a Nikon D750 with a Sigma 150-600 lens and a permanently attached Nikon 1.4 converter. This gives me a long reach whch is essential to me and on the whole I have had no complaints other than the fact that autofocus is sometimes slow to lock on, can be inconsistent and often will not focus at all on birds in flight. I appreciate the limitations of the equipment in various light conditions, particularly using a converter.

I am considering upgrading to a Nikon Z6 111 + Nikkor Z180-600V f5.6-6.3 VR lens + Z 1.4 teleconverter and would like to ask if anyone could advise me on the pros and cons of whether this would be a more successful combination for bird photography and particularly for capturing birds in flight than what I have now.

Thankyou for any help you can give.

 

[bluzman]

Hello. I have used for many years for bird photography a Nikon D750 with a Sigma 150-600 lens and a permanently attached Nikon 1.4 converter. This gives me a long reach whch is essential to me and on the whole I have had no complaints other than the fact that autofocus is sometimes slow to lock on, can be inconsistent and often will not focus at all on birds in flight. I appreciate the limitations of the equipment in various light conditions, particularly using a converter.

I am considering upgrading to a Nikon Z6 111 + Nikkor Z180-600V f5.6-6.3 VR lens + Z 1.4 teleconverter and would like to ask if anyone could advise me on the pros and cons of whether this would be a more successful combination for bird photography and particularly for capturing birds in flight than what I have now.

Thankyou for any help you can give.

I can't speak to the use of the 150-600mm and teleconverter combo but I do own a Z6iii. I can say that it will lock on to BIFs and stationary birds even with a "slow" 28-400mm f/4-8 VR lens attached.

 

[BF Hammer]

I don't see any fault in the equipment selected. I used to own a D750 and used it with a Sigma 150-600mm C, but I never had a teleconverter. I kind of get the performance you are trying to upgrade on.

I still have the Sigma and adapt it to my current Z body (was a Z5, now I have a Zf). My next lens upgrade is scheduled to be a trade-in for the Z180-600mm that I expect may happen with tax refund money.

The upgrade to the Z body is going to be the biggest difference here. If you allow the subject detect to work it will do a great job of finding your birds and usually will lock on and track across the view, especially with 3D tracking active. I have read some accounts of new mirrorless users who feel intimidated by the AF options and just try to do things the SLR way they are used to and then complain about the focus points jumping about. That's a feature, not a problem if you let go of the limitations of the old hardware.

 

[Clovishound]

I have the 180-600 mounted on a Z8. I've never used the Z6iii, but assume the AF works similarly. I love the 180-600. It replaced the 200-500 with an FTZ mount. The sharpness wasn't a huge upgrade, but I really love the internal zoom, and the lack of an FTZ adapter. I also have never used the 1.4 teleconverter, but read that quality is acceptable. Most say the 2.0 is not a great idea for this lens.

Something to consider: The 6iii runs $2200, and the Z8 is currently $3600. The 1.4 is almost $600. The Z8 has a 46MP sensor, so you can crop in post at around the same amount as the amount of extra magnification of the 1.4 teleconverter and end up with the same size file. So, for an extra $800 you get a full stop extra, probably faster, more accurate AF (because of the extra stop). As a bonus the Z8 has a fully stacked sensor, as opposed to the semi stacked on the 6iii. I haven't researched it, but there may be other features available on the Z8 as opposed to the Z6ii. Just something to think about.

I can "crop without fear" on my Z8, and when I don't need the extra reach afforded by cropping, I have a much higher resolution file to work with. Don't get me wrong, 24MP is plenty for most applications, but 46 MP really helps for large printing and heavy cropping.

Here are two edits of the same file. The first is minimal editing with NO cropping: I have cropped tighter than this with good results, but this was the first one I could easily find.

And here is a heavy crop: