BackdoorArts
Senior Member
So I picked up a Z6ii as my full frame camera after selling my D750 to sort of push me to a "have to buy" position, and was looking forward to it being my walkaround camera, figuring that my D500's would stick around as my wildlife bodies. In researching settings and focus modes I came across a wildlife photographer who mentioned that he tried it out with his 500mm f4 and 1.4TC, something he could never do with the D4 he was using up until then, and was quite pleased with the results. I was intrigued so I decided to give it a shot with my 500mm f5.6, something that lives on my D500 but not with the TC because it was just meh.
I was astounded at the sharpness. With the improved focusing of the mirrorless the combination of the 500mm f5.6 and the TC1.4 was as close to "tack sharp" as I'd allow when using that term. So I started doing the math. With the TC the 500mm on the Z6 has a 700mm equivalence, while without the TC it has a 750mm equivalence on the D500. BUT the 24.5MPs on the Z6 mean that even though it might be lesser reach it could be as good or better reach than the 20.9MPs on the D500. So from a rainy garage today I set about testing out what was what.
I mounted the 500mm on a tripod and shot the same thing with the D500 and the Z6 + TC. Here's what I found...
I overlaid the Z6 image with the D500 and aligned the layers and they were a near exact match!! The smaller image on the top is the D500 capture at 50% opacity so you can see the Z6 image underneath (I inserted a gray translucent layer to make the delineation more perceptible). So, if I'm shooting with the TC I can shoot anything I want with the Z6 and not lose a pixel, and likely have a better keeper rate because of the focus system. It also gives me a bigger arsenal of primes because I essentially own a 300mm f4, a 420mm f5.6, a 500mm f5.6, and a 700mm f8.
The biggest down side to the Z6ii is the frame rate, where I lose 5 fps if I want to see live through the viewfinder, but in a pinch I can set it to 12fps where it will display the previous image image instead so if you're tracking you could get lucky.
Now, I'm not about to sell the D500's, but I'm more than pleasantly surprised to have a 3rd "wildlife body" now, and one that has a silent shutter - so no more frightening hummingbirds away when I fire off.
Just thought I'd leave this out there for those of you who might be toying with the idea of whether or not to go mirrorless. I've had the Z6ii for 3 days and I'm more than a little impressed. I just wish the weather was better for field testing.
I was astounded at the sharpness. With the improved focusing of the mirrorless the combination of the 500mm f5.6 and the TC1.4 was as close to "tack sharp" as I'd allow when using that term. So I started doing the math. With the TC the 500mm on the Z6 has a 700mm equivalence, while without the TC it has a 750mm equivalence on the D500. BUT the 24.5MPs on the Z6 mean that even though it might be lesser reach it could be as good or better reach than the 20.9MPs on the D500. So from a rainy garage today I set about testing out what was what.
I mounted the 500mm on a tripod and shot the same thing with the D500 and the Z6 + TC. Here's what I found...
I overlaid the Z6 image with the D500 and aligned the layers and they were a near exact match!! The smaller image on the top is the D500 capture at 50% opacity so you can see the Z6 image underneath (I inserted a gray translucent layer to make the delineation more perceptible). So, if I'm shooting with the TC I can shoot anything I want with the Z6 and not lose a pixel, and likely have a better keeper rate because of the focus system. It also gives me a bigger arsenal of primes because I essentially own a 300mm f4, a 420mm f5.6, a 500mm f5.6, and a 700mm f8.
The biggest down side to the Z6ii is the frame rate, where I lose 5 fps if I want to see live through the viewfinder, but in a pinch I can set it to 12fps where it will display the previous image image instead so if you're tracking you could get lucky.
Now, I'm not about to sell the D500's, but I'm more than pleasantly surprised to have a 3rd "wildlife body" now, and one that has a silent shutter - so no more frightening hummingbirds away when I fire off.
Just thought I'd leave this out there for those of you who might be toying with the idea of whether or not to go mirrorless. I've had the Z6ii for 3 days and I'm more than a little impressed. I just wish the weather was better for field testing.