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Thanks for watching and commenting. Yes, I'm told for video people the RED thing was a big deal. I don't know enough about it to comment but others seem to think it was a good thing for Nikon. Good luck with your work.

Thanks for watching and commenting. I would assume with enough light you can do it. Back at ya :)

I've noticed that too. Thanks for watching.

Thanks for checking in, Marcus. I've been using it for infrared. That's my next video.

Thanks Marcus. I'm sure others can learn from your system. It sure beats mine. LOL. Thanks for checking in.

Thanks for reaching out. Yes, I'd love to know what you think.

You're welcome, Marcus. Thanks for being a supporter of me and the channel.

Hey Marcus, read the comments from murlidhr above. He's been asking about your sheep photo. Thanks

Thanks for watching and commenting, Carl. I hope you add another photo for this month and good luck with your photography.

Thanks for watching and commenting. Yes, it seems it was. Good luck with it.

Thanks for watching and commenting. There are days I miss my D700. However, I guess you can either buy another one or move forward with the times. It's why I try to listen to myself so that I can only blame the person in the mirror and not a stranger, who might be pushing you for their interests and not yours.

Thanks for watching and commenting. Only you know what you need and it's why I stated to listen to your gut.

HA! Thanks, but Nikon doesn't know I exist and that's ok with me. I much prefer that you watch. Thanks for watching.

Thanks for watching and commenting. Many will agree with you.

Thanks for watching and commenting. I'm pleased you followed your best instincts as well.

Thanks for watching and commenting.

Thanks for watching and commenting. I agree with your assessment.

I have spoken about Pentax several times in previous videos. I started with a Pentax K1000 and spoke a few times about how that camera was a blessing in teaching me about the exposure triangle. I loved that camera, however if you are speaking about digital cameras, then you would be correct. Thanks for watching and commenting.

Thanks for watching and commenting, Bob. I've been around the block a few times, so you're probably correct. Good luck with your photography and don't let those grandkids wear you out too much.

Good luck with the Z50. I have one of those, but it's converted to infrared. Thanks for watching and commenting.

It's why I say just stick with your gut and don't always follow the herd. All the companies make really good camera bodies these days. For me, it was more, I knew once Nikon began putting effort into making lenses for the Z system, Nikon would be a winner in my mind. They always make good lenses even if at times they lag behind in the camera body department.

I'm still waiting for mine. LOL. I only have a blue one that I paid for with my own money!

Thanks for the comment. I'm sure Marcus will be pleased. My guess is that he will see this and comment. Here are the settings that he sent to me when submitting the photo. Nikon Z8 ,100-400mm Nikkor S, 1.4x Teleconverter, @560mm, f/8, 1/1600 sec, ISO 10,000. I hope that helps. Anything more, and I'll let Marcus comment.

​@@MichaelCantwellwell. i thought it was a slow shutter speed shot. looking at the grass it does look like it is moving. probably cuz they are out of focus. was it too windy?

@@murlidhr I'll ask Marcus to speak up. It was his photo. I don't know what the weather conditions were when he took the photo.

@murlidhr Many, many thanks for your comment about the sheep photo. Yeah, we were out that morning near the Southern-most tip of the South Island in New Zealand looking for birds, so I had my settings on a high shutter speed (1/1600). It was windy. As we walked thru the wooded area there was that sudden clearing you see in the image and that sheep walked right into it and stopped. I couldn't believe my luck and the lighting. In terms of crop, that image is 100% uncropped. Not that I have anything against cropping at all. I crop all the time, just not this one. The sun was rising from the left side but being a bit blocked by a mountain, and it must've been cloudy like it is almost daily in New Zealand. LOL. The out of focus bits are mostly due to the separation of the main subject from the background and foreground that the lens produces, and that I was shooting at 560mm, which is the max zoom for that lens with the 1.4 tele-convertor on it. The lens gets pretty good separation in camera. Not as creamy as a prime, but I like it. Then, I did a tiny bit of masking in Lightroom to blur the background and foreground a little more for additional separation and isolation of the main subject. For me, perhaps the biggest surprise was that this photo was shot with ISO 10,000. Coming from DSLRs, I never trust high ISOs, but the Z8 seems to be fine with it. I don't think that I've ever shown a photo with such a high ISO, but, well, it seems like it's fine. I cleaned up the noise by running it thru DxO Pure Raw 3, which seems to be working for me. Thanx again for asking.

@@marcusgrandon3640 Thanks Marcus

Thanks for the comment. Yeah, there is a line between listening to what others think, yet still remembering it's you who has to be happy with the results.

Thanks for watching and commenting, Alan. Happy birthday and I'm pleased you could take something from the videos. Good luck and yes I found I was sitting behind the computer too much too.

Maybe that's why I can't bring myself to do it. LOL

Awe, I'll bet that's not true.

I haven't heard from him yet, but I did from others. So maybe lucky for others. Thanks for watching :)

Thanks for watching and commenting. I guess everyone has to determine what they think their work is worth, but I know when you feel like people are taking advantage of you, it's time to rethink your own worth. Years ago, I made the mistake of sending off several of my baseball prints to a "friend" and all I got in return was a comment of how they thought I would have sent more and larger prints. I think I sent more than 5 and didn't even charge for postage. It really opened my eyes. The site for the gallery is: iuriefineart.com/collections. I'm still looking for the name of the photographer again but its likely on that site.

Here is the photographer www.iuriebelegurschi.com/

Thanks for watching and I'm glad it helped. Good luck.

Thanks for watching and commenting. I've given away more than my share of sports photos to kids or their parents. Everyone has to do what they feel is right for them but I do think there is a limit to everyone's generosity. Take care and good luck with your photography.

Happy birthday and good luck with the new camera. It will feel a touch heavier that the Z6II but it wont take long for you to get used to it. I hope it ends up being the right decision for you and thanks for watching and your kind words.

Thank you for watching and your lovely comment. Whenever I get a comment like yours, it fuels my ambition to continue to create more videos. I recorded 2 earlier today that will be out in future weeks. I hope that you will enjoy them. Please be safe in your part of the world. I would imagine you have some anxious days and nights right now. Yes, if you lived in Wellington and Boca then you would know where I live. I'm in between those two places on the map. Thanks again and reach out anytime. I do enjoy hearing from people like yourself. Good luck with all those grandkids.

thanks for watching and commenting. Good luck with your photography. I had the 105 and sold it. I wasn't using it enough but it's a nice lens. I've thought about the 180-600. If I were to get another lens it would likely be that one but again, I'm not sure I would use it enough to warrant owning it. I already have too many lenses. LOL.

Thanks for watching and commenting. Good luck to you.

Thanks for watching and commenting. I'm glad that I might have helped you in some small way.

Thanks for watching and commenting :)

Thanks Lou

Thanks for watching and your kind words.

Thanks Marcus.

Thanks for watching and my next goal is to wake up tomorrow morning. LOL

​@@MichaelCantwellWell, that's a given, right?

Thanks for watching and commenting.

Thanks for watching. I'm not sure if I mentioned it in the video or not, however there is a difference in focus speed between the Tamron and the Nikon 24-120. The Nikon is faster at least when shooting birds. I would suspect it would be the same indoors for fast moving objects in a circus. Also, because the Tamron is not a constant F4 like the Nikon, be aware that you will lose one or more stops of light. Thanks again.

Thanks for watching and commenting. I do agree, yes, you can photo birds with the Nikon Z7II with the 24-120. My issue was that I was using the older Nikon 80-200 F.2 F lens that has a very slow motor compared to the newer lenses. It took too long to focus. I had the same issue with the 24-200 in that the 24-120 does pick up focus faster. You combine that with the Z8 and it really improves trying to photograph sports and birds. Sometimes it's hard to quantify things in a short video, especially when I'm walking around without notes and only thoughts in my head. Since that's the way I write my novels (with mostly scenes in my head) I sometimes don't remember everything I want to say in the way I say it in the videos. With books, I can go back and edit and do rewrites :) But yes, you can use the Z7II for moving objects, but I do prefer the Z8. For landscapes, travel, portraits, there is little to no difference between the 2 cameras other than the size and weight.

Thanks very much for watching my videos and good luck with the Voit lens. I love that lens. I'm likely going to do another video about it in the near future while walking around town with it. I figure I should practice what I preach about my gear by using what I recommend in videos. I've always enjoyed the Voigtlander line of lenses. This is my 3rd one, first specifically for the Z mount. I've considered the 75mm, but I love the 85mm 1.8 Nikon. Since I use the 85 mostly around my grandkids, the AF on the 85mm comes in handy. I do feel the same with you in the one of my favorite parts using the Voigtlander lenses is the tactile shooting experience. I'm afraid too many photographers have moved away from understanding the benefits of enjoying the feeling of taking it all in before taking and or creating and image. Good luck with the lens. I hope it's what you are anticipating.

@@MichaelCantwell Thanks a lot Michael. I'll look out for your next videos highlighting these awesome Voigt lenses. Now that Nikon has had such a great success wth the Zf, I really hope they will offer a "classic" line of lenses that have satisfying clicky aperture rings (like the vintage AI and AIs lenses), with much better build quality than the plasticky 28mm and 40mm muffin lenses, and still fairly compact and not too heavy. Or at least work out a license for Sigma to offer their lovely Contemporary line optimized for the Z system. But the Voigt lenses are wonderful and seemingly a perfect fit for the Zf. I'd love to see Cosina introduce a superb compact 28 mm lens (f/2?) optimized for the Z sensors. I'm also very surprised Cosina has discontinued the Z line of APO Lanthars (35mm and 50mm at least). The Nikon 1.8 S lenses are fine enough and have full AF with 5-axis IBIS vs, only 3-axis for the Voigt Z lenses), costing hundreds less, so I'm sure the great majority newcomers to the Z cameras will tend to buy these full-featured Nikon lenses. MF lenses are pretty intimidating and demanding for most, especially for moving subjects. Even you admit they require practice to focus well.

@@RBRowe7 Seems everything needs practice to improve :) I too hope that Cosina continues putting out Voigtlander lenses for the Z mount. My hunch tells me that they will eventually release an updated version of the 50 and 35 lenses. They were too good to discontinue. I'll be curious to see if they release a 125mm lens like they had for the F mount. It might depend on how well Nikon does with the 135mm Plena. I have no clue how they make decisions on what to release, but I would assume being able to make a profit is near the top of the list. I've debated on selling my Z7II and picking up a ZF but so far I've resisted. I use the Z8 the vast majority of the time, though I could see myself taking a ZF with one or two Voigtlander primes on a cruise vacation where you're mostly wandering around towns. I'd prefer the Z8 and the 24-120 and something else on a photo vacation. Thanks again for staying in touch.

Thanks for watching and commenting. It's funny, for two days while I was trying to think about and create the video about Henry, he wanted no part of me. Then after I uploaded the video, he went right back to allowing me wander around and take images. I made one of my favorites of him (I assume Henry is a male, who knows) the next time I went looking for him. It was too late to include it in the video. I will say however that there is one fisherman, who is in Henry's territory, who Henry will allow to get close while fishing. I can also get close, but other than the two of us Henry is as skittish as the other 2 or 3 herons I see along the lake. They all have their own territories. When I say Henry will talk with me, he does squawk at me at times when I'm talking with him. He usually then squawks just before lift off to fly away but most of the herons do that, but not all. Anyway, thanks for checking in and your thoughts, much appreciated.

@@MichaelCantwell My pleasure. Your vídeos have taught me a lot. I’m o hobbyist and I do prefer Nikon cameras after trying some other brands. I don’t have the luck to live near wildlife but if we pay attention animals and birds, it’s noticeable that they behave in very special and interactive way 😀. It’s all about the person 😄

@@americosequeira8670 Thanks. I'm glad you learned something. I've learned some from watching videos on TH-cam, but mostly I learned by then taking it out in the field and trying what I learned from the videos. I will always say however, the most I ever learned was using a Pentax K1000 with T-Max black and white film. Learning the exposure triangle to me is maybe the best lesson. None of the other things matter if your exposures always need a lot of work in post. Thanks again. Good luck with your photography.

@@MichaelCantwell I try to go out and take pictures as much as I can. Now, besides the technical aspects of photography I have to learn about the cameras I use. But I'm motivated to learn both and keep improving. I also learn that photography is a good way to stay fit 😀

@@americosequeira8670 Learning your camera and lenses are important, but to keep moving the legs while learning is more important. Smiles.

Thanks for watching and commenting. Nikon ignores me and that's ok. I take photos for me and sometimes for others, not for camera companies.

Hey Marcus. Always good to hear from ya. Yeah, I just got back from following Henry around for about 30 minutes. He wasn't having much luck fishing and went and hid in some weeds to cool down. I found a younger heron about a mile away, but that bird didn't like me within 20 feet and flew off. He was a young bird from a nearby nest. I think. Henry needs to teach the young ones that I'm no harm to them. LOL. Glad to know you're shooting away though. I'm sure there a lot of photographers who feel inspired by the Z8. I still contend it doesn't make you a better photographer by its design. I think it makes you want to photograph more, get more keepers, which in turn inspires you to try hard and, in the end, that's what makes you a better photographer. People can argue back and forth about is it the gear, I guess I could argue both sides. However, in the end, you have to enjoy your photography, or the gear will only collect dust. You still must practice your craft to get better.

Thanks for being a loyal watcher and your kind words. It's people like yourself that keep me wanting to continue to make videos.