Nikon Z8 - Macro Photography | Photographing Wild Honey Bees

[@Afterasimplelife]

Udeful video with your wrap up at the end. Im looking to get back into ohotograohy after 6 years and looked at this set up yestersay. (previous d300s and 105 f2.8 vr user). Really useful to hear about battery life. Great photos

[@Blinsaff]

Thanks for watching!

[@SeanMcChannel]

Wow. I viewed video wearing some ATH-M50x headphones and I really though the bees were right there. How did you record the audio as it sounded like stereo audio. Mixed in post? Or does Z8 record stereo using camera body mics? I did not see external audio recorder etc. For the wrap up... It seems to me that the focus was more sharp on your shirt / jacket top and your eyes were not terribly sharp in focus... found it distracting actually... nit picky me. What camera lens setup did you use for wrap section in office? Perhaps you needed small aperture/larger depth of field for such tight framed head shot talking video. I'm thinking of picking up a Z8 to replace my Sony A7IV but hope eye AF works good now as I have seen some older reviews saying that Nikon eye AF would sometime focus more on eye lashes rather than the eye itself? Hoped this was fixed by now by Z8 Z9 level cameras.

[@Blinsaff]

It was actually stuff I had recorded years ago, and added it in the edit. I need to record some new stuff but I have a whole boat load of sounds to get by haha The wrap up was shot on the Z9, but on a manual lens if I remember, and I was wiggling in and out of the focus area hehe. Eye detect is great on both cameras - especially the Z9 - but it depends on the lenses. I have a 50mm Z 1.8 which is terrific and reliable. I sometimes use the 24mm 1.7 DX lens (35mm focal length of the Z8/Z9) and it is a bit hit and miss - but that one isn't an S lens. Some of the older S zooms (24-70 f4) are a bit flaky too. All of the S primes will work great though and aren't that expensive. Thanks for the comments!

[@mike.photography]

HI! I followed your instructions for the macro settings on Z6II! sorry I know that the question is not related to the video, I take this opportunity ... for the wake-up focus AF area or the central point for precise focusing? Thank you and sorry if the question is not appropriate!

[@Blinsaff]

No worries! Is this using auto focus for macro shooting or just everyday shooting? Central point should cover you for most situations. Macro should be in manual. Hope that helps!

[@mike.photography]

@@Blinsaff Grazie! 🇮🇹

[@johnboyle2551]

Did you try different types of focus points, for instance I was trying back button set to wide are animal subject and Fn1 set to 3D but I think single point works just as well, same with hummingbirds.

[@Blinsaff]

I was mostly in wide small with animal detect on. It did ok but I was using the 105mm Z which is a tad slow to lock on sometimes. I used manual focus for the majority of the shots, so about 70/30 manual to auto

[@petersullivan9045]

Hi, can you share your bank settings for macro work please