Nikon Z* mirrorless

I predominantly shoot models and on a recent trip to Mallorca I had issues with the eye autofocus on my Zf nailing focus, lighting conditions were perfect, no confusing patterns, plain coloured clothing, and still the hit rate was 50/50, it was on the latest firmware too, it has driven me to the point of moving it on.

Checking the focus point in Nikons software showed the focus point dancing around the subjects face, so I did a factory reset I then watched several YouTube videos on setting it up and still the hit rate was disappointing, so much so that I ended up using a model friends Fuji XT30 and lenses which did a much better job.

I don't want to change systems again after investing in some nice lenses, so my question is how does the Z8 perform with eye autofocus, is it stickier?
 
Toxic said:
I predominantly shoot models and on a recent trip to Mallorca I had issues with the eye autofocus on my Zf nailing focus, lighting conditions were perfect, no confusing patterns, plain coloured clothing, and still the hit rate was 50/50, it was on the latest firmware too, it has driven me to the point of moving it on.

Checking the focus point in Nikons software showed the focus point dancing around the subjects face, so I did a factory reset I then watched several YouTube videos on setting it up and still the hit rate was disappointing, so much so that I ended up using a model friends Fuji XT30 and lenses which did a much better job.

I don't want to change systems again after investing in some nice lenses, so my question is how does the Z8 perform with eye autofocus, is it stickier?
Click to expand...
What lens were you using? Just one or did you try others? I’ve mainly used Sony glass adapted on my zf and it’s works brilliantly. It should be wiping the floor with the Fuji in terms of accuracy.
 
addicknchips said:
What lens were you using? Just one or did you try others? I’ve mainly used Sony glass adapted on my zf and it’s works brilliantly. It should be wiping the floor with the Fuji in terms of accuracy.
Click to expand...
The latest Tamron 28-75, 70-180, and a Z 85mm f/1.8S, all with similar results.
 
Toxic said:
I predominantly shoot models and on a recent trip to Mallorca I had issues with the eye autofocus on my Zf nailing focus, lighting conditions were perfect, no confusing patterns, plain coloured clothing, and still the hit rate was 50/50, it was on the latest firmware too, it has driven me to the point of moving it on.

Checking the focus point in Nikons software showed the focus point dancing around the subjects face, so I did a factory reset I then watched several YouTube videos on setting it up and still the hit rate was disappointing, so much so that I ended up using a model friends Fuji XT30 and lenses which did a much better job.

I don't want to change systems again after investing in some nice lenses, so my question is how does the Z8 perform with eye autofocus, is it stickier?
Click to expand...
I've been experiencing subject detection focusing difficulties with my Z8.
Last week I done an outdoor portrait shoot and found it difficult to eye track, even it switching to just the face was unreliable. Using 24-70 f/2.8 S, eye/face detect enabled.
Last night in good light I also had difficulty tracking birds. Using 400mm f/4.5, bird detect enabled.
Both were in the warm evening sun, but not backlit.
Today a very clear Grey Heron in good light was causing my Z8 focusing issues, jumping away from the eye/body to the background, regularly. Using 400mm f/4.5, bird detect enabled, af mode "Wide Area-S" and focus limiter set to infinity to 6m, sometimes even switching to DX to limit the frame even more.
I've changed nothing and running the latest firmware and for some reason it doesn't fill me confidence to use reliably lately.
 
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Not sure if you are on the latest firmware? But I was surprised that full frame detect (second from far right) is so much better than it ever was.
 
Anyone else think it's been an unusually quiet year so far for Nikon ? Whilst I guess they are quietly beavering away on things like the Z9 II, the only new hardware announced so far this year was MK II 70-200 F2.8 (just an update of an already great lens), and the consumer level 24-105 F4-F7.1. From a firmware perspective we have had only minor updates for the a few of their bodies including the ZR.

By Nikon's standards, very quiet indeed. Do you think this will be the case for the whole of this year, or are there chances of an announcement or two soon ?

Sony by contrast has so far launched the A7V, A7R VI, FX5 as well as a spate of lenses. Whilst obviously Nikon can't (and won't) try and match Sony (and Canon for that matter), it does mean that most of the headlines are being stolen by the competition.

Yes, before anyone says it, I know that it doesn't mean that you existing equipment doesn't work as good as it always has, but in these days of an ever shrinking market, and with Nikon now being a pretty small player (based on numbers sold vs Canon and Sony), can they afford to let the competition steal all the headlines ?
 
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