NIKON Z 8 (70mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO560)
A cold and grey January afternoon but we immediately rushed out when we saw some sunshine.
We drove up to a viewpoint just a couple of minutes away from where we live because sun sets early this time of the year. The viewpoint is an observation tower on a hill. Below image is a crop that shows the upper part of the observation tower and the roof of the restaurant next to it. The image below the cropped image shows the complete scene. The crop highlights the impressive detail the sensor of the Nikon Z8 can offer if coupled with a good lens and I used a very good lens. For this photo shooting I brought the excellent Z14-24mmF2.8S and the very impressive Nikon AF-S 70-200mmF4VR.
The second image below shows that only the upper part of the hill was covered in frost. There was practically no snow this winter so frost is the only option to get some winter shots where I live. It was not that it wasn’t cold enough for snow, we simply had no real rain since the big rain in September that caused the flooding of good parts of Lower Austria.
NIKON Z 8 (105mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO140)
NIKON Z 8 (105mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO140)
NIKON Z 8 (24mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO160)
Since it was a weekday the parking lot was almost empty. It wasn’t very cold at all but the very strong wind made it feel cold on the skin. Good thing is that the Z8 is easy to use with gloves on. The more I shoot with it the more I appreciate the Z8. It feels like the perfect tool.
We climbed the tower, which is an all wood construction and when we reached the higher levels the wind caused some creaking. Not strong enough to worry but I imagine that it might feel very different in a real storm.
NIKON Z 8 (17.5mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO220)
NIKON Z 8 (14mm, f/4, 1/250 sec, ISO720)
NIKON Z 8 (14mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO180)
On the platform the wind was much stronger than below because there is no protection from the trees. I used my standard shooting bank for outdoor which means that Auto-ISO menu is set to minimum shutter speed of 1/250s. This is always a good idea no matter if sensor or lens or both are stabilized or not because it reduces the risk of camera shake in tougher conditions. I would hate to come home with unsharp images just because I underestimated the wind. Sometimes it was tricky to compose though.
For the majority of the shots I used the Z14-24mmF2.8S which slowly becomes my favorite lens. Why slowly? Because initially I thought it is too wide for my taste but I’m getting used to it and I like the dramatic effect it can give.
NIKON Z 8 (24mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO500)
NIKON Z 8 (14mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO160)
NIKON Z 8 (14mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO220)
NIKON Z 8 (14mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO280)
NIKON Z 8 (14mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO320)
The reason why I shot mainly with the wide angle lens: the long distance visibility was really poor. On a good day you can easily see the mountains but on that day you could barely see the nearby castle. You can’t always win. So I focused on the observation tower itself.
The last time I shot there with a high resolution sensor was 9 year ago with a Sony A7R and the 70-200/4 from Sony. The images can be found here. And here is one single image where the visibility was better.
That Sony is long gone for good but I’m back to high res this time with Nikon. I still think that 24MP is plenty but of course it is great to have all those details that only high res sensors can deliver. Just make sure that you use a really sharp lens and good technique so that make the most of it.
NIKON Z 8 (14.5mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO400)
NIKON Z 8 (24mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO140)
NIKON Z 8 (14mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO320)
After a couple of minutes we decided that it’s time to go back down because the sun disappeared behind the clouds and there was no chance that it would shine again that day. I forgot to bring a scarf so my face good frozen a little and it was red as a lobster when we were inside again.
January can be tough especially if it’s windy but it’s always rewarding to go out.
NIKON Z 8 (70mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO450)