[Theme] Show Birds

[Nasos Kosmas]

Great combination Z50ii/500pf, excellent results, and super sharp. I like the blue of the sky in the last photo; you have a good camera, Nasos.

Thank you Arturo 
When I shoot wildlife I try to preserve  the natural colors, thus I am very conservative in making changes, but in the last photo you mentioned, I used Lightroom  (LR) selecting one of the many profiles

[Nasos Kosmas]

Galerida cristata singing for mating

Z50ii/500pf

[Nasos Kosmas]

Skies are again very colorful, I am very happy, European bee-eater today's capture 

[Anthony]

Lovely bee-eater photos, Nasos.

Although the thought of bees being eaten saddens me.

[Nasos Kosmas]

Lovely bee-eater photos, Nasos.

Although the thought of bees being eaten saddens me.

Thank you Anthony
It’s the name, actually they eat every insect that they can find
I do feel bad every time I see a bird eating other smaller bird, this is socking me and I realized it doing wildlife shooting.

[Lars Hansen]

When I shoot wildlife I try to preserve  the natural colors, thus I am very conservative in making changes, but in the last photo you mentioned, I used Lightroom  (LR) selecting one of the many profiles

I like your approach to the colors - they look natural with a neutral balance.

A great series of excellent images! and inspiring to follow your experiences with the Z50II.     

[Anthony]

Thank you Anthony
It’s the name, actually they eat every insect that they can find
I do feel bad every time I see a bird eating other smaller bird, this is socking me and I realized it doing wildlife shooting.

Nature is cruel. But is "cruel" even relevant? Nature is what it is, and we try to capture it in a skilful way. Because that is part of our nature, and we are part of nature. Sorry, stop me, I am becoming too serious   

[Nasos Kosmas]

I like your approach to the colors - they look natural with a neutral balance.

A great series of excellent images! and inspiring to follow your experiences with the Z50II.   

Thank you Lars
Anthony "'Nature is what it is, and we try to capture it in a skilful way.'" I do agree

Another shot with the same setup: I made some changes to the NEF file  with NX Studio first,  before Topaz Denoise and the final photo came out  very fine unexpectedly
Do you agree ?

By the way there is a good article here about NX Studio https://photographylife.com/nikon-nx-studio-is-not-bad

[Lars Hansen]

Another shot with the same setup: I made some changes to the NEF file  with NX Studio first,  before Topaz Denoise and the final photo came out  very fine unexpectedly
Do you agree ?

By the way there is a good article here about NX Studio https://photographylife.com/nikon-nx-studio-is-not-bad

Definitely looks fine, Nasos, but I've never seen those Bee-eaters in reality. The feathers looks a tiny tad soft - is that from the denoise processing or did the Bee-eater just have a rain shower ? Would be interesting to see the non-denoised image for comparison. Beautiful shot - and bird!

Thanks for the link to the article - a thing that holds me back wrt. getting a Z50II is that it's not supported in my version of C1 (Capture One) and I don't want to purchase an expensive upgrade. If NX Studio is fine for normal PP, I'll just stick to that with the Z50II - I never use any advanced features in C1, but if I need some of the features I can work on a high quality JPG from NX Studio or some other format... I guess.       

[David H. Hartman]

By the way there is a good article here about NX Studio https://photographylife.com/nikon-nx-studio-is-not-bad

Not mentioned in the article is the ability to "Save all adjustments." If you have a series of similar images you can save all adjustments from one then apply the adjustments to the series. Avoid adjustments like straightening, cropping and color correction points at first, then later add the features and save ALL the settings unique to each NEF in separate *.nka files. The files saved are *.nka files and several can be save for one NEF if desired. These are under your control unlike the *.nksc side car files that are saved by NX Studio as it pleases. Also not mentioned is the ability to export an edited NEF as a 16 bit TIF for further editing in Photoshop or another editor.

Sometimes NX Studio plays dead for long periods while it scans lord knows what? I never close NX Studio (I mean never) and have mostly put that problem behind me. If I can't eject an eternal SSD i select a photo on the internal SSD and then I can eject the external.

My normal work flow is NX Studio to 16 bit TIF and then on to Photoshop.

Dave

[ColinM]

Not mentioned in the article is the ability to "Save all adjustments." If you have a series of similar images you can save all adjustments from one then apply the adjustments to the series.

I was surprised to read this
I made heavy use of this feature in the previous versions of the software which I think was Capture NX

I've been using current "Studio" version for a while. But didn't realise this feature was still available
(Is it hidden in menus somewhere?)

[Lars Hansen]

Not mentioned in the article is the ability to...

Many thanks for sharing your experiences, Dave!


From march this year - white herons @400/f8. 2500px wide crop at 100%.  And a shot of the surroundings.

[David H. Hartman]

I was surprised to read this
I made heavy use of this feature in the previous versions of the software which I think was Capture NX

I've been using current "Studio" version for a while. But didn't realise this feature was still available
(Is it hidden in menus somewhere?)

Yes it is but unfortunately the old program Capture NX-D created *.nxd (or some such) files and they cannot be read by NX Studio. The old *.nksc files can but they are saved automatically by NX Studio. The *.nksc files are saved when you change the NEF you are viewing or shut down NX Studio.

Dave

[Nasos Kosmas]

Here is the non Topaz Version, not exactly the same crop or contrast/ saturation adjustments 

Thank you David, I was aware about

@ Colin you may find it under the menu : adjustments
@ Lars  very nice deep tones! and impressive 100% performance, is it Z8 , lens?
thank you!

[Lars Hansen]

Here is the non Topaz Version, not exactly the same crop or contrast/ saturation adjustments 

@ Lars  very nice deep tones! and impressive 100% performance, is it Z8 , lens?
thank you!

Thanks, Nasos - I've downloaded both versions. Very interesting to see the difference in the processing. Last version seems a tad less saturated/contrast (maybe due to the different adjustments as you say), but still the nice detailed and soft feathers. Also shows the potential with the Z50II at iso 520 with the denoising. And, of course, the combo with 500 PF - a friend of mine have one.

Many thanks, glad you like the shot with the herons - a Z7 with Z 100-400, monopod, iso250, 1/1000s. I was also a bit impressed with the result at 100% performance - especially at 400mm.
Processed in C1, Neutral Z7 color profile, no saturation, a bit (+3) of contrast, sharpening at 100. I use the curves tool much for color contrast and tones. It was shot in the afternoon 1,5 hrs before sundown - it was a very nice light and atmosphere.