Nikon Z 180-600mm and Z 800mm on a winter photography trip
Paavo Hamunen, a long-time nature photography professional, went to Läsäkoski on a frosty day to photograph with Nikon telephoto lenses.
During the two-hour shooting session, the camera body was a Nikon Z9 and the lenses were a Nikon Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S and a Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR. The temperature was -20 degrees Celsius and I know from experience that there are no problems with the equipment. There were other lenses on the shooting trip, but the subjects were selected based on these two longer lenses.
A pair of swans that had left their migration south to the last minute happened to be in the photo gallery. For this subject, I used a Z800 mm lens. Thanks to the low shooting angle, I also got the background horizon in the photo. The distance to the swans was about 30m and the swans were not exactly level, so at aperture value 11 both are in the focus range. The shutter speed was 1/1000s and ISO value 1600, I placed the camera on the snowy ground. The light was a low-lying side light.
The Z 800mm in the Z9 body is a surprisingly handy and lightweight combination that makes it easy to photograph spontaneous situations when the ISO value and shutter speed are thought out in advance. I recognized the pine tree from its sound before I saw it, and during the 30 seconds when the pine tree was sitting on the top of the fir tree, I managed to snap the pictures, not the Nature Photos of the Year, but a nice keepsake.
The young birch forest in the picture was captured with the Z 800 mm and it is known that with long lenses even sparse forests look dense. For the first time I was able to test how the stabilizers of the body and lens work. The shutter speed is 1/125s, aperture 14, ISO value 1600 and 800mm.
Also included was the Nikon Z 180-600mm, which works really well as a long general purpose lens and thanks to the short minimum focusing distance (1.3-2.4m), details can also be captured quite well.
The ice formations in the picture were recorded at Läsäkoski between Mikkeli and Kangasniemi (ISO 100, 430mm, f20, 1/8s). I also shot a video of the same situation, I shot the video in 4K resolution and 50fps, which allowed me to conveniently add slow motion to the final video.
Long lenses are not the most convenient for landscape photography, but they can also be used for panoramic photography. The river landscape photo is a panorama of five vertical images (ISO 800, 180mm, f9, 1/800s).
The video of the ice of Läsäkoski Rapids and the moon after the full moon was shot with a Nikon Z9 camera, which has truly excellent video recording capabilities.
Photographer Paavo Hamunen ARPS
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paavohamunen/
Website: https://suomenluontokuvausinstituutti.com/work
www.kuusamonaturephotography.fi
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