DSLR is still my best option for sports

The Z6ii does not hold focus lock as well as my D500 or my D5 and the Z9 is too expensive.  The Z glass is very expensive too.  So I will stick with the D5, but not the same D5.

Less than a year after being repaired for a focus issue related to the mount, it is back in the shop.  I don't really trust this old camera anymore and I don't like the slow Compact Flash cards it uses.  So I just ordered a new used D5 the XQD version with 10k + shutter actuations for $1,500.  I hope it arrives quickly, maybe even before my old D5 gets back from the shop.

Shooting football with the D500 (while the D5 is in the shop) on the 400mm lens, is a bit tricky but I'm learning how to do it again.   The extra reach can be fun too though.

The home team is having an abysmal year, that makes it harder to get good printable photos of them for the newspaper. 

Glad I brought the teleconverter and the 400mm to the fishing derby

 

 400mm with the 2X teleconverter so 800 mm.  D5 on a monopod

Still at it, still using a DSLR

 

The new mirrorless cameras offer a lot of possibilities but are still too expensive for what I need to do.  I think I will continue to add to my DSLR lens collection for now. 

I am loving my D5 and want to get another one.  I also want to get the wide angle zoom for the d5. It is still very expensive.  

Jayde Johnson age 1 of Shelton, reaches out to touch a trout while James Johnson holds her fishing rod at Verle's second annual parking lot trout pond event in Shelton today.

Football settings for 2023

 1/1000, f/2.8 Auto ISO Matrix Metering is working at night. 

f/8 10 (ish) mm crop lens

Volleyball

 D5, 70-200 f/2.8 3D tracking with face detection on auto ISO f/3.5

  Shot from the balcony.  

Nikon D5

70.0-200.0 mm f/2.8

ƒ/3.5

 

200.0 mm

 

1/1000

 

8000

Finally made the jump to full frame

Thanks to the newer mirrorless tech the price of DSLR gear is dropping fast! I am now the proud owner of a Nikon D5 and a 400mm Nikkor VR lens. I got a 400mm lens last year but it weighs 14 pound and was hurting my elbow.   So the week before football season I upgraded to the VR version that weighs four pounds less.  Getting the lighter lens was a great decision.  I hope I can sell the older heavier one though. 

Due to some other changes I will have a lot of my photos published for the next four months. 

400mm f/2.8 on a crop for football

 Sharp learning curve but I'm getting there.

Dynamic Area Auto Focus

 Dynamic Area Auto Focus really seemed to work well for basketball.  I had always used single point focus in the past but maybe the newer cameras work better with dynamic area auto focus.

Finally got the big bad lens

 I did it, I found a good deal on a 400mm f/2.8!  It is a 1985 model and very heavy, but it works!

Shot with my new to me 400mm f/2.8 on a D500

I was able to hold my 400mm on the monopod in my left hand while getting closer shots like this with my 105mm in my other hand.