As I mentioned in my last post, I now know where the woodpecker lives and the tits nest – both in the same spot, by the way, and it’s less than a minute away from Josh’s school – very convenient! The postman finally arrived today and brought the Z6 ii and the FTZ right on time at 4 p.m. I quickly unpacked and was lucky because the battery was charged. So I quickly screwed on my large Sigma, which Sigma itself says doesn’t work with the FTZ, and lo and behold… IT WORKS! So, straight into my backpack and off to the woods. Here are the first pictures, which were still saved as JPGs on the card because I hadn’t set anything large.

For comparison, here’s a picture from two days ago taken with my old D7200. In defense of the old hardware: Since the water damage, I’ve only been using a fixed 1/1000s exposure time… so it’s clear that the tit is a bit out of focus in flight.

But still, it’s as expected. The Z6 is a huge leap forward. The tilting display alone lets me squint for an approaching bird with one eye and check with the other if I’m still in focus. And, by the way, the burst mode feels like shooting an Uzi – it just rattles and rattles. I think the pictures speak for themselves. I’m happily excited!