Hi all,
I've been in a slump with my photography, Somehow just uninspired. But lately my 14 yo son has developed a love for fishing, and while I'm out hanging with him, I see lots of birds doing their thing out in the bay. For example, the day before yesterday I spotted these guys:
I didn't have my settings right or a long enough lens, but the opportunities were there, and I was only shooting for about 15-20 min.
So that has me thinking of picking up a long lens, and there are two potential candidates in my budget, the Nikon 200-500 to use on my D810 (I no longer have the D500) and the Sony 200-600 to use on my Sony A9.
I know we have some here who shoot both Nikon and Sony here, so I thought it would be a good place to ask. The Sony hasn't been released yet, but I'm confident it will have comparable sharpness to the Nikon.
In terms of effective reach, I'm guessing they will be similar. The Sony is longer, but my Nikon camera has higher pixel density.
In terms of autofocus, both systems are superb, but my A9 seems to have more sophisticated AF plus a higher FPS than the Nikon.
For the times when I can fill the frame with my subject, the Nikon has a higher resolution sensor.
The intrinsic advantages of optical viewfinder (Nikon) are largely counterbalanced by the blackout-free nature of the Sony electronic viewfinder.
The Nikon lens costs far less than the Sony lens and offers 1/3 stop faster lens speed (f/5.6 vs f/6.3) throughout much of the zoom range. Lens weights are similar.
Seems both are great options. Any other factors I should consider?
I've been in a slump with my photography, Somehow just uninspired. But lately my 14 yo son has developed a love for fishing, and while I'm out hanging with him, I see lots of birds doing their thing out in the bay. For example, the day before yesterday I spotted these guys:



I didn't have my settings right or a long enough lens, but the opportunities were there, and I was only shooting for about 15-20 min.
So that has me thinking of picking up a long lens, and there are two potential candidates in my budget, the Nikon 200-500 to use on my D810 (I no longer have the D500) and the Sony 200-600 to use on my Sony A9.
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I know we have some here who shoot both Nikon and Sony here, so I thought it would be a good place to ask. The Sony hasn't been released yet, but I'm confident it will have comparable sharpness to the Nikon.
In terms of effective reach, I'm guessing they will be similar. The Sony is longer, but my Nikon camera has higher pixel density.
In terms of autofocus, both systems are superb, but my A9 seems to have more sophisticated AF plus a higher FPS than the Nikon.
For the times when I can fill the frame with my subject, the Nikon has a higher resolution sensor.
The intrinsic advantages of optical viewfinder (Nikon) are largely counterbalanced by the blackout-free nature of the Sony electronic viewfinder.
The Nikon lens costs far less than the Sony lens and offers 1/3 stop faster lens speed (f/5.6 vs f/6.3) throughout much of the zoom range. Lens weights are similar.
Seems both are great options. Any other factors I should consider?