I switched from Nikon to Sony

Well, at least for wildlife photography. I’ve been a Nikon shooter since I ventured into photography almost 12 years ago. I didn’t see myself ever owning anything besides a Nikon camera, but that changed when I switched to mirrorless.

I started photographing birds with my Nikon D810 and took some amazing photos of birds in flight. However, I also felt it was time for a camera upgrade and I wanted to switch to the new mirrorless technology.

So I selected the new Nikon Z7II with the FTZ adapter, so I could still use my Sigma 150-600 mm C lens. I eventually wanted to upgrade to more Z glass down the road, but at least I invested in a new camera.

At first, I loved the camera. It’s perfect for landscape, product and portrait photography. I even invested in a 105 mm native Z macro lens. However, I soon realized that something was off with fast-moving objects – like birds.

Don’t get me wrong, I could still get photos of birds in flight, but if I took a lot of photos I could only find a few keepers. At first I believed it was my lack of skill or knowledge of the camera, but after trying for 1½ years I finally decided to try something else.

One evening I was browsing YouTube for advice and tips for wildlife photography and I stumbled upon Bayou Josh’s video “Addressing the Elephant in the Room”, about his switch from the Nikon Z9 flagship to Sony. After watching this video I realized how far ahead both Sony and Canon were with the auto focus system and I decided to invest in a new camera just for wildlife photography.

After a lot of research, I finally decided on the Sony A7 IV with a Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G Oss lens. I’ve tested this camera out twice this weekend and I don’t see myself ever again picking up the Nikon Z7II for wildlife photography. This is a great camera + lens combination and I can’t wait to test it out even more!

Here are two of my first photos with the Sony A7 IV camera. It just snapped to the bird – or even the bird’s eye. Even in flight, I got at least 8-9 keepers for every 10 shorts (sometimes all were keepers).