5 replies to this topic

[Grey Dog]

Does anyone wish to share their likes or dislikes on either of these 2 cameras ONLY.

 

My USB out on my D810 has died and I may upgrade to the future.

 

I am not interested in astro only cameras as it must be able to pull double duty as my other hobby that started this one is photography.  I need less expensive hobbies.  There are other reason I could get into like I don't shoot much in hot weather as the seeing is so bad or the fact it never gets as dark when its summer... one day If I was to go mono maybe, but then there are filters and rotators and... more $$$

 

Thanks

 

[astrowhat?]

The camera selection will depend on what you like to photograph. If you’re mostly into landscapes, portraits, still life, etc, the Z7II is well suited for those situations. If you’re more into action photography - sports, birds in flight, etc. The Z8 is better designed to do that. I have the Z8 and like it.

[starrycanuck]

Having owned the D850 and D810 and now having the Z8 and Z7II, if you were to only pick one body to "rule them all", I would pick the Z8

- the same or better feature set than Z7II in virtually every category except size/weight ... if you have bigger hands, you might find the Z7II almost too small

- Z8 handling and control layout closely parallels the D850; even after a couple years, the Z7II control layout still feels foreign.

 

That said, ...

- Z7II feature set more than up to the task of OSC astrophotography

- Z7II lighter weight is an advantage and control layout variances don't matter a telescope

- Z7II is approx. half the cost of the Z8

 

Before switching to a cooled mono cam, I used the Z7II exclusively for my astrophotography. Either would be a fine choice.

 

I would suggest that perhaps your terrestrial use and cost differential might favour one vs the other.

[primeshooter]

Does anyone wish to share their likes or dislikes on either of these 2 cameras ONLY.

 

My USB out on my D810 has died and I may upgrade to the future.

 

I am not interested in astro only cameras as it must be able to pull double duty as my other hobby that started this one is photography.  I need less expensive hobbies.  There are other reason I could get into like I don't shoot much in hot weather as the seeing is so bad or the fact it never gets as dark when its summer... one day If I was to go mono maybe, but then there are filters and rotators and... more $$$

 

Thanks

Did you use that with a ASAIR? I could never get it to work, it was really clunky! Z 8 is probably best. You can actually compose in the dark, unlike on the Z7ii which is pretty night blind compared to it. But that might not matter to you. Z7ii 0.3EV more DR won't matter much in astro, but the better AF on the Z8 won't matter on it either. PS I own the D800, D810 and have owned the D850 for 7 years, and now have the D800, D810 and Z8.

Edited by primeshooter, 07 November 2024 - 05:56 PM.

[Grey Dog]

Did you use that with a ASAIR? I could never get it to work, it was really clunky!

 

 

No, it started to fail on an older laptop with APT, and it failed when I was setting up a new mini computer and NINA.

 

Thanks for the feedback.  It seems the choice has less to do with Astrophotography and more with how I plan to use it during the daytime.

[astrowhat?]

In the “For what it’s worth” column, I tried the Z8 with my ASIAIR Plus 256GB (before the last couple of ASIAIR upgrades)  and could get previews, etc. using the ASIAIR software. I haven’t tried the Z8 with the newer ASIAIR code yet. I’ll do that over the weekend and report back. You do need to have both a USB cable and the correct cable from the DSLR connector on the ASIAIR Plus to the cable release port on the Z8. 

Edited by astrowhat?, 08 November 2024 - 04:44 PM.