a9 II

I’ve been shooting for magazines and corporate for 15 years. The Z8 and Z9 are the best cameras I’ve ever used, even beating out my Sony A9ii and A1 (for my shooting style). I’m glad Nikon is on the old flagship recule schedule and not releasing new bodies every two years. The firmware updates are p

The a9ii is an old body (2019). Not much of an upgrade over the original a9. The R6mii is newer by about 3 years and a much stronger all arounder with newer AI subject tracking. The R6mii is 40 fps vs 20 fps on the a9ii (15 fps if using a Sigma lens). So if you want fps, a Sigma lens on a Sony body

You need fast f 2.8 glass for indoor sports. You can’t blow your whole budget on camera body and put a cheap narrow aperture slow focusing lens on it and expect much improvement. Third party lens support on Sony is your best bet. A used A9, A9ii, A74, or A7iii is the body, Tamron 28-75 or Tamron 70-

I moved to a Zf to shoot for personal trips alongside my work A9ii’s. Once I saw how snappy that camera was in comparison (and the price difference) I jumped ship and sold my Sony gear. I’ve been working with the Z9’s for an over a year and absolutely love them.

I made a similar post recently and was told used Sony A9 or A9ii would be the best options, but that was photography only. Both A9’s have a stacked sensor which is unique to the flagship models so it’s really good for action shots and high fps. I don’t believe they are the greatest for video though.

The AF in the XT5 did improve when compared to my XT30, but I switched to a Sony A9II for my kids’ sports (mostly hockey and football) and it was a massive upgrade. I would describe the AF (in a camera that released in 2017) as effortless. Haven’t shot on anything newer like an A9III or A1 or even t

I have recently shot with top level Nikon (Z9, Z8, Z6III) and Sony (A1, A9II, A7SIII). I was a professional motorsports photographer and my primary weekend kit was 2 Z9's and 2 Z6III's (depending on how much video the client wanted vs photos, more video was Z6III's, more photos or bad weather, Z9's)

For wildlife, the best (almost) no caveat systems would be OM System or Sony. Some of the most important features for me would be a stacked sensor with decent buffer, pre-capture, and blackout free shooting (which is essential for birds in flight). Canon freezes up when the buffer is full, Nikon lac

A Sony a7iii would be a great camera to start on. Pair it with a 24-70 2.8 and you'll be set for CrossFit classes and local throw downs. You'll need a longer lens for bigger comps because you won't be on the floor unless you get media credentials, but the 24-70 is more than enough for everything els

Here is the bad news: You need a bigger budget. What is your Safari total budget before photography gear. I think a more realistic budget would be $2,000 for a camera body, about the same for lenses. You will need a telephoto lens that will cover from 200 to 500mm and getting to 600mm would be even