Hello, I'm Danielle, and in this video I will be taking you out on The Chobe
River to see if the Sony α9 II, which has been around for a few years now,
is still holding up as a great camera option for wildlife photographers.
I'll be looking mainly at how it attracts different birds and animals in different
scenarios, and then I'll be telling you how I experienced using a Sony
camera being a Nikon shooter myself.
Lastly, I will tell you whether I think this camera is still relevant
and a good option, specifically for wildlife photography today...especially
if the latest mirrorless cameras are above your budget or if you're
considering switching systems.
Please note I'm not sponsored by Sony, so it'll be my personal unbiased opinion.
Here we go.
Here at Pangolin Photo Safaris, we have guests arriving with a wide
variety of camera brands and it's our job to make sure they get the best
photos possible with their own gear.
A lot of our Sony guests are still arriving with the α9 II, so when
Sony recently offered to send us this camera for a week, I was
thrilled to be able to use it.
I used it with a 600mm F/4 lens as well as a 100 to 400 mm F/4.5 to 5.6 lens.
Let's start with the tracking capabilities as this is the make or break factor for
many people shooting wildlife, nowadays.
I've tested it on different sized subjects, including some unusual
animals that don't necessarily fit the typical animal shapes
such as crocodiles and hippos.
I also tested it in different scenarios, birds in flight,
or taking off, back lighting, shooting through obstructions, etc.
I mostly used 'flexible spot medium tracking' as we have a lot of distractions
in wildlife photography and the wider you set your focus area, the more chance of
the tracking catching onto something else
moving in the frame.
In this mode, you'll see me placing the focus point close to
where I want the camera to track it...and it follows it from there.
I did use wide and zone tracking at times, and it worked very
well in specific situations.
As with any camera, the more you use it, the more you will get to know
exactly how it thinks and which settings work best in which specific scenario.
Note that I photographed from a moving boat in most cases, so you'll
be seeing an exact rendition of what I saw through the View Finder.
Albeit a bit shakey at times.
This is when tracking really comes in handy.
When you struggle keeping the focus point on the subject.
Let's see how it did on birds and mammals,
small to large.
It took a few tries to catch a small bird, but it held on well with this kingfisher.
It tracked this pied kingfisher well, considering that the reed it
was on was blowing around in the wind.
On medium sized birds like this eagret, it locked on well to the
head as a recognizable shape.
It did like catching onto the contrast on the fish eagles shoulder and needed
slightly more accurate placements.
So in this case, I would not use zone area, for example.
As for larger birds, it tracked this vulture's head well until
the vulture started moving fast and flapping its wings.
With this yellow billed stalk, it picked up onto the beak contrast, which
would still result in a sharp head.
Sometimes the baboon's ear was recognized from the side.
However, it did pick up the eye when the baboon turned its face towards the camera.
As for a crocodile...at first NO, and then YES, which is very, very impressive.
With this lioness, it did well at recognizing the eye at times
and other times it picked up areas of contrast on the face.
Considering the eye is not very defined in a buffalo, it did
well here at recognizing the eye.
It did a great job of sticking to the eye of this hippo in the water,
in challenging light, and with the hippo quite small in the frame.
A hippo outside the water, and it held onto the eye well after
I placed the focus point there.
It caught onto the giraffe's eye and it tracked well for an
unusual looking subject, I'd say.
Elephants were hit and miss, but it did detect the eye sometimes,
which is quite impressive.
Now let's see how it performed in different scenarios.
Birds in flight.
I was very impressed at how it followed this Bee-eater.
If we slow the clip down, you can see how it follows the
bee-eater as it leaves its perch.
Birds in flight with distractions.
I replaced the focus point once after which it held onto the
flying bird until it landed.
Subjects.
Very hard without tracking usually, and in this case it did a very good job at
picking up the head and sticking to it.
Subject behind the distraction.
It performed exceptionally well in this scenario and stayed locked onto the
bird despite the moving grass being closer to the camera than the bird was.
Large bird in flight.
It tracked it all the way despite changing backgrounds and contrast.
Sometimes locking onto the body.
Slightly faster flying bird.
It performed very well.
And then a bird flying erratically.
It tracked it even when the light was very low.
Lastly, strong back light.
With correct initial placement.
It stuck to the silhouetted subject.
As you can see from the footage, the α9 II did a pretty good
job of tracking most subjects.
I would say that it had some difficulty initially locking onto
something, but once it locked on, it was really good at following it.
Remember that the tracking is always very customizable depending on your subject.
To me, tracking matters most for birds and flight, in which
case I think it performed well.
The larger the subject was in the frame, the easier it was
for the camera to track it.
It may not be as fast as the latest models, and it may need a little bit
more guidance from the photographer, but it definitely still gave me many
more keeper shots where I would've lost them had I not used tracking at all.
Now, as a Nikon shooter, how did I find switching over to a Sony camera?
I'm coming from using a D850 for the last few years, and I
haven't received my Z9 just yet.
So if you're a Nikon shooter, you might just be in the same boat.
The weight.
It's definitely easier holding up this camera for five minutes
than holding up my D850.
Now, this is not specific to Sony, as mirrorless cameras in general, are
lighter than DSLRs, but it's something I definitely noticed switching from the
D850 and something that I appreciated.
The button and dial layout.
I do like that the EV dial is a physical dial.
I could use my thumb, instead of my shooting finger, to adjust the exposure
compensation as I've had to do on my D850.
Then that allowed me to keep pressing the shutter button while changing my exposure.
I like the layout of the playback button on the right, especially when you're
supporting a heavy lens in your left hand.
It is extremely customizable, compared to my Nikon, or any
other brand that I've used.
There is practically no limitation on what you can assign to which custom button.
There are many options, which I loved.
What I wasn't too fond of is the menu system.
This is something that Sony has improved on with the α1 camera.
I, like many of my guests, find the menu system quite complicated, but once again,
it's just like learning a new language.
You will eventually get used to it.
The weight is an advantage, but the size of the camera was something to get used
to and something you might struggle with if you are used to using a larger camera.
It felt a little bit unstable in my right hand, as I didn't feel that my
palm could support much of the camera, and it was up to my fingers to grip the
camera to make sure it stayed in my hand.
A battery grip would definitely be beneficial in my opinion, if you
are considering getting this camera.
Now for the ultimate question, is the Sony α9 II still a viable option
for wildlife photographers in 2022?
In my opinion, YES!
The auto focus performance, including the tracking, is good enough to
get you a much higher keeper rate.
The frame advanced rate of 20 frames per second is more than
enough for wildlife photography.
The image quality is great, but you'd probably have to be
conservative with your ISO.
I tried staying below 3200 to 4000.
The other reason that it might be a viable option for you is cost.
With rumors of an α9 III coming out soon, it'll most likely bring down
the price of the α9 II even more.
The combo that I used would cost you approximately $20,000.
I buy some of my gear secondhand used) and this makes it more affordable.
If you are indeed considering changing systems or brands.
A used α9 II is $1,350 cheaper, and the 100-400mm lens is $300
cheaper if you buy it used.
The 600mm lens is very hard to find used.
However, you could just get the 200 - 600mm lens to start off with.
It's a superb lens, very sharp, with an extremely versatile
focal length range, and it costs about $2,000 new and $1,637 used.
Thanks so much for watching.
I really appreciate it.
I'd love to hear from you if you have an α9 II, or if you consider buying a α9 II.
So you're welcome to leave a comment for me below.
Until next time, keep well.
Bye-bye.