US Army, MOS 74y40 (supply) Ft. Bragg NN, Aug, 68 -June 70. SGT E-5

Ordered mine this morning; delivery in mid-April.

I served as the foreman on the jury where we had to determine the guilt/innocence of a suspected murderer. He was guilty. We then had to decide whether or not to recommend the death penalty. We did not recommend it. For me, it was quite stressful at times. I remember when the guilty verdict was read, a woman tossed a baby into the air, a lot of screams and disruption. Two years later, the conviction was thrown out due to a technicality. He was retried and found guilty again. I’m glad that I served, but I don’t ever want to go through something like that again.

For the Z8 users, I've run into a situation that I could use some help with. Over the holidays, I did a lot of flash photography. I use the Neewer TT 560 Speedlight. One of the things I really like about the Z8 is that the viewfinder image will adjust as the camera settings are changed. But you don't want that when the camera is set at 1/160 f4 in a poorly lit room. The viewfinder will look pretty dark. I got through it ok and got some amazing photos of my family. Yesterday, I called Nikon USA and spoke with a person and he directed me to this site: https://onlinemanual.nikonimglib.com/z8/en/csmd_view_mode_photo_lv_guid-a583e41c-e946-ee33-51c2-0bbc8f7a2cc1_209.html. It explains how to change settings within the camera so that the viewfinder will show the effects of settings only when flash is not used. However, that does not work on my camera with the flash I use. Are Z8 users finding that this setting does work? The person at Nikon suggested that the flash I use is not compatible with the Z8 settings, even though the flash does trigger when the shutter is activated. Maybe I just have to buy a Nikon flash? I would appreciate any insight. Thank you.

I received my Z8 about 2 weeks. (Have been shooting the D500) Just some quick thoughts: Definitely watch Steve Perry’s YouTube videos’s-he has such great information. Another source for setup and general overview is the Youtube channel of Hudson Henry, I found him to be very helpful. Also, I am finding that shooting with the Z8 is certainly similar to my D500 in many ways, but in many ways quite different, especially in the numerous options of focusing. It’s just different from what I’m used to and takes some time to learn how to access the options and then apply them. But, I love the camera. I shoot a lot of indoor sports, and I have found the Z8 to be a great piece of equipment. Oh, and I am reading the entire reference guide.

When I and my siblings (10 of them) were kids, a special Friday night was when our Dad would set up his slide projector in the living room, Mom would make popcorn for all of us, and Dad would show slides for an hour. I loved it and always wanted to taker pictures. When I was 12 (1960), I sold Christmas cards door to door, and used the “points” that I earned to buy my first film camera. I took photos on and off for many years. When I got married and we started having our 4 kids, I bought another camera and took hundreds of photos of our kids. As I got older and closer to retirement, I started getting more interested in photography, and not just taking pictures. My first DSLR was the Nikon 7000, followed by the 7200 and then the D500. Today, I love taking photos of my grandkids who are all involved in sports in some way. For my 13 year old grandsons who are both on the same basketball team, I will take photos at their weekly games and then post them on their Facebook page. I’ve also become the unofficial photographer for my oldest grandson’s soccer and basketball teams. It is just great to see how much the kids enjoy the photos, as well as hearing from their parents. Last week my Nikon Z8 arrived, and I’m totally excited to get going with that new camera.

Thanks, that is way faster than mine.

I took some photos at my grandson’s soccer game, and afterwards edited them in Lightroom. I was shooting at 3200 ISO, and ran the photos through Lightroom’s Denoise. I thought the photos came out fine, but here’s my question: once I started the Denoise process, I got a message that said: “Time remaining 9 minutes.” Are other users finding that it takes approximately 9 minutes to run that process? I don’t know if that’s typical, or due to the specs of my Mac.

Thanks for your comments.

I also shoot with a D500 and sometimes with my D7200. I use and really like the 18-400. It’s not heavy, easy to zoom in and out, and I’m pleased with the photos that I get. For special events when I need a larger aperture for low light conditions, then I will use my 70-200 or 24-70. But the flexibility of the 18-400 makes it a very useful lens.

Thanks again to all of you for responding and for the suggestions. The shoot took place on Tuesday, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. And JimmyT, the Posing Chart was really helpful. I loaded a copy on my phone and used it for the different teams that I shot. I've attached a couple of the team photos that I did, and one fun one of my Grandson.

Those are awesome photos! You really caught the team in those. And thank you for the support and comments. I’ve been shooting my kids and grandkids soccer games for a long time. I’m just looking for some thoughts on how to bests shoot a group pic. I’ll be sure to post some shots. Thank you!

These are excellent suggestions. Thank you all so much!!! And, yes, I feel very confident that it will work out.

That’s exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!

I’ve been asked to take my grandson’s high school varsity soccer team photo. I did a big search on YouTube for information, but I didn’t really find anything very useful. I’m looking for ideas on team setup, lens choice, camera settings, etc. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Thank you so much. I didn’t know about any if these. I’ll check them out.