I suggest the 17-35 f2.8 as well.
I personally prefer it to the 16-35 f4,
even though it doesn’t have vr.
(They are both excellent lenses)

I use it almost daily for events,
on a ftz2 and Z9.

Ymmv
IMHO
📸 Regards, Randy 📸

I still use my 17mm-35mm f2.8, on my Z9, with the ftz2, a few times a week when shooting groups of people at events.
I have the 14-24 f mount, along with the rest of the trinity, and the 24-120 Z mount lens. But these days I am using the Tamron 35mm-150mm f2-f2.8 Z mount lens with the 17-35, as my go to combo.
I also have my D810 as the backup body.
Enjoy your new, very capable kit!!

Great solution for you.
Take many wonderful photos with your new found mobile camera cart.

I am a professional still ‘tog.
When I am shooting a move music performance, I am accredited, with full access.
So, of course, getting my “pro” kit in, is never an issue.
Regarding, using the phone,
although my Z9 is considered one of the best video cameras extant, I find it much easier to just pull out the
Apple iPhone 14pro.
When I want to capture a little bit of video for nonprofessional usage, to document a setting, or lighting conditions, or even capture a live music performance, I will always default to the phone’s camera.
FTR:
Many of those nonprofessional videos have been posted, online, to good reviews
The bonus, to me, is that I don’t have to change any settings on the Z, I am able to continue to shoot my stills, and the quality of the video produced by the phone is actually remarkable!!

I believe in using whichever tools/devices/technologies, that will best get the results I am looking for.

And, yes…
When I am shooting with the large Z9, and a big piece of glass, and then I pull out the iPhone, of course I get some curious comments from the people around me, but I take it all in good fun.
Ymmv, imho.

📸 Regards, Randy 📸

Maybe…
Because someone spent $1,000 for a tripod, they don’t have the extra $60 for leg cushions!!

Maybe,
They want to buy something else?

Maybe,
They want to feed their families??
Etc.

No, I don’t think so.
Sometimes you don’t know what a new item will bring to your life and the inspiration it will help you create.

My argument to this,
using a car as an example:

I have a perfectly good, working car. Does that mean that I don’t ever “need” to get a new car?
Of course, I don’t need a new one.
But, that doesn’t account for the incremental yearly improvements and changes that may or may not, make me a better driver.
There is also the joy, that comes with driving a new car.
A happier driver is a good thing.

Same with my cameras.
I was perfectly happy with the D850. Great camera, it sure served me well.
But, I see the way the world is going,
and it is mirrorless.

I bought the Z9, with no expectations, of better images, both being 45mp, can use the same lenses, etc.

Nope, I bought it because it was a good time for me to switch.

I also had a desire to explore and exploit the new opportunities that the camera brings to the market.

How can you grow, using the same old tools and technologies, and expect to keep up with your competitors??

They are all using the latest technologies, why shouldn’t you??


I had no idea at the time, what a difference that camera would make to me as a professional photographer.

I didn’t buy it because of a particular need.
But, I found many after the fact.


That camera has unquestionably made me a better photographer and I am delivering better images, under many different circumstances/conditions, to my clients.

If I stayed with what I had,
because it did everything that I thought I wanted and needed, I would never have been exposed to the new features of mirrorless in general and the Z9, specifically.
Ymmv
Imho
📸 Regards, Randy 📸

Stagnation is akin to using a view camera, when everyone else is using new kit.

I use bicycle handlebar wrap tape. It’s cushioned, and thin, made to wrap around a round tube, available in different colors and designs.

I only used black, but to each, their own!!

Any bike store, or Dicks, will have a big selection of these

Ymmv
Imho
📸 Regards, Randy 📸

I believe that their definition of a pro camera, is that it is big!!!

I was once stopped walking into a concert venue, because I had a “professional camera”.
I explained to the bouncer, that any camera in my hands is a professional camera.
Because, I am a professional.
I actually got in with the kit!

The reasoning, I believe, by the venue or the band, regarding cameras, is that the photos taken with the “non pro camera” will not come out and the pro camera may actually produce acceptable results.
They don’t want a lowly ticket holder to get nice photos.
Ymmv
Imho
📸 Regards, Randy 📸

Thanks! It was a great concert. I was a senior in high school, covering the concert for the music column I wrote in our school paper. I'd never really paid attention to Tull before, but I went out and bought several LPs after that!


Thanks for the reply and I had the same thought about the phone, throughout the show. And he did the same thing at the show I attended. (In Nassau County, Long Island, ny).
In those days, long before the internet, surprises like that were safe.
Nowadays, every attendee would make a post about the phone after the first show.

Congratulations

Linda,
Boy is that so true!!

I am a “retired” professional photographer and at 66 years old, I am indeed busier and more in demand, than ever!

As far as responding to one’s questions…
(Ftr: I have never asked a question, on uhh), I agree with you, that not everyone has time to be on this site all day.
I also understand the other side of this.
I believe that if you post something, you do have the responsibility to read and respond to the answers, in a timely manner.
Not to respond or acknowledge, at all, would be very rude, but if the responder takes time, because of “life”, I get that too.
We are here to share our experience and knowledge, a nobel cause.
📸 Regards, Randy 📸

Great shot.
I saw and shot Ian Anderson, and Tull, from the stadium seating, also in 1973, on Long Island.

Anderson , with his “codpiece” and playing his flute, on one leg, like a flamingo, was a great subject for concert photos. Great performer, great show!
I graduated high school in 1975. Jethro Tull records, yes, I’m old, records, got me through high school!!

I absolutely agree.
Multiple candid shots are so much easier, now
With a D850, for example, I could usually get one shot before a subject noticed the sound and became aware of me shooting.
No sound enables a whole different opportunity for multiple shots.

Why and watch out for what?
I have run, with these. They are stable and control the kit.

I don’t use a strap anymore, but I am sure any amount of gear on a strap will swing around and possibly hit things in it's proximate position

When the camera is in the holster it doesn’t (and can’t) swing around.
Making better to run with.

Been using these for about 7 years.
Never dropped or damaged anything.

The gear is locked into the holsters.

You need to release a lever to be able to remove the camera from it.

I broke my neck, in 1996, when a 700 pound machine fell on top of me.
I have had multiple spine surgeries.
And have spent almost a year with a halo collar screwed to my skull.
In addition, I have extensive “hardware”, plates, screws and wires on five levels, in my neck.
The surgery that saved me from paralysis was a five level circumferential corpectomy

Using a camera strap was and is out of the question, because of the intense chronic pain I live with in the neck and back.

The holsters made it possible to carry gear with only a little extra pain.

As far as holsters are concerned, I have tried them all, after starting with the spider holster.
The best (for me) holsters that I use all day, everyday, are the promediagear SH-1’s. I have a lot of them. I always have two on my belt. See the photos I previously posted a few messages back.

What makes them better for me, is that they are much slimmer (lower profile) than the others, including Spider’s.
So, they are less bulky under a shirt, or when I am not carrying a camera.
And they are strong and reassuring to me.

I carry my Z9 in the holster all day long, regardless of where I am.
I want it handy all of the time.
And I get great conversations, with doctors and dentists, passer by’s, concert goers, etc, when I come in with the camera, mounted on my belt.

According to the army, a person can carry more weight for longer time, on their waist, compared to the neck/back.

Lastly, I tell my friends, if you ever see me without my camera, please, call the police, I have been robbed.
Ymmv
Imho
📸 Regards, Randy 📸

Z9 only has electronic shutter.
What a game changer compared to my D850. It’s silent, and works with flash.

The silence is so important, when shooting behind the scenes at video shoots. I can shoot the actual takes, and not just the rehearsal scenes.

And , no one can tell (when not using flash) whether I am shooting 1fps or 20fps.

And of course it is an amazing camera body