A Morning of Wildlife Photography with the Nikon Z8 and 180-600mm

My Nikon Z 180–600mm lens arrived last week and, after much deliberation between OM System and Nikon for my wildlife photography setup here in Scotland, I finally got to take it out along with the Nikon Z8 and the 400mm f/4.5 lens on Friday. Both of these lenses are among the best lens options for the Z8 for wildlife photography.

I had been slightly apprehensive about whether the size and weight of the zoom lens would be prohibitive for my natural walk-around style of photography. I needn’t have worried though, as it is lighter than I was expecting. If you want to see how I carry my gear and my full set up then I wrote about that here. I’ve also been shooting the Z8 for some landscape photography here in the Scottish Highlands.

I decided to video my walk on Friday as I headed up to some local woodland here in Perthshire to try and capture the so-far elusive red squirrel. I’ve seen two in my entire life — both in the last month — but only when I’ve been with Sofia and without a camera. So today marked another attempt to spot these beautiful little creatures.

As I stepped out of my car and wandered up the fairly steep path towards the top of the woodland, I stopped for a moment to admire the beautiful view down towards my local town and the surrounding countryside. Then, in my peripheral vision, I noticed movement. Surely it couldn’t be a red squirrel after just twenty minutes of walking.

To my absolute delight, not only did I have the fortune to spot one red squirrel, but a small family including a juvenile. It seemed they were in play mode as they repeatedly chased each other around a couple of trees. I got to watch this encounter for nearly ten minutes before the adult dashed away and the session came to an end.

What an absolute treat that on my first outing with the Nikon 180–600mm lens I had been able to witness such a special moment. Maybe Nikon is going to be my lucky camera system, I thought.

While I struggled a little to keep up with the red squirrels as they raced around the branches, the Z8 did a pretty good job of finding them. I’ve set up the various function buttons to give me direct access to certain autofocus modes, including Pinpoint AF mapped to my AF-ON button. Here are the best settings that I’ve found on my Z8 for wildlife.

Yes, I’m a bit of a heretic and one of the few people who will openly admit that I don’t like using back-button focusing for wildlife photography. I have too much muscle memory going back decades of pressing the shutter button to focus.

As I wandered around the woodland and climbed to the summit of this small hill, I was treated to an almost embarrassing number of wildlife encounters — including a particularly entrancing moment with a group of roe deer grazing quietly in the brush.

I approached slowly and initially spotted just a single head above the bush line. I then attempted to move a little closer, carefully and quietly, without triggering their instinct to bolt. I managed to get a few shots before backing off slightly to allow the deer to relax and hopefully not see me as a threat.

It must have worked, because I spent the next five to ten minutes watching them on this beautiful crisp morning.

I got one photo I particularly liked, but what actually surprised me that morning was just how good the video footage looked from the Z8. Initially, I had forgotten all about video from my main camera. I was so entranced watching the squirrels dancing around the trees that video hadn’t even crossed my mind until the last minute of the encounter.

But when I quickly reviewed my shots, the video actually stood out. So when I later spotted the deer, I knew I would dedicate just as much time to filming them as I did to taking still photographs. I think it paid off with some lovely footage of this young family enjoying their breakfast.

After a while I put my camera down and backed up behind a tree just to sit there and enjoy the moment. It’s these kinds of moments that make me feel incredibly grateful to do what I do — and to be doing it in such a stunning location.

I had a few more surprise encounters during my three-hour stroll through the woods, but I’ll leave you to discover those in the video.

I’ll be adding more video content like this throughout the year, so if you enjoy it please consider subscribing and coming along for the journey into the stunning Scottish countryside.