Professional macro photographer Nigel A Ball has shared his impressive experience using the Nikon Z8 camera for capturing detailed images of insects, highlighting the camera's significantly improved focus-stacking capabilities compared to previous models.

Ball, who specializes in nature photography and has been using Nikon cameras for many years, recently upgraded from the D850 to the brand-new Nikon Z8. His transition has revealed remarkable improvements in macro photography performance, particularly when photographing butterflies and other small insects in their natural habitats.

"I can focus-stack insects much quicker with the Nikon Z8," Ball explained, emphasizing how the camera's advanced features have transformed his workflow. The photographer noted that the Z8's high frame rate of up to 120 frames per second enables him to capture in-focus sequences of insects in flight much more easily than his previous D850 could manage consistently.

Ball's photography philosophy centers on capturing the spirit of nature to share its beauty with others. All his images are taken in natural habitats, and he never moves or relocates subjects for better backgrounds, choosing instead to tread lightly and respect the habitats he's privileged to experience. "The images are a gift to me by nature herself," he said, expressing his belief that photographers play an important role in conservation by sharing the wonders of nature to a wider audience and increasing awareness of the beauty we could potentially lose.

The photographer's journey began in the early 1970s when his late father introduced him to photography. They developed and printed their own photos in a home darkroom and eventually got into macro photography using a macro lens on bellows with a pistol grip and cable release as their field kit.

Fast-forwarding through his career, Ball's first DSLR was the D70, with the D850 being his last before receiving the Z8. His interest in butterflies has become increasingly serious in recent years, and he now studies their behavior at his local nature reserve. The Z8's high frame rate has given him the opportunity to photograph courtship displays and subsequently decode behavior patterns that the D850 simply couldn't capture consistently.

After viewing his first few images from the Z8, Ball realized just how far optics have progressed. The camera has enabled him to achieve much sharper images by combining in-body vibration reduction (VR) with lens VR, allowing him to use lower ISO settings. The focus stacking process is also significantly faster than with the D850, which means there's less chance of insects moving or wind interfering with the sharpness of shots.

Ball shared several specific examples of his work with the Z8, demonstrating the camera's capabilities across different scenarios. For one image of a small heath butterfly, he wanted to capture the essence of a summer evening – a butterfly in a meadow bathed in golden sunshine. Butterflies typically roost in the early evening, often where they'll catch the dawn sun. As a volunteer at his local reserve, Ball knew of a secluded meadow with the right grass conditions.

The challenge with this particular shot was finding a solitary butterfly catching the sun with its wings not fully closed and no wind present. Small heath butterflies close their wings as soon as they settle, hiding the eye and orange color of the forewing, so Ball had to fire the shutter before the butterfly settled. He used the setting sun to backlight his subject, providing a warm, orange glow that complemented the butterfly's coloring. The technical settings for this image were 105mm f/2.8, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO200.

Another challenging subject was a dragonfly, which Ball described as particularly skittish. He had watched one dragonfly for a while and realized it favored sitting on the same stick. After getting himself set up and waiting, the dragonfly had seen him and promptly moved to another stick. Ball crawled towards it, keeping his silhouette below the skyline, and successfully captured the shot when the dragonfly landed. It took two attempts and several insect bites to capture the image, but Ball felt it was worth the effort. The final image was shot at 24-120mm f/4, 1/2500 sec, f/8, ISO1600.

One of Ball's most impressive images shows a silver-studded blue butterfly covered in dew. Having taken similar images with his D850, he wanted to see how the Z8 and Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S would compare. He arrived just after dawn with mist hanging in the meadow and the sun peeping above the horizon. His research meant he had a pretty good idea where the silver-studded blues roosted.

Ball eventually found a pristine female covered in dew and not obscured by heather stems. Once the sun crept above the trees behind him, it illuminated the butterfly and added golden sparkles to each of the dewdrops, creating what he described as the perfect shot. For this image, he used a Novoflex MagicBall ballhead and Novoflex CASTEL-Q focusing rail to frame and focus. The technical settings were 105mm f/2.8, 1/100 sec, f/11, ISO800.

The photographer also captured images of six-spot burnet moths, which are day-flying moths that can be seen on summer days painting the sky with black lines edged in red. After scouting several locations, Ball waited for a calm evening with subdued lighting. He found four moths roosting on a thistle bloom, but as soon as he set up his equipment, they fell into the undergrowth as an effective defensive mechanism. Ball waited patiently, and sure enough, they crawled back up their stems. He used Focus Peaking to ensure the nearest point was in focus and then employed Focus Shift for the final capture. The settings for this shot were 105mm f/2.8, 1/60 sec, f/11, ISO200. Ball has assigned the function button on his 105mm macro lens to zoom 50% into the image, allowing him to quickly check focus.

One particularly creative image shows a butterfly take-off sequence that Ball created by blending multiple images in post-processing. The subject was a small butterfly known for being very flighty, and Ball wanted to capture it in its natural environment where it often skips among brambles. It's also known as the hedge brown due to its tendency to frequent hedgerows. Ball used back-button focus with the Z8's Pre-Release Capture feature, which recorded images when the shutter button was only half-depressed, compensating for his slow reactions as the butterfly took off. The technical settings were 24-120mm f/4, 1/3200 sec, f/5.6, ISO3200.

Ball shared several professional tips based on his extensive experience with insect photography. First, he emphasized the importance of getting to know your subject – where they roost, which flowers they visit, and how they fly. The latter is particularly important when capturing insects in flight, as predicting the flight path can make or break an image.

For technical settings, Ball recommends using a fast shutter speed when photographing insects in flight, ideally 1/8000 sec, to freeze the beating wing movements. He also noted that insects are more dormant late in the evening or early in the morning, with morning being preferred since dew will often settle on potential subjects, especially if there has been rain overnight.

Ball's current camera kit includes the Nikon Z8 body, the Nikon Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S macro lens, and the Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S lens. This setup has proven highly effective for his specialized macro photography work.

The photographer's work demonstrates the significant technological advances in modern mirrorless cameras, particularly in areas crucial for macro photography such as focus accuracy, image stabilization, and high-speed capture capabilities. His detailed account of the Z8's performance provides valuable insights for other photographers interested in macro and nature photography.

Ball's long-time expertise with Nikon systems, combined with his deep knowledge of insect behavior and natural habitats, has allowed him to fully utilize the Z8's advanced capabilities. His work serves as both artistic documentation of natural beauty and scientific observation of insect behavior, contributing to broader conservation awareness through compelling visual storytelling.

This article originally appeared in N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine, issue 154, showcasing the practical applications of advanced camera technology in specialized photography fields.