The Amazing Sony A1/A7/A9/APS-C & Anything else welcome Mega Thread!

Sorry another question :( My 100-400 arrived today, looks a nice lens and quite well built. I'm hoping to get out with it tomorrow to give it a good test. Hand holding wise it feels ok but I'm wondering if a battery grip would help balance it better as its a little front heavy. Does anyone use a battery grip on a A73, A7R3 or A9? I've noticed the official Sony one is over £300 so I'm wondering if anyone has any third party recommendations.
 
rob-nikon said:
Sorry another question :( My 100-400 arrived today, looks a nice lens and quite well built. I'm hoping to get out with it tomorrow to give it a good test. Hand holding wise it feels ok but I'm wondering if a battery grip would help balance it better as its a little front heavy. Does anyone use a battery grip on a A73, A7R3 or A9? I've noticed the official Sony one is over £300 so I'm wondering if anyone has any third party recommendations.
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Get the meike one off amazon.
 
justa1972 said:
Has anyone on here who owns Samyang lenses bought the Samyang lens station so that they can update the firmware ?

I have just bought a 24mm F2.8 and noticed that the formware is still on version 1.

Not sure I want to spend £50 on one though as I think my 35mm f2.8 is up to date !
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As far as I know the 24mm is still on the first version. I had the lens station to update the firmware on the 35mm f1.4 on which it made a real noticeable to the AF performance.
 
nandbytes said:
Not initially, I am fully kitted out on Sony now. To swap they'd need to release something with better AF which no one has managed so far.
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How much better do you need it ? I think it's another huge missed opportunity like the Canon and Nikon debacles.
 
nandbytes said:
As far as I know the 24mm is still on the first version. I had the lens station to update the firmware on the 35mm f1.4 on which it made a real noticeable to the AF performance.
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It was released 28/12/18
 
On the subject of updating firmware I finally updated my A7 III this week as I got some new Sandisk SD's for Christmas that wouldn't work. Worked first time on my Macbook Pro (y)
 
rob-nikon said:
Sorry another question :( My 100-400 arrived today, looks a nice lens and quite well built. I'm hoping to get out with it tomorrow to give it a good test. Hand holding wise it feels ok but I'm wondering if a battery grip would help balance it better as its a little front heavy. Does anyone use a battery grip on a A73, A7R3 or A9? I've noticed the official Sony one is over £300 so I'm wondering if anyone has any third party recommendations.
Click to expand...

I have the oem Sony grips but to be honest they are pretty awful value for money. Very poor build quality.

Only bought them as have always used grips with previous cameras. Have found that I actually prefer to use my A7III’s without grips.
 
rob-nikon said:
Sorry another question :( My 100-400 arrived today, looks a nice lens and quite well built. I'm hoping to get out with it tomorrow to give it a good test. Hand holding wise it feels ok but I'm wondering if a battery grip would help balance it better as its a little front heavy. Does anyone use a battery grip on a A73, A7R3 or A9? I've noticed the official Sony one is over £300 so I'm wondering if anyone has any third party recommendations.
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I got two official battery grips. It's needed for the 100-400 imo
 
f/2.8 said:
I have the oem Sony grips but to be honest they are pretty awful value for money. Very poor build quality.

Only bought them as have always used grips with previous cameras. Have found that I actually prefer to use my A7III’s without grips.
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It would be good to see one in real life but there are no shops near me. Generally battery grips are seen to be poor value for money for what they are. The 24-105 and 70-200 f4 feel like they balance well on the A7RIII but the 100-400 feels like it could do with a little extra weight on the back and increased grip size. It does seem to be counterintuitive adding more weight to the camera when the camera is so small and light.

jonneymendoza said:
I got two official battery grips. It's needed for the 100-400 imo
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Does it help the handling? I’m guessing it feels better especially with the longer grip. The additional battery could be very useful.

I’m looking forward to giving the 100-400 a run tomorrow. So far I’m impressed with the feel/handling. I like the smooth/tight option on the zoom ring, just wish there was a lock option too. I’ve very impressed on the closed size. It fits across a small F Stop ICU which is fantastic for me. Looking forward to smaller bags and less weight :)
 
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rob-nikon said:
It would be good to see one in real life but there are no shops near me. Generally battery grips are seen to be poor value for money for what they are. The 24-105 and 70-200 f4 feel like they balance well on the A7RIII but the 100-400 feels like it could do with a little extra weight on the back and increased grip size. It does seem to be counterintuitive adding more weight to the camera when the camera is so small and light.


Does it help the handling? I’m guessing it feels better especially with the longer grip. The additional battery could be very useful.

I’m looking forward to giving the 100-400 a run tomorrow. So far I’m impressed with the feel/handling. I like the smooth/tight option on the zoom ring, just wish there was a lock option too. I’ve very impressed on the closed size. It fits across a small F Stop ICU which is fantastic for me. Looking forward to smaller bags and less weight :)
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I can only go by the previous grips I have had with my previous Nikon cameras. The Nikon and even third party grips for Nikon seem much better made than the Sony. I don’t use anything longer than a 70-200 though but didn’t find that it helped handling much. Much prefer to use them without where as with my Nikon stuff I always preferred to use them with grips.
 
f/2.8 said:
I can only go by the previous grips I have had with my previous Nikon cameras. The Nikon and even third party grips for Nikon seem much better made than the Sony. I don’t use anything longer than a 70-200 though but didn’t find that it helped handling much. Much prefer to use them without where as with my Nikon stuff I always preferred to use them with grips.
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Which 70-200 is that. The f2.8 or f4? I used to have one on a D750 which I liked as it was a good size/weight. I felt a grip on the D810 made the camera too big and heavy.
 
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rob-nikon said:
It would be good to see one in real life but there are no shops near me. Generally battery grips are seen to be poor value for money for what they are. The 24-105 and 70-200 f4 feel like they balance well on the A7RIII but the 100-400 feels like it could do with a little extra weight on the back and increased grip size. It does seem to be counterintuitive adding more weight to the camera when the camera is so small and light.


Does it help the handling? I’m guessing it feels better especially with the longer grip. The additional battery could be very useful.

I’m looking forward to giving the 100-400 a run tomorrow. So far I’m impressed with the feel/handling. I like the smooth/tight option on the zoom ring, just wish there was a lock option too. I’ve very impressed on the closed size. It fits across a small F Stop ICU which is fantastic for me. Looking forward to smaller bags and less weight :)
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Yes the handling is far better with the grip. I even leave it on for just sigma 35mm prime :) 1536488597864.jpeg
 
rob-nikon said:
Sorry another question :( My 100-400 arrived today, looks a nice lens and quite well built. I'm hoping to get out with it tomorrow to give it a good test. Hand holding wise it feels ok but I'm wondering if a battery grip would help balance it better as its a little front heavy. Does anyone use a battery grip on a A73, A7R3 or A9? I've noticed the official Sony one is over £300 so I'm wondering if anyone has any third party recommendations.
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Many thanks for reminding me that I do actually have a Sony grip, I've just forgotten all about it! So my answer to you would be that I bought the grip for the very purpose you mention, I seem to remember that I found it useful, but the fact that I haven't used it for at least 6 months means that I can get along perfectly well without it. For what it's worth I don't have particularly big hands either and to make matters (slightly) worse I only use the 100-400 with the 1.4 tc.
 
I do have big hands and also have the 100-400 so was looking at a grip, but the sony price is too much for me. I notice too how much more expensive the meike version for sony is, compared to their nikon and canon copies
 
david357 said:
I do have big hands and also have the 100-400 so was looking at a grip, but the sony price is too much for me. I notice too how much more expensive the meike version for sony is, compared to their nikon and canon copies
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They are very expensive, I agree. I actually use the extension grip and not a battery grip. Also stupid expensive but Jessops were so amazed I was actually buying some kit from them that they threw in the grip at a price I couldn't refuse! I wouldn't have bought it otherwise.
 
footman said:
They are very expensive, I agree. I actually use the extension grip and not a battery grip. Also stupid expensive but Jessops were so amazed I was actually buying some kit from them that they threw in the grip at a price I couldn't refuse! I wouldn't have bought it otherwise.
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I will look at the difference, thank you. I don’t need the extra battery, just the support.
 
**Boring bag question alert**

Can anyone recommend a camera bag (that doesn't look to camera bag ish ) for the following

A73
FE 28-70
Samyang 24mm f2.8 pancake
Samyang 35mm f2.8 pancake

+ Spare battery and iPhone 8+

I have a Domke F5 but its a tad small and not quite padded enough.

thanks :)
 
justa1972 said:
**Boring bag question alert**

Can anyone recommend a camera bag (that doesn't look to camera bag ish ) for the following

A73
FE 28-70
Samyang 24mm f2.8 pancake
Samyang 35mm f2.8 pancake

+ Spare battery and iPhone 8+

I have a Domke F5 but its a tad small and not quite padded enough.

thanks :)
Click to expand...
F-stop guru with small icu unit
 
justa1972 said:
**Boring bag question alert**

Can anyone recommend a camera bag (that doesn't look to camera bag ish ) for the following

A73
FE 28-70
Samyang 24mm f2.8 pancake
Samyang 35mm f2.8 pancake

+ Spare battery and iPhone 8+

I have a Domke F5 but its a tad small and not quite padded enough.

thanks :)
Click to expand...
I’m a big fan of F Stop backpack. I’ve been using them for a number of years now. I tried shoulder bags but ended up with a sore shoulder from all the weight on one shoulder.

To me some of their ultra light range don’t scream camera bag. The USP of f stop are the different Interal Camera Units that let you vary what you take out without having to alter dividers around. You can also vary the ratio of camera kit to other gear too. It’s a case of slip one ICU out and another in. I have both the UL Guru and Lotus. I love the UL Guru. It’s a good size and great for around town, day trips or going light. The small and medium ICUs fit the Guru. The Lotus can fit the small, medium and large ICUs. The Lotus is from their mountain range so it’s more of an outdoors bag so it may stand out around town. Another good thing is you can use the bags without any ICU as just a normal bag. I’ve often used the Guru bag as an overnight bag with the next days clothes, iPad etc in it and the Lotus carrying the camera kit.

With my recent change to Sony I’ve found I can get all my kit (A7R3, 24-105, 70-200 and 100-400) into the Medium ICU. The small ICU can take 2 of the 3 lenses if I don’t need to take them all out with me. It can also take the 100-400 with the hood removed (hood is put in a separate section in the small ICU). Theoretically I would have had to change bags with my recent downsizing of kit but with the different sized ICUs I currently it’s let me rearrange how I use them and fit the Sony gear nicely without having too much spare space (I used to used the large and medium the most with Nikon, with the Sony kit I can see the small and medium being used the most with the large used for storage in the house). I do have to admit I still have their large bag the Sukha and XL pro ICU in the cupboard. I was keeping them until my Nikon 200-400 was sold as it was the only bag that could fit that lens attached to a camera. I need to put that up for sale on here as it would be far too big now I’ve downsized the long lens.

The only issue is getting hold of them in UK now paramo have stopped selling them. alpinetrek is a good place to buy them online but they don’t always stock the full range. They aren’t the cheapest either, a bag plus a couple of ICUs can soon add up. The problem is to get the full benefit you need a bag and at least two different sized ICUs.
 
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justa1972 said:
**Boring bag question alert**

Can anyone recommend a camera bag (that doesn't look to camera bag ish ) for the following

A73
FE 28-70
Samyang 24mm f2.8 pancake
Samyang 35mm f2.8 pancake

+ Spare battery and iPhone 8+

I have a Domke F5 but its a tad small and not quite padded enough.

thanks :)
Click to expand...
Tenba DNA 8 or 10
 
justa1972 said:
**Boring bag question alert**

Can anyone recommend a camera bag (that doesn't look to camera bag ish ) for the following

A73
FE 28-70
Samyang 24mm f2.8 pancake
Samyang 35mm f2.8 pancake

+ Spare battery and iPhone 8+

I have a Domke F5 but its a tad small and not quite padded enough.

thanks :)
Click to expand...

nandbytes said:
Tenba DNA 8 or 10
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Pictures of some sony kit in the DNA8 in this archived sale thread,
https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/tenba-messenger-dna8.675009/
 
thank for the replies - the Tenba messenger 8 looks ideal - shame I missed out on yours barrysprout !
 
justa1972 said:
thank for the replies - the Tenba messenger 8 looks ideal - shame I missed out on yours barrysprout !
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Another fan of F-Stop bags, I have the Ajna along with a small ICU, which fits the body (A7Rii), FE 16-35 f4, FE55mm f1.8, FE85mm f1.8 and FE100-400 GM. Another suggestion (which I also have) is the Mindshift Rotation Panorama which fits the same minus the FE 100-400 GM in a waist pack which rotates around the waist for easy access. The benefit of both is the additional space in the top for coats, snacks etc.
 
justa1972 said:
**Boring bag question alert**

Can anyone recommend a camera bag (that doesn't look to camera bag ish ) for the following

A73
FE 28-70
Samyang 24mm f2.8 pancake
Samyang 35mm f2.8 pancake

+ Spare battery and iPhone 8+

I have a Domke F5 but its a tad small and not quite padded enough.

thanks :)
Click to expand...

If you don’t mind expensive I use a rather nice tenba cooper 13 slim. Love it!
 
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