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

We were supposed to visit son in Devon next week but, following Gov advice, will probably cancel.

Anyway any opinions on the Sony full frame 70-200 F4 vs the 70-300..
Extra 100 mm but 5.6 on long end, similar price and weight
TIA
 
nog said:
We were supposed to visit son in Devon next week but, following Gov advice, will probably cancel.

Anyway any opinions on the Sony full frame 70-200 F4 vs the 70-300..
Extra 100 mm but 5.6 on long end, similar price and weight
TIA
Click to expand...
Personally I'd go with tamron 70-180mm over the 70-200mm f4.

if you need the reach then 70-300mm
 
Went out again with the Sony yesterday, and so after a few weeks of ownership here's my thoughts.

Now I'm hoping this is not a case of the 'honeymoon' period but I think it's the best camera I've ever had. Image quality is superb and I'm managing to get really nice colours from it using my preset in LR. Now that I've customised it I'm loving the positions of all the controls, and there's a number of handy things I've put on various buttons. Ergonomics are great, although not quite as good as the Z7

The only real complaint I have is the card writing, christ it takes time. It wouldn't be an issue if it didn't disable other functions but it's a pain of that there's no doubt. Also, I've found a 'quirk'. If you're using one of your saved settings (1,2 and 3 on the mode dial) and change the setting such as aperture it doesn't reset to the saved setting when you turn the camera off and back on again, I got 'caught out' with this yesterday. It does however revert back to the saved setting if you go to another mode setting (such as manual mode) and back to the saved setting (1,2 or 3). Weird. Does anyone know whether Sony has a feedback page that you can contact them about such issues?

Overall I'm very happy though (y)
 
snerkler said:
Went out again with the Sony yesterday, and so after a few weeks of ownership here's my thoughts.

Now I'm hoping this is not a case of the 'honeymoon' period but I think it's the best camera I've ever had. Image quality is superb and I'm managing to get really nice colours from it using my preset in LR. Now that I've customised it I'm loving the positions of all the controls, and there's a number of handy things I've put on various buttons. Ergonomics are great, although not quite as good as the Z7

The only real complaint I have is the card writing, christ it takes time. It wouldn't be an issue if it didn't disable other functions but it's a pain of that there's no doubt. Also, I've found a 'quirk'. If you're using one of your saved settings (1,2 and 3 on the mode dial) and change the setting such as aperture it doesn't reset to the saved setting when you turn the camera off and back on again, I got 'caught out' with this yesterday. It does however revert back to the saved setting if you go to another mode setting (such as manual mode) and back to the saved setting (1,2 or 3). Weird. Does anyone know whether Sony has a feedback page that you can contact them about such issues?

Overall I'm very happy though (y)
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The card thing we discussed
The "quirk" isn't a quirk per say. It's worked like that since days of a-mount bodies. I wouldn't want it changed to your way and I imagine a lot of people who are used to it wouldn't either. But i may be wrong....
 
I'm glad you're happy with it snerkler.

I think setting the camera up the way you like it is key and saves a lot of potential hassle and frustration and largely gets rid of what seems to be one of the common complaints about these cameras, the long winded menus, as once the camera is set up you maybe hardly ever need to bother with the menus.
 
woof woof said:
I'm glad you're happy with it snerkler.

I think setting the camera up the way you like it is key and saves a lot of potential hassle and frustration and largely gets rid of what seems to be one of the common complaints about these cameras, the long winded menus, as once the camera is set up you maybe hardly ever need to bother with the menus.
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Tbh, I don't see what the fuss is with the menus.
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
Tbh, I don't see what the fuss is with the menus.
Click to expand...

Me neither but until you said this I thought I was the only one :D

The internet and even this site seems to have people listing the menus as a reason they don't like the cameras, it's been mentioned quite a few times.
 
woof woof said:
Me neither but until you said this I thought I was the only one :D

The internet and even this site seems to have people listing the menus as a reason they don't like the cameras, it's been mentioned quite a few times.
Click to expand...

The thing is, Sony offers so much customisation and I think there are terms that a lot of people don't understand so they skim and feel like the menus are excessive rather than researching what the options do. Sony and others could offer a simplified side menu system like some phones do.
 
woof woof said:
Me neither but until you said this I thought I was the only one :D

The internet and even this site seems to have people listing the menus as a reason they don't like the cameras, it's been mentioned quite a few times.
Click to expand...
The same is said about Olympus menus (I have to admit I’ve said it myself), but I’ve reached the conclusion that it’s familiarity that solves the issue whatever menu your using.
They’re all different when you first start out with them, none are any worse than the other imo, it just takes time to get used to where things are and then they’re fine.
 
twist said:
The thing is, Sony offers so much customisation and I think there are terms that a lot of people don't understand so they skim and feel like the menus are excessive rather than researching what the options do. Sony and others could offer a simplified side menu system like some phones do.
Click to expand...

The different terms are a problem until you make the effort to either suck it and see or better still find out what they are by RTM or Googling but this is always going to be the case to some extent when swapping from one make to another as the terms aren't standardised like aperture and shutter :D

Lots of option and the possibility to customise a lot has t be an advantage.
 
wardy07 said:
The same is said about Olympus menus (I have to admit I’ve said it myself), but I’ve reached the conclusion that it’s familiarity that solves the issue whatever menu your using.
They’re all different when you first start out with them, none are any worse than the other imo, it just takes time to get used to where things are and then they’re fine.
Click to expand...

I remember with my Canon DSLR's the menu was just a long list. I used to be able to spin the wheel and more often than not end up on the option to format the card :D
 
twist said:
The thing is, Sony offers so much customisation and I think there are terms that a lot of people don't understand so they skim and feel like the menus are excessive rather than researching what the options do. Sony and others could offer a simplified side menu system like some phones do.
Click to expand...
They do, and you can choose what's in it, and can bring it up with the press of one button.
When you buy a phone, you set up the home screen to suit you, but when you first turn it on, there's very little on it.
 
wardy07 said:
The same is said about Olympus menus (I have to admit I’ve said it myself), but I’ve reached the conclusion that it’s familiarity that solves the issue whatever menu your using.
They’re all different when you first start out with them, none are any worse than the other imo, it just takes time to get used to where things are and then they’re fine.
Click to expand...
I have personally found the Olympus one to be the least intuitive.
My canon's, nikon's, Panasonic's and Sony have all been set up by messing around .
The Olympus was the only one where I had to search how to do some things.
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
They do, and you can choose what's in it, and can bring it up with the press of one button.
When you buy a phone, you set up the home screen to suit you, but when you first turn it on, there's very little on it.
Click to expand...

Yes, my menu, but that doesnt really solve the issue, because they need to understand what everything does and its importance before they can add each item.
 
wardy07 said:
The same is said about Olympus menus (I have to admit I’ve said it myself), but I’ve reached the conclusion that it’s familiarity that solves the issue whatever menu your using.
They’re all different when you first start out with them, none are any worse than the other imo, it just takes time to get used to where things are and then they’re fine.
Click to expand...

100%
 
ancient_mariner said:
Looks like his Tamron had a problem with decentering.
Click to expand...

I keep changing my mind about a wide lens.

A while ago I had the firin in my basket a few times but didn't buy. What put me off was reports of iffy focusing and the fact that I don't get much time to do photography these days. Having said that I've wanted a 20mm f1.8 for a long time to replace the Sigma I had for Canon DSLR's.

When the Sony came out I was sure I'd buy one as it'll almost certainly cure the Firins iffy focus (if it has that problem) but I'm left with the thought that I wont get a lot of use out of one.

Another thing on my mind is that I also really want a 12-24mm to replace the Sigma I had for DSLR's and although the 17-28mm f2.8 isn't as wide it would possibly be more flexible than a 20mm prime... but would I miss the extra 3mm width? Hmmmm.

I'll have to think about this :D but I think the Sony 20mm is favorite followed by the 17-28mm. I'm not getting much time for photography these days but maybe that makes the time I do get more special and maybe I should treat myself :D Or just not bother :D
 
woof woof said:
I keep changing my mind about a wide lens.

A while ago I had the firin in my basket a few times but didn't buy. What put me off was reports of iffy focusing and the fact that I don't get much time to do photography these days. Having said that I've wanted a 20mm f1.8 for a long time to replace the Sigma I had for Canon DSLR's.

When the Sony came out I was sure I'd buy one as it'll almost certainly cure the Firins iffy focus (if it has that problem) but I'm left with the thought that I wont get a lot of use out of one.

Another thing on my mind is that I also really want a 12-24mm to replace the Sigma I had for DSLR's and although the 17-28mm f2.8 isn't as wide it would possibly be more flexible than a 20mm prime... but would I miss the extra 3mm width? Hmmmm.

I'll have to think about this :D but I think the Sony 20mm is favorite followed by the 17-28mm. I'm not getting much time for photography these days but maybe that makes the time I do get more special and maybe I should treat myself :D Or just not bother :D
Click to expand...
I'd like something wider than my 24-120mm.
Not sure I'd need to go wider than 20mm tbh.
Don't think I'd need f1.8 though.
 
twist said:
If course, I understand that but I'm not the one/s complaining ;)
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Even with a 20mm the f1.8 does give some scope for limited DoF and of course for lowering the ISO.

I really liked the Sigma 20mm f1.8 I had and although I have 17mm f3.5 and 19mm f3.8 film era lenses they're MF and I fancy an AF plus they're nowhere near as good as a modern lens will be and they have relatively slow maximum apertures.

A dream of mine is to go on a cruise to see the northern lights and maybe a f1.8 will give my creaking old A7 a bit more chance than an old film era f3.x or even a modern 17-28mm f2.8.

I think wides are some of the most difficult lenses to use well but also an easy way of getting a striking looking picture :D
 
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woof woof said:
I keep changing my mind about a wide lens.

A while ago I had the firin in my basket a few times but didn't buy. What put me off was reports of iffy focusing and the fact that I don't get much time to do photography these days. Having said that I've wanted a 20mm f1.8 for a long time to replace the Sigma I had for Canon DSLR's.

When the Sony came out I was sure I'd buy one as it'll almost certainly cure the Firins iffy focus (if it has that problem) but I'm left with the thought that I wont get a lot of use out of one.

Another thing on my mind is that I also really want a 12-24mm to replace the Sigma I had for DSLR's and although the 17-28mm f2.8 isn't as wide it would possibly be more flexible than a 20mm prime... but would I miss the extra 3mm width? Hmmmm.

I'll have to think about this :D but I think the Sony 20mm is favorite followed by the 17-28mm. I'm not getting much time for photography these days but maybe that makes the time I do get more special and maybe I should treat myself :D Or just not bother :D
Click to expand...

My view is that if you want to work really wide then 12-24 does it well, but 17-28 isn't really either wide enough or long enough to be satisfactory. 14-28 would be OK, 17-35 likewise.

I really miss my 12-24 too, but it didn't get much use really, and 19/21-35 is a much better all round walkabouts lens for super-wide stuff.
 
ancient_mariner said:
My view is that if you want to work really wide then 12-24 does it well, but 17-28 isn't really either wide enough or long enough to be satisfactory. 14-28 would be OK, 17-35 likewise.

I really miss my 12-24 too, but it didn't get much use really, and 19/21-35 is a much better all round walkabouts lens for super-wide stuff.
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For a while that 12-24mm was my most used lens but the first really wide lens I got was an APS-C Canon 10-22mm and with Canons x1.6 crop that would be a start of 16mm which at the time I thought was ok so my thinking is that I could tell myself that 17-28mm on FF is enough. I could tell myself that at least for a while :D

I think I've decided not to buy anything for a while and see how I feel later, but I could always get up tomorrow and order something :D

Actually those 17 and 19mm film era lenses are fine for good light use as long as I don't look too closely as the IQ wont really get near a modern lenses especially towards the corners, they are only MF though.

Thinking about film era wides there's always the 19-35mm which was badged by several makers and is cheap and there's the Canon 20-35mm USM which I also had which is a bit more but still relatively cheap. It does have fairly epic distortion but these days that can be fixed post capture and in some shots may not be noticeable anyway.
 
woof woof said:
Thinking about film era wides there's always the 19-35mm which was badged by several makers and is cheap
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I have one and it's OK, but not really a match for modern optics. If you think you might be interested then I'll bung it in the classifieds, because that 35 f1.4 is really nagging at me, and I'd need to move some kit on to justify it to myself.
 
Thanks but don't do it for me as I know I'd still want a modern lens.

It's a lens I set out to buy but at the time I couldn't find one and so got the Canon 20-35mm which I actually liked as it has USM and is very light... that distortion though :D
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
Tbh, I don't see what the fuss is with the menus.
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TBH they’re not well laid out imo and you have to often sift through every menu to find the option you want. Compare this to Nikon’s menu for example where things are at least in sections, so in the camera setting section it’s then subcategorised into menus such as autofocus, metering/exposure etc. This way if I want to change something to do with AF I can just go to that sub menu (y)
 
snerkler said:
TBH they’re not well laid out imo and you have to often sift through every menu to find the option you want. Compare this to Nikon’s menu for example where things are at least in sections, so in the camera setting section it’s then subcategorised into menus such as autofocus, metering/exposure etc. This way if I want to change something to do with AF I can just go to that sub menu (y)
Click to expand...

Errr so does Sony, they have stills and video main sections/pages.
 
twist said:
Errr so does Sony, they have stills and video main sections/pages.
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But as far as I’m aware they’re not subcategorised are they? There’s no “Autofocus” sub menu, or “metering” submenu, there’s just a stills menu with around 15 pages to sift through.
 
snerkler said:
But as far as I’m aware they’re not subcategorised are they? There’s no “Autofocus” sub menu, or “metering” submenu, there’s just a stills menu with around 15 pages to sift through.
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But there is, for e.g. you go into image options, then focus option or whatever and choose what you want it to be. Instead of another step. I much prefer just going through a list page by page then I'm done when I reach the end and never go in again because ALL menus are crap (except my menu) and custom buttons are where it's at.
 
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snerkler said:
But as far as I’m aware they’re not subcategorised are they? There’s no “Autofocus” sub menu, or “metering” submenu, there’s just a stills menu with around 15 pages to sift through.
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I've got metering on a custom button and af on another.
I've set mines up like this:
C1: metering
C2: focus mode
C3: WB
C4: focus settings
Centre button: exp comp
Down button: focus settings
Focus hold button on lens: eye af
Then fn button brings up my mini menu.
 
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Bobsyeruncle said:
I've got metering on a custom button and af on another.
I've set mines up like this:
C1: metering
C2: focus mode
C3: WB
C4: focus settings
Centre button: exp comp
Down button: focus settings
Focus hold button on lens: eye af
Then fn button brings up my mini menu.
Click to expand...
Yeah I've got my camera set up great now, I love it. But the discussion in question was the menu system, I just don't think it's as easy to navigate and as clear as others. Doesn't bother me though, I just get on with whatever system is put in front of me (y)
 
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