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

Wise words. I'm a bit like that too for some things - eg for macro shots of bugs I have been looking for a compromise lens that can do bugs and birds but I think I really need a 'proper' 1:1 macro that can get me shots like the below (taken this morning with the A6700 + Sigma 105 - I think we are back in action now after the repairs!)


Plasterer Bee by Mike Smith, on Flickr


Open Wide and say Aaaaargh by Mike Smith, on Flickr

Shot these with natural light at f8 for a change (normally f16 with flash) and it was quite good fun - they are definitely sharp enough for me anyway :)
Wow they're insane. I always got frustrated with Macro as the insect wouldn't sit and pose :lol:
 
A couple of days ago the rumor site mentioned that there are Sigma APS-C and FF lenses coming...


Could we see an interesting 35, 50 or even 28mm????

We'll soon know.
 
I had an issue with my A7RV today on a portrait shoot, it was paried with the 50mm f1.2 and it really struggled with eye AF and the focus either kept jumping all over the place or the green focus square would keep flickering as though it was losing focus all the time. I checked to make sure it was on human eye AF and that I was in AF-C as well as tracking mode.

I swapped the 50mm onto my A1 and that worked fine so that in my mind ruled out the lens being the issue. However at the end of the day I tried the A7RV again, this time with the 35mm f1.4 and it worked fine again.

I'm hoping that it was just a case of the lens not 'clicking into place' or something like that so I'll keep an eye on it, but does anyone else have suggestions as to what it could of been?

Light was pretty good and I had the lens wide open.
 
Worth checking your firmware is up to date.
Thanks, it is but it shouldn’t matter as it’s been working flawlessly until today (y)
 
I had an issue with my A7RV today on a portrait shoot, it was paried with the 50mm f1.2 and it really struggled with eye AF and the focus either kept jumping all over the place or the green focus square would keep flickering as though it was losing focus all the time. I checked to make sure it was on human eye AF and that I was in AF-C as well as tracking mode.

I swapped the 50mm onto my A1 and that worked fine so that in my mind ruled out the lens being the issue. However at the end of the day I tried the A7RV again, this time with the 35mm f1.4 and it worked fine again.

I'm hoping that it was just a case of the lens not 'clicking into place' or something like that so I'll keep an eye on it, but does anyone else have suggestions as to what it could of been?

Light was pretty good and I had the lens wide open.

Mine does this when I accidentally nudge the focus mode button into DMF rather than CAF. Now I know when it does it to change it back straight away, A9ii though,
 
Mine does this when I accidentally nudge the focus mode button into DMF rather than CAF. Now I know when it does it to change it back straight away, A9ii though,
The A7RV doesn’t have this dial like the A1, but it was definitely always in AF-c (y)
Was it set to Human Eye AF?
Yeah, it was the first thing I checked (y)
 
I had an issue with my A7RV today on a portrait shoot, it was paried with the 50mm f1.2 and it really struggled with eye AF and the focus either kept jumping all over the place or the green focus square would keep flickering as though it was losing focus all the time. I checked to make sure it was on human eye AF and that I was in AF-C as well as tracking mode.

I swapped the 50mm onto my A1 and that worked fine so that in my mind ruled out the lens being the issue. However at the end of the day I tried the A7RV again, this time with the 35mm f1.4 and it worked fine again.

I'm hoping that it was just a case of the lens not 'clicking into place' or something like that so I'll keep an eye on it, but does anyone else have suggestions as to what it could of been?

Light was pretty good and I had the lens wide open.

I experienced this with 3rd party lenses at times but not Sony lenses (or sigma lenses for that matter).
I used 50GM with my A7RV a fair bit without issues. Have you been able to reproduce this or was it a one off?
 
Put a few 10,000s of photos through the 85mm GMII now. Great lens, but is it significantly better than the Sigma 85mm 1.4 DG DN it replaced….not really.
Would like to upgrade my Sony 1.8 at some point.
The lens is good enough probably and the AF is lightning fast.
The exact opposite of my old Nikon 85/1.4g the images from that were stunning but the AF was just good enough

I had been eyeing the sigma as the Sony is just too expensive but will wait and see what the new viltrox is like when it’s released
 
Would like to upgrade my Sony 1.8 at some point.
The lens is good enough probably and the AF is lightning fast.
The exact opposite of my old Nikon 85/1.4g the images from that were stunning but the AF was just good enough

I had been eyeing the sigma as the Sony is just too expensive but will wait and see what the new viltrox is like when it’s released

If you’re not using it day in day out the Sigma is such good value!
 
As it's a bit quiet.

A7 and 28mm f2. The light looked lovely, a little strange and other worldly even but still lovely but I don't think I've done it justice.

1-DSC08569.jpg

I went out today with a picture in mind but the light was flat and dead with hardly the hint of a shadow so I didn't bother and just went home. I hope for more inspiring conditions next time.
 
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As it's a bit quiet.

A7 and 28mm f2. The light looked lovely, a little strange and other worldly even but still lovely but I don't think I've done it justice.

View attachment 455283
Don’t feel bad Alan. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve taken something atmospheric only to be disappointed later. Must improve my post processing.
 
Don’t feel bad Alan. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve taken something atmospheric only to be disappointed later. Must improve my post processing.

Perhaps not everything we see can be reproduced in a photograph and in fact I'm sure that's the case as it wasn't just the light it was that moment and the scale of the scene and although a picture can maybe get a long way to prompting a memory of a moment a small photo can't really capture the scale.
 
Don’t feel bad Alan. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve taken something atmospheric only to be disappointed later. Must improve my post processing.

Perhaps not everything we see can be reproduced in a photograph and in fact I'm sure that's the case as it wasn't just the light it was that moment and the scale of the scene and although a picture can maybe get a long way to prompting a memory of a moment a small photo can't really capture the scale.

I've often though that the camera can't quite pick things out like we can see. But then at night, it picks things up we can't see... :ROFLMAO:

I don't think I've got any photos to add here tbh
 
I've often though that the camera can't quite pick things out like we can see. But then at night, it picks things up we can't see... :ROFLMAO:

I don't think I've got any photos to add here tbh

Despite the "limited" DR I think that sometimes the camera can shows things in the highlights we can't see by eye. I've certainly seen detail in a picture I couldn't see by eye when looking in the direction of the sun.
 
I experienced this with 3rd party lenses at times but not Sony lenses (or sigma lenses for that matter).
I used 50GM with my A7RV a fair bit without issues. Have you been able to reproduce this or was it a one off?
No, seems to be working OK today so hopefully just a weird one off gremlin.
 
No, seems to be working OK today so hopefully just a weird one off gremlin.

I had something similar on MFT. With the Oly 17mm f1.8 it would occasionally hunt and make a rattling sound on any body but only when there was extreme contrast and bright areas in the scene. When I pressed the lens release button and gave the lens a twist it stopped it for a while. Cleaning the contacts with contact cleaner or a rubber had no effect though but it did seem to be some sort of contact communication issue but only showing up with high contrast scenes.
 
Hmmm.

I haven't used the 28mm f2 much but in the past whenever I have I've been pretty happy with it and indeed I'm sure I've defended it when people have said it isn't very good but I can't stop myself pixel peeping and the poor corners at anything less than f8 are irritating me these days. I wish Sony would do a better one, f1.8 or f2, I'm not bothered, but with optical quality and build to get nearer to matching the 20mm f1.8.

Another stitch from our mini break in the Lake District. A7 and the Sony 28mm f2, at f5 so the corners aren't great at 100%.

Lake District-May 2025-16.jpg
 
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Wife and I went out to the northern Lake District on Friday, to a place called Muncastle Castle. Had surprisingly decent weather. They have a bird of prey and owl centre and there were two shows. I don’t have a FF long lens for my A7RV so used my APS-C Sony 70-350 lens for all the bid photos and was really surprised how well most of them came out.













 
Wife and I went out to the northern Lake District on Friday, to a place called Muncastle Castle. Had surprisingly decent weather. They have a bird of prey and owl centre and there were two shows. I don’t have a FF long lens for my A7RV so used my APS-C Sony 70-350 lens for all the bid photos and was really surprised how well most of them came out.













Great shots - I'm going to have to buy another one now :headbang:
 
The Sony 40mm/f2.5 goes well with my A7CII. I shot a young people's classical concert entirely with it. I did have my Tamron 70-180mm/f2.8 in the bag but didn't need it.

For some of the shots I switched the camera to APS-C mode giving an effective focal length of of 60mm. Obviously at reduced- but still entirely usable - resolution.
 
The 40mm G has been on my A7III pretty much exclusively since I got it. It is IMO a good lens with few weaknesses, vignetting being the most obvious for me.
 
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