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

You think those cameras focus as fast as my GX80/GX9? I'd have thought that the bigger lenses would mean slower focusing.
I didn’t say that ;)
 
Hi, I have not got an A7iii, but poor AF performance of my A7R2 made me buy a Nikon D800 and a Nikkor 4/70-200 to take pictures of rallye cars (in motion) ... ---

I think from what I've read that the mk3's are faster than the mk2's.

My A7 mk1 is fast enough for slow moving stuff and the face detect removes the need to move the focus point and speeds things up a lot but it's not in the same league as the MFT cameras.

I'm hoping that an A7III would allow me to use it in the situations I wouldn't at the moment which are those that require fast and silent shooting. It if could get anywhere near my MFT cameras for speed that'd be great.
 
I didn’t say that ;)

As I said... if an A7 could get close to MFT that'd be enough :D

MFT is ok and it's very nice and compact kit but one area it really struggles in is some low artificial light shooting and in some of those situations with closer family and friends who don't mind an A7 sized camera too much :D it'd be nice to use it for the quality above what MFT can give. It'd let me use an A7 more rather than relying on the MFT kit for its faster responses.
 
The 35 2.8 will likely be very fast, the 1.4 is.

Thanks. I think I'm just about convinced.

If the A7III is in the same ballpark as MFT I'll definitely use it more and MFT less but I can't see me leaving MFT completely behind as it'll still have the advantage of being very compact with primes or perhaps more significantly MFT will be both a lot more compact and a lot cheaper with my 9-18mm or 45-150mm lenses than with an A7x and similar FoV lenses.
 
I think from what I've read that the mk3's are faster than the mk2's.
Maybe ... --- I did not want to run the risk, and follow SONY AF progress with my purchases. - I am happy with my A7R2 for travel and stills.

My Nikon set was used 2000 €, with minimal risk. My wife has several Nikon DSLRs and would have taken the D800 and the lens.

The last option for me was MFT, but I did not have to go that road back again ... ---
 
Thanks. I think I'm just about convinced.

If the A7III is in the same ballpark as MFT I'll definitely use it more and MFT less but I can't see me leaving MFT completely behind as it'll still have the advantage of being very compact with primes or perhaps more significantly MFT will be both a lot more compact and a lot cheaper with my 9-18mm or 45-150mm lenses than with an A7x and similar FoV lenses.

Look at this..... this is AFS which is the slowest AF mode on the new Sonys and its fast even racking to infinity, AFC "pumping" is even faster, its instant.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYQDJvcIfN8
 
Maybe ... --- I did not want to run the risk, and follow SONY AF progress with my purchases. - I am happy with my A7R2 for travel and stills.

My Nikon set was used 2000 €, with minimal risk. My wife has several Nikon DSLRs and would have taken the D800 and the lens.

The last option for me was MFT, but I did not have to go that road back again ... ---

The mk3 are much faster than the Mk2 cameras, faster than a D800.
 
The mk3 are much faster than the Mk2 cameras, faster than a D800.
Maybe. --- But the place is taken now. Perhaps the A7R4 will be my next SONY sometime in the future.

As I said, I am happy with my A7R2 (and the D800 (and my Leica M9)) ...
 
Last edited:
As I said... if an A7 could get close to MFT that'd be enough :D

MFT is ok and it's very nice and compact kit but one area it really struggles in is some low artificial light shooting and in some of those situations with closer family and friends who don't mind an A7 sized camera too much :D it'd be nice to use it for the quality above what MFT can give. It'd let me use an A7 more rather than relying on the MFT kit for its faster responses.
as you know I love my Olympus but there’s no doubt I’d have FF for travel if I could. Trouble is the earlier Sony’s aren’t weather sealed and the new Sonys and Nikon are too expensive, and the Nikon only has one card slot.
 
as you know I love my Olympus but there’s no doubt I’d have FF for travel if I could. Trouble is the earlier Sony’s aren’t weather sealed and the new Sonys and Nikon are too expensive, and the Nikon only has one card slot.

I think we're going to Singapore next year and if we do I'll take my A7. I've had no reliability issues in the UK or Thailand despite some very hot, wet and also humid conditions. There's a place in Thailand where there's a big Buddha and apart from the odd tropical dome type place I've been it's the hottest and most humid place I've ever been and my A7 had no issues at all whereas my GX7 had a problem and took a series of OOF shots, I assume something fogged up. The issue with my A7 isn't really a worry about how it'll work or not it's that it's a bit too slow for more candid snap shots and really I'm better off using a legacy 35mm, setting it to 2-3m and shooting at f5.6/8 which is what I sometimes do but of course all that goes out the window for lower light indoor shooting as the ISO goes through the roof and you can't really zone focus at f1.4 :D so MFT is faster and better. A faster AF A7 and lens combination would just give more options.
 
Last edited:
Impressive speed but a few of those picture look like they'll be OOF.

He's working the AF system very hard, tiny subject with high contrast building behind it so while he moves back and forth the af point barely covers the subject so picks up the building behind on occasion, not really surprising.
 
Impressive speed but a few of those picture look like they'll be OOF.

The guy who solely shoots manual complaining about OOF shots?

02-troll-face.w710.h473.2x.jpg
 
The guy who solely shoots manual complaining about OOF shots?

I don't solely shoot manual. Recently the majority of my A7 pictures have been taken with MF lenses but I've always used AF too. With MFT it's the other way round and other than when I use an old macro lens it's nearly 100% AF. A faster A7 series camera would enable me to use my A7 with AF more and in different situations for which my current A7 is difficult to use if not actually unusable.

See the logic? :D

And of course with MF I don't get OOF pictures. I actually get a nearly 100% hit rate because if I don't have the time to MF or zone I don't take (or get) the picture.
 
Last edited:
I don't solely shoot manual. Recently the majority of my A7 pictures have been taken with MF lenses but I've always used AF too. With MFT it's the other way round and other than when I use an old macro lens it's nearly 100% AF. A faster A7 series camera would enable me to use my A7 with AF more and in different situations for which my current A7 is difficult to use if not actually unusable.

See the logic? :D

And of course with MF I don't get OOF pictures. I actually get a nearly 100% hit rate because if I don't have the time to MF or zone I don't take (or get) the picture.

Point I was making was - if you tried to manually rack focus like that video, your shots would also be 99% OOF. Of course if you’re shooting manual in a normal scenario there would be a high hit rate, but that’s only because shooting manual is 10x slower than AF & you’re spending the time making sure each shot is in focus.
 
Point I was making was - if you tried to manually rack focus like that video, your shots would also be 99% OOF. Of course if you’re shooting manual in a normal scenario there would be a high hit rate, but that’s only because shooting manual is 10x slower than AF & you’re spending the time making sure each shot is in focus.

And the point I'm making is that's exactly why (or at least one of the reasons why) I'm looking at an A7III!! :D

Because it'll possibly enable me to take more spontaneous grab shot pictures rather than the more posed pictures I currently take with my A7 and either AF or MF lenses and it could let me use my A7x a little more rather than have me reaching for MFT or just not taking the shot because I know my A7 is too slow to respond to be able to take it.

Shooting recently with face detect was quite a surprise to me as it enabled me to get shots I could only have got before by zone focusing but with the A7 I got them at f1.8 which of course wouldn't be possible zone focusing a MF lens, the picture might be ok with zone and f1.8 but it certainly wouldn't stand up to pixel peeping.

I just fancy a fast focusing camera and lens combination for the extra flexibility over my A7 and the additional IQ over my much faster than my A7 MFT.

I did get a few OOF pictures whilst using face detect so I'll have l look at how I can cut those out or maybe just take more pictures and delete the OOF ones...
 
Last edited:
And the point I'm making is that's exactly why (or at least one of the reasons why) I'm looking at an A7III!! :D

Because it'll possibly enable me to take more spontaneous grab shot pictures rather than the more posed pictures I currently take with my A7 and either AF or MF lenses and it could let me use my A7x a little more rather than have me reaching for MFT or just not taking the shot because I know my A7 is too slow to respond to be able to take it.

Thought you were still resisting buying a new Sony! It’s the same reason I switched to the III a few months back.
 
Thought you were still resisting buying a new Sony! It’s the same reason I switched to the III a few months back.

Dunno really. I might get one or I might wait for the next iteration. I'm probably leaning towards getting one and while I have the native lenses it seems the best option. I'll see how I get on with AF, face detect / wide area focusing and decide when I get the email to say the III's are in stock.

Taking pictures that way (AF, face detect, wide area) is certainly faster than moving the focus point and deliberately shooting with either MF or AF lenses even if the results don't always stand up to pixel peeping on the eyes and will possibly be better for pixel peeping than zone focusing and definitely so at wider apertures.

PS.
It's just a different way of taking pictures and in some ways more like using my old Kodak Instamatic (just frame and shoot) rather than precisely focusing and very deliberately shooting as I have been doing for years now with either manual lenses or AF ones that are really rather leisurely :D
 
Last edited:
Dunno really. I might get one or I might wait for the next iteration. I'm probably leaning towards getting one and while I have the native lenses it seems the best option. I'll see how I get on with AF, face detect / wide area focusing and decide when I get the email to say the III's are in stock.

Taking pictures that way (AF, face detect, wide area) is certainly faster than moving the focus point and deliberately shooting with either MF or AF lenses even if the results don't always stand up to pixel peeping on the eyes and will possibly be better for pixel peeping than zone focusing and definitely so at wider apertures.

You'll be waiting another 4 years for the next one.
 
I think from what I've read that the mk3's are faster than the mk2's.

My A7 mk1 is fast enough for slow moving stuff and the face detect removes the need to move the focus point and speeds things up a lot but it's not in the same league as the MFT cameras.

I'm hoping that an A7III would allow me to use it in the situations I wouldn't at the moment which are those that require fast and silent shooting. It if could get anywhere near my MFT cameras for speed that'd be great.
Bramble picking springs to mind :D
 
Dunno really. I might get one or I might wait for the next iteration. I'm probably leaning towards getting one and while I have the native lenses it seems the best option. I'll see how I get on with AF, face detect / wide area focusing and decide when I get the email to say the III's are in stock.

Taking pictures that way (AF, face detect, wide area) is certainly faster than moving the focus point and deliberately shooting with either MF or AF lenses even if the results don't always stand up to pixel peeping on the eyes and will possibly be better for pixel peeping than zone focusing and definitely so at wider apertures.

PS.
It's just a different way of taking pictures and in some ways more like using my old Kodak Instamatic (just frame and shoot) rather than precisely focusing and very deliberately shooting as I have been doing for years now with either manual lenses or AF ones that are really rather leisurely :D
We've waited 4 years for u to get a A6000,Wats another 4 years between friends :p
 
Anyways my wallet is bursting since selling a few canon stuff and more on sale too.

So far got the sigma 105 and 35 on order. Debating what else I can grab. Maybe the 70-200 f4 or 2.8. Decisions decision
 
Back
Top