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

jonneymendoza said:
Get it
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I'd like to go out walking and taking pictures every day but due to commitments the fact is that I just can't and it's difficult to even get a full day once a month so there's just no real point owning a lot of expensive gear.

I'll post this hear, naughtily :D but it was taken at 25mm equivalent :D

A walk on a nice sunny day... about 20 minutes from home scouting bramble bush locations :D as we're losing some near home due to a new housing development :(

mu8teh5.jpg
 
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None of you rich folk looking to offload an A7RII? I did own an A7III for a couple hours yesterday but sadly it was proving too much hassle and went slightly above budget for me :( Would have been willing to trade in my ol' reliable G80 to get a nice lens for that one. But ... the A7RII still takes my fancy for teh Megapickles and DR, I could push and pull the sheet out of the files from that. Missed the one that went on here the other week, just bad timing. Failing this hunt I'll buy a Fuji ... or an RP!
 
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snerkler said:
Is the Sony Zeiss 24-70mm f4 that bad then?
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I like mine, i do want to get rid of it though but purely as i want something with more reach for general purpose while on holiday.
 
Golly... Yet another A9 in the for sale section... this one unused...
 
snerkler said:
Is the Sony Zeiss 24-70mm f4 that bad then?
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There's lots of pictures and lens reviews around now. Having looked at a lot of pictures I wouldn't buy it for the price of the kit lens - it's not sharp edge to edge at any aperture and I find that unacceptable, but it probably works for someone who's only interested in what's in the middle of the frame. But remember, this is only my opinion from reading reviews and looking at the pictures other people have taken i.e. no personal experience - others feel differently.
 
ancient_mariner said:
There's lots of pictures and lens reviews around now. Having looked at a lot of pictures I wouldn't buy it for the price of the kit lens - it's not sharp edge to edge at any aperture and I find that unacceptable, but it probably works for someone who's only interested in what's in the middle of the frame. But remember, this is only my opinion from reading reviews and looking at the pictures other people have taken i.e. no personal experience - others feel differently.
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Is this typical of 24-70mm zoom lens performance or is the competition significantly better?
 
woof woof said:
Is this typical of 24-70mm zoom lens performance or is the competition significantly better?
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My 24-105 f4 G appears significantly better. To me, this is not typical, and I'd expect a 24-70 f4 or similar from Nikon or Canon (i.e. non-pro lens) to be more balanced, possibly a touch less sharp in the centre especially wide open (centre sharpness with this lens appears decent) but normally if a zoom like this is stopped down enough the sides stop smearing. Even my old Nikon 28-105 AFD is better at the edges - I ended up going back through my images to check & compare with what I saw posted on Flickr & in reviews.

No idea what the current competition is like, but I can't believe it's as bad. I have seen a couple of pictures posted with the Nikon 24-70 mirrorless lens, and they looked sharp edge to edge, but I've not researched it properly. On a quick hunt Nikon 24-70 S is very clean in the far corners at f11 and f16 assuming the images I'm viewing weren't cropped.
 
jonneymendoza said:
Lol the A9mk2 ain't out until September time and without knowing the specs as well lol
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The ad says that the owner can't carry on with photography so sadly this may be a forced sale rather than the owner going for a mkii.
 
ancient_mariner said:
My 24-105 f4 G appears significantly better. To me, this is not typical, and I'd expect a 24-70 f4 or similar from Nikon or Canon (i.e. non-pro lens) to be more balanced, possibly a touch less sharp in the centre especially wide open (centre sharpness with this lens appears decent) but normally if a zoom like this is stopped down enough the sides stop smearing. Even my old Nikon 28-105 AFD is better at the edges - I ended up going back through my images to check & compare with what I saw posted on Flickr & in reviews.

No idea what the current competition is like, but I can't believe it's as bad. I have seen a couple of pictures posted with the Nikon 24-70 mirrorless lens, and they looked sharp edge to edge, but I've not researched it properly. On a quick hunt Nikon 24-70 S is very clean in the far corners at f11 and f16 assuming the images I'm viewing weren't cropped.
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These lenses just aren't in my sights but I'd imagine that the Sony f4 has been a bit of compromise design with I assume there being an effort to keep the bulk and weight down, and as we all know you can't have everything.
 
woof woof said:
The ad says that the owner can't carry on with photography so sadly this may be a forced sale rather than the owner going for a mkii.
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Correct. Forced sale, not waiting for a camera that no one knows anything about.
 
Well, whatever the reason it's in the for sale section now and if all is as it appears, and I've no reason to think otherwise, then all we can do is wish the seller well and see it as an opportunity for anyone wishing to buy.
 
Theatre coloured LEDs, particularly when lighting fog across the stage, can cause banding with the A9 electronic shutter.

I can reduce the shutter speed to 1/100th to minimise it to a point where most would not notice. But changing the shutter speed on the fly isn't much fun, the shutter wheel is unresponsive for a split second after taking a photo.

There's the mechanical shutter, but that's clunky and even at 5 fps the electronic shutter is so much more fluid in it's use.

A global shutter will just make life simpler... the upgrade comes at a cost though :( one that probably does not make much business sense..
 
I hope they can do a global shutter but reading so much info so quickly could mean fast working electronics and heat or a hit to DR or other issues. I hope this is a part of the "revolution" but I think it's maybe best to hope and not too expect here as the tech might not be there yet.
 
decigallen said:
Longterm, I think resolution is where it needs to be maybe for the next decade or so. You're right, though, Dynamic Range is the holy grail. I haven't seen a huge step forward in DR in about 7 or 8 years (D800). I'd take the hit on file size for better DR but have no need for anything more than 24mp. Sony has been smart putting everything into focusing ability. EyeAF is something that is easily sold - the same way high MP is easy to market.

The metalens will be huge for photography. Small lenses with wide apertures and no CA would be the perfect accompaniment for a mirrorless camera. Imagine having a 35mm 1.4 pancake lens. *salivates* It will also make smartphones able to compete optically.
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Agree, I have went full circle from wondering why people complain about large and heavy lenses to hoping for everything to be tiny and light weight, must be my age. :D
 
f/2.8 said:
Agree, I have went full circle from wondering why people complain about large and heavy lenses to hoping for everything to be tiny and light weight, must be my age. :D
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I think this happens us all. I used to think I looked more 'Pro' with hefty cameras and lenses, now I want to look like a tourist with a compact :D ... but still get great IQ of course. I will never miss carting ~10kg of gear around in a bag.

I sold a lens to a guy yesterday who was just turning 60 - decades older than me like :D - He used to work for the Herald newspaper back in the day. I said 'I'd say that was a fun job' - nope! he detested it :D I never came across anyone who hated their old job so much. He's loving the ease of use of modern ML cameras and is now using an Olympus Pen-F, about as small as you can get for a detachable lens mount camera - But more to the point, he went through the whole huge lens thing through the years and now feels much like I do - less attention the better!
 
jonneymendoza said:
Lol the A9mk2 ain't out until September time and without knowing the specs as well lol
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Why would anyone get rid of stuff for a camera that’s just a rumor, or has there been an actual announcement?

I only know about an A9ii due to it being mentioned on here yesterday but not seen anything concrete to it’s release? Unless I missed something!
 
Cagey75 said:
I think this happens us all. I used to think I looked more 'Pro' with hefty cameras and lenses, now I want to look like a tourist with a compact :D ... but still get great IQ of course. I will never miss carting ~10kg of gear around in a bag.

I sold a lens to a guy yesterday who was just turning 60 - decades older than me like :D - He used to work for the Herald newspaper back in the day. I said 'I'd say that was a fun job' - nope! he detested it :D I never came across anyone who hated their old job so much. He's loving the ease of use of modern ML cameras and is now using an Olympus Pen-F, about as small as you can get for a detachable lens mount camera - But more to the point, he went through the whole huge lens thing through the years and now feels much like I do - less attention the better!
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The first few properly paid gigs I did, I brought along enough gear to set up my own camera shop. :D The first wedding I photographed was a second for a girl who has been around for a long time. She nearly s*** herself when she seen me arrive with my 2 very large and bulging camera bags and another bag for lighting complete with flash stands etc. She only ever used one lens. :oops: :$

Even if I was out just grabbing a few shots of the kids when out and about I used to trail along 2 bag's full of kit. :oops: :$

Over the years have learned to just take the minimum needed and obviously switching to Sony helped with everything being a bit lighter and smaller. Still have to reign myself in a bit though sometimes, usually the wife telling me she isn't carrying that around all day works.
 
f/2.8 said:
The first few properly paid gigs I did, I brought along enough gear to set up my own camera shop. :D The first wedding I photographed was a second for a girl who has been around for a long time. She nearly s*** herself when she seen me arrive with my 2 very large and bulging camera bags and another bag for lighting complete with flash stands etc. She only ever used one lens. :oops: :$

Even if I was out just grabbing a few shots of the kids when out and about I used to trail along 2 bag's full of kit. :oops: :$

Over the years have learned to just take the minimum needed and obviously switching to Sony helped with everything being a bit lighter and smaller. Still have to reign myself in a bit though sometimes, usually the wife telling me she isn't carrying that around all day works.
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Ya can't beat heading out with just a small compact, like when I had the Fuji X100s - "here, throw that in your handbag, I've nowhere to put it - sure I won't be using it much anyway" - every 5 minutes asking for her to take it out along the way :ROFLMAO:
 
decigallen said:
I had a wedding last week where a guest was carrying two 5Ds with speedlights on a black rapid harness with 70-200 on one and 24-70 on the other. Another guest commented that 'He looks like a real photographer.' There's still the perception that the best cameras/lenses are the biggest.
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Definitely among Joe Public. I remember being asked to take pictures of random people and 'where will these pictures be posted?" - 'To my recycle bin' was the answer in my head
 
decigallen said:
I had a wedding last week where a guest was carrying two 5Ds with speedlights on a black rapid harness with 70-200 on one and 24-70 on the other. Another guest commented that 'He looks like a real photographer.' There's still the perception that the best cameras/lenses are the biggest.
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Don't you love when they do that? :oops: :$

Had a friend of the bride rock up at one a couple of months pack with 2 peli cases full of gear.

As we headed down to the beach he started chatting to me and explained that he was in the middle of setting up a wedding photography business.

So we got down to the beach and he started setting up all of his gear, he had a D850 and another Nikon, a D750 I think. I waited until he was ready to go then explained that he couldn't be there while we where working but told him he could have 2 minutes to take a few shots before we started but that we couldn't start until he finished. The bride let him take one photo then told him to head on. :p

I would normally be a bit more forgiving but he had spent most of the ceremony waving around his D850 with a 70-200 and the flash going bang every 2 seconds and it was starting to wear a bit thin.

Also not that long ago had the wedding car driver keep the bride late for the ceremony because he had stopped for a "portrait session" with the bride and the bridesmaids.
 
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decigallen said:
I had a wedding last week where a guest was carrying two 5Ds with speedlights on a black rapid harness with 70-200 on one and 24-70 on the other. Another guest commented that 'He looks like a real photographer.' There's still the perception that the best cameras/lenses are the biggest.
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A guest, jeeez!!! Bet you were mightily pleased ha.
 
f/2.8 said:
Don't you love when they do that? :oops: :$

Had a friend of the bride rock up at one a couple of months pack with 2 peli cases full of gear.

As we headed down to the beach he started chatting to me and explained that he was in the middle of setting up a wedding photography business.

So we got down to the beach and he started setting up all of his gear, he had a D850 and another Nikon, a D750 I think. I waited until he was ready to go then explained that he couldn't be there while we where working but told him he could have 2 minutes to take a few shots before we started but that we couldn't start until he finished. The bride let him take one photo then told him to head on. :p

I would normally be a bit more forgiving but he had spent most of the ceremony waving around his D850 with a 70-200 and the flash going bang every 2 seconds and it was starting to wear a bit thin.

Also not that long ago had the wedding car driver keep the bride late for the ceremony because he had stopped for a "portrait session" with the bride and the bridesmaids.
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That’s a pretty good way to deal with it. I’ll beat that in mind. Got one tomorrow and the brides brother is a keen photographer.....
 
So I picked up an MC-11 for my A7 III mainly because I'm getting a Sigma 150-600c but now I've started looking at loads of Canon lenses (for example the 70-200L f/4 USM for £379 brand new) and wondered if anyone running latest firmware could recommend any other bargains out there that work well on this set up?
 
woof woof said:
These lenses just aren't in my sights but I'd imagine that the Sony f4 has been a bit of compromise design with I assume there being an effort to keep the bulk and weight down, and as we all know you can't have everything.
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I'm sure you're right, but the compromises need to be made carefully and this was a very poor choice FOR ME. If you've got someone who's all super-keen to try eyeAF then having a sharp centre wide open and smeary edges is fine. If you want the lens to be general-purpose and good for landscapes, architecture, people etc then it sucks. I've seen a couple of direct comparisons against the kit lens, and optically it's only a little bit better, although the constant aperture is theoretically nice to have.
 
NewBeetle said:
So I picked up an MC-11 for my A7 III mainly because I'm getting a Sigma 150-600c but now I've started looking at loads of Canon lenses (for example the 70-200L f/4 USM for £379 brand new) and wondered if anyone running latest firmware could recommend any other bargains out there that work well on this set up?
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The canon 135mm f2. Still a great lens and quite small and light, even adapted. Usually find them around £500 used.
 
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