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

nandbytes said:
the associated press for have gone full sony :eek:
www.dpreview.com

'We're confident that they can deliver': We talk to AP's Director of Photography about switch to Sony

We spoke to AP's Director of Photography J. David Ake about why the agency has decided to switch to Sony cameras, and what it means for AP staff photographers and videographers.
www.dpreview.com www.dpreview.com
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I mentioned a while back here that I had been to a few events attended by the press and quite a lot of them were using Sony Equipment.

I was also at Stormont (our version of Westminster) a few days ago for an event and there was quite a lot of press there and in a sea of Sony cameras I only seen one Cannon user. There was a lot of what looked like A9’s and A9II’s. I guess the silent shooting is a big thing for the press.
 
It'd be interesting to know if this costs Sony money or makes them money and either way how much.
 
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nandbytes said:
First one is an absolute beauty. I should take a lesson two from you
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Thanks very much. That one's actually had extra blur added in PP :exit:
 
Mike.P said:
Looked at those and thought Hmmm, look a little soft to me.

Then had a look on Flickr ... difference is like night and day, especially the JPS shot. Great panning and great photos.
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Thanks. TP’s always destroys the IQ on my pics :(
 
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woof woof said:
It'd be interesting to know if this costs Sony money or makes them money and either way how much.
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They will be getting a hell of a deal no doubt.
Expect a marketing campaign calling Sony the choice of the professionals very soon.
 
Has any got or had both the Sony 85mm F1.8 and the 85 F1.4?

If so do you have an photos taken in similar conditions that I could use to compare or give me your opinions. I like the 85mm but haven't used it much, I took my parents out yesterday and did some photos of them by the beach in mid afternoon sun and I was pretty disappointed by the chromatic aberration at times. I know that can be an issue with some fast primes but I would consider changing to the F1.4 if there is much of an improvement.
 
Jase said:
Has any got or had both the Sony 85mm F1.8 and the 85 F1.4?

If so do you have an photos taken in similar conditions that I could use to compare or give me your opinions. I like the 85mm but haven't used it much, I took my parents out yesterday and did some photos of them by the beach in mid afternoon sun and I was pretty disappointed by the chromatic aberration at times. I know that can be an issue with some fast primes but I would consider changing to the F1.4 if there is much of an improvement.
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I have both lenses and have had a couple of copies of each. I first bought the f/1.8 but upgraded to the G.M after also being a little disappointed in the C.A. The G.M lens is a lot better in this regard. It also has much nicer bokeh as you would expect. The G.M bokeh is very creamy.

However I did miss the lighter weight and the fast a.f speed of the f/1.8 so I ended up getting another one later on. I now use them for different things. The G.M has beautiful bokeh and is well controlled but it is slower to focus and is much bigger / heavier. The 85 f/1.8 is great for fast moving subjects but it does have ugly bokeh and C.A.
 
Jase said:
Has any got or had both the Sony 85mm F1.8 and the 85 F1.4?

If so do you have an photos taken in similar conditions that I could use to compare or give me your opinions. I like the 85mm but haven't used it much, I took my parents out yesterday and did some photos of them by the beach in mid afternoon sun and I was pretty disappointed by the chromatic aberration at times. I know that can be an issue with some fast primes but I would consider changing to the F1.4 if there is much of an improvement.
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Have owned both and currently own samyang 85mm F1.4.
Samyang is the sharpest one of the lot, bokeh/rendering is better than FE85/1.8 but not as good as GM. AF is worst of the bunch but fairly usable as long it's not your dog running at you. But AF is quieter than 85GM.
The 85GM has the best rendering of the bunch and sharper than FE85/1.8. AF is a little slow and noisey but very accurate.
FE85/1.8 had the best AF of the bunch and size going for it.

Other options I haven't used:
Sigma 85mm ART - seems to the sharpest 85mm around and rendering almost as good as 85GM. But its huge.
Samyang 75mm f1.8 - weakest of the bunch but also smallest.

Personally I have liked both 85GM and samyang 85mm f1.4. this is my main people/portrait/family/fancy shoot lens. I am hoping for a native sigma ART 85mm F1.2.
 
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nandbytes said:
Have owned both and currently own samyang 85mm F1.4.
Samyang is the sharpest one of the lot, bokeh/rendering is better than FE85/1.8 but not as good as GM. AF is worst of the bunch but fairly usable as long it's not your dog running at you. But AF is quieter than 85GM.
The 85GM has the best rendering of the bunch and sharper than FE85/1.8. AF is a little slow and noisey but very accurate.
FE85/1.8 had the best AF of the bunch and size going for it.

Other options I haven't used:
Sigma 85mm ART - seems to the sharpest 85mm around and rendering almost as good as 85GM. But its huge.
Samyang 75mm f1.8 - weakest of the bunch but looks of it but also smallest.

Personally I have liked both 85GM and samyang 85mm f1.4. this is my main people/portrait/family/fancy shoot lens. I am hoping for a native sigma ART 85mm F1.2.
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If the 1.4 art is huge why would you want a 1.2, it'll obvs be bigger?
 
f/2.8 said:
I have both lenses and have had a couple of copies of each. I first bought the f/1.8 but upgraded to the G.M after also being a little disappointed in the C.A. The G.M lens is a lot better in this regard. It also has much nicer bokeh as you would expect. The G.M bokeh is very creamy.

However I did miss the lighter weight and the fast a.f speed of the f/1.8 so I ended up getting another one later on. I now use them for different things. The G.M has beautiful bokeh and is well controlled but it is slower to focus and is much bigger / heavier. The 85 f/1.8 is great for fast moving subjects but it does have ugly bokeh and C.A.
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Thanks that is pretty much what I'm finding "ugly bokeh and C.A." but like you I got it as it was small/light and I'm still thinking that. I used to use the Fuji 56mm 1.2 I for same reason but found that much better for CA than this Sony at similar size, I think the bokeh and CA (especially the CA) is going to annoy me though which may put me off using it :(
 
twist said:
If the 1.4 art is huge why would you want a 1.2, it'll obvs be bigger?
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It's too huge for a f1.4 lens and unbalanced because of the hollow adapter.
A F1.2 lens like RF version I'd put up with because of the f1.2 and better balance. I know you'll tell me you have no problems with using it on an adapter but I barely liked sigma 35ART so I mostly likely will not like this.
 
Jase said:
Has any got or had both the Sony 85mm F1.8 and the 85 F1.4?

If so do you have an photos taken in similar conditions that I could use to compare or give me your opinions. I like the 85mm but haven't used it much, I took my parents out yesterday and did some photos of them by the beach in mid afternoon sun and I was pretty disappointed by the chromatic aberration at times. I know that can be an issue with some fast primes but I would consider changing to the F1.4 if there is much of an improvement.
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This is a very good video comparison between the 1.4 lenses... I liked my 85 1.8 very much the art is much better.

View: https://youtu.be/pTkwu-H3n-c
 
Jase said:
Has any got or had both the Sony 85mm F1.8 and the 85 F1.4?

If so do you have an photos taken in similar conditions that I could use to compare or give me your opinions. I like the 85mm but haven't used it much, I took my parents out yesterday and did some photos of them by the beach in mid afternoon sun and I was pretty disappointed by the chromatic aberration at times. I know that can be an issue with some fast primes but I would consider changing to the F1.4 if there is much of an improvement.
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Yes, even the Canon too at the same time.

hOc43OV.jpg


The 1.8 is a very nice lens for the money. It has size and speed to it's advantage and half a stop slowly obviously. But IQ wise I thought it was excellent.

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nandbytes said:
It's too huge for a f1.4 lens and unbalanced because of the hollow adapter.
A F1.2 lens like RF version I'd put up with because of the f1.2 and better balance. I know you'll tell me you have no problems with using it on an adapter but I barely liked sigma 35ART so I mostly likely will not like this.
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uC549GA.jpg
 
nandbytes said:
It's too huge for a f1.4 lens and unbalanced because of the hollow adapter.
A F1.2 lens like RF version I'd put up with because of the f1.2 and better balance. I know you'll tell me you have no problems with using it on an adapter but I barely liked sigma 35ART so I mostly likely will not like this.
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What makes you think they'd design it like the RF when the 35 1.2 is basically the same as the 1.4 but beefed up?

comparison_sigma_art_35mm_1.2_1.4_40mm_title.jpg
 
twist said:
What makes you think they'd design it like the RF when the 35 1.2 is basically the same as the 1.4 but beefed up?

comparison_sigma_art_35mm_1.2_1.4_40mm_title.jpg
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Eh? It's completely different design to the f1.4 art. I am not sure what you mean.
If it's ends up being larger than RF I probably won't like it much but one can hope :P
 
Jase said:
Thanks that is pretty much what I'm finding "ugly bokeh and C.A." but like you I got it as it was small/light and I'm still thinking that. I used to use the Fuji 56mm 1.2 I for same reason but found that much better for CA than this Sony at similar size, I think the bokeh and CA (especially the CA) is going to annoy me though which may put me off using it :(
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Yeah I hear you about the C.A and it is annoying on the f/1.8 although to be fair it’s usually easily fixed in post.

The two lenses are very different and the rendering of the G.M lens is pretty special. The G.M is a much better lens than the Nikon 85 f/1.4 lenses I owned previously and I loved those.

In terms of the others mentioned I have tried the Sigma. A.F is slower again than the G.M, it’s also a ridiculous size and it hunts a bit in low light and is very poor in backlit situations. It is very sharp though.

I have also owned the Samyang 85 f1.4 my daughter has it at the moment. Like with all the Samyang lenses a.f is iffy at best, it renders nicely enough. Nandbytes says it’s sharper than the G.M lens, I didn’t find that to be the case at all.

I have also had the 75mm Samyang which is a dog of a lens and unusable unless you are outdoors in good light.
 
nandbytes said:
Eh? It's completely different design to the f1.4 art. I am not sure what you mean.
If it's ends up being larger than RF I probably won't like it much but one can hope :p
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Errr, they look identical except one is bigger. It's sigma, it'll be bigger than the 1.4. Although optically I'm not sure it can get any better besides the aperture.
 
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Raymond Lin said:
Yes, even the Canon too at the same time.

hOc43OV.jpg


The 1.8 is a very nice lens for the money. It has size and speed to it's advantage and half a stop obviously. But IQ wise I thought it was excellent.
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OK the Sony 1.4 is huge.

TBH I thought the IQ was fine on the 1.8 but I hadn't used it much and when I had it was inside in good/controlled lighting. Since using it outside in varied light I'm just not liking the results as much and the CA is very noticeable and pretty poor in some conditions, I could live with the Bokeh.

Were the shots you posted taken with the 1.8?
 
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nandbytes said:
Rubbish AF though.
Have considered it many times though.
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By modern standard it's not the best, actually by the standard when it came out it was slow, but it is part of what it is. I used it for a decade, it's really not that big a problem., and this is on AF such as the 5D2 !
 
nandbytes said:
Rubbish AF though.
Have considered it many times though.
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Horses for courses. If you want dreamy portraits get the older 1.2. If you want clinical sharpness it's sigma. The f1. 8 is the speed king and the gm in my opinion is the best all rounder. Its beautiful. The samyang, well I've had 3 copies and won't go there again.
 
woof woof said:
It'd be interesting to know if this costs Sony money or makes them money and either way how much.
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I suspect Sony's view will be even if this is a sale 'at cost' to them, the PR benefit of AP switching to them is significant, as is the hit to both Canon and Nikon in loosing AP.
 
Hogboy said:
The Mrs after her first haircut in over 4 months
Viltrox 85mm 1.8 and A7Riii
50119549401_f79c39b559_o (1)_edited by Ian, on Flickr
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I really liked the Viltrox 85 f1.8 rendering, and it works well here. Is that the original (heavy) leans or the lighter MkII version? Also does the AF work OK - my copy was very patchy & stopped altogether after an hour or so.
 
Raymond Lin said:
By modern standard it's not the best, actually by the standard when it came out it was slow, but it is part of what it is. I used it for a decade, it's really not that big a problem., and this is on AF such as the 5D2 !
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Need to track children with it. Don't think it'll do particularly well at that.
 
addicknchips said:
Horses for courses. If you want dreamy portraits get the older 1.2. If you want clinical sharpness it's sigma. The f1. 8 is the speed king and the gm in my opinion is the best all rounder. Its beautiful. The samyang, well I've had 3 copies and won't go there again.
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RF 85/1.2 seems to do it all at least in my books. Also costs a lot.

Not sure why you dislike the samyang version. It's very decent. Rendering wise sharper than nicer than FE85/1.8. AF is it's weak point but still very usable.
Having used all of samyangs f1.4 lenses now this one is the best of the lot both optically and AF.
 
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nandbytes said:
RF 85/1.2 seems to do it all at least in my books. Also costs a lot.

Not sure why you dislike the samyang version. It's very decent. Rendering wise sharper than nicer than FE85/1.8. AF is it's weak point but still very usable.
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Yes I would have said the rf blows the rest out of the water, but that would have resulted in tears.

I wanted to like the samyang and got one as soon as it released. One copy I had couldn't foucs properly. Other than that I was very displeased with the quality of the bokeh. Lastly it just felt too cheap in the hands. That does help keeping it light weight, but to me it just feels like something that needs to be babied to last and doesn't fill me with confidence.
 
addicknchips said:
Yes I would have said the rf blows the rest out of the water, but that would have resulted in tears.

I wanted to like the samyang and got one as soon as it released. One copy I had couldn't foucs properly. Other than that I was very displeased with the quality of the bokeh. Lastly it just felt too cheap in the hands. That does help keeping it light weight, but to me it just feels like something that needs to be babied to last and doesn't fill me with confidence.
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On v4 the AF seems ok. I haven't used it in previous versions. Build is no better or worst than other samyang lenses. They are all built the same.

I am really hoping sigma will make a 85mm f1.2 about the same size and quality as RF one. Not because I don't want to buy canon (yes there is a little of that since swapping is expensive) but that RF lens is expensive and sigma will cost nearly half that if 35mm/1.2 is anything to go by. And even if I swap sigma might make a RF version which will be cheaper.
 
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nandbytes said:
On v4 the AF seems ok. I haven't used it in previous versions. Build is no better or worst than other samyang lenses. They are all built the same.

I am really hoping sigma will make a 85mm f1.2 about the same size and quality as RF one. Not because I don't want to buy canon (yes there is a little of that since swapping is expensive) but that RF lens is expensive and sigma will cost nearly half that if 35mm/1.2 is anything to go by. And even if I swap sigma might make a RF version which will be cheaper.
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The first one something must have been up with it as I had the lens station to upgrade fw, but it couldn't focus on the eye with stationery subjects. would hit the eyelash.

Yeah a sigma version would be a fraction of the cost of the RF version if they are able to make such a lens.
 
ancient_mariner said:
I really liked the Viltrox 85 f1.8 rendering, and it works well here. Is that the original (heavy) leans or the lighter MkII version? Also does the AF work OK - my copy was very patchy & stopped altogether after an hour or so.
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It's the mk1, the af seems pretty good to me so far.
 
f/2.8 said:
I mentioned a while back here that I had been to a few events attended by the press and quite a lot of them were using Sony Equipment.

I was also at Stormont (our version of Westminster) a few days ago for an event and there was quite a lot of press there and in a sea of Sony cameras I only seen one Cannon user. There was a lot of what looked like A9’s and A9II’s. I guess the silent shooting is a big thing for the press.
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I know what Stormont is and its the only one I missing photo of now, I have the other 3 :D

dpreview comment section is good popcorn read. someone on a crusade to prove his R6 is many times better.
 
nandbytes said:
I know what Stormont is and its the only one I missing photo of now, I have the other 3 :D

dpreview comment section is good popcorn read. someone on a crusade to prove his R6 is many times better.
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Not sure that anyone could realistically argue that the R6 is better then the A9II or even the A9, strange one, but for seem reason the fanboys arses are really hurting because of the A.P announcement.

A9 series is still the only option if you want silent shooting without banding and rolling shutter.


“This is the biggest investment in cameras we have ever made,” he explains. “It's a really clear statement of intent about where AP sees the future of visual storytelling, both in terms of photography and video. That photojournalism and that video goes to every single platform imaginable in terms of the type of platform. So I'm really thrilled and excited that we got to this point with Sony and this will give us lots of opportunity ahead to explore new ways of storytelling and really expand what we do today.” AP Deputy Managing Editor Derl McCrudden




So they did pay for them after all..
 
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f/2.8 said:
Not sure that anyone could realistically argue that the R6 is better then the A9II or even the A9, strange one, but for seem reason the fanboys arses are really hurting because of the A.P announcement.

A9 series is still the only option if you want silent shooting without banding and rolling shutter.

“This is the biggest investment in cameras we have ever made,” he explains. “It's a really clear statement of intent about where AP sees the future of visual storytelling, both in terms of photography and video. That photojournalism and that video goes to every single platform imaginable in terms of the type of platform. So I'm really thrilled and excited that we got to this point with Sony and this will give us lots of opportunity ahead to explore new ways of storytelling and really expand what we do today.” AP Deputy Managing Editor Derl McCrudden

So they did pay for them after all..
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of course there are conspiracy theorists on there claiming Sony paid AP or rather gave them free kits. :D

One could argue why R6 in certain scenarios can be better but like you say A9 is the THE only viable option for professional silent shooting (which seem's to be one of AP's major points for buying A9). Seems to be a hard concept for people to understand.
 
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