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

There's a short piece on The Online Photographer about sample picture galleries...


I look at bokeh, sunstars, vignetting and flare and any comments on distortion or corner colour shifts and the like.

Does anyone look at sample galleries and decide anything based on them?
I look for sunstars (and flare as a result) and bokeh mainly. Also look to see how the contrast holds up against the sun.
Don't much care about the other stuff unless there's like 5-6-stops of vignetting like there is on some canon RF lenses.
 
Decided to drive down to Dorset a few weeks ago & camp on a nice quiet beach overnight. Well, quiet aside from the bats & the waves on the pebbles!!


*** by Lee, on Flickr


*** by Lee, on Flickr


*** by Lee, on Flickr
Very nice, lovely light.
 
For me 28-60 sounds like a too-short range for a zoom. I'm much happier taking a 35mm prime and potentially stitch a couple photo together for wider or do a bit of cropping later for tighter.
 
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For me 28-60 sounds like a too-short range for a zoom. I'm much happier taking a 35mm prime and potentially stitch a couple photo together for wider or do a bit of cropping later for tighter.
We had the samyang 45mm/1.8 prime previously with a similar thinking.
But the weatherseal was key for us on this trip. Also while the zoom range is small it's still more versatile than a prime when shooting from tight places like a train which also came in handy for the missus.
 
There's a short piece on The Online Photographer about sample picture galleries...


I look at bokeh (and bokeh ball shape) sunstars, vignetting and flare and any comments on distortion or corner colour shifts and the like.

Does anyone look at sample galleries and decide anything based on them?
I have occasionally downloaded raw files to see if, for instance, I can pull details from shadows.
 
I used to do that but I haven't bothered for a while.
 
I spent some time last night looking what could be considered samples on Flickr from the GFX50 and GFX100. I almost bought the GFX50 afterwards! lol But the AF, that's a sticking point.
 
I spent some time last night looking what could be considered samples on Flickr from the GFX50 and GFX100. I almost bought the GFX50 afterwards! lol But the AF, that's a sticking point.
GFX100s looks really great.
I considered it seriously in the end went with A1. The price is the body plus lenses is just too much. Not to mention I'd need something else for action.
 
I still think the Hasselblad would tempt me more. There may well be drawbacks but it just looks gorgeous to me.
 
I still think the Hasselblad would tempt me more. There may well be drawbacks but it just looks gorgeous to me.
Which Hasselblad?
 
Never really liked any of the hassleblads tbh. not sure why....
I do like the look of some Leicas rangefinders but not sure I really get why they cost so much.

GFX seems like a very good option for anyone looking for a modern MF setup.
When I win the lottery definitely will be picking up a GFX100s along with hiring a caddy :ROFLMAO:
 
Never really liked any of the hassleblads tbh. not sure why....
I do like the look of some Leicas rangefinders but not sure I really get why they cost so much.

GFX seems like a very good option for anyone looking for a modern MF setup.
When I win the lottery definitely will be picking up a GFX100s along with hiring a caddy :ROFLMAO:

I've had a couple of RF's, a Canonet and a Voigtlanda Bessa. I can see the appeal of Leicas and RF's in general but you get alignment issues, parallax issues, limited lens lengths and you get to see your lens when taking pictures, sometimes :D One good thing is that you see outside of the frame and they're often pretty quiet.

I do see the appeal of Leica's, the well made camera and lens with manual dials thing, but I won't go back to film and I can mount just about any lens on my existing mirrorless cameras and AF or manually focus much more accurately anywhere in the frame at any focal length.
 
I do see the appeal of Leica's, the well made camera and lens with manual dials thing, but I won't go back to film and I can mount just about any lens on my existing mirrorless cameras and AF or manually focus much more accurately anywhere in the frame at any focal length.
Exactly and if I was going full manual voigtlander lenses would be the first place I'd go (not like I can afford Leica lenses anyway).
And voigtlanders line up for e-mount is pretty extensive. Plus there are the zeiss loxias too which fill the gaps nicely like for a well corrected 21mm or an 85mm option.
Plus you can adapt them all on Nikon Z-mount with full electronic comms. So now I can have slightly nicer bodies too :p
 
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GFX100s looks really great.
I considered it seriously in the end went with A1. The price is the body plus lenses is just too much. Not to mention I'd need something else for action.

Aye the 100 is a bit pricey but I'm sure I saw some used GFX50's at just over the £2k mark which is seriously tempting. I'm not sure what it is about the A9 which is resulting in it sitting on the shelf. The AF is amazing and I really appreciate the near flawless hit-rate, but I think it may be the dynamic range or colour depth or something. It just doesn't seem to have that magic I want, if you know what I mean.

I'm even tempted to look at the A7R iv because it ticks lots of image quality boxes and I've got some Sony lenses so it's an inexpensive swap. MF has that extra magical look, but then the A7R iv has a very good AF system - so I need to weigh all that up.
 
Aye the 100 is a bit pricey but I'm sure I saw some used GFX50's at just over the £2k mark which is seriously tempting. I'm not sure what it is about the A9 which is resulting in it sitting on the shelf. The AF is amazing and I really appreciate the near flawless hit-rate, but I think it may be the dynamic range or colour depth or something. It just doesn't seem to have that magic I want, if you know what I mean.

I'm even tempted to look at the A7R iv because it ticks lots of image quality boxes and I've got some Sony lenses so it's an inexpensive swap. MF has that extra magical look, but then the A7R iv has a very good AF system - so I need to weigh all that up.
I don't think there is much to gain from getting the GFX50 over the the A7RIV.
The 100 series is something else.
 
Exactly and if I was going full manual voigtlander lenses would be the first place I'd go (not like I can afford Leica lenses anyway).
And voigtlanders line up for e-mount is pretty extensive. Plus there are the zeiss loxias too which fill the gaps nicely like for a well corrected 21mm or an 85mm option.
Plus you can adapt them all on Nikon Z-mount with full electronic comms. So now I can have slightly nicer bodies too :p

As you may know I have three Voigtlanders in Sony mount, the 35mm f1.4, 40mm f1.2 and 50mm f2. The 35 and 40mm lenses both have issues you can point at but they are very well made and lovely to use. Those issues don't affect every picture but can still put a lot of people off. Specifically, funky oil painting like bokeh with the 35mm f1.4 at wide apertures although it is imo very nice when stopped down, mushy extreme corners at all apertures and CA in some conditions. The 40mm f1.2 gives a much smoother and more modern look with better corners but can show CA with backlit subjects. The 50mm f2 is IMO just about perfect but a lot of people just wont be interested in a MF 50mm f2, f2 not being sexy enough for them.

BTW.
I hope you'll be happy with the image quality out of the GM5. AFAIK it's the 16mp chip or at least it gives exactly the same file size as my GX80 and IQ seems indistinguishable from it. I think these cameras are so close to the Sony 20mp sensor equipped GX9 as to not matter. Not to me anyway but I suppose a bigger file is perhaps better. The only question mark will be over high ISO / low light performance and how you cope with it post capture. I expect you'll do better than I would :D
 
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BTW.
I hope you'll be happy with the image quality out of the GM5. AFAIK it's the 16mp chip or at least it gives exactly the same file size as my GX80 and IQ seems indistinguishable from it. I think these cameras are so close to the Sony 20mp sensor equipped GX9 as to not matter. Not to me anyway but I suppose a bigger file is perhaps better. The only question mark will be over high ISO / low light performance and how you cope with it post capture. I expect you'll do better than I would :D

I hope so too. I haven't got it yet, will collect it in 10 days time.
I am looking to use to shoot deep sky objects at night time, so ISO performance will be important. But considering I will need to stack many many images It should be fine I think.
If it works out I will try to get a cleaner copy of the camera with some nicer lenses. Regardless I should be able to sell it on without much loss.
 
Same for me. As always good luck to those who own A1's and there are some in this thread, but I can't see myself ever spending that much on a camera or lens. Not that I'd use the A1's abilities.
 
Same for me. As always good luck to those who own A1's and there are some in this thread, but I can't see myself ever spending that much on a camera or lens. Not that I'd use the A1's abilities.
Me neither, and it’ll be a LONG time before the A1 hits the sub £3k mark.
 
My biggest hate with Sony cameras is how rubbish the mobile phone aps are. I mean they make phones as well and can't make a system that keeps constant connection for GPS data or transfer.
 
Its certainly amazing but Sony is still missing a lot on some features a lot of other brands provide these days like focus stacking/bracketing, decent touch interface, etc etc
I’m intrigued by Canon’s focus by eye tech, I wonder how good it is in the real world and at fast apertures.
 
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