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

Put down the crack pipe Sony
 
imattersuk said:
@snerkler Would you recommend Dovedale as a good spot to shoot ? I'm passing through that way soon, won't have time to do a long trek, thanks in advance.
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Dovedale's a lovely place, however I didn't manage to capture any good shots from there as I only walked along the riverbank and one of the smaller hillsides. Light can be tricky, especially on a bright sunny day. The best photos I've seen have been from way up high, I think from Thorpe Cloud, unless you want the classic "stepping stones" photo.

Sorry I can't be more help, I've never really scouted the area properly.
 
Hopefully the AI focus ability will be brought to the A1. For shooting sports with lots of players in a scene eye focus can be a real pain. I want it to go to the eyes of a player and then stay on teh head even if they turn or dip. As it is all three of their sports cameras do the same and jump to a player who is facing you sometimes yards behind. The way the A7RV seems to work would pretty much make the A1 perfect if implemented through firmware. The addition of the flippy screen would be very welcome too in an A1a. I'm pondering a second A1 but will wait to see what the do with this new AF
 
With the price of new cameras heading ever higher I'm dreading the day when my A7 dies.
 
wookie6262 said:
Hopefully the AI focus ability will be brought to the A1. For shooting sports with lots of players in a scene eye focus can be a real pain. I want it to go to the eyes of a player and then stay on teh head even if they turn or dip. As it is all three of their sports cameras do the same and jump to a player who is facing you sometimes yards behind. The way the A7RV seems to work would pretty much make the A1 perfect if implemented through firmware. The addition of the flippy screen would be very welcome too in an A1a. I'm pondering a second A1 but will wait to see what the do with this new AF
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Doesn't it have a dedicated AI chip? If so it might be hard to backport to the A1.

I'm going to start saving, it will take a while, but this would be a good upgrade from my a7r2, and by the time I have saved up enough, I guess the A7cii, and a7V will be out and the A1 might be affordable 2nd hand. Happy Days
 
MrMackyB said:
Doesn't it have a dedicated AI chip? If so it might be hard to backport to the A1.

I'm going to start saving, it will take a while, but this would be a good upgrade from my a7r2, and by the time I have saved up enough, I guess the A7cii, and a7V will be out and the A1 might be affordable 2nd hand. Happy Days
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I love an optimist.
 
wookie6262 said:
Hopefully the AI focus ability will be brought to the A1. For shooting sports with lots of players in a scene eye focus can be a real pain. I want it to go to the eyes of a player and then stay on teh head even if they turn or dip. As it is all three of their sports cameras do the same and jump to a player who is facing you sometimes yards behind. The way the A7RV seems to work would pretty much make the A1 perfect if implemented through firmware. The addition of the flippy screen would be very welcome too in an A1a. I'm pondering a second A1 but will wait to see what the do with this new AF
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I find eye aF can jump from subject to subject on the A9ii as well, it can only get better (y)
 
snerkler said:
Dovedale's a lovely place, however I didn't manage to capture any good shots from there as I only walked along the riverbank and one of the smaller hillsides. Light can be tricky, especially on a bright sunny day. The best photos I've seen have been from way up high, I think from Thorpe Cloud, unless you want the classic "stepping stones" photo.

Sorry I can't be more help, I've never really scouted the area properly.
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Thanks very much
 
Mike.P said:
Looks to be a pretty good camera although FPS on the A7RV is nothing to write home about.

Will be keeping my Canon R7 for birding/wildlife and the a9 for other stuff I think.
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Yeah I wish they'd upgrade that FPS to at least 14-ish
 
snerkler said:
I find eye aF can jump from subject to subject on the A9ii as well, it can only get better (y)
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All three are the same A9, A9ii and A1. All jump far too quickly off a subject when their face is obscured and another is in the frame. The early video of the new system looks to have made that far better and I'd be happy to shoot jpeg 20fps if the room could be used for focussing power
 
wookie6262 said:
All three are the same A9, A9ii and A1. All jump far too quickly off a subject when their face is obscured and another is in the frame. The early video of the new system looks to have made that far better and I'd be happy to shoot jpeg 20fps if the room could be used for focussing power
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Do those cameras not have the settings to change the tracking behaviour?
 
robj20 said:
Do those cameras not have the settings to change the tracking behaviour?
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They do, but it doesn't appear to help much.
 
Looks like a solid upgrade, the AF in particular.

My only nitpick. The flip screen looks overly complicated. All it needs is to flip out and rotate really. All those articulations just adds points of failure. Does it or can Sony do MRAW or SRAW yet like Canon does?
 
robj20 said:
Do those cameras not have the settings to change the tracking behaviour?
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I've tried them all and it makes very little difference. The cameras are amazing when you point at a player they will almost instantly jump to the head. However if teh player turns and another player close by has his face in full view they often jump to them for focus. You can make it a bit stickier but it is still there and then it isn't as good for just snapping focus when you just get the lens pointed on teh action in time.
 
Another Fuji X100s update.

I noticed that at f2 the max shutter speed is 1/1,000. Googling tells me this is to let the shutter get out of the way as wide open it'd infringe on the frame shooting faster than 1/1,000.

That's two things that've phased me today. The auto DR selecting too high an ISO and too slow a shutter speed and this shutter speed limitation at f2.
 
woof woof said:
Another Fuji X100s update.

I noticed that at f2 the max shutter speed is 1/1,000. Googling tells me this is to let the shutter get out of the way as wide open it'd infringe on the frame shooting faster than 1/1,000.

That's two things that've phased me today. The auto DR selecting too high an ISO and too slow a shutter speed and this shutter speed limitation at f2.
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It all sounds very odd, I’ve never known aperture affect how fast the shutter can be :thinking: I thought it might be due to the leaf shutter but I’ve never heard about issues with Leicas etc that use leaf shutters.
 
snerkler said:
It all sounds very odd, I’ve never known aperture affect how fast the shutter can be :thinking: I thought it might be due to the leaf shutter but I’ve never heard about issues with Leicas etc that use leaf shutters.
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Yup. Leaf shutter.

When I get time I'm going to test this against my A7 and MFT, just for fun. It does have it's quirks... oh and another couple... the EVF was too dark to use at the seaside today so I switched to the OVF and the eye sensor was too easily affected by the sun behind me. Several times I put the camera to my eye and saw nothing as the display was still on the screen.
 
iacG6Oh.jpg


TMM9Yi4.jpg
 
The new lcd screen on the A7R5 is interesting although I don't think that the rest of the spec would interest me that much.

Was just thinking to myself the other day that if Sony continue to implement the screen from the A7IV that at some point I would probably have to jump ship as I find it way too annoying.
 
woof woof said:
With the price of new cameras heading ever higher I'm dreading the day when my A7 dies.
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I'm already dreading my A9 being shelved now that I've got a decent camera phone, it's just too convenient. I would still need the A9 for the most challenging situations, but for all the times that happens. This just leaves my interest in panoramic stitches and I'm actually toying with delving into MF for this.

Grabbed this last night with just a slight edit for an arty look. I deliberately didn't sharpen when downsizing the dimensions in PS for posting on here.

Sunset.jpg
 
gman said:
I'm already dreading my A9 being shelved now that I've got a decent camera phone, it's just too convenient. I would still need the A9 for the most challenging situations, but for all the times that happens. This just leaves my interest in panoramic stitches and I'm actually toying with delving into MF for this.
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Phone photography just isn't for me and I have tried but I just can't like anything about it :D As always, good luck to those who enjoy holding an oblong screen at half arms length in front of their face and jabbing at it but it's just not an experience I like :D
 
woof woof said:
Phone photography just isn't for me and I have tried but I just can't like anything about it :D As always, good luck to those who enjoy holding an oblong screen at half arms length in front of their face and jabbing at it but it's just not an experience I like :D
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No screen jabbing for me. I've got one of the buttons on the side of my phone set to act as the shutter button. It's exactly like using a 'real' camera that lacks a viewfinder.
 
Ed Sutton said:
No screen jabbing for me. I've got one of the buttons on the side of my phone set to act as the shutter button. It's exactly like using a 'real' camera that lacks a viewfinder.
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Yup, no VF and presumably no grip?
 
Ed Sutton said:
Just like a lot of compacts and some mirrorless cameras.

If you're open minded it can be got used to. Viewfinders are sooooo 20th century anyway!
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I don't think I'll ever spend serious money on any picture taking device that doesn't have a VF as I've yet to see a screen that'll allow you to see fine detail in good light, I don't know if one even exists yet. With a VF/EVF just inches from your eye you can see fine detail and I've yet to see anything from a phone that can match that experience. Then there's the ergonomics, it's just not an experience I enjoy. Another thing to consider is I hate the things. Every time I see someone with their brain in neutral staring at an oblong screen and ignoring even their own children I just shake my head in a little moment of disbelief.

As always good luck to those who love the things but I have no love for them at all and precious little interest in using them.
 
woof woof said:
As always good luck to those who love the things but I have no love for them at all and precious little interest in using them.
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I didn't think I'd like using screens, but I do now, and for some situations I prefer them. They're a lot better than the pokey little EVFs we first had, and way better than the offset holes in my first Instamatic!

I have a compact with no VF and it's fine. You can actually get angles impossible to achieve while looking through a viewfinder. I don't use my phone as a camera very often, but it also has its unique uses. Not least being able to take photos where cameras are 'not explicitly allowed'.

At the end of the day they're all just imaging devices, so use what suits you. I prefer DSLRs to mirrorless cameras, for example. I don't have to waste battery power to look through my viewfinders when considering a picture. :giggle:
 
For me phone cameras certainly seem to be competing with compact cameras with the added benefits of not being an extra piece of kit to carry and also being fully integrated with the features of your phone (editing, sharing etc). It's still not going to compete with the likes of my A9 for auto focus and image quality (especially for printing) but as I said I'm now looking at my actual requirements and weighing things up.

Regarding viewfinders, I almost always get down to the eye level of the subject I'm photographing, especially when photographing the dog, so the viewfinder is often no good as the camera is too low to the ground. Even more so with video. It is difficult when very bright though, but then I'll try and rely a little more on the AF to grab the eyes.

The view finder is handy for tucking your elbow in for extra stability and changing setting in a bright environment.
 
woof woof said:
I don't think I'll ever spend serious money on any picture taking device that doesn't have a VF as I've yet to see a screen that'll allow you to see fine detail in good light, I don't know if one even exists yet. With a VF/EVF just inches from your eye you can see fine detail and I've yet to see anything from a phone that can match that experience. Then there's the ergonomics, it's just not an experience I enjoy. Another thing to consider is I hate the things. Every time I see someone with their brain in neutral staring at an oblong screen and ignoring even their own children I just shake my head in a little moment of disbelief.

As always good luck to those who love the things but I have no love for them at all and precious little interest in using them.
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I still prefer a VF, although my only gripe is that I always find it a bit tricky to see the full frame sometimes and have to shift my gaze.

As for the bit in bold it's a real bug bear of mine, whether it be when they're supposed to be minding children/dogs or simply walking across the road blindly. Surely you can cope without your phone for a while. And don't get me started on people using their phones whilst they're driving.
 
gman said:
Regarding viewfinders, I almost always get down to the eye level of the subject I'm photographing, especially when photographing the dog, so the viewfinder is often no good as the camera is too low to the ground. Even more so with video. It is difficult when very bright though, but then I'll try and rely a little more on the AF to grab the eyes.
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I’m surprised that more camera companies don’t offer tiltable EVFs - The option on the original Fuji GFX is a thing if wonder and allows tilt in two directions, It is very useful for those low down shots!
 
snerkler said:
I still prefer a VF, although my only gripe is that I always find it a bit tricky to see the full frame sometimes and have to shift my gaze.

As for the bit in bold it's a real bug bear of mine, whether it be when they're supposed to be minding children/dogs or simply walking across the road blindly. Surely you can cope without your phone for a while. And don't get me started on people using their phones whilst they're driving.
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I would have loved children but for a number of reasons it just didn't happen for me and when I see parents glued to phones and the kids being ignored I just always wince a bit.

As tools for photography, honestly if I live long enough to see cameras disappear from the shops and if I can still take photos I'll be using any non phone camera I can get hold of no matter how old.
 
woof woof said:
With the price of new cameras heading ever higher I'm dreading the day when my A7 dies.
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I was moderately excited about the upcoming release until I saw the price tag. At £4k they are supposed to give us a body that can be handled properly. A fully weathersealed body too. Nope. Price is close to A1, too close in fact, and I don't really like the idea of 1.2x video crop at 60fps. 50 vs 60MP is totally irrelevant. Only the sharpest primes will resolve that down to the corners, and it only matters if making prints at several meters wide. Did I say ergonomics is really bad on these? That makes it a glorified tripod only high res body at £4k with amazing AF you don't need because of precisely that. It is not much more for Z9 which is infinitely better camera, the best one out there at the moment.
I suppose Canon should respond with R5 II priced at £6 or perhaps better £7k. R1 just measly £13k. why the hell not?!
 
LongLensPhotography said:
I was moderately excited about the upcoming release until I saw the price tag. At £4k they are supposed to give us a body that can be handled properly. A fully weathersealed body too. Nope. Price is close to A1, too close in fact, and I don't really like the idea of 1.2x video crop at 60fps. 50 vs 60MP is totally irrelevant. Only the sharpest primes will resolve that down to the corners, and it only matters if making prints at several meters wide. Did I say ergonomics is really bad on these? That makes it a glorified tripod only high res body at £4k with amazing AF you don't need because of precisely that. It is not much more for Z9 which is infinitely better camera, the best one out there at the moment.
I suppose Canon should respond with R5 II priced at £6 or perhaps better £7k. R1 just measly £13k. why the hell not?!
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It’s £1300 cheaper than a Z9 and £2500 cheaper than an A1, I wouldn’t call that close (it’s not a fair comparison to compare grey).

As for resolving power of lenses, I found most lenses I had/have showed more detail with my A7RIV than my A9II so you can argue the extra resolution helps, where the cut off is I don’t know. High MP is not just for large prints, it’s also good for cropping.

The ergonomics on the latest Sonys are just fine.

All this being said I still think the price of camera gear these days is getting silly, and it’s very hard to justify.
 
Kind of funny - thinking about a used A7rIII as a high-res upgrade right now. ;)

0ut of interest, those who've had the A7rIII - does it do eye-AF and is focussing better or worse that the A7III?
 
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