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

ancient_mariner said:
I use the old, free Nik Silver Efex for all my mono stuff, but with my own presets as a starting point. Just like any software package one can make obviously bad choices, but it doesn't have to be like that.

TR7 - my memory of when they were current is that they were attrocious, and were an example of why the British motor industry failed. I had a relly who owned one, and he had a serious accident because of mechanical failure while driving. Just an ugly piece of junk, now nostalgically reimagined as interesting and special. And I'm being polite.
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Well, there you go whereas when I had a Lotus Elan SE I had a pal who's mildly tuned TR7 he used every day would leave my Lotus behind every time. I suppose a as always a lot came down to how the car was cared for.
 
nandbytes said:
I like how folks like phillipreeve test thier lens sharpness at infinity, "portrait distances" and closest focus distance. But they barely test fast telephoto lens let alone with TCs.

But not many people do this. At the end of the day it is a lot of effort for probably very low returns? Most people checking out these reviews probably don't care about about such differences?
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I’m surprised how few proper reviews there are with use of TC’s. There’s plenty of discussions online about using TC’s so it does appear that there’s enough interest to warrant proper tests.
 
woof woof said:
Well, there you go whereas when I had a Lotus Elan SE I had a pal who's mildly tuned TR7 he used every day would leave my Lotus behind every time. I suppose a as always a lot came down to how the car was cared for.
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And maybe who was driving. My mate’s first car was a 1 litre Peugeot 205 but by god could he make that thing fly :LOL:
 
snerkler said:
And maybe who was driving. My mate’s first car was a 1 litre Peugeot 205 but by god could he make that thing fly :LOL:
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I could always keep the speed up through the twisties in my sports cars but my Elan SE couldn't keep up with that TR7 (and another pals tuned Toledo) in a straight line. I don't know what those Triumphs topped out at but ultimate speed was never my aim so I never found out.
 
There's a nice review of the Nikon 50mm f1.4 AIS here...

phillipreeve.net

Review: Nikon NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4 Ai-S - phillipreeve.net

ContentsIntroductionSample ImagesSpecificationsVariationsHandlingOptical FeaturesSharpness (infinity)Sharpness (Portrait)Sharpness (Close-up)Lens DistortionVignettingFlare ResistanceChromatic Aberrations & Focus ShiftComaSunstarsFocus BreathingBokehConclusionAlternativesManual Focus...
phillipreeve.net phillipreeve.net

I have one of these and also an older Nippon Kogaku 50mm f1.4.

I must admit that the AIS lens is possibly my least used old 50mm as IMO the look it gives is a little too neutral and modern. I'd say that the 50mm f1.4 Rokkor is the slightly better lens but no lens of that era can IMO stand comparison to modern lenses at wide apertures when looking at performance across the frame and bokeh too.

Of course one disadvantage with all these film era lenses is that you need an adapter which increases the size.
 
snerkler said:
@Mike.P and @nandbytes this looks a good review of the 100-400mm vs 70-200mm GM2 with 2x TC

www.alphashooters.com

Sony 100-400 VS 70-200 F2.8 GM II With 2x Tele at 400mm - AlphaShooters.com

In this article I'll be comparing the Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II with the 2x teleconverter attached.
www.alphashooters.com www.alphashooters.com
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Still tested at a single focus distance probably at closer focus distance?

Edit;
I read that he says it's at 10m. That isn't hugely far away is it?
 
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nandbytes said:
Still tested at a single focus distance probably at closer focus distance?

Edit;
I read that he says it's at 10m. That isn't hugely far away is it?
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No but it’s the best review I’ve come across so far. That being said if I’m shooting small birds (blue tits, Robins etc) I’d not want to be any further than 10m away, preferably much closer. The kingfishers I shot a couple of months ago were about 4.5m away and 400mm was too short to fill the frame and I ended up using the 1.4x tc to give 560mm.
 
snerkler said:
No but it’s the best review I’ve come across so far. That being said if I’m shooting small birds (blue tits, Robins etc) I’d not want to be any further than 10m away, preferably much closer. The kingfishers I shot a couple of months ago were about 4.5m away and 400mm was too short to fill the frame and I ended up using the 1.4x tc to give 560mm.
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That's fair but if are shooting larger subjects then you might be further away I guess.

I wonder how the new 70-200mm f4 compared. Let's hope he does a review when he gets his hands on one
 
nandbytes said:
That's fair but if are shooting larger subjects then you might be further away I guess.

I wonder how the new 70-200mm f4 compared. Let's hope he does a review when he gets his hands on one
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Will be interesting, although of course you’ll be at f8 which requires really good weather which is rare ;)
 
James J said:
bought a 50mm F1.2 GM to go with my A1 to shoot my own wedding in September! We couldn't find a photographer we liked who had availability at either location (UK and then Spain...) so its turned into a DIY jobby. Will be interesting lol
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James J said:
Ha I don't need an excuse to splurge the cash on photography stuff. The 600 F4 GM will take some beating in that regard compared to cheap primes!
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Just wait until October! :D
 
Google notified me about this article
fstoppers.com

7 Things I Learned From Changing Systems Twice In One Year | Fstoppers

During the pandemic, I did some gear juggling. I'm a little embarrassed to admit I changed systems twice in the space of 12 months and even more so about the reasons I made the second switch – but I learned some surprising lessons along the way.
fstoppers.com fstoppers.com

Currently using the x100v and in last year I have owned Panasonic and Olympus bodies. Also considering Nikon. A lot of the he writes really resonates with my feelings about all this.
At the end of the day I just want a camera that doesn't get in the way of my photography.
 
nandbytes said:
At the end of the day I just want a camera that doesn't get in the way of my photography.
Click to expand...

I think this comes from settling on a camera/system and working with it over a long period of time, using it then just becomes second nature (muscle memory), I can then concentrate on the photography and not have to think too much about settings, I just seem to do those. I've found that I actually take less photos but my keeper rate is much higher. I think this comes as I'm thinking more about composition and light and don't bother taking images that I don't think will work (in teh hope I can rescue them in post)
 
Mr Perceptive said:
I think this comes from settling on a camera/system and working with it over a long period of time, using it then just becomes second nature (muscle memory), I can then concentrate on the photography and not have to think too much about settings, I just seem to do those. I've found that I actually take less photos but my keeper rate is much higher. I think this comes as I'm thinking more about composition and light and don't bother taking images that I don't think will work (in teh hope I can rescue them in post)
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Generally speaking for me the litmus test is my wife. She understands the basics of photography but doesn't want to mess around with the camera too much since her main concern is to keep the kids safe and then compose well.

She just wants to literally just point and click. Most she'll change is the aperture in A-priority. And since a lot of her shooting is indoors this normally wide open and rarely gets stopped down when she goes in the garden.

Panasonic was working great till my daughter started crawling around. X100V was great till she started walking and running.
 
nandbytes said:
Generally speaking for me the litmus test is my wife. She understands the basics of photography but doesn't want to mess around with the camera too much since her main concern is to keep the kids safe and then compose well.

She just wants to literally just point and click. Most she'll change is the aperture in A-priority. And since a lot of her shooting is indoors this normally wide open and rarely gets stopped down when she goes in the garden.

Panasonic was working great till my daughter started crawling around. X100V was great till she started walking and running.
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This is my wife's mode of operation as well, aperutre changing and film sim changing is about as complex as it gets (she uses an X-T20 and loves the touch screen focus and shuttere release function!)
 
Mr Perceptive said:
This is my wife's mode of operation as well, aperutre changing and film sim changing is about as complex as it gets (she uses an X-T20 and loves the touch screen focus and shuttere release function!)
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I thought my wife would like the touch screen. She doesn't care about it for photographing but she really likes it for preview.
For photography she very much wants to just point and click the shutter. With Sony for example it'll find the eye pretty easily as long as the subject is in the frame. No need to mess about with touching, that involves two hands :P

The X100V does also, it just that tracking isn't as smooth.
 
Mr Perceptive said:
I think this comes from settling on a camera/system and working with it over a long period of time, using it then just becomes second nature (muscle memory), I can then concentrate on the photography and not have to think too much about settings, I just seem to do those. I've found that I actually take less photos but my keeper rate is much higher. I think this comes as I'm thinking more about composition and light and don't bother taking images that I don't think will work (in teh hope I can rescue them in post)
Click to expand...

This is fast becoming more and more applicable to me. I value my time, so if a scene really isn't doing it for me then I'm not going to waste time on it. Perhaps one exception would be if there was a skill improvement opportunity with it.
 
woof woof said:
There's a nice review of the Nikon 50mm f1.4 AIS here...

phillipreeve.net

Review: Nikon NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4 Ai-S - phillipreeve.net

ContentsIntroductionSample ImagesSpecificationsVariationsHandlingOptical FeaturesSharpness (infinity)Sharpness (Portrait)Sharpness (Close-up)Lens DistortionVignettingFlare ResistanceChromatic Aberrations & Focus ShiftComaSunstarsFocus BreathingBokehConclusionAlternativesManual Focus...
phillipreeve.net phillipreeve.net

I have one of these and also an older Nippon Kogaku 50mm f1.4.

I must admit that the AIS lens is possibly my least used old 50mm as IMO the look it gives is a little too neutral and modern. I'd say that the 50mm f1.4 Rokkor is the slightly better lens but no lens of that era can IMO stand comparison to modern lenses at wide apertures when looking at performance across the frame and bokeh too.

Of course one disadvantage with all these film era lenses is that you need an adapter which increases the size.
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I really like the rendering of my Sony/Minolta 50 f1.4, but it just doesn't have the resolving power and halos can be a big problem. The Samyang is very similar although a little less smooth in rendering, but with much better detail and no halos.

Since you were talking TR7 performance, I remember the 1850 and Sprint of the era being quick, though usually fragile. As you point out, there's much more to driving than horsepower.
 
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snerkler said:
@Mike.P and @nandbytes this looks a good review of the 100-400mm vs 70-200mm GM2 with 2x TC

www.alphashooters.com

Sony 100-400 VS 70-200 F2.8 GM II With 2x Tele at 400mm - AlphaShooters.com

In this article I'll be comparing the Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II with the 2x teleconverter attached.
www.alphashooters.com www.alphashooters.com
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My experience in the real world using 70-200 GMii with 2x tc compared to 100-400.…
It was basically a wash, maybe a fractionally better IQ with the 1-4 but nicer handling with the 70-200 plus tc.
The TC is a must have IMO, it gives so much more opportunity for a small price.
 
Robjwilli said:
My experience in the real world using 70-200 GMii with 2x tc compared to 100-400.…
It was basically a wash, maybe a fractionally better IQ with the 1-4 but nicer handling with the 70-200 plus tc.
The TC is a must have IMO, it gives so much more opportunity for a small price.
Click to expand...

Thanks, mind if I ask which camera you have?

Also welcome to TP :)
 
nandbytes said:
Google notified me about this article
fstoppers.com

7 Things I Learned From Changing Systems Twice In One Year | Fstoppers

During the pandemic, I did some gear juggling. I'm a little embarrassed to admit I changed systems twice in the space of 12 months and even more so about the reasons I made the second switch – but I learned some surprising lessons along the way.
fstoppers.com fstoppers.com

Currently using the x100v and in last year I have owned Panasonic and Olympus bodies. Also considering Nikon. A lot of the he writes really resonates with my feelings about all this.
At the end of the day I just want a camera that doesn't get in the way of my photography.
Click to expand...

I quite like my X100f but being honest the Panasonic MFT cameras I have are IMO better cameras for their focus ability alone. As I mentioned earlier, with the X100f I've never had so many out of focus pictures from an AF camera... Except from my S602 Pro Zoom. The X100 cameras are nice to use and have the retro look and feel but I can't say that they get out of the way, I think they tend to gently ask you to work within their capabilities and at their speed.

I've had the A7 longer than anything else apart from my Nikon SLR but I've used the A7 a lot more.
 
woof woof said:
I quite like my X100f but being honest the Panasonic MFT cameras I have are IMO better cameras for their focus ability alone. As I mentioned earlier, with the X100f I've never had so many out of focus pictures from an AF camera... Except from my S602 Pro Zoom. The X100 cameras are nice to use and have the retro look and feel but I can't say that they get out of the way, I think they tend to gently ask you to work within their capabilities and at their speed.

I've had the A7 longer than anything else apart from my Nikon SLR but I've used the A7 a lot more.
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X100V is definitely a fair step-up from from older X100 versions. But its not even the camera I think, the lens itself is slow to focus. It feels like working with one of the older screw driven minolta lenses.
 
nandbytes said:
X100V is definitely a fair step-up from from older X100 versions. But its not even the camera I think, the lens itself is slow to focus. It feels like working with one of the older screw driven minolta lenses.
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That could be case but the camera must think something is in focus as the focus box goes green and the shot is enabled. All cameras can misfocus and you're always going to get a small percentage of instances where you wonder what's gone wrong but for cameras made in this time period and comparing them to the cameras I've owned I think there is definitely something beyond what we'd normally expect to be amiss with these cameras.

Actually I remember a Manny Ortiz vid on the v and he did say that focus misses were a thing.
 
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woof woof said:
That could be case but the camera must think something is in focus as the focus box goes green and the shot is enabled. All cameras can misfocus and you're always going to get a small percentage of instances where you wonder what's gone wrong but for cameras made in this time period and comparing them to the cameras I've owned I think there is definitely something beyond what we'd normally expect to be amiss with these cameras.

Actually I remember a Manny Ortiz vid on the v and he did say that focus misses were a thing.
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The Fuji's coninuous AF tracking has always lagged signifuicantly behind Sony, My ZV-1 has far better eye tracking than any Fuji I've owned. The only Fuji camera that really does the job in this respect is the X-H2S (I've tested this in a shop and outside), but thats a shed load of bread for an APS-C camera - might as well have an A7iv.

There are definitely better cameras than the X100V in this respect, and if your technique relies on continuous AF tracking then I wouldn't be placing my hard earned in teh Fuji coffers.
 
Mr Perceptive said:
The Fuji's coninuous AF tracking has always lagged signifuicantly behind Sony, My ZV-1 has far better eye tracking than any Fuji I've owned. The only Fuji camera that really does the job in this respect is the X-H2S (I've tested this in a shop and outside), but thats a shed load of bread for an APS-C camera - might as well have an A7iv.

There are definitely better cameras than the X100V in this respect, and if your technique relies on continuous AF tracking then I wouldn't be placing my hard earned in teh Fuji coffers.
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I use eye/face detect and there is a degree of tracking in that but apart from that I almost exclusively just use the one focus box and move it around. There is IMO a definite drop in focus consistency when comparing my X100f and anything else I own or have owned apart from compacts and that S602. It's not enough to make me sell the camera as a missed shot or two on a day out isn't going to be a killer for me and if I think I'm possibly going to have an issue or I spot it happening I take a second shot.

The reasons I've kept the camera include the retro thing, fast start up time and the close focus ability and also the X100f sits in a jacket pocket much more comfortably than any of my Panasonic cameras. I did initially think that the X100f would offer an IQ improvement over MFT but I don't see one and in use I find the Fuji is slightly more likely to blow the highlights than my newer MFT cameras with similar stated DR.

When we were at Whitby the other day I saw a few people with Canon DSLR's, one with a Nikon of some sort and I saw two people with changeable lens Fuji's. They are popular and I can see why. I didn't see anyone else using a cheap Chinese manual lens :D
 
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woof woof said:
Oh well, each to their own.

With aperture there's a hard stop when your lens runs out of it and lowering the shutter speed beyond a certain point isn't the answer if the subject or me and the camera are likely to move so when those limits are reached that leaves high ISO's.

As you can tell from my pictures I'm just a happy snapper with no pretentions to be anything else so I'll take the picture no matter what and see if it'll be useable as a whole picture on screen or maybe a print. Thinking about it, the worst pictures I've ever taken noise wise have been at ISO 25,600 under artificial lights and they are useable as a memory of the moment and doubly so after processing in the new noise software in PS2023.
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25,600 is the setting I use for the max iso when using auto iso on the FF cameras but it's absolutely nowhere near max iso, on the A9 that's over 200,000 and the A7SII it's over 400,000 neither of which produce usable shots for me hence why I'd never use the max iso of the camera on the auto iso setting as standard.
 
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snerkler said:
I don’t think the Q series are particularly compact, especially when you compare it to the likes of the Sony RX1 series, although of course it has a built in VF.

I can understand the ‘appeal’ of just a single focal length but my photography is so varied it just wouldn’t work for me. That being said I have been forcing myself to go out with just the 35mm more these days.
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I was surprised how big the Q series was as I thought it was a similar size to the RX1 series but the Leicas are a lot bigger.

I shoot almost entirely with zoom lenses so initially the RX1R's 35mm lens seemed horribly limiting but in some ways I quite liked being forced to a single focal length, there's no thought needed as to what lens I'm taking and in some cases I have to think more about composing the shots I'm taking. I have considered an A7C with the 35mm as a replacement but it's still a fair bit bigger than the RX1R and I can't see Sony producing another RX1 series camera either.
 
Mike.P said:
@snerkler Toby, have you tried your 70-200mm MKII with both teleconverters?

Thinking about getting one and maybe selling on the 100-400mm GM.
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I may have to buy one a 2x to test with mine.

I was really hoping the A6700 would be better specked. More of a mini A1 or mini A9.

I am looking for back up that I could maybe run one with 100-400mm and 200-600mm without having to swap lenses.

A6700 with crop factor,, 1.4x and 70-200mm would have been nice to have in the bag. Or crop with the 200-600mm for extra reach on certain circs.

But the camera looks recycled tech rather than previous Sony innovation.

Back to the drawing board on what to get. May have to wait on the A7C ii. But then would need the 2x with the 70-200mm. I can’t stretch to body and 100-400mm. 2nd body probably more important to me than 100-400mm.

A6700 was an opportunity missed by Sony.
 
Mr Perceptive said:
if your technique relies on continuous AF tracking then I wouldn't be placing my hard earned in teh Fuji coffers.
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I guess this goes back to the article I posted earlier. While I could work around/with it and could force my other half to do the same, we just want a camera that gets out of the way. Part of that is tracking people/children eyes with minimal issues.

In all honesty I don't even think it's the body that the issue. It's the lenses on Fuji. I have used XT3 a fair amount and with the right lenses it was just fine for us. But some of the older primes just was too slow in focussing.
Fuji updated the optics in X100V but didn't update the AF motors I think.
 
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simonbe said:
I may have to buy one a 2x to test with mine.

I was really hoping the A6700 would be better specked. More of a mini A1 or mini A9.

I am looking for back up that I could maybe run one with 100-400mm and 200-600mm without having to swap lenses.

A6700 with crop factor,, 1.4x and 70-200mm would have been nice to have in the bag. Or crop with the 200-600mm for extra reach on certain circs.

But the camera looks recycled tech rather than previous Sony innovation.

Back to the drawing board on what to get. May have to wait on the A7C ii. But then would need the 2x with the 70-200mm. I can’t stretch to body and 100-400mm. 2nd body probably more important to me than 100-400mm.

A6700 was an opportunity missed by Sony.
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Yes really disappointed by the A6700 :(
 
nandbytes said:
Yes really disappointed by the A6700 :(
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I was hoping for stacked 26mp (30+ would have been a bonus). 20fps electronic no rolling shutter. Type a card slot (SDHC combi slot), didn’t even have to give me dual card slots.

With the crop factor this would have been a nice back-up 2nd shooter with the glass I have.

Looks like they are concentrating full frame and just a basic upgrade using recycled tech rather than a big leap and innovation on the rivals.
 
nandbytes said:
Google notified me about this article
fstoppers.com

7 Things I Learned From Changing Systems Twice In One Year | Fstoppers

During the pandemic, I did some gear juggling. I'm a little embarrassed to admit I changed systems twice in the space of 12 months and even more so about the reasons I made the second switch – but I learned some surprising lessons along the way.
fstoppers.com fstoppers.com

Currently using the x100v and in last year I have owned Panasonic and Olympus bodies. Also considering Nikon. A lot of the he writes really resonates with my feelings about all this.
At the end of the day I just want a camera that doesn't get in the way of my photography.
Click to expand...
I’ve probably swapped systems too much, part of it’s been curiosity to try other things some of it’s been a case of not being 100% happy.

I’m pretty much set on Sony now, does everything I want and I’ve got it setup in a way that really suits me. The only thing I’d change in terms of usability is having a quick access to auto ISO on/off like Nikon.
 
snerkler said:
I’ve probably swapped systems too much, part of it’s been curiosity to try other things some of it’s been a case of not being 100% happy.

I’m pretty much set on Sony now, does everything I want and I’ve got it setup in a way that really suits me. The only thing I’d change in terms of usability is having a quick access to auto ISO on/off like Nikon.
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Sony is certainly very utilitarian in my opinion.

Its kinda sad that after spending so much money on a system there isn't a single system that makes me 100% happy.
Given that between them they have everything I'd want/need in a camera system there no reason why one system couldn't do all of it lol
 
nandbytes said:
Sony is certainly very utilitarian in my opinion.

Its kinda sad that after spending so much money on a system there isn't a single system that makes me 100% happy.
Given that between them they have everything I'd want/need in a camera system there no reason why one system couldn't do all of it lol
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I do wonder why a third party hasn’t done a 400mm f4/4.5 and something like a 600mm f8.
 
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