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

ancient_mariner said:
I bought my first DSLR in late 2013 - a Sony A58. Since then I've had a D610 and now the A7 III coming up to 4.5 years. Apparently I don't buy a lot of cameras. ;)

I had been thinking about an A7IV because of the flippy screen, better AF and higher res, but that's going to wait now. :p
Click to expand...
My first was A57 also in 2013, followed by A99 and A77II.

snerkler said:
I think I trump that by quite a margin o_O :exit:
Click to expand...

Well that's only the usual e-mount bodies... If counted Sony a-mount that's 11 bodies in 10 years

Then there's the IR converted ones I had, which makes it 14 bodies

Then add a couple m43 bodies in there which makes it 16 bodies

And if we add in all the compacts too....
22 bodies over 10 years

Not to mention a couple drones too...

That's assuming I haven't forgotten some along the way

I guess I should just sign up to a self help group at this point
 
OK, I guess I have an IR D70 and a Nikon F301 too (plus my Minolta 7000 bought used in '88 and a Bronica ETR bought around the same time). :LOL:

Profligate me!!!
 
nandbytes said:
I got the A7 in march 2014.
Since then I've had A6000, A7Rii, A7riii, A7riv, A7C, A1 and A7IV.
Thats 8 bodies in 9 years.

In comparison my first smart phone was in 2011. In last 12 years I've had 5 phones but one of those changes was because a phone got damaged. So really only 4 phone changes.

I need to stop changing cameras I think :facepalm:
Click to expand...
My first was a Canon 10D on the day it came out. That was just over 20 years ago. Since then I have had 20D, 5D, 5Dii, 5Diii, 1Dii, 1Diii then to Nikon 10 years ago with D810, D500, D850 x2, Z6(sold within weeks) then a search for small mirrorless with OM-D 1, OM-D 1 ii, OM-D 5ii and also a Fuji XT3, then a full scale move to Sony starting with an A9, A7RIV, another A9, A9ii another A9ii and then a couple of A1s and this week I will take delivery of a Z9. Still own two A1s, and A9ii and an A9 and I doubt I would buy a camera that never had a stacked sensor now. That is 24 I think in 20 years with 17 in the last decade

If I look back on the cameras I most enjoyed it would be the 10D, 5dii, 1Dii, D850 and A1. Some of the features I have liked in the cameras I have owned are the unibody of the 1d series, focus stacking and pre capture of the Olys and the buttons, layout and feel in the hand of the D850s and the performance of the A1s. Out of the 5 brands I would say Nikon has been my favourite. The files were brilliant, the bodies really nice to use and I like my lenses to be black.

The best camera without a shadow of a doubt I have owned is the A1 but the D850s were amazing value when you look at the difference in cost and the equal of the A1 pretty much if shooting stationery objects. Another thing I have learned is I nearly always like having two cameras with me and I like those to be identical. If I like the Z9 I suspect it won't be long before I get another and maybe contemplate a full move.

I'd hate to think how many lenses there have been but easy to pick my two favourites. The two I use most now 400GM and 70-200 GM2
 
Last edited:
nandbytes said:
My first was A57 also in 2013, followed by A99 and A77II.



Well that's only the usual e-mount bodies... If counted Sony a-mount that's 11 bodies in 10 years

Then there's the IR converted ones I had, which makes it 14 bodies

Then add a couple m43 bodies in there which makes it 16 bodies

And if we add in all the compacts too....
22 bodies over 10 years

Not to mention a couple drones too...

That's assuming I haven't forgotten some along the way

I guess I should just sign up to a self help group at this point
Click to expand...
I think you might win then :lol:

I’ll see if I can remember all mine in the last 10 years, basically all my cameras other than point and shoots as I’ve ‘only’ been doing photography properly for 10 years.

Sony A77
Sony A77-II
Sony RX100-III
Sony A7RIV
Sony A9-II
Sony A1

Nikon D750
Nikon D500
Nikon D850
Nikon Z7

Olympus EM10
Olympus EM5-II
Olympus EM1
Olympus EM1-II
Olympus EM10-II

Canon G7x

Fuji X-T1
Fuji XT-100

I think that’s it :thinking:
 
wookie6262 said:
My first was a Canon 10D on the day it came out.
Click to expand...

I had one if those.

My first DSLR was a Canon 300D then a 20D. I got the 10D as a second camera to the 20D to give me two cameras each with a prime on them but I preferred the 10D in some ways such as the shutter which was much quieter than the 20D's.
 
woof woof said:
I had one if those.

My first DSLR was a Canon 300D then a 20D. I got the 10D as a second camera to the 20D to give me two cameras each with a prime on them but I preferred the 10D in some ways such as the shutter which was much quieter than the 20D's.
Click to expand...
I loved that camera and I did me grand for a long time. The first CF card was about 200 quid for a 1GB card which was a mechanical device., microdrive I think it was called.
 
wookie6262 said:
I loved that camera and I did me grand for a long time. The first CF card was about 200 quid for a 1GB card which was a mechanical device., microdrive I think it was called.
Click to expand...

I still have some cards in a bag in a drawer. I don't know what use they are now though.

Any ideas which wont cause a possible medical emergency?
 
LeeRatters said:
Best go buy a birthday cake :)
Click to expand...
I think that honour falls to @woof woof as I was a latecomer since I started with the A7SII

Camera wise I've had quite a selection but it's the Nikon D700, the Sony RX100mk4, Sony RX1R and the Sony A9 that really stand out as special for me. I'd been struggling with an Olympus E-3 and with the arrival of a new puppy I'd had enough and bought the D700 which just amazed me as it was a huge set up in high iso and dynamic range with AF that nailed so many shots while the E-3 had been so poor in that regard. The RX100mk1 had been a fantastic little pocket camera and the mk4 really stepped it up with its high speed capabilities, I've been mulling over getting a mk6 to use as a pocket camera again. I bought the RX1R as a little gadget as I loved the idea of it but I quickly found myself getting considerable use out of it especially when out mountain biking at night where it could just fit in my backpack and its FF sensor at high iso with the wide aperture lens took many memorable night time shots. I also loved it for social occasions where the lighting is often poor and mobile phone cameras are hopeless but the little RX1r didn't draw the attention a DSLR would so it was great to get nice candid shots.

Finally of course the A9 which was another game changer as its high speed blackout free shooting combined very fast AF makes tracking and capturing action shots so much easier. When I was wanting to use the Nikon 70-200mm (I don't have a Sony equivalent) I dug out the D750 which had previously wowed me with its AF but taking action shots was much more challenging than the A9 as the blackouts between shots made it much tougher to track a fast moving puppy. I have so many great action shots of my current puppy with the A9 it's something that makes me really appreciate my cameras especially when comparing them to mobile phone cameras which quite noticeably struggle with action shots.
 
Last edited:
wookie6262 said:
I loved that camera and I did me grand for a long time. The first CF card was about 200 quid for a 1GB card which was a mechanical device., microdrive I think it was called.
Click to expand...
You're correct it was Microdrive but from what I remember, they were much cheaper than the equivalent flash CF cards at the time. I remember debating whether to go for a 1GB microdrive or a CF card for a Fuji S7000, I think around that time flash prices were getting more reasonable.
 
Trying out Anands GM50 today. Oddly enough it's harder to spot the images shot at f1.2 than I would have expected. Sharpness is super, and the rendering is very very Sony - neutral, contrasty and highly detailed, with a slightly busy bokeh. There's much less '3D' to the pictures than I found with the Sammy, possibly that's the trade off against the super-detailed images this produces.

Lens evaluation GM 50 f1.2 - 2 by Anton Ertl, on Flickr

Lens evaluation GM 50 f1.2 - 5 by Anton Ertl, on Flickr
 
ancient_mariner said:
Trying out Anands GM50 today. Oddly enough it's harder to spot the images shot at f1.2 than I would have expected. Sharpness is super, and the rendering is very very Sony - neutral, contrasty and highly detailed, with a slightly busy bokeh. There's much less '3D' to the pictures than I found with the Sammy, possibly that's the trade off against the super-detailed images this produces.

Lens evaluation GM 50 f1.2 - 2 by Anton Ertl, on Flickr

Lens evaluation GM 50 f1.2 - 5 by Anton Ertl, on Flickr
Click to expand...
I'm a little surprised at your findings tbh, especially the busy bokeh as that's probably the last way I'd describe it. Here's some comparisons I did with the Sammy before I sold it


Screenshot 2023-05-14 at 16.43.34 by Toby Gunnee, on Flickr
Screenshot 2023-05-14 at 16.43.50 by Toby Gunnee, on Flickr


I also thought the f1.2 had a little bit less 3D effect, but what I realised was that the Sammy had more vignetting which to my eyes gave it more of that effect. Rubbish example but here's a test of the Sammy (left) vs the GM (right)with SOOC vignette

Screenshot 2023-10-18 at 07.51.29 by Toby Gunnee, on Flickr

And here's the same shot with similar vignette applied

Screenshot 2023-10-18 at 07.51.50 by Toby Gunnee, on Flickr


Again, not a direct comparison but here's the Sammy at f1.4 (top) vs the GM at f1.4

A9_01748 by Toby Gunnee, on Flickr

A1_05657-Edit by Toby Gunnee, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
snerkler said:
I'm a little surprised at your findings tbh, especially the busy bokeh as that's probably the last way I'd describe it. Here's some comparisons I did with the Sammy before I sold it

https://live.st
aticflickr.com/65535/53266787821_04b5d4c0f1_c.jpg
Screenshot 2023-05-14 at 16.43.34 by Toby Gunnee, on Flickr

Screenshot 2023-05-14 at 16.43.50 by Toby Gunnee, on Flickr


I also thought the f1.2 had a little bit less 3D effect, but what I realised was that the Sammy had more vignetting which to my eyes gave it more of that effect. Rubbish example but here's a test of the Sammy (left) vs the GM (right)with SOOC vignette

Screenshot 2023-10-18 at 07.51.29 by Toby Gunnee, on Flickr

And here's the same shot with similar vignette applied

Screenshot 2023-10-18 at 07.51.50 by Toby Gunnee, on Flickr


Again, not a direct comparison but here's the Sammy at f1.4 (top) vs the GM at f1.4

A9_01748 by Toby Gunnee, on Flickr

A1_05657-Edit by Toby Gunnee, on Flickr
Click to expand...
ancient_mariner said:
Trying out Anands GM50 today. Oddly enough it's harder to spot the images shot at f1.2 than I would have expected. Sharpness is super, and the rendering is very very Sony - neutral, contrasty and highly detailed, with a slightly busy bokeh. There's much less '3D' to the pictures than I found with the Sammy, possibly that's the trade off against the super-detailed images this produces.

Lens evaluation GM 50 f1.2 - 2 by Anton Ertl, on Flickr

Lens evaluation GM 50 f1.2 - 5 by Anton Ertl, on Flickr
Click to expand...
I agree with @snerkler the GM isn't something I would say is busy.
In one of pictures I sent to you at f1.2 with my baby daughter, the people in background are buttery smooth and transition is quite natural.
There were quite a number of people and it was "busy", the GM handled it wonderfully and "tastefully" :D
That's one of the reasons I sent that picture to show how GM handled.

I know you don't like the Zeiss 55 rendering but I like it very much. The Sammy just renders like it's got vaseline smeared over it :ROFLMAO: (ok not that bad but still it's not as special either I think)
 
Last edited:
snerkler said:
I think you might win then :LOL:

I’ll see if I can remember all mine in the last 10 years, basically all my cameras other than point and shoots as I’ve ‘only’ been doing photography properly for 10 years.

Sony A77
Sony A77-II
Sony RX100-III
Sony A7RIV
Sony A9-II
Sony A1

Nikon D750
Nikon D500
Nikon D850
Nikon Z7

Olympus EM10
Olympus EM5-II
Olympus EM1
Olympus EM1-II
Olympus EM10-II

Canon G7x

Fuji X-T1
Fuji XT-100

I think that’s it :thinking:
Click to expand...

That's a hell of a list for someone that doesn't shoot professionally. :)

In last 10 years I have had, well I say "I" but these were between me and my wife.

2 x Nikon D700
2 X Nikon D800
6 X Nikon D750
1 X D4S
1 X D850

1 X Pentax 645D

1 X Canon 6d

1 x Olympus OM-D E-M5

1 X Fuji X-pro 1
1 X Fuji X100T

1 x Sony A7S
4 X Sony A7III
2 X Sony A6000
1 X Sony A6400
3 X Sony A9
2 X Sony A9II
2 X Sony A7RIV
1 X Sony A7RIVA
3 X Sony A7IV

That's over well 30 bodies :eek: Dread to think how many lenses have been bought in the same time frame.

Going back over 10 years I also had a Nikon D5000, 2 X Nikon D7000, a Nikon D300 and half a million point and shoots.

Quite scary when you see it all in a list like that. :oops: :$

I still feel that the D700 was the best of the lot of the lot of them although that might be rose tinted glasses. It's probably the only camera body I have owned that I never felt I had any negatives with when I was using it. Colours in my opinion were the best of any of the other bodies I have had as well.
 
Last edited:
snerkler said:
I'm a little surprised at your findings tbh, especially the busy bokeh as that's probably the last way I'd describe it. Here's some comparisons I did with the Sammy before I sold it
Click to expand...

I'll take a look at home later.

nandbytes said:
In one of pictures I sent to you at f1.2 with my baby daughter, the people in background are buttery smooth and transition is quite natural.
Click to expand...

I agree - that picture was great. It could be me - I only had opportunity for a few photos, and will be doing more in the coming weeks.
 
f/2.8 said:
That's a hell of a list for someone that doesn't shoot professionally. :)

In last 10 years I have had, well I say "I" but these were between me and my wife.

2 x Nikon D700
2 X Nikon D800
6 X Nikon D750
1 X D4S
1 X D850

1 X Pentax 645D

1 X Canon 6d

1 x Olympus OM-D E-M5

1 X Fuji X-pro 1
1 X Fuji X100T

1 x Sony A7S
4 X Sony A7III
2 X Sony A6000
1 X Sony A6400
3 X Sony A9
2 X Sony A9II
2 X Sony A7RIV
1 X Sony A7RIVA
3 X Sony A7IV

That's over well 30 bodies :eek: Dread to think how many lenses have been bought in the same time frame.

Going back over 10 years I also had a Nikon D5000, 2 X Nikon D7000, a Nikon D300 and half a million point and shoots.

Quite scary when you see it all in a list like that. :oops: :$

I still feel that the D700 was the best of the lot of the lot of them although that might be rose tinted glasses. It's probably the only camera body I have owned that I never felt I had any negatives with when I was using it. Colours in my opinion were the best of any of the other bodies I have had as well.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I went through a spell of not being happy happy with APS-C, upgraded to FF but then also wanted something smaller for travel hence the olympus and Fuji stuff, as well as the quick flirt with 1" compacts. I also like to try new things, however I'm now set on the Sony system and doubt that's going to change in the next 10 years. I always liked the D750 and when I think of my favourtie camera that always pops into my head, however I wouldn't go back to it now.
 
snerkler said:
Yeah, I went through a spell of not being happy happy with APS-C, upgraded to FF but then also wanted something smaller for travel hence the olympus and Fuji stuff, as well as the quick flirt with 1" compacts. I also like to try new things, however I'm now set on the Sony system and doubt that's going to change in the next 10 years. I always liked the D750 and when I think of my favourtie camera that always pops into my head, however I wouldn't go back to it now.
Click to expand...
D750 really set the standards for the "do-it-all" or "general purpose" or "all purpose" bodies.

For me the favourite was A7RII. This really set the standards for me for the high res bodies. The previous 50mp Canon 5Dsr was a joke in terms of dynamic range and ISO performance which started the whole myth about high res being bad for low light performance.

I really liked my A7, weighed only 475g. I then kept my A77II for wildlife/sports.
Even the A7RII was on the heavier side at 625g. A7RV now is a 725g (A1 is 740g).
While A7C was nice from size point of view, I really wanted something with more res.

I am hoping A7CR finally gives me "everything" (apart from wildlife) in one body.
Will need to find a good affordable wildlife setup but A7RC would still work for that too till I find something faster.
 
Last edited:
I've been printing today but it wasn't without issues. Recently I've had what seem to be big updates to both windows and PSxxxx and when I came to print nothing looked or worked as I remembered but once I'd worked it all out it was a satisfying and pleasing thing to do. I'm very happy with the results, Epson R2880.
 
According to the SAR article linked below Sony is slow at launching telephoto lens as they don't have as much expertise in this area as other manufacturers

Sony interview: It’s clear we can expect a new 85mm GM ! | sonyalpharumors

Funny image: Fabrice biting his new A7cR :) Phototrend had a chat with Fabrice Abuaf senior IP&S product manager at Sony France.The main interesting info is that he said that it's clear there will be a new generation 85mm GM lens. But he will not say if it's still f/1.4 or f/1.2 Here is a
www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com

A rather poor excuse if they are wanting to get into the sports, wildlife, action markets. Just having great AF is no longer unique. canikon will eventually claw back the users.
 
nandbytes said:
According to the SAR article linked below Sony is slow at launching telephoto lens as they don't have as much expertise in this area as other manufacturers

Sony interview: It’s clear we can expect a new 85mm GM ! | sonyalpharumors

Funny image: Fabrice biting his new A7cR :) Phototrend had a chat with Fabrice Abuaf senior IP&S product manager at Sony France.The main interesting info is that he said that it's clear there will be a new generation 85mm GM lens. But he will not say if it's still f/1.4 or f/1.2 Here is a
www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com

A rather poor excuse if they are wanting to get into the sports, wildlife, action markets. Just having great AF is no longer unique. canikon will eventually claw back the users.
Click to expand...
Seems an odd statement to me, they’ve nailed the 600mm f4 and 400mm f2.8 and imagine they’re hard to design. The 200-600mm’s also pretty darn good, not to mention the superteles for a-mount. I don’t know whether Konica-Minolta had any superteles?

Sony don’t have much missing from their lineup to be fair. A 400mm f4 and 600mm f6.3 would be nice for some folk, but I’m not convinced by the likes of an 800mm f11.
 
snerkler said:
Seems an odd statement to me, they’ve nailed the 600mm f4 and 400mm f2.8 and imagine they’re hard to design. The 200-600mm’s also pretty darn good, not to mention the superteles for a-mount. I don’t know whether Konica-Minolta had any superteles?
Click to expand...
Minolta had:
200mm f2.8, 300mm f2.8 and f4, 400mm f4.5, 600mm f4

snerkler said:
Sony don’t have much missing from their lineup to be fair. A 400mm f4 and 600mm f6.3 would be nice for some folk,
Click to expand...

800mm prime I guess and affordable teleprimes. not everyone wants or needs and/or can afford large, heavy and/or expensive teleprimes.
Even going way back when canon, nikon, minolta, olympus etc had f4 or f5.6 primes like the minoltas I mentioned above and things like canon 400mm f5.6 etc
This is really lacking on Sony. I am not expecting a pletora of them like nikon is churning out but at least a couple options past 85mm would be nice.

There aren't cheaper 1st party consumer telelens options past 85mm no Sony.

snerkler said:
but I’m not convinced by the likes of an 800mm f11.
Click to expand...

Me neither. Rather buy a m43 body with 100-400mm lens instead.
 
Last edited:
nandbytes said:
Minolta had:
200mm f2.8, 300mm f2.8 and f4, 400mm f4.5, 600mm f4



800mm prime I guess and affordable teleprimes. not everyone wants or needs and/or can afford large, heavy and/or expensive teleprimes.
Even going way back when canon, nikon, minolta, olympus etc had f4 or f5.6 primes like the minoltas I mentioned above and things like canon 400mm f5.6 etc
This is really lacking on Sony. I am not expecting a pletora of them like nikon is churning out but at least a couple options past 85mm would be nice.

There aren't cheaper 1st party consumer telelens options past 85mm no Sony.



Me neither. Rather buy a m43 body with 100-400mm lens instead.
Click to expand...
Yeah they are lacking a couple, I just can’t see it being through lack of experience/expertise.
 
Do they not just mean 'super telephoto lenses' (as in the quote). ie: the 18-300mm type lens. He's basically saying Sony don't have a history in these sorts of lenses - not other ones.
 
Bodian said:
Do they not just mean 'super telephoto lenses' (as in the quote). ie: the 18-300mm type lens. He's basically saying Sony don't have a history in these sorts of lenses - not other ones.
Click to expand...
By super telephoto I think he's referring to basically very long telephoto lenses going by the context of the question and answers.
Sony have already made kind of super telephoto lenses your are referring to.
 
nandbytes said:
Not my words, Sony's french management said so apparently
Click to expand...
Yeah I know, I just find it odd. It could be fake news, it’s SAR after all ;) Or something lost in translation. If it is true I can’t see the Japanese directors being happy about it as they don’t tend to like to admit holes and weaknesses.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Trying out Anands GM50 today. Oddly enough it's harder to spot the images shot at f1.2 than I would have expected. Sharpness is super, and the rendering is very very Sony - neutral, contrasty and highly detailed, with a slightly busy bokeh. There's much less '3D' to the pictures than I found with the Sammy, possibly that's the trade off against the super-detailed images this produces.
Click to expand...

I think looking at pictures in a pile you'd be lucky to pick them out any better than chance. IMO you'd spend a better chance looking at side by side identical pictures and even then you may struggle or be looking for differences in more obvious clues such as the size of bokeh balls or looking closely at how a particular thing in a scene is rendered rather than something else and more obvious jumping out at you.

IMO the differences between f1.x and 2.8 are likely to be clear often but where the differences become clear between those settings may depend on the scene and spatial relationships and lighting. For me differences apart from the size of bokeh balls become more obvious not between f1.x and f1.8 but somewhere between f2 and f2.8, maybe around f2.2-2.5.

In Tonby's pictures above the difference that's most obvious to me seems to be contrast or maybe a bit of exposure rather than any obvious difference in DoF, apart from the size of bokeh balls.
 
Last edited:
woof woof said:
I think looking at pictures in a pile you'd be lucky to pick them out any better than chance. IMO you'd spend a better chance looking at side by side identical pictures and even then you may struggle or be looking for differences in more obvious clues such as the size of bokeh balls or looking closely at how a particular thing in a scene is rendered rather than something else and more obvious jumping out at you.

IMO the differences between f1.x and 2.8 are likely to be clear often but where the differences become clear between those settings may depend on the scene and spatial relationships and lighting. For me differences apart from the size of bokeh balls become more obvious not between f1.x and f1.8 but somewhere between f2 and f2.8, maybe around f2.2-2.5.

In Tonby's pictures above the difference that's most obvious to me seems to be contrast or maybe a bit of exposure rather than any obvious difference in DoF, apart from the size of bokeh balls.
Click to expand...
I don't think you can tell whether an isolated picture is taken at f1.2 or f1.4, maybe even f1.8 sometimes, obviously comparing side by side it becomes more obvious but then it will come down to the lens as well. For example, in terms of OOF smoothness and bokeh balls the Sony f1.2 GM at f1.4 has a softer background than the Sammy at f1.4, f1.6 on the Sony gives the same OOF areas (to my eyes) as the Sammy at f1.4.

Here's the two at f1.4, both focussed to the same distance


Screenshot 2023-05-14 at 16.43.50 by Toby Gunnee, on Flickr

Screenshot 2023-05-14 at 16.41.54 by Toby Gunnee, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
In the above there's much more detail in the bricks in one shot but I don't know what this is down to. 50mm and f1.x on one lens might not be the same as 50mm and f1.x on another etc.

I think it gets very difficult when we compare different lenses to this level. Maybe it's just best to go with a look and say "I prefer that one" :D
 
woof woof said:
In the above there's much more detail in the bricks in one shot but I don't know what this is down to. 50mm and f1.x on one lens might not be the same as 50mm and f1.x on another etc.

I think it gets very difficult when we compare different lenses to this level. Maybe it's just best to go with a look and say "I prefer that one" :D
Click to expand...
What bricks? :thinking: :p
 
It's best not to overthink this. I plan more testing to see which I like best, but this does render more nicely than the 55f1.8
 
Just out of interest... Multiple news sources are saying that Japan is trying to dissuade tourists with higher prices and a ban on photography in some areas.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top