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

snerkler said:
How're you finding the A1 II over the A1? I really want the improvment of animal eye AF of the A7RV over the A1 in an A1 body but I'm not sure I can justify £3k to swap just for that :facepalm:

Emma Finch and Graham Curry run the portrait shoots I've been on for the past couple of years, and I've also done a private shoot with Graham as he also models. Fantastic pair to work with, very knowlegable and friendly and can highly recommend their events. I'm booked on another two this year.

I was choosing between the A7cR and A7RV last year, went to play with both and decided on the A7RV. Swapping from one to the other I couldn't really tell a weight difference, and then I really didn't like the EVF on the A7cR as I found it awkward to look through and not great quality so the A7RV was a no brainer for me. I think it's great, and due to the better subject recognition I'm finding that I'm using it more than the A1 :eek:
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Yeh I have shot Graham lots of times, known him for a few years - and done a few of their events. Images tend to stay on my computer as I’m not as confident with the studio stuff over my sports and wildlife. But enjoy the learning. Getting more into learning the lighting. I want to get more into setting the lights up to get different shots rather than set up for me.

I’ve swapped bodies more times than most. I had the A7CR but hated the view finder and no joystick but liked the compactness.

Talked myself into switching it for the A7RV as the size wasn’t really that different for all the better things in the A7RV and now a small price difference (screen, viewfinder, joystick, dual slots, type A cards etc).

I sold the A7RV to get the Ai mkii - no regrets as I got more than I bought it for and current grey are cheaper also.

A1 mkii feels like a decent upgrade and worth trading for. Really liked the flippy screen on the A7RV. Nice that you can fold the screen in to protect it. New eye cup is a massive improvement - but will be available to buy separately.

I’ve not tried pre-capture in anger but will be really useful for some of the stuff I do.

Colours feel improved straight from camera.

You already know the improvement on the A7RV with the subject recognition. Definite step up on the A1 ii. Some forums reporting AF isn’t as accurate - but I haven’t noticed that at all so far. No doubt firmware will improve things further.

I fell lucky on price - wasn’t expecting to pick up until later this year. But pre-order price grey was £5350 and haggled a little with Panamoz as a repeat customer. Prices bounced back up quickly to make it not such a great deal to import.

Demand now caught Sony out and they don’t have the units to keep up.

Probably lost a couple hundred on my A1 mk1 holding on for a couple of months - but made up for that with my other sales.

I spoke to the Sony guys and said about the eyecup on the A7CR being fixed. Bizarre as the A6700 eyecup is changeable.
 
simonbe said:
Yeh I have shot Graham lots of times, known him for a few years - and done a few of their events. Images tend to stay on my computer as I’m not as confident with the studio stuff over my sports and wildlife. But enjoy the learning. Getting more into learning the lighting. I want to get more into setting the lights up to get different shots rather than set up for me.

I’ve swapped bodies more times than most. I had the A7CR but hated the view finder and no joystick but liked the compactness.

Talked myself into switching it for the A7RV as the size wasn’t really that different for all the better things in the A7RV and now a small price difference (screen, viewfinder, joystick, dual slots, type A cards etc).

I sold the A7RV to get the Ai mkii - no regrets as I got more than I bought it for and current grey are cheaper also.

A1 mkii feels like a decent upgrade and worth trading for. Really liked the flippy screen on the A7RV. Nice that you can fold the screen in to protect it. New eye cup is a massive improvement - but will be available to buy separately.

I’ve not tried pre-capture in anger but will be really useful for some of the stuff I do.

Colours feel improved straight from camera.

You already know the improvement on the A7RV with the subject recognition. Definite step up on the A1 ii. Some forums reporting AF isn’t as accurate - but I haven’t noticed that at all so far. No doubt firmware will improve things further.

I fell lucky on price - wasn’t expecting to pick up until later this year. But pre-order price grey was £5350 and haggled a little with Panamoz as a repeat customer. Prices bounced back up quickly to make it not such a great deal to import.

Demand now caught Sony out and they don’t have the units to keep up.

Probably lost a couple hundred on my A1 mk1 holding on for a couple of months - but made up for that with my other sales.

I spoke to the Sony guys and said about the eyecup on the A7CR being fixed. Bizarre as the A6700 eyecup is changeable.
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Thanks, I'll likely get the A1 Mark II at some point but don't think it'll be for a couple of years yet. Been out with the A7RV today and took some pics of Betty, I forgot how pedestrian 8fps and 10fps is :lol: Strange how we get accustomed to things like this, I never questioned it when I was shooting at 6.5 fps on my D750 ;)
 
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I don't have a proper side by side shot to compare the RX10iv to my new A6700 and 70-350 but the top pic below is about the best the RX10 can do and the second is a nice shot with the A6700 I got yesterday - there's definitely a bit more detail/resolution in the second one if you click through to Flickr and zoom in a bit (which is no surprise I guess!). The difference is not huge but it's there.

Anyway I'm enjoying it so far and also I have ordered a 10-20 pz which should come next week :)


Robin by Mike Smith, on Flickr


Robin by Mike Smith, on Flickr
 
HI all in Sony land, would appreciate your thoughts on the below as to whether it's a good idea or not.

I've been looking for the holy grail of a small take anywhere (largeish sensor) camera with good image and video qualities. The one that seems to jump out all the time is the new Fuji X100 VI (if you can get your hands on one). Whilst I'm sure it's a brilliant camera, it's not exactly cheap for an APS-C camera at £1,600. It then got me thinking, whilst I tend to use my A7R V a lot these days, I still have the brilliant A6700, so looking at specs between it and the X100 VI, sensor resolution aside, it looks like the A6700 is a fair competitor (and it will cost me nothing to buy the body as I already have it). Plus as I shoot a lot of video, it seems to me that the little Sony beats the Fuji on the movie front as well.

But what lens. Well the X100 has a 23mm F2 lens, so was thinking about getting the Sony FE 24mm F2.8 (giving me a very similar field of view albeit a little slower). It would also have the added benefit of being able to be used on the A7 RV as a 24mm lens. I did briefly consider the APS-C Sony E 20mm F2.8 lens for an even smaller and lighter package, but the reviews on that are less than stellar.

Looking at the size and weight of the two systems, whilst the Sony system is a little larger it's not by much (see below) and is only a small amount heavier. So my question would be, is this a good match or is there another lens I should be considering ?





X100 V1 Weight = 521g

Sony combo weight = 655g

For reference, he is the comparison with the little Sony 20mm F2.8 attached.

 
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Sootchucker said:
HI all in Sony land, would appreciate your thoughts on the below as to whether it's a good idea or not.

I've been looking for the holy grail of a small take anywhere (largeish sensor) camera with good image and video qualities. The one that seems to jump out all the time is the new Fuji X100 VI (if you can get your hands on one). Whilst I'm sure it's a brilliant camera, it's not exactly cheap for an APS-C camera at £1,600. It then got me thinking, whilst I tend to use my A7R V a lot these days, I still have the brilliant A6700, so looking at specs between it and the X100 VI, sensor resolution aside, it looks like the A6700 is a fair competitor (and it will cost me nothing to buy the body as I already have it). Plus as I shoot a lot of video, it seems to me that the little Sony beats the Fuji on the movie front as well.

But what lens. Well the X100 has a 23mm F2 lens, so was thinking about getting the Sony FE 24mm F2.8 (giving me a very similar field of view albeit a little slower). It would also have the added benefit of being able to be used on the A7 RV as a 24mm lens. I did briefly consider the APS-C Sony E 20mm F2.8 lens for an even smaller and lighter package, but the reviews on that are less than stellar.

Looking at the size and weight of the two systems, whilst the Sony system is a little larger it's not by much (see below) and is only a small amount heavier. So my question would be, is this a good match or is there another lens I should be considering ?





X100 V1 Weight = 521g

Sony combo weight = 655g
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As a camera I would suggest the A6700 is better, better grip, better AF etc, and of course in your situation much cheaper. There's also the Samyang 24mm which is even lighter and smaller than the Sony making the total weight 586g so nothing in it really compared to the Fuji so it's just a case of whether the size is important and/or whether you're bothered about the 'cool' factor ;)

Screenshot 2025-03-10 at 08.39.52.jpg
 
Sootchucker said:
HI all in Sony land, would appreciate your thoughts on the below as to whether it's a good idea or not.

I've been looking for the holy grail of a small take anywhere (largeish sensor) camera with good image and video qualities. The one that seems to jump out all the time is the new Fuji X100 VI (if you can get your hands on one). Whilst I'm sure it's a brilliant camera, it's not exactly cheap for an APS-C camera at £1,600. It then got me thinking, whilst I tend to use my A7R V a lot these days, I still have the brilliant A6700, so looking at specs between it and the X100 VI, sensor resolution aside, it looks like the A6700 is a fair competitor (and it will cost me nothing to buy the body as I already have it). Plus as I shoot a lot of video, it seems to me that the little Sony beats the Fuji on the movie front as well.

But what lens. Well the X100 has a 23mm F2 lens, so was thinking about getting the Sony FE 24mm F2.8 (giving me a very similar field of view albeit a little slower). It would also have the added benefit of being able to be used on the A7 RV as a 24mm lens. I did briefly consider the APS-C Sony E 20mm F2.8 lens for an even smaller and lighter package, but the reviews on that are less than stellar.

Looking at the size and weight of the two systems, whilst the Sony system is a little larger it's not by much (see below) and is only a small amount heavier. So my question would be, is this a good match or is there another lens I should be considering ?





X100 V1 Weight = 521g

Sony combo weight = 655g

For reference, he is the comparison with the little Sony 20mm F2.8 attached.

Click to expand...
Apparently the new viltrox 25mm f1.7 air is amazing sharp and cheap. Also light at 170g.

View: https://youtu.be/xyd0VyOm6ho?si=u7OywRobHqFqmAxm

My son is almost getting to age he can handle a camera. Thinking of getting a cheap A6xxx or fuji body with these viltrox "air" primes for him. Should be able to fill all in within £500 and also makes for a credible back up option.
 
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Hi all.

After i updated my Sony A1 mk1 camera from 1.31 -> 1.35 -> 2.0.1 -> 3.00 the wifi/bluetooth does not work.

I get this error mentioned on this web page https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00342252

"The Wi-Fi/Bluetooth unit has malfunctioned."

I never actually tried the wifi/bluetooth functionality of this camera as the previous app on mobile wasnt great.

one of the highlughted features of 2.0 or 3.0 believe is the new intergration of the new app called Creator app by sony.

This what got me intriugued in testing it out and upon trying to connect to my phone, i get the above error.
 
jonneymendoza said:
Hi all.

After i updated my Sony A1 mk1 camera from 1.31 -> 1.35 -> 2.0.1 -> 3.00 the wifi/bluetooth does not work.

I get this error mentioned on this web page https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00342252

"The Wi-Fi/Bluetooth unit has malfunctioned."

I never actually tried the wifi/bluetooth functionality of this camera as the previous app on mobile wasnt great.

one of the highlughted features of 2.0 or 3.0 believe is the new intergration of the new app called Creator app by sony.

This what got me intriugued in testing it out and upon trying to connect to my phone, i get the above error.
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I had similar, wi-fi wouldn't work but I didn't get the error message. Like you I'd not tried it before until using the creator app. It turned out it was the motherboard, and as my camera had a 3 year warranty it was still covered and fixed. If yours is still in warranty no problem, but if not I would complain/argue with Sony that this is a known issue wiht their camera and should be done at their expense. Not sure how you'd get on with that, but worth a punt and I believe as it's not an isolated event they should fix it.
 
snerkler said:
I had similar, wi-fi wouldn't work but I didn't get the error message. Like you I'd not tried it before until using the creator app. It turned out it was the motherboard, and as my camera had a 3 year warranty it was still covered and fixed. If yours is still in warranty no problem, but if not I would complain/argue with Sony that this is a known issue wiht their camera and should be done at their expense. Not sure how you'd get on with that, but worth a punt and I believe as it's not an isolated event they should fix it.
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Its out of warranty..

I've had this camera since 2021
 
I will call Sony repair place in London or Sony Pro support and see what they say.

I won't bother if the cost is over 300 quid to fix a feature I barely use
 
Sootchucker said:
HI all in Sony land, would appreciate your thoughts on the below as to whether it's a good idea or not.

I've been looking for the holy grail of a small take anywhere (largeish sensor) camera with good image and video qualities. The one that seems to jump out all the time is the new Fuji X100 VI (if you can get your hands on one). Whilst I'm sure it's a brilliant camera, it's not exactly cheap for an APS-C camera at £1,600. It then got me thinking, whilst I tend to use my A7R V a lot these days, I still have the brilliant A6700, so looking at specs between it and the X100 VI, sensor resolution aside, it looks like the A6700 is a fair competitor (and it will cost me nothing to buy the body as I already have it). Plus as I shoot a lot of video, it seems to me that the little Sony beats the Fuji on the movie front as well.

But what lens. Well the X100 has a 23mm F2 lens, so was thinking about getting the Sony FE 24mm F2.8 (giving me a very similar field of view albeit a little slower). It would also have the added benefit of being able to be used on the A7 RV as a 24mm lens. I did briefly consider the APS-C Sony E 20mm F2.8 lens for an even smaller and lighter package, but the reviews on that are less than stellar.

Looking at the size and weight of the two systems, whilst the Sony system is a little larger it's not by much (see below) and is only a small amount heavier. So my question would be, is this a good match or is there another lens I should be considering ?





X100 V1 Weight = 521g

Sony combo weight = 655g

For reference, he is the comparison with the little Sony 20mm F2.8 attached.

Click to expand...


I have both the A6700 + 20mm F2.8 and X100VI . They're both very capable but very different cameras. The A6700 will have far better autofocus/action/fast moving subjects (the X100VI while improved vs previous models is still slow at tracking).

However I find myself using the X100 in a completely different way - playing with composition, colours and exposures differently. Get very different colours particularly with the film sims. The built in ND filter is also great.

Just get both.... ;)
 
jonneymendoza said:
I will call Sony repair place in London or Sony Pro support and see what they say.

I won't bother if the cost is over 300 quid to fix a feature I barely use
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I agree with Nandbytes in that Sony should fix it. However, what Sony are saying is that the firmware hasn't broken it, the function was broken already and it's just that they've put something in the new firmware to make you aware. The bill for fixing mine was nearly £900.
 
snerkler said:
I agree with Nandbytes in that Sony should fix it. However, what Sony are saying is that the firmware hasn't broken it, the function was broken already and it's just that they've put something in the new firmware to make you aware. The bill for fixing mine was nearly £900.
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wow £900.....

Yea screw that if that is how much they will charge for it!!!

Thats amost 1/5 of the price of a A1 mk2...

jesus christ and it is just the wireless connectivity that is the issue.

edit: my sony a1 is grey market bougth from panamoz so i doibt sony pro support wil honour and help me out
 
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jonneymendoza said:
wow £900.....

Yea screw that if that is how much they will charge for it!!!

Thats amost 1/5 of the price of a A1 mk2...

jesus christ and it is just the wireless connectivity that is the issue.

edit: my sony a1 is grey market bougth from panamoz so i doibt sony pro support wil honour and help me out
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You never know if you don't ask, it's still a genuine product.

Mine's from Panamoz, however Panamoz picked up the bill as it was still under warranty.
 
jonneymendoza said:
wow £900.....

Yea screw that if that is how much they will charge for it!!!

Thats amost 1/5 of the price of a A1 mk2...

jesus christ and it is just the wireless connectivity that is the issue.

edit: my sony a1 is grey market bougth from panamoz so i doibt sony pro support wil honour and help me out
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I've just checked the bill, it was £804 and that included a £9 switch, so it likely that it'll be just under £800 for the mother board.

Of course there's always a chance that it's not that, if you send it to Sony you're under no obligation to have the work done if the estimate is too pricey.
 
snerkler said:
I've just checked the bill, it was £804 and that included a £9 switch, so it likely that it'll be just under £800 for the mother board.

Of course there's always a chance that it's not that, if you send it to Sony you're under no obligation to have the work done if the estimate is too pricey.
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Not like the good old days.

IMG_1856.jpeg
 
snerkler said:
I've just checked the bill, it was £804 and that included a £9 switch, so it likely that it'll be just under £800 for the mother board.

Of course there's always a chance that it's not that, if you send it to Sony you're under no obligation to have the work done if the estimate is too pricey.
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I messaged the Sony pro service as I'm a member and they said they can't service it as it's grey market.

They said I can send it to fixation who are official Sony repair place (been there before)

I guess I can try and try and messaged Panamoz to see if they can also pay for repair.

There's no way in hell I'm paying near 1k to fix this.

Utter joke that is to fix just the wireless bit of the camera..
 
f/2.8 said:
Not like the good old days.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I used the £117 service quite a few times - shutter went on my A900 was one, can't remember the other. Fantastic service though.
 
snerkler said:
Strange that they fixed mine then :thinking:
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Well what they said is that I can send it in for repair but at a cost as its out of warranty and purchased in the grey market.

What's frustrating is that I'm also out of warranty from panamozz else I would go via there route.

This sucks. Could affect resale value when I sell it in the future...

Its a feature I don't actually use tbh but just frustrating.

Do you use the wireless feature with the new app? Does it work well?
 
jonneymendoza said:
Well what they said is that I can send it in for repair but at a cost as its out of warranty and purchased in the grey market.

What's frustrating is that I'm also out of warranty from panamozz else I would go via there route.

This sucks. Could affect resale value when I sell it in the future...

Its a feature I don't actually use tbh but just frustrating.

Do you use the wireless feature with the new app? Does it work well?
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Yeah that sucks. It does work well, both with the creator’s app and FTP transfer. The only gripe with the creator’s app is that you have to sign in each time and if you’re in an area with no signal you obviously can’t do it.
 
f/2.8 said:
Not like the good old days.

View attachment 447786
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Had one of my old A900's fixed (twice) under the old fixed price system after the mirror separated from the mechanism.

the Mirror just fell out of the frame that it sits in when I took a shot, how it did this without shattering I don't know - sent it back under fixed price, they glued it back in place, a few months later it fell out again, outside of the short warranty they gave, but they agreed to fix it as it was clearly their repair that had failed, second time they had to scour Europe for a new mirror assembly mechanism as there were none in the UK, but eventually sourced one and fitted it - must have cost Sony way more than the price I paid.
 
Lots of talk about the A6700/70-350 combo so here's a few photos from the weekend with that setup in Central Park, NYC. It's just the perfect set up for that environment:



 
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nandbytes said:
Apparently the new viltrox 25mm f1.7 air is amazing sharp and cheap. Also light at 170g.

View: https://youtu.be/xyd0VyOm6ho?si=u7OywRobHqFqmAxm

My son is almost getting to age he can handle a camera. Thinking of getting a cheap A6xxx or fuji body with these viltrox "air" primes for him. Should be able to fill all in within £500 and also makes for a credible back up option.
Click to expand...

may take a punt with one of these to go with the new A6400 holiday camera.
 
Not bought any new gear in ages. Not Sony related but got this today. Very hard to get the hold off.

IMG_1872.jpeg
 
snerkler said:
Had no idea what that was and had to google it :LOL:
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I bought it for car shows mainly.

I don’t really enjoy taking photos at them as I am not able to get the control for photography I prefer and I found it frustrating. So I found that I was just taking a lot of videos on my phone. This is a better option compared to a phone for that and I have just started a TikTok for my car as well. :ROFLMAO:

I might get a drone for the same reasons as well.

Might also be able to use for Instagram stories etc while at weddings as well.
 
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Love my Osmo Pocket 3. It's always with me in my laptop bag and always goes on holiday with me. Cracking image quality from it's 1" Sensor

It's brilliant at night as well due to it only having 12mp rather than the usual 24mp or 40mp of the typical action cameras (with even smaller sensors).
 
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Sootchucker said:
Love my Osmo Pocket 3. It's always with me in my laptop bag and always goes on holiday with me. Cracking image quality from it's 1" Sensor

It's brilliant at night as well due to it only having 12mp rather than the usual 24mp or 40mp of the typical action cameras (with even smaller sensors).
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Have only had a small amount of time to try it out but it does seem rather good even in low light. Will be a bit of a learning curve but have watched a ton of videos etc. and think I have it set up as I like it. Have a car show at the weekend so will give it it a proper work out then.
 
T_J_G said:
may take a punt with one of these to go with the new A6400 holiday camera.
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Yeah same here, just searching for a cheap A6xxx or even fuji body now.

Looking at get the 25mm and 56mm and a zoom (now sure which one though...)
 
nandbytes said:
Yeah same here, just searching for a cheap A6xxx or even fuji body now.

Looking at get the 25mm and 56mm and a zoom (now sure which one though...)
Click to expand...

I got mine from eBay from cameraworld Sony refurbished, £620 with the 16-50. This with the 25 and the Samyang 45 will be a nice little setup
 
I also had the OP 2 some years ago - I can tell you the OP 3 is a very different beast altogether from the earlier models.
 
T_J_G said:
I had the 1 and 2 and they’re decent bits of kit. May get the 3 later in the year but found I didn’t use the 2 much
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The 3 is a big step up from the 2 and makes the 2 feel a bit like a prototype in comparison. The integrated joystick is much better but the new screen is a massive improvement since the one on the Pocket 2 was so small it was difficult to see what you were filming and the interface was tricky on such a small screen. It's a clever design on the three to flick the screen round to power the camera on and then rotate it back round to switch off again.
 
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