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

LongLensPhotography said:
You see similar with z9, z8, r5, etc. we are a real treasure island :LOL:
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I'm sure the A1 was over £6k when it came out on the import sites. May have actually been the same price and took an age to go down significantly. May be currency exchange rates, the chip crisis or the desirability and availability of the camera that caused that. For me the Mkiii is now an option worth looking at. It is roughly a 3 grand upgrade after selling the Mk2 and will get used often rather than the A9ii which is essentially only used as back up, so hopefully not at all. At £620 it wasn't worth it but now I am getting that GAS twitch
 
wookie6262 said:
I'm sure the A1 was over £6k when it came out on the import sites. May have actually been the same price and took an age to go down significantly. May be currency exchange rates, the chip crisis or the desirability and availability of the camera that caused that. For me the Mkiii is now an option worth looking at. It is roughly a 3 grand upgrade after selling the Mk2 and will get used often rather than the A9ii which is essentially only used as back up, so hopefully not at all. At £620 it wasn't worth it but now I am getting that GAS twitch
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I can't recall what the grey launch price of the A1 was but generally they've not been 'that' much cheaper but then do drop quite quickly. A £1500 difference from day one is quite a chunk and is definitely worth a consideration if you're in the market for an A9III.
 
snerkler said:
I can't recall what the grey launch price of the A1 was but generally they've not been 'that' much cheaper but then do drop quite quickly. A £1500 difference from day one is quite a chunk and is definitely worth a consideration if you're in the market for an A9III.
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From my recollection it took between 18 months and two years for the A1 to drop £1500 and when it hit £5K it actually started going up again for a while. I dare say that is the advantage of a do anything extremely well flagship. There won't be may A1 owners thinking it will be an upgrade for their type of shooting and if precapture and the other new features come with an A1 ii albeit a slower FPS and no global shutter it will sell brilliantly.
 
snerkler said:
I can't recall what the grey launch price of the A1 was but generally they've not been 'that' much cheaper but then do drop quite quickly. A £1500 difference from day one is quite a chunk and is definitely worth a consideration if you're in the market for an A9III.
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I've been tracking the Nikon prices more closely although exactly what I noticed, on launch the Z8 was only a little less than UK prices while the grey Z9 was actually cheaper than the grey Z8 then after a few months the Z8 started dropping steadily.
 
wookie6262 said:
There won't be may A1 owners thinking it will be an upgrade for their type of shooting and if precapture and the other new features come with an A1 ii albeit a slower FPS and no global shutter it will sell brilliantly.
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I agree, I think the A9III is a pretty niche camera and may not sell in huge volumes.
 
I’m hoping for a bit of help as I’m struggling to find the answer to what I’m doing wrong.

Got my new to me Sony A6700 and a 16-55 G lens today. Nice of the dealer to have left the camera on in the box and it totally drained the battery! So I’ve only just had a quick test of it in the house this evening.

I usually use DXO as my preferred editing tool but the Sony Raw files won’t open. I searched their site and it appears that DXO does support Sony Raw files but not the compressed ones. I have the camera set in raw uncompressed but the files won’t open in DXO.

IMG_1600.png

Any ideas?
 
Iiyama said:
I’m hoping for a bit of help as I’m struggling to find the answer to what I’m doing wrong.

Got my new to me Sony A6700 and a 16-55 G lens today. Nice of the dealer to have left the camera on in the box and it totally drained the battery! So I’ve only just had a quick test of it in the house this evening.

I usually use DXO as my preferred editing tool but the Sony Raw files won’t open. I searched their site and it appears that DXO does support Sony Raw files but not the compressed ones. I have the camera set in raw uncompressed but the files won’t open in DXO.

View attachment 412985

Any ideas?
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Never seen that before that it will open uncompressed and not compressed.

Are you on the latest version?
 
I know it's an extra step but I always convert raws to DNG's.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
Now a 3k A1 would tempt me. They could surely price match z8
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Not sure why they would. It's a "better" body and than Z8 and also Z9.

Has mechanical shutter with 1/400s shutter sync or 1/500s in APS-C mode
9.6million dot EVF with 0.9x mag and up to 240hz refresh rate.
Matched CF express card slots (vs. Z8)

Whether those things interest you or not they cost money. Most so than simply moulding a large body out of metal or plastic.
 
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Iiyama said:
I’m hoping for a bit of help as I’m struggling to find the answer to what I’m doing wrong.

Got my new to me Sony A6700 and a 16-55 G lens today. Nice of the dealer to have left the camera on in the box and it totally drained the battery! So I’ve only just had a quick test of it in the house this evening.

I usually use DXO as my preferred editing tool but the Sony Raw files won’t open. I searched their site and it appears that DXO does support Sony Raw files but not the compressed ones. I have the camera set in raw uncompressed but the files won’t open in DXO.

View attachment 412985

Any ideas?
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DXO opens my A7C compressed and uncompressed RAWs
 
nandbytes said:
Not sure why they would. It's a "better" body and then Z8 and also Z9.

Has mechanical shutter with 1/400s shutter sync or 1/500s in APS-C mode
9.6million dot EVF with 0.9x mag and up to 240hz refresh rate.
Matched CF express card slots (vs. Z8)

Whether those things interest you or not they cost money. Most so than simply moulding a large body out of metal or plastic.
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They are more similar than not.

Evf is the major difference and I really don't like the junk Nikon stuck with but that is not worth full £1k. And Nikon shape is so much better on the other hand.

I would never ever use mechanical shutter after getting either of these bodies in fact that is specifically my aim to do so.

I expect IQ will be about equal on both with the main limiting factor being the one behind the camera.

So yes they really compete head to head and it's not unreasonable they should cost similar.

Lens choice is a little different for either but then you also pay for that accordingly on top
 
LongLensPhotography said:
They are more similar than not.

Evf is the major difference and I really don't like the junk Nikon stuck with but that is not worth full £1k. And Nikon shape is so much better on the other hand.

I would never ever use mechanical shutter after getting either of these bodies in fact that is specifically my aim to do so.

I expect IQ will be about equal on both with the main limiting factor being the one behind the camera.

So yes they really compete head to head and it's not unreasonable they should cost similar.

Lens choice is a little different for either but then you also pay for that accordingly on top
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whether you use it or not a mechanical shutter costs money.
same goes for EVF.

I don't know if those are £1K more or not but that's how much sony is charging for it
 
nandbytes said:
whether you use it or not a mechanical shutter costs money.
same goes for EVF.

I don't know if those are £1K more or not but that's how much sony is charging for it
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I’ve always thought cameras like the A1, Z9, D6 etc are/were overpriced at launch, it’s like you pay a premium for them being the “flagship” camera. The Z8 was launched at a much more reasonable price imo. The Z9 is much more reasonable now too.
 
nandbytes said:
whether you use it or not a mechanical shutter costs money.
same goes for EVF.

I don't know if those are £1K more or not but that's how much sony is charging for it
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It doesn't make it a fair market price today any longer however. Those who really wanted one already bought it; and now it is mostly about the people on the fence. It doesn't get any more than that with me; I really don't need to buy, and I am not in any particular camp any more.
It is obviously their choice and if they are losing market share to z8 it is up to them to react or not. At the end of the day it is still the very same sensor made by them so I guess they are happy either way

re shutter - it is Sony's mistake and their price to pay for something that wasn't needed at all. Nikon had enough brain to add it up. If anything there is one less point of potential failure on Z8 & Z9 so a major advantage here.
If they decided to include a betamax player in the box nobody would consider a valuable asset to justify a higher price.

snerkler said:
I’ve always thought cameras like the A1, Z9, D6 etc are/were overpriced at launch, it’s like you pay a premium for them being the “flagship” camera. The Z8 was launched at a much more reasonable price imo. The Z9 is much more reasonable now too.
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This. When A1 launched for a long while there was only Z9, and that was slowly eating away some sales. But since they are very different sizes I guess they each had their own buyer, let alone people deeply invested in one brand or the other.
Now we have the choice of Z8 and even if you might consider it a quarter of a step down for all practical purposes they are both nearly identically valuable for my work. And I can't be alone in this.
 
Iiyama said:
I’m hoping for a bit of help as I’m struggling to find the answer to what I’m doing wrong.

Got my new to me Sony A6700 and a 16-55 G lens today. Nice of the dealer to have left the camera on in the box and it totally drained the battery! So I’ve only just had a quick test of it in the house this evening.

I usually use DXO as my preferred editing tool but the Sony Raw files won’t open. I searched their site and it appears that DXO does support Sony Raw files but not the compressed ones. I have the camera set in raw uncompressed but the files won’t open in DXO.



Any ideas?
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I've not had that issue with the software so I'm thinking you could try downloading one from DPR here (https://www.dpreview.com/sample-galleries/7692340468/sony-a6700-sample-gallery/4258468533) and see if that works which will either rule out your camera or your software. If you can't process one of these sample images I can download it and see if it works for me in PhotoLab.

With regards to converting to DNG I think you have to be careful with compressed raw file formats because you lose the lower file size.
 
trevorbray said:
Toby. Didn’t spend too long trying to be honest. It seems to struggle on initial acquisition when he’s charging at me. Something the Olympus gets right most of the time.
A7R5 finds his eye reliably when he’s static or larger in the frame.
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Rather disappointing if a new Sony model can't manage to nail focus of a dog when an Olympus can.
 
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trevorbray said:
First time out with the A7R5 this year.
Normally use the Olympus gear for Dog action shots, tried my Sony.
Didn't work out, needed to identify him when he's smaller in the frame.
Never mind. got some Static stuff I'm happy with.
@JJ! all with the Tammy 28-75 G2. Its a great lens.
Sometimes think i Should stick to just one system. Gonna be watching a great deal oy YouTube on the A9iii

1
Brody posing by Trevor, on Flickr

2
I'm Coming by Trevor, on Flickr

3
Brody posing-2 by Trevor, on Flickr

4
Massey Ferguson 35 by Trevor, on Flickr
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I have had difficulty with subject eyes tracking with tamron lenses. Doesn't work as well as Sony lenses. Wonder if that's the issue?
 
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LongLensPhotography said:
re shutter - it is Sony's mistake and their price to pay for something that wasn't needed at all. Nikon had enough brain to add it up. If anything there is one less point of potential failure on Z8 & Z9 so a major advantage here.
If they decided to include a betamax player in the box nobody would consider a valuable asset to justify a higher price.
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just because you don't want it doesn't mean the entire world doesn't want it. for some reason you think everyone shoots the same as you or should do so.

I don't think its a mistake, its a mistake Z8/9 doesn't have one. For a "do-it-all" body a mechanical shutter is required unless its a body with global shutter (but even that comes with cost of IQ).
1/400s (or 1/500s) flash sync is useful with only electronic shutter you are limited to 1/200s. You can still get banding with electronic shutter with these cameras even though its limited. Good to have mechanical shutter option for those times.

And there isn't "one less point of failure", nikon bodies still have a curtain to protect their sensor when the camera is off. it can still fail.

I don't think Sony is losing many customers to nikon. if anything apart from a few on forum like ours most people don't want huge bodies all the time. I think Nikon will have lost more users by making unnecessarily large bodies. Year on year Sony is gaining market share.
 
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LongLensPhotography said:
re shutter - it is Sony's mistake and their price to pay for something that wasn't needed at all. Nikon had enough brain to add it up. If anything there is one less point of potential failure on Z8 & Z9 so a major advantage here.
If they decided to include a betamax player in the box nobody would consider a valuable asset to justify a higher price.
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I don't think it's a mistake at all, unless you have a global shutter then there is the potential for artefacts no matter how unlikely this may be, having a mechanical shutter gives the user the option and something less to worry about.

Out of interest can the Z9 and Z8 shoot HSS flash with their electronic shutter?
 
nandbytes said:
I have had difficulty with subject eyes tracking with tamron lenses. Doesn't work as well as Sony lenses. Wonder if that's the issue?
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Certainly worth investigating. My longest Sony lens is the 50GM f1.2. I’ll try it next time.
Mind you, the slow frame rate and blackout don’t help. I’d like to identify whether or not the Sony finds him before any future investment. I’m thinking A9iii
 
snerkler said:
Never seen that before that it will open uncompressed and not compressed.

Are you on the latest version?
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I'm wondering if this is the problem as I'm on version 4.
JohnMcL7 said:
I've not had that issue with the software so I'm thinking you could try downloading one from DPR here (https://www.dpreview.com/sample-galleries/7692340468/sony-a6700-sample-gallery/4258468533) and see if that works which will either rule out your camera or your software. If you can't process one of these sample images I can download it and see if it works for me in PhotoLab.

With regards to converting to DNG I think you have to be careful with compressed raw file formats because you lose the lower file size.
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Thanks I will give it a go.
 
trevorbray said:
Certainly worth investigating. My longest Sony lens is the 50GM f1.2. I’ll try it next time.
Mind you, the slow frame rate and blackout don’t help. I’d like to identify whether or not the Sony finds him before any future investment. I’m thinking A9iii
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I was thinking issue was probably due to Tamron but just looked in Lightroom and had some ok pics with A7R v and the 28-75mm. Eyes looks better on my PC.
Agree the blackout does make things harder and that A9 III does look nice and shiny :) . Just got a used 135gm (again:rolleyes:) so hope to get some dog pics this afternoon as it's actually a nice day so far.
DSC00536 by Keith, on Flickr
 
In response to my own question and thanks to a bit of prompting from the replies. It appears that some of the earlier DXO versions do not have full compatability with my camera. Downloading a trial version of the latest version 7 does indeed download the profiles for the A6700 and 16-55mm G lens.

Thanks all
 
nandbytes said:
Don't often use HSS but I think it's possible with A1 electronic shutter also. Imagine same applies for Z8/9
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I’ve never tried as I thought the flash sync speed was something like 1/250 so just assumed it wouldn’t go higher :facepalm:
 
snerkler said:
I’ve never tried as I thought the flash sync speed was something like 1/250 so just assumed it wouldn’t go higher :facepalm:
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flash sync is 1/200, if you are shooting at 1/250s I think the camera automatically goes into HSS.
This is why mechanical shutter is important for people who use flashes a lot.
 
nog said:
I was thinking issue was probably due to Tamron but just looked in Lightroom and had some ok pics with A7R v and the 28-75mm. Eyes looks better on my PC.
Agree the blackout does make things harder and that A9 III does look nice and shiny :) . Just got a used 135gm (again:rolleyes:) so hope to get some dog pics this afternoon as it's actually a nice day so far.
DSC00536 by Keith, on Flickr
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Thanks. Maybe I’ll try with our Lab. She’s much lighter colour. It’s initial lock on when my Collie is smaller in the frame. More testing required. If I could satisfy myself that it could match my Olympus for finding him, A9iii would become more interesting to me. Absolutely no rush.
 
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snerkler said:
I don't think it's a mistake at all, unless you have a global shutter then there is the potential for artefacts no matter how unlikely this may be, having a mechanical shutter gives the user the option and something less to worry about.

Out of interest can the Z9 and Z8 shoot HSS flash with their electronic shutter?
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Yes z9 can do hss. I'm not particularly keen on hss due to crazy power loss but it's there.
I'm pretty much limited to 1/160s due to how godox lights behave anyway so completely non-issue.

You can pay an extra grand for mechanical and pay a few more grand for all profoto lights just to go 1/400s. Sure that works but not for me.

I can't be alone in not wanting to pay for very expensive obsolete features that I will never use
 
nog said:
I was thinking issue was probably due to Tamron but just looked in Lightroom and had some ok pics with A7R v and the 28-75mm. Eyes looks better on my PC.
Agree the blackout does make things harder and that A9 III does look nice and shiny :) . Just got a used 135gm (again:rolleyes:) so hope to get some dog pics this afternoon as it's actually a nice day so far.
DSC00536 by Keith, on Flickr
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Is this just nitpicking and gear chasing, because I'm getting the impression the R5 isn't suited to be an kind of all rounder.
 
dcash29 said:
Is this just nitpicking and gear chasing, because I'm getting the impression the R5 isn't suited to be a kind of all rounder.
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For me. It’s a brilliant bit of kit. Ok. I knew it’s not an action/sports camera when I bought it. Doesn’t mean I won’t test it
 
I don't know if it's a general mirrorless thing or a Nikon thing but the main problem I've had with flashes on the Z8 isn't the lack of mechanical shutter instead it's that the camera can't use the AF assist on the flash (apparently due to the different AF system) so I ended up having to use the D750 for flash work over Christmas.
 
JohnMcL7 said:
I don't know if it's a general mirrorless thing or a Nikon thing but the main problem I've had with flashes on the Z8 isn't the lack of mechanical shutter instead it's that the camera can't use the AF assist on the flash (apparently due to the different AF system) so I ended up having to use the D750 for flash work over Christmas.
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It's been years since I used anything like this. Modelling lights are usually more than enough for any camera
 
nog said:
I was thinking issue was probably due to Tamron but just looked in Lightroom and had some ok pics with A7R v and the 28-75mm. Eyes looks better on my PC.
Agree the blackout does make things harder and that A9 III does look nice and shiny :) . Just got a used 135gm (again:rolleyes:) so hope to get some dog pics this afternoon as it's actually a nice day so far.
DSC00536 by Keith, on Flickr
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I don't think it has much to do with a7rv or tamron, but rather a very short lens.
135mm would be an absolute minimum, really 200-400mm is the range for this
You want smaller relative dog movement in the frame. The wider and closer you go the more you will miss. You don't have to take my word for it just try it out
 
LongLensPhotography said:
I don't think it has much to do with a7rv or tamron, but rather a very short lens.
135mm would be an absolute minimum, really 200-400mm is the range for this
You want smaller relative dog movement in the frame. The wider and closer you go the more you will miss. You don't have to take my word for it just try it out
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In general I agree with this principle but I have great success with my toddler with a 24-35-50-85 primes. At least for (small) humans Sony works perfectly on almost any lens at almost any reasonable distance. And my children are really on the smaller side of the spectrum, they are 0.4th and 10th percentile on the growth scales.

Don't have pets to try with them.

The tamron 28-200mm and 70-300mm really struggled with bird eyeAF tracking while the Sony lenses 70-200, 70-350mm and 200-600mm all work incredibly well for me. So based on that I'd also hedge some bets on the tamron lens being the weak link.
 
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