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

I had a quick try with the Z8 last week, I really didn’t like it. It felt like a brick and I didn’t find the grip comfortable at all. I was really surprised by this as I found the Z7 possible the best body I’ve handled.

Z7 was wonderful in hand but I agree Z8 feels like a brick. Feels too bloated tbh. I don't think a body needs to be unnecessarily large to be ergonomically good.
 
If I was choosing MFT, Id probably lean towards 300f4 plus a 1.4 converter and it would be around a kg lighter. I agree with you about the Nikon however as with my z6ii, the cameras feel alive over the dead feeling I get with the Sony even though it does perform.
I really don’t mind the newer Sony bodies at all. Pre gen 4 I wasn’t keen on, but the A7RIV, A9ii and A1 I’ve had have all been up there for me. OK, not quite as nice as the Z7 or EM1-II but not far off.
 
I thought that two panos I'd taken at Whitby might stitch together so I gave it a go. It has its issues but it's good enough to keep and look at as a whole picture or include in a slideshow.

A7 and Voigtlander 50mm f1.2.

Whitby-23-2-24-7.jpg
 
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I really don’t mind the newer Sony bodies at all. Pre gen 4 I wasn’t keen on, but the A7RIV, A9ii and A1 I’ve had have all been up there for me. OK, not quite as nice as the Z7 or EM1-II but not far off.
Yeah I found the a7r5 nicer as it's a little bigger than the A7m3
 
Yeah I found the a7r5 nicer as it's a little bigger than the A7m3
For some reason I really preferred holding my A7IV to the A7RV. Not sure what it is.... They are roughly the same but A7IV was very comfortable.
 
For some reason I really preferred holding my A7IV to the A7RV. Not sure what it is.... They are roughly the same but A7IV was very comfortable.
Odd, I didn't realise there was a lot of difference.
 
Z7 was wonderful in hand but I agree Z8 feels like a brick. Feels too bloated tbh. I don't think a body needs to be unnecessarily large to be ergonomically good.
In the strongest possible terms I could not disagree more with this absolute tosh. Unless you have 5 year old hands
 
You know that book... How to make friends and influence people. You haven't read it have you?

I haven't either. But that's not the point.

;)
 
In the strongest possible terms I could not disagree more with this absolute tosh. Unless you have 5 year old hands
You do know others have differing opinions and just because they differ from yours they’re not “tosh”?

I have very large hands, I prefer bodies like the Z7, EM1ii and A1 over bodies like the Z8, D850 and Z9.
 
In the strongest possible terms I could not disagree more with this absolute tosh. Unless you have 5 year old hands
Deja vu
Let's just are to disagree and leave it at that. You aren't going to convince me and vise versa.

I have large hands. And just because my preference is different to yours it's not tosh.
 
*cough* Viltrox 20mm f/2.8 FE for sale in classifieds. *cough*
 
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I have nothing shorter than the 70 and i am a zoomer so not interested in fast primes also not bothered about the extra 4mm the F4 brings.
Yeah, I get the need for zooms, I meant more what are you going to use it for?
 
Thought I might as well ask here as I know some of you have also used other systems.

Debating maybe buying a smaller set up for when I am out and about with the pup. Obviously I can use the gear I have but would prefer something more inconspicuous and lighter weight.

From a Sony point of view I had an A6400 previously as a holiday camera and was reasonable happy with it other than it not having dual dials and the buffer taking a while to clear even with fast cards.


Is there anything in m43 or APSC which would be fast enough to keep up with the pup.
 
Thought I might as well ask here as I know some of you have also used other systems.

Debating maybe buying a smaller set up for when I am out and about with the pup. Obviously I can use the gear I have but would prefer something more inconspicuous and lighter weight.

From a Sony point of view I had an A6400 previously as a holiday camera and was reasonable happy with it other than it not having dual dials and the buffer taking a while to clear even with fast cards.


Is there anything in m43 or APSC which would be fast enough to keep up with the pup.
Yep. Currently using the Olympus OM-1 for all my action shots of my Collie. Super responsive with fast accurate AF. Excellent subject detection. Also in the past used Fuji X-H2S. Another contender. Returned to Olympus for its higher frame rate. 50FPS v 30. High ISO taken care of my processing with DXO PureRAW 3
 
Thought I might as well ask here as I know some of you have also used other systems.

Debating maybe buying a smaller set up for when I am out and about with the pup. Obviously I can use the gear I have but would prefer something more inconspicuous and lighter weight.

From a Sony point of view I had an A6400 previously as a holiday camera and was reasonable happy with it other than it not having dual dials and the buffer taking a while to clear even with fast cards.


Is there anything in m43 or APSC which would be fast enough to keep up with the pup.
The A6700 has dual dials, newest AF tracking algorithms, USH-ii card slot for quicker clearing.
And you already have the lenses and batteries needed for it.
 
Thought I might as well ask here as I know some of you have also used other systems.

Debating maybe buying a smaller set up for when I am out and about with the pup. Obviously I can use the gear I have but would prefer something more inconspicuous and lighter weight.

From a Sony point of view I had an A6400 previously as a holiday camera and was reasonable happy with it other than it not having dual dials and the buffer taking a while to clear even with fast cards.


Is there anything in m43 or APSC which would be fast enough to keep up with the pup.
The OM-1 would definitely be good enough, however as been discussed recently you're not really saving on size and weight going m4/3 or APS-C these days barring a couple of lens combos. The A6700 is a bit smaller than the A7 type bodies but if you're going to use it with a tele lens for photos of the pup then it's not exactly inconspicous (comparison against the 50mm f1.2 which you know well)

Screenshot 2024-03-03 at 10.50.09.jpg


If it's more for just 'scenic' shots whilst out with the dog and not for taking pics of the dog then something like the A6700 and 16-50mm would be a relatively compact setup. You could of course just stick a 35mm f2.8 on one of your A7's and that'd be relatively small.
 
Yeah when you see it like that you’re not really saving an awful lot on size.

Maybe an A6700 with the siggy 56mm might work but again not saving a ton of size and weight.

Prob just looking an excuse to spend some money :)

Will have a nosey at the Olympus as well.

Any suggestions for a quick lens for the Olympus?
 
Yeah when you see it like that you’re not really saving an awful lot on size.

Maybe an A6700 with the siggy 56mm might work but again not saving a ton of size and weight.

Prob just looking an excuse to spend some money :)

Will have a nosey at the Olympus as well.

Any suggestions for a quick lens for the Olympus?
The 17, 25, 45mm f1.2 trilogy are very good indeed. I’ve got the 25. Had both the others. Not used a prime for action. Prefer to carry a zoom. Either the 12-40 or 40-150 f2.8 lenses.
 
Yeah when you see it like that you’re not really saving an awful lot on size.

Maybe an A6700 with the siggy 56mm might work but again not saving a ton of size and weight.

Prob just looking an excuse to spend some money :)

Will have a nosey at the Olympus as well.

Any suggestions for a quick lens for the Olympus?
Any of the M Zuiko Pro lenses are really good.
 
Yeah when you see it like that you’re not really saving an awful lot on size.

Maybe an A6700 with the siggy 56mm might work but again not saving a ton of size and weight.

Prob just looking an excuse to spend some money :)

Will have a nosey at the Olympus as well.

Any suggestions for a quick lens for the Olympus?

I do this and why not? You can't take it with you... Life is short... etc...

I'm not really looking at camera gear, autotrader...
 
53564266839_3773e7a118_k.jpg
Did you intentionally leave that sensor dust here? :ROFLMAO:
 
Yeah when you see it like that you’re not really saving an awful lot on size.

Maybe an A6700 with the siggy 56mm might work but again not saving a ton of size and weight.

Prob just looking an excuse to spend some money :)

Will have a nosey at the Olympus as well.

Any suggestions for a quick lens for the Olympus?

I don't really see the point in going APSC or a second system unless it's saving considerable weight and size personally.
 
Z7 was wonderful in hand but I agree Z8 feels like a brick. Feels too bloated tbh. I don't think a body needs to be unnecessarily large to be ergonomically good.
I've not used a Z7 but definitely feel the same about the Z8. I was surprised how bulky it is which I assume was to replicate the feel of the D850 but that camera's size was governed by the optical viewfinder and the mirror box neither of which the Z8 has. I've been reading a lot of D750/D810/D850 threads recently (I need to replace a broken D750 as I'm finding mirrorless cameras without AF assist on flashes are not great) and what's noticeable is how many people preferred the ergonomics of the D750.

I've been quite happy with the A9 size even with larger lenses and particularly now it feels a nice size as well.
 
I don't really see the point in going APSC or a second system unless it's saving considerable weight and size personally.

A6700 with Signa 56mm is gonna be a good weight saving against A9, A7rIV or A7IV with an 85 f/1.4 which is my other options.

773g vs 1485g so nearly half the weight.

Still a bit more conspicuous than I would like in an ideal world.

IMG_9708.jpeg

The olly with a 50-150 f/2.8 won’t give me any weight savings tbf.
 
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I've not used a Z7 but definitely feel the same about the Z8. I was surprised how bulky it is which I assume was to replicate the feel of the D850 but that camera's size was governed by the optical viewfinder and the mirror box neither of which the Z8 has. I've been reading a lot of D750/D810/D850 threads recently (I need to replace a broken D750 as I'm finding mirrorless cameras without AF assist on flashes are not great) and what's noticeable is how many people preferred the ergonomics of the D750.

I've been quite happy with the A9 size even with larger lenses and particularly now it feels a nice size as well.
I always really liked the ergonomics of the D750, I actually preferred it over the D850 in this regard.
 
A6700 with Signa 56mm is gonna be a good weight saving against A9, A7rIV or A7IV with an 85 f/1.4 which is my other options.

773g vs 1485g so nearly half the weight.

Still a bit more conspicuous than I would like in an ideal world.

View attachment 416404

The olly with a 50-150 f/2.8 won’t give me any weight savings tbf.

Have they put Auto ISO with minimum shutter on the A6700. I had a ZVE10 with the Samyang 45mm and I loved it except the lack of minimum shutter in Auto ISO.
 
Have they put Auto ISO with minimum shutter on the A6700. I had a ZVE10 with the Samyang 45mm and I loved it except the lack of minimum shutter in Auto ISO.
Not sure tbh you could do that on the A6400 so would be surprised if you can’t

Edit- Checked the online menu and you can.

IMG_9709.jpeg

What a bizarre thing for them to leave out on the ZVE10
 
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Nothing particular just going to need something for car shows and the likes of and the odd stately home for her indoors.
Car shows definitely want a prime :naughty:;)
 
A6700 with Signa 56mm is gonna be a good weight saving against A9, A7rIV or A7IV with an 85 f/1.4 which is my other options.

773g vs 1485g so nearly half the weight.

Still a bit more conspicuous than I would like in an ideal world.

View attachment 416404

The olly with a 50-150 f/2.8 won’t give me any weight savings tbf.

Half the weight is a good saving really.
 
A6700 with Signa 56mm is gonna be a good weight saving against A9, A7rIV or A7IV with an 85 f/1.4 which is my other options.

773g vs 1485g so nearly half the weight.

Still a bit more conspicuous than I would like in an ideal world.

View attachment 416404

The olly with a 50-150 f/2.8 won’t give me any weight savings tbf.
Have you thought about A7CR or A7Cii? Both now have the Ai autofocus and front dial wheel.

Full frame, share all your lenses.

I’ve just added the A7CR to my Sony kit for when I want to travel lighter. Batteries the same, menu the same. I will use it as a 2nd shooter when out with the A1 for sport and wildlife.

A7CR and Sony 85mm f1.8 is 890g. I’m running it with the 40mm was a walk around (688g).
 
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